Endless OS aimed at educational and offline environments [LWN.net]

By Daroc Alden
August 8, 2024

Endless OS is a Linux distribution with a focus on improving access to educational tools by providing a simple-to-manage, full-featured desktop for educators and students — one that works offline, with minimal maintenance. The distribution also aims to be suitable for older devices, in order to promote access to computers by ensuring those systems remain usable. In pursuit of those goals, it makes some unusual technical choices. But what makes the distribution really shine is its curated collection of software and educational resources.

Endless OS is developed by the Endless OS Foundation, a non-profit organization that also provides laptops to people who would otherwise be unable to afford them, in support of its mission to ensure widespread access to educational tools. Unlike Linux distributions that grew up around a group of volunteers, Endless OS actually started as the product of a VC-funded startup. The foundation only became a non-profit in 2020. This gives the project a noticeably different culture and approach. People are welcome to participate in the Endless OS community, but most of the operating system's development is driven by employees of the foundation. While Endless OS is free for personal and non-commercial use — and the core operating system is Debian-based, made available under its normal licenses — the foundation makes some of its money by selling licenses and support (including management software for large fleets of devices) to companies that want to use the OS.

Unfortunately, many of the applications that are built on top of the base OS have proprietary licenses. Installing the OS involves agreeing to an end-user license agreement (EULA) covering the proprietary software distributed with the OS (among other terms). The project also doesn't permit modifications to the install media. Its redistribution policy specifically allows making unmodified copies, or building completely free images with the project's image builder, but not modifying the official distribution.

Endless OS 6 was released in May 2024. Unlike many other Linux distributions, which usually recommend the use of generic installation-media creation programs, Endless OS provides a customized Windows installer. Although I lack a Windows computer on which to verify this, the installer purports to be able to create bootable USB drives, replace Windows as the computer's operating system, or install Endless OS alongside Windows. This attention to ensuring that it is possible for non-technical users to try out the operating system with a minimum of friction is a good example of the project's dedication to making Endless OS easily available.

For those who are already familiar with installing other Linux distributions, the project also provides plain ISOs, virtual-machine images, and some alternative images tuned for single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi. There are also multiple versions available that are tuned for different installation environments and languages. The "basic" variant, intended for installation on computers with consistent internet access, comes without too many additional applications installed. The "full" variant, which comes in four flavors for English, French, Brazilian Portuguese, and Spanish, comes pre-loaded with applications and educational materials so it is suitable for use in areas where internet connections may be sporadic or nonexistent.

If those images are not sufficient for a particular application, the project also provides the Endless OS image builder, which lets users create their own installation media with whatever customizations they need. All of Endless OS's images are built using libostree to provide an immutable root filesystem. The image builder builds the root filesystem in a container out of custom Debian packages and Flatpak applications. Once the filesystem is finalized, the builder converts it to a bootable ISO.

The choice to use an immutable root filesystem also makes automatic updates smooth. Updates, including security updates, are downloaded automatically by default, and applied atomically to the root filesystem when the computer is rebooted. Flatpak applications running on top of the core OS are updated separately, but also automatically.

Installation

Most people, however, will find that the default images built by the project meet their needs. Because the ISOs come with a large number of applications pre-installed, the "full" variants are quite large. The English flavor comes to 24GB. The setup process is fairly simple, with a custom graphical installer. Upon first booting the installer — after displaying an animated logo as a boot screen — it asks the user whether they would like to try Endless OS live, or install it. Choosing the latter option has the installer scan the computer for any other operating systems to set up dual booting, before offering the choice of which disk to install to. Once a disk is chosen, the installer copies the full OS image to the disk. Configuration of language, timezone, etc. are done once the user has booted the installed system as part of a first-time setup wizard.

During installation, the EULA also warns that Endless OS periodically reports the computer's location, how Endless OS was installed, and how long it has been installed — and that this data collection is "required". The OS may also collect and report other information. The EULA may be out of date, however; the metrics daemon itself — and the less elaborate script that sends daily pings to measure retention — are open source (GPLv2 or later) and do not appear to upload anything if the user opts out. [Update: The daily ping script doesn't respect the opt-out setting.] Will Thompson, an employee of the Endless OS Foundation, wrote a blog post explaining their metrics system in more detail.

Generally, the installation process is smooth, with fewer options for advanced users than it is usual to see in a typical Linux distribution. Part of this is made possible by the fact that Endless OS's immutable root filesystem greatly simplifies deployment — the installer has no need to copy or set up packages individually, instead it simply copies the image wholesale and sets up some configuration files.

The software

Endless OS distinguishes itself by offering a variety of pre-installed software. The basic desktop environment is GNOME 43.9. Upon first logging in, the user is presented with a phone-like full-screen menu of applications. The project supplies Chromium 125 as the default browser, alongside typical software such as LibreOffice 24, Shotwell 0.32, GNOME Terminal 3.46, but also less typical software, such as "Encyclopedia", a dedicated application for accessing Wikipedia.

The OS also comes with a number of educational applications that package content from places like Wikipedia, wikiHow, and TED-ed into easily searchable themed bundles on different topics. Examples include "How To", "Cooking", "Sanitation", "Health", "Myths & Legends", "Travel", "Math", and more. These themed bundles (and the unthemed Encyclopedia application) are the primary proprietary components of the operating system. There is also more interactive educational software in the form of coding environments for Scratch, Arduino, and basic web programming.

Programming is not the only skill that Endless OS supports acquiring; it also bundles drawing programs (including Inkscape, GIMP, and Tux Paint), 3D-modeling software (Blender), and audio recording and editing software (Decibels, Audacity). The flagship application in this category, however, is certainly Endless Key, which provides articles, videos, and tutorials about different skills and hobbies curated for the user's interests.

Finally, the OS also comes with a selection of games. In case the included software does not prove sufficient, the OS has GNOME Software, which allows installing additional applications using Flatpak. While Flatpak applications are often larger than native packages, separating out the applications and keeping the core OS immutable lets Endless OS installations be made much more robust, simple to maintain, and to deploy at scale. Layering Flatpak applications on top lets users enjoy the freedom to install the software they need without compromising the stability of the base OS.

Despite the obvious educational bent, however, Endless OS does have some features catering to advanced users. The OS includes Toolbx, a tool that makes setting up interactive containers that can run software from other distributions trivial. Toolbx containers use the same Linux kernel, but allow the user to run Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, or other user spaces on top of it — including graphical applications. While this is not perfectly seamless, it does make it possible to comfortably use Endless OS for software development, which would otherwise be difficult, since the base OS does not include normal development tools or compilers.

Overall, Endless OS occupies an interesting niche compared to traditional Linux systems. Its simple installation and immutable base make it a good choice for computers that receive minimal maintenance. Its large amount of bundled educational content, including tools for artistic expression, make it well-suited to letting children explore. Since it exposes containerized environments, it should be capable of running almost any necessary Linux software. Whether these features balance out the presence of proprietary software and its other non-free components and policies will depend on individual people's priorities. While I doubt that many LWN readers will be interested in switching to Endless OS as their main operating system, it presents an attractive option for less-technical people who want a capable and well-curated Linux desktop.

to post comments

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 8, 2024 16:21 UTC (Thu) by atnot (guest, #124910) [Link] (5 responses)

> Endless OS is developed by the Endless OS Foundation, a non-profit organization that also provides laptops to people who would otherwise be unable to afford them, in support of its mission to ensure widespread access to educational tools.

It is worth noting that the way Endless aims to achieve this supposedly noble goal. Which is what, to me, elevates this whole thing from merely a distro with some questionable choices to a reprehensible project with a farcical charity spin.

See, to begin with I'd be far from the first person to point out how much the american tech sector loves starting up all of these feel good programmes to give everyone a laptop (preferably one they control), but absolutely hate investing into the types of (public!) infrastructure that would be necessary to make a laptop actually useful. Which is why, every time, they fail.

What does Endless do differently this time? Well, not much. But what they do add is a remote kill switch and predatory lending. According to their website this is to lower risk of investment in leasing schemes. Wait, investments? Wasn't this supposed to be a charity?

So that's the ploy. You pay a monthly fee, and in turn you get a locked down linux laptop that you can use as long as the payments don't stop, at which point you will be held ransom for what Endless hopes has become critical infrastructure for you or your community by then that it's an offer you can't refuse. Oh, your parents can't pay, but there's a laptop exam on. Too bad. You want to write a crucial email but were a bit tight on cash? Pay up. And hopefully you'll stay too poor to afford a laptop of your own all the way through.

This type of scheme is already questionable and predatory enough with things like cars, but this is not only taking it to a whole new level, but also using the guise of charity and FOSS to do so. Yes, there is a lot of things that are sorely needed in a lot of the world. But being squeezed even harder by American corporations (or "charities") for access to what should be essential infrastructure is really not one of those things.

That's why they need all of these fancy technologies to lock things down. Because if you are forced to use EndlessOS, chances are it's not your laptop. It's why they don't care about invasiveness of telemetry. These "enterprise fleet management tools", they're not for enterprises, obviously. They're for loan sharks.

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 8, 2024 16:45 UTC (Thu) by dskoll (subscriber, #1630) [Link]

Thanks for that. Sounds like something to avoid.

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 8, 2024 23:39 UTC (Thu) by yeltsin (guest, #171611) [Link] (2 responses)

I couldn't find any information on their site about how much money they're expecting from you in exchange for "continuous access" to "your" laptop, only that there is some sort of down payment involved, and the contract is limited for up to three years. Does the laptop then actually become yours, or do they expect you to order the next one?

I come from a relatively poor country where a minimally decent new laptop (low performance U-series processor, 8 GB of RAM, etc) costs a bit more than one median monthly income. Many people simply didn't have a PC because of this and had to take out cash loans when the lockdowns started back in 2020 to be able to work and/or study.

If we could get those used business ThinkPads and Dell Latitudes at what they're being sold for in Europe (and not for 4 times the price while making ten times less money), I think that would go a long way towards solving the problem in a much better way than what you're describing (and what their site seems to confirm).

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 9, 2024 13:08 UTC (Fri) by daroc (editor, #160859) [Link] (1 responses)

According to this blog post, once someone has paid the full cost of the laptop, it permanently unlocks and becomes theirs. I don't believe its clear whether this applies only to laptops sold directly through the Endless OS Foundation or not. That post also has some of the foundation's explanation for its reasoning in running things this way, although whether you find those reasons compelling will vary from person to person.

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 15, 2024 14:42 UTC (Thu) by wjt (subscriber, #56250) [Link]

> […] once someone has paid the full cost of the laptop, it permanently unlocks and becomes theirs. I don't believe its clear whether this applies only to laptops sold directly through the Endless OS Foundation or not.

It applies to all devices using this pay-as-you-go system.

Endless Indenture

Posted Aug 15, 2024 14:41 UTC (Thu) by wjt (subscriber, #56250) [Link]

We have published a long-overdue FAQ on our wiki with more about how this system works, both technically and financially. https://support.endlessos.org/en/endless-os/payg/faq

You may of course still disagree with the model!

> According to their website this is to lower risk of investment in leasing schemes. Wait, investments? Wasn't this supposed to be a charity?

Strictly speaking, Endless OS Foundation is a 501(c)(4) social-welfare non-profit, though I can't claim to be an expert on US federal law around nonprofits.

The motivation for the pay-as-you-go approach is that we repeatedly found over many years that people wanted to buy a computer with Endless OS but could not afford to pay for it up-front and who could not obtain a loan to do so. Except for some pilot projects to validate the technology, we're not the organisation making the loan; instead we partner with other institutions who provide financing, secured against the laptop itself.

Of course, an alternative would be to sell subsidised computers, or donate computers. That's something we've done in the past – for example, we donated computers to students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic https://www.endlessos.org/post/collaborating-across-nonpr... – but it's not what we're doing at present.

> Because if you are forced to use EndlessOS, chances are it's not your laptop.

It's a side point, but the vast majority of devices running Endless OS are not pay-as-you-go.

> It's why they don't care about invasiveness of telemetry.

It would have been considerably less work to build & maintain the current metrics system if we didn't care about users' privacy! You may feel that any metrics system at all is unnecessarily invasive compared to no metrics system – certainly not having a metrics system is the least effort, but as I've written about we feel it is valuable both to us, and ultimately to users, to gather anonymous information about how our software is used.

games

Posted Aug 8, 2024 18:29 UTC (Thu) by detiste (guest, #96117) [Link] (2 responses)

I wonder if it uses game-data-packager to install the few free-as-in-beer games.

games

Posted Aug 9, 2024 8:18 UTC (Fri) by smcv (subscriber, #53363) [Link] (1 responses)

Unlikely - if a game has sufficiently clear licensing to be redistributable by Endless, it would probably be redistributable by Debian non-free as well, meaning no need to use game-data-packager. And, if the root filesystem is immutable, installing a locally-generated .deb isn't possible, so the only way g-d-p would be useful is if it could generate Flatpak apps.

games

Posted Aug 9, 2024 22:03 UTC (Fri) by hadess (subscriber, #24252) [Link]

Turning this into something more than a toy would probably require having a way to create a Flatpak from within a Flatpak:
https://github.com/hadess/flatpak-games

A few notes

Posted Aug 15, 2024 13:21 UTC (Thu) by wjt (subscriber, #56250) [Link] (3 responses)

Thanks for the review, Daroc!

> the foundation makes some of its money by selling licenses and support (including management software for large fleets of devices)

Sadly we don't have any fleet-management software!

The restriction on commercial use is related to our status as a tax-exempt non-profit. Our CEO summarised it here: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/vm7ow1/comment/ie...

> Installing the OS involves agreeing to an end-user license agreement (EULA) covering the proprietary software distributed with the OS (among other terms).

The proprietary software included in the OS is:

- the NVidia binary driver
- a portion of the Pay As You Go system, due to the license on a third-party library it uses – we hope to switch to a newer open-source implementation in the future

I believe that's a complete list.

> During installation, the EULA also warns that Endless OS periodically reports the computer's location, how Endless OS was installed, and how long it has been installed — and that this data collection is "required". The OS may also collect and report other information. The EULA may be out of date, however […]

This section of the EULA is indeed out of date. Good catch! I'll get this updated for a future release.

Since 2019 or 2021 (depending on which installation image was originally used) no geolocation data has been sent by the OS.

> the metrics daemon itself — and the less elaborate script that sends daily pings to measure retention — are open source (GPLv2 or later) and do not appear to upload anything if the user opts out.

The opt out actually doesn't apply to the less-elaborate ping script (though a sufficiently interested user could disable the systemd service). The server uses an offline GeoIP database to geolocate to country level for daily pings and to 1° of lat & long for the one-time activation message, then discards the IP address.

> These themed bundles (and the unthemed Encyclopedia application) are the primary proprietary components of the operating system.

They are proprietary, but “not very” and at this point only for historical reasons. There's actually very little code in the application bundles themselves – if you look at `find $(flatpak info -l com.endlessm.encyclopedia.en) -type f` and `find $(flatpak info -l com.endlessm.encyclopedia.en.Content) -type f` it's basically a small amount of metadata and then a massive zim file containing the encyclopedia content. The vast majority of the code is in the SDK which is open source: https://github.com/endlessm/eos-sdk. This family of applications are not maintained any more, but we still ship them because they provide value to disconnected users.

The more recent Endless Key application is open source: it's a plugin https://github.com/endlessm/kolibri-explore-plugin for Learning Equality's Kolibri https://github.com/learningequality/kolibri .

A few notes

Posted Aug 15, 2024 14:01 UTC (Thu) by daroc (editor, #160859) [Link] (2 responses)

Sadly we don't have any fleet-management software!

Oh, I see. I'm sorry — I must have misinterpreted descriptions of your PAYGO software.

The opt out actually doesn't apply to the less-elaborate ping script (though a sufficiently interested user could disable the systemd service).

You're right — I went and re-read the code, and realized that even though the less-elaborate script reads whether metrics are enabled it actually just reports that information and doesn't use it itself. I'll make a correction to the article.

The more recent Endless Key application is open source: it's a plugin https://github.com/endlessm/kolibri-explore-plugin for Learning Equality's Kolibri https://github.com/learningequality/kolibri .

Oh, interesting! I had wondered what the base of the application was.

A few notes

Posted Aug 15, 2024 14:48 UTC (Thu) by wjt (subscriber, #56250) [Link]

>> Sadly we don't have any fleet-management software!
>
> Oh, I see. I'm sorry — I must have misinterpreted descriptions of your PAYGO software.

When I read “fleet management software” I think of something where devices can be remotely administered to add/remove/update software, change system settings, manage user accounts, tracked, or disable the computer in case of theft. The pay-as-you-go software in Endless OS is fully offline, controlled by the passage of time and numeric keycodes generated by us (or rather the vendor of the library we use) and entered by the user which add credit or fully unlock the device. So I'd never thought about it that way before, but I can see how it can fall under that description.

A few notes

Posted Aug 15, 2024 14:50 UTC (Thu) by wjt (subscriber, #56250) [Link]

By the way, Endless Key is available for any Linux distribution via Flathub, as well as on the Google Play Store for Android and Chrome OS, and on the Windows store.