What is Gnome OS?

We're fans of the Gnome Desktop Environment mainly because of its simplicity and gesture-based controls. Whether we're on Ubuntu, Nobara or Fedora, Gnome is the choice of desktop environment we use.

So, if Gnome is so good, why not have the entire operating system be Gnome?

Gnome OS

Seems like that's exactly what the developers decided to do. They went ahead and built a Linux distro that's pure Gnome. This is in the sense that everything in the OS is the way they want it.

Ubuntu, for example, uses the Gnome desktop environment with a couple of small extensions preinstalled to make the default desktop look similar to the old Unity desktop environment Ubuntu used to use many years ago. The rest of the OS is built according to the way Canonical (the developers of Ubuntu) choose to build it. They pick which music player is included, they decide on the use of Snaps, the type of installer, etc. The developers of Gnome have little to no input on this.

As it currently stands, Gnome OS is available as nightly builds for Intel/AMD and ARM-based platforms. You can, in theory, install it on your computer and use it as any other Linux distro. The official installation guide is here, with a list of current issues with Gnome OS here.

However, we recommend that you try out Gnome OS in a virtual machine or on a computer that's not important for your work. Since the OS is still in early development, bugs will be present, and you must be prepared for data loss if something breaks that cannot be recovered.

The main things you need to know about Gnome OS is it's immutable, isn't based on any other distro and uses Flatpak for the installation of additional software. This means that the system files cannot be changed and apps can be loaded as Flatpaks. This also means that Gnome OS does not support the use of rpm or deb packages.

Final thoughts

We're not sure what the plans are for the future of Gnome OS, in terms of whether the developers intend for it to become a proper desktop operating system to challenge the likes of Ubuntu and Fedora or if its only purpose is to be a showcase for the latest and greatest from Gnome and not much else.

Regardless, we will be installing Gnome OS on a spare drive and set it up on an Intel-based PC in the next few days. Stay tuned for our upcoming review.