Vanilla OS 22.10 is a new Ubuntu-based Linux OS, using the GNOME 43.1 Desktop: ‘Designed to last over time and always be faithful to you. Vanilla OS is an immutable and atomic Ubuntu Linux-based Point Release distribution, that receives updates at the right time, neither before nor after, without sacrificing security and functionality‘. It uses the latest stable Linux Kernel ‘n has an ‘integrated driver management, whether it’s an AMD®, Intel®, or NVIDIA® GPU‘. I had a NVIDIA GPU and installing the driver was a breeze. Lots of interesting new options are offered, e.g., the Apx package manager, a utility which can install software from multiple distributions, such as Arch Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu.
Installation
There are all kinds of Linux OSes out there, and I enjoy testing ‘n watching how a new Distro develops over time.
Great documentation, and was easy to follow — Vanilla Handbook.
I downloaded the VanillaOS-22.10-all.20221229.iso from DistroWatch & also from the Vanilla OS site. Used Ventoy on one ‘n Etcher on the other to create the bootable USB’s.
Installation took only 2-minutes, but post installation setup & updates took longer.
Post Installation
As mentioned, there are ‘all kinds of Linux OSes out there‘ — and will add to that fact that there is also all kinds of Linux Package Managers out there. Linus Torvalds says Fragmentation is Why Linux Hasn’t Succeeded on Desktop: ‘I still wish we were better at having a standardize desktop that goes across all the distributions … It’s more of a personal annoyance how the fragmentation of the different vendors have, I think, held the desktop back a bit … It seems to be that Chromebooks and Android are the paths towards the desktop‘.
Basically, everything about Linux is fragmented — seriously. I was unable to figure out how to get GParted to work, even after it said I had installed it, and Vanilla OS has package managers ‘out the ying yang‘. Gnome screenshot wasn’t available either. It was just too new for me to figure out how to get some apps installed, but I am not faulting the Vanilla OS for my own lack of knowledge. However, I was also not going to spend a lot of time learning the inner workings. 😉
Here’s the About section:
Vanilla OS 22.10 Info
The Vanilla Handbook came in handy, wid sections like this — Install and manage Applications:
Vanilla OS has a lot of potential ‘n lots of ways to install apps. 😮
The Vanilla OS Installation section offered some handy pics to follow. The First Setup section has even more handy pics to follow wid step by step easy to understand instructions!
They have one of the best Linux Handbooks I have ever seen — if not the best. 👍 👏 Go look at the Arch Linux Handbook for an example of what most Linux Handbooks look like. 😨
Documentation looks useful also.
Vanilla OS 2.0 Orchid
OK…this is why I didn’t spend a lot of time testing ‘n learning Ubuntu-based Vanilla OS 22.10. — that is Vanilla OS 2.0 Orchid will be based on Debian Sid:
One of the high-level goals of Vanilla OS is to be as vanilla as possible, so we reverted many of these changes to reach that goal.
- NOTE: According to Eric S. Raymond‘s The New Hacker’s Dictionary, “vanilla” means more “default” than “ordinary”.
I like how these Vanilla OS Developers think — using ‘Orchid as the codename, as Vanilla derives from Orchids‘.
Conclusion
I’ve been tinkering wid Linux since 1996 because I keep hoping they can finally come up wid a popular Linux Distro. However, even tho Linux & Linuxes have been at it for over 30-years, the newcomer ChromeOS already has 1.06% Desktop/laptop OS Market Share — compared to the 1.61% Market Share of *ALL* the Linux OSes combined.
Ubuntu at a 0.32% Market Share gets thrashed by ChromeOS in popularity, and Ubuntu is the most popular Linux OS by far. ‘On May 11, 2011, Google announced two Chromebooks from Acer and Samsung at Google I/O‘.
I rate Linux as a Special *PURPOSE* OS ‘n great Secondary or Companion OS to Windows 10 or 11. My favorites are listed HERE. Those links are to an older Linux test blog that I use mainly as a ‘Hub‘ ‘n sorta Archive for this new primary KM&T self-hosted blog.
- NOTE: Any Windows users looking to try Linux for the first time might find Vanilla OS a helpful ‘First Learning‘ experience — especially on installation ‘n setup post installation.
Vanilla OS has come up wid some great ideas, and even tho still a new OS, I like its chances for success as a Desktop/laptop OS. 🤞👍👌