GNOME OS：一个并不是适合所有人的 Linux 发行版
GNOME
![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103205t34lcaa3t0a3xjjw.jpg)


每当 GNOME 的一个重要版本到来时，总是很想尽快试用它。但是，要想第一时间进行测试，主要还是得依靠 [Fedora Rawhide](https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Rawhide) 开发分支。


然而，开发分支并不总是让人放心的，所以，用来尝试最新的 GNOME 并不是最方便的解决方案。这里，我所说的测试，并不仅仅是指用户的测试，同时也能够用于开发者对设计变更进行测试。


所以，最近来了个大救星 GNOME OS，让测试的过程变得轻松起来。但是，它到底是什么，怎么安装呢？让我们一起来看看吧。


### 什么是 GNOME OS？


GNOME OS 并不是一个独立完整的 Linux 发行版。事实上，它根本不基于任何东西。它是一个不完整的参考系统，只是为了让 GNOME 桌面工作。它仅仅是一个可启动的虚拟机镜像，在 GNOME 进入任何发行版的仓库之前，为调试和测试功能而量身定做的。


在 GNOME 的博客中，有一篇提到了它：



> 
> GNOME OS 旨在通过提供一个用于开发、设计和用户测试的工作系统，来更好地促进 GNOME 的开发。
> 
> 
> 


如果你好奇的话，你可以看看 GNOME 星球上的一篇 [博客文章](https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2020/10/07/what-is-gnome-os/) 来了解关于 GNOME OS 的更多信息。


### 如果它不是一个成熟的 Linux 发行版，那么它是用来干什么的？


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103303yix2s7i67y66rerr.png)


值得注意的是，每一次新的提交都可以创建一个新的 GNOME OS 镜像，所以它应该会使测试过程变得高效，并帮助你在开发周期的早期测试并发现问题。


不要忘了，设计者不再需要自己构建软件来测试 GNOME Shell 或任何其他核心模块。这为他们节省了时间和整个 GNOME 开发周期。


当然，不仅限于开发者和技术测试人员，它还可以让记者们拿到最新的和最棒的东西，来报道 GNOME 下一个版本或它是如何成型的。


媒体和 GNOME 团队也得到了一个很好的机会，借助于 GNOME OS，他们可以准备视频、图片两种形式的视觉资料来宣传此次发布。


### 如何安装 GNOME OS？


要轻松安装 GNOME OS，你需要先安装 GNOME Boxes 应用程序。


#### 安装 GNOME Boxes


Boxes 是一款简单的虚拟化软件，它不提供任何高级选项，但可以让你轻松安装操作系统镜像来快速测试。它是专门针对桌面终端用户的，所以使用起来也很方便。


要在任何 Linux 发行版上安装它，你可以利用 [Flathub](https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnome.Boxes) 的 [Flatpak](https://itsfoss.com/what-is-flatpak/) 包。如果你不知道 Flatpak，你可能需要阅读我们的《[在 Linux 中安装和使用 Flatpak](https://itsfoss.com/flatpak-guide/)》指南。


你也可以在任何基于 Ubuntu 的发行版上直接在终端上输入以下内容进行安装：



```
sudo apt install gnome-boxes

```

一旦你安装了 Boxes，从这里安装 GNOME OS 就相当容易了。


#### 安装 GNOME OS


安装好 Boxes 后，你需要启动程序。接下来，点击窗口左上角的 “+” 标志，然后点击 “操作系统下载”，如下图所示。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103304jqqpyhlpc5y0wylb.jpg)


这个选项可以让你直接下载镜像文件，然后就可以继续安装它。


你所需要做的就是搜索 “GNOME”，然后你应该会找到可用的每夜构建版。这可以确保你正在尝试最新和最优秀的 GNOME 开发版本。


另外，你也可以前往 [GNOME OS 每夜构建网站](https://os.gnome.org/) 下载系统镜像，然后在 Boxes 应用中选择 “运行系统镜像文件” 选择该 ISO，如上图截图所示，继续安装。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103304jbfqbgwggbzg44gq.jpg)


考虑到你没有单独下载镜像。当你点击后，应该会开始下载，并且会出现一个进度条。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103304bfupyxuppxhyfa7p.jpg)


完成后，如果需要，它会要求你自定义配置，让你创建虚拟机，如下图所示。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103305ktqumtrjqj5uel5f.png)


你可以根据你可用的系统资源来定制资源分配，但应该可以使用默认设置。


点击 “创建”，就会直接开始 GNOME OS 的安装。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103305hx0n0n8274muv2v6.jpg)


选择“使用现有的版本”，然后继续。接下来，你必须选择磁盘（保持原样），然后同意擦除你所有的文件和应用程序（它不会删除本地计算机上的任何东西）。


![](/data/attachment/album/202104/11/103305h2lnj5rg5dckyarq.jpg)


现在，它将简单地重新格式化并安装它。然后就完成了。它会提示你重启，重启后，你会发现 GNOME OS 已经安装好了。


它会像其他 Linux 发行版一样简单地启动，并要求你设置一些东西，包括用户名和密码。然后，你就可以开始探索了。


如果你想知道它的样子，它基本上就是最新的 GNOME 桌面环境。在 GNOME 40 正式发布之前，我用 GNOME OS 做了一个 GNOME 40 的概述视频。


### 结束语


GNOME OS 绝对是对开发者、设计师和媒体有用的东西。它可以让你轻松地测试最新的 GNOME 开发版本，而无需投入大量的时间。


我可以很快地测试 [GNOME 40](https://news.itsfoss.com/gnome-40-release/)，就是因为这个。当然，你要记住，这并不是一个可以在物理设备上安装的完整功能的操作系统。他们有计划让它可以在物理机器上运行，但就目前而言，它只是为虚拟机量身定做的，尤其是使用 GNOME Boxes。


GNOME Boxes 并没有提供任何高级选项，所以设置和使用它变得相当容易。如果体验太慢的话，你可能要调整一下资源，但在我的情况下，总体来说是一个不错的体验。


你试过 GNOME OS 了吗？欢迎在下面的评论中告诉我你的想法。




---


via: <https://itsfoss.com/gnome-os/>


作者：[Ankush Das](https://itsfoss.com/author/ankush/) 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
![Warp Terminal](/assets/images/warp-terminal.webp)


![Warp Terminal](/assets/images/warp-terminal.webp)

Whenever a major release for GNOME arrives, it is always tempting to try it out as soon as possible. But, to get your hands on it first to test it, you had to mostly rely on [Fedora Rawhide](https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Releases/Rawhide?ref=itsfoss.com) (development branch).

However, a development branch isn’t always hassle-free. So, it wasn’t the most convenient solution to try the latest GNOME. Now, by testing, I don’t mean just for users but also being able to test design changes for the developers as well.

So, GNOME OS recently came to the rescue to ease the process of testing. But, what exactly is it and how to get it installed? Let us take a look.

## What is GNOME OS?

GNOME OS is not a separate full-fledged Linux distribution. In fact, it isn’t based on anything at all. It’s an incomplete reference system just to make GNOME desktop work. **It is just a bootable VM (Virtual Machine) image tailored for debugging and testing features before it hits any distribution’s repository.**

One of the GNOME blogs mention it as:

GNOME OS aims to better facilitate development of GNOME by providing a working system for development, design, and user testing purposes.

If you’re curious, you may want to check out a [blog post](https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2020/10/07/what-is-gnome-os/?ref=itsfoss.com) on Planet GNOME to know more about GNOME OS.

## If it’s not a full-fledged Linux distribution then what is it used for?

![gnome os distro review](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/GNOME-OS-distro-review.png)

It is interesting to note that a new GNOME OS image can be created for every new commit made, so it should make the testing process efficient and help you test/find issues early in the development cycle.

Not to forget, designers no longer have to build the software themselves to test the GNOME Shell or any other core modules. It saves them time and the whole GNOME development cycle.

Of course, not just limited to developers and technical testers, it also lets journalists to get their hands on the latest and greatest to cover a story about GNOME’s next release or how it’s being shaped.

The media and the GNOME team also gets a good opportunity to prepare visual materials to promote the release in both video/picture format thanks to GNOME OS.

## How to install GNOME OS?

To easily install GNOME OS, you will need to install GNOME Boxes application first.

### Installing GNOME Boxes

‘**Boxes**‘ is a simple virtualization software that does not offer any advanced options but lets you easily install an operating system image to test quickly. It is targeted specially for desktop end-users, so it is easy to use as well.

To install it on any Linux distribution, you can utilize the [Flatpak](https://itsfoss.com/what-is-flatpak/) package from [Flathub](https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.gnome.Boxes?ref=itsfoss.com). In case you don’t know about a Flatpak, you might want to read our guide on [installing and using Flatpak in Linux](https://itsfoss.com/flatpak-guide/).

You may also directly install it from the terminal on any Ubuntu-based distro by typing this:

`sudo apt install gnome-boxes`


Once you get Boxes installed, it is fairly easy to install GNOME OS from here.

### Install GNOME OS

After you have Boxes installed, you need to launch the program. Next, click on the “**+**” sign that you see in the upper-left corner of the window and then click on “**Operating System Download**” as shown in the image below.

![gnome os search](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-os-search.jpg)

This option lets you directly download the image file and then you can proceed to install it.

All you need to do is search for “GNOME” and you should find the Nightly build available. This will ensure that you are trying the latest and greatest GNOME version in development.

Alternatively, you can head to the [GNOME OS Nightly website](https://os.gnome.org/?ref=itsfoss.com) and download the system image and choose the “**Operating System Image File**” in the Boxes app to select the ISO as shown in the screenshot above to proceed installing it.

![gnome os boxes](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-os-boxes.jpg)

Considering you didn’t download the image separately. When you click on it, the download should start and a progress bar will appear:

![gnome os download](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-os-download.jpg)

Once it is done, it will ask you to customize the configuration if needed and let you create the VM as shown below:

![gnome boxes vm setup](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-boxes-vm-setup.png)

You can customize the resource allocation depending on your available system resources, but you should be good to go with the default settings.

Click on “**Create**” and it will directly start GNOME OS installation:

![gnome nightly install](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-nightly-install.jpg)

Select the existing version and proceed. Next, you will have to select the disk (keep it as is) and then agree to erasing all your files and apps (it won’t delete anything from your local computer).

![gnome os installation](https://itsfoss.com/content/images/wordpress/2021/04/gnome-os-installation.jpg)

Now, it will simply reformat and install it. And, you’re done. It will prompt you to restart it and when you do, you will find GNOME OS installed.

It will simply boot up as any Linux distro would and will ask you to set up a few things, including the username and a password. And, you’re good to explore!

If you are curious what it looks like, it’s basically the latest GNOME desktop environment. I used GNOME OS to make an overview video of GNOME 40 before the official release.

## Closing Thoughts

GNOME OS is definitely something useful for developers, designers, and the media. It makes it easy to test the latest development version of GNOME without investing a lot of time.

I could test [GNOME 40](https://news.itsfoss.com/gnome-40-release/?ref=itsfoss.com) quickly just because of this. Of course, you will have to keep in mind that this isn’t a fully functional OS that you should install on a physical device. There are plans to make one available to run on a physical machine, but as it stands now, it is only tailored for virtual machines, especially using GNOME Boxes.

GNOME Boxes does not offer any advanced options, so it becomes quite easy to set it up and use it. You might want to tweak the resources if the experience is too slow, but it was a good experience overall in my case.

Have you tried GNOME OS yet? Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments down below.