openEuler's DevStation puts GNOME 49 on a Chinese enterprise Linux that runs on x86, Arm, RISC-V and LoongArch
At Open Source Summit Europe, openEuler had the biggest distro booth. The desktop edition ships in six desktop environments, but a 25 GB 'everything' ISO and a half-translated installer show where the rough edges are.
It's the modern free community version of Huawei's EulerOS, a version of which achieved official UNIX certification.
Comprehensive take
openEuler is bigger and more capable than its Western profile suggests, and the multi-architecture list is its strongest card. The language rough edges are fixable, but they make it a VM experiment for most readers, not a daily driver.
Use cases
LoongArch and RISC-V developers
The LTS line supports both architectures, giving a mainstream-style distro for boards that few others cover.
CentOS migration evaluators
x2openEuler is a purpose-built tool for moving CentOS Linux systems onto openEuler.
Desktop distro tinkerers
DevStation offers GNOME 49 plus DDE, UKUI, MATE, Xfce and Kiran in one family.
Specs
| Latest release | 26.09 source |
|---|---|
| Current LTS | 24.03 (June 2024) source |
| Architectures | Latest: x86-64, 64-bit Arm. LTS adds RISC-V and LoongArch source |
| DevStation ISOs | 3.3 GB basic, 25 GB everything source |
| Default desktop in test | GNOME 49 with Dash to Panel and Arc Menu, kernel 6.18.48 source |
Insights
- The English language switch in the tested build left some interface elements in Chinese.
- Installation was slow in the test because updates are fetched automatically during setup.
- Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux are the Western comparison points after CentOS Linux ended.
Axion Scorecard
Overall: 6.8
Not yet scored — no cited data
Not yet scored — no cited data
Not yet scored — no cited data
Ships its own LLM stack (Intelligence BooM) and the iSula container engine. source
Six desktop environments and LTS support for RISC-V and LoongArch. source
Free ISOs from 1.5 GB to 25 GB, but a half-translated installer in the tested build. source
Not yet scored — no cited data
Most Western Linux users have never installed openEuler, yet at Open Source Summit Europe it held the largest dedicated distro booth, according to The Register's Liam Proven. That gap between visibility and weight is the story. openEuler is the community edition of Huawei's EulerOS and is now run by the OpenAtom Foundation, which Huawei co-founded in 2020 with Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent and Inspur. It is a serious project with a release cadence, an architecture list and a desktop edition that is worth a look.
What you actually get
The release model mirrors Ubuntu: long-term releases plus more frequent innovation releases. The current LTS is 24.03, from June 2024, and the latest release is 26.09. The newest release targets x86-64 and 64-bit Arm, while the LTS line adds RISC-V and LoongArch, and minimal 32-bit Arm builds exist. For readers following Loongson hardware, the LoongArch support on the LTS is the practical point: a mainstream-style enterprise distro that treats the architecture as first class.
The desktop edition, DevStation, comes in a basic 3.3 GB ISO and a 25 GB "everything" image. There is also a 1.5 GB network installer and a 24.9 GB offline everything image for servers. In The Register's VirtualBox test, DevStation defaulted to GNOME 49 with the Dash to Panel and Arc Menu extensions, running a 6.18.48 kernel. Other environments are available: Deepin (DDE), UKUI, MATE, Xfce and Kiran.
The platform pitch
openEuler ships its own AI and migration tooling: Intelligence BooM, a stack for developing, deploying and running LLMs, and x2openEuler, a tool for migrating CentOS Linux systems. Containers cover Kubernetes, Docker and Podman plus the in-house iSula engine. That bundle explains the booth: openEuler is a CentOS-successor story, assembled by vendors that chose to pool effort rather than maintain rival rebuilds.
Installation gotchas
The installer is called Heolleo and offers Simplified Chinese or English. The Register found installation slow because it fetches updates automatically. After switching to English in Settings, some program groups and elements stayed in Chinese; the reviewer found it navigable with guesswork. Plan for that if you do not read Chinese.
A short hands-on plan
Try the 3.3 GB DevStation image in a virtual machine first. Check that your language settings stick, open the software center and confirm the update channel works from your network, then test the desktop you prefer. If you run LoongArch or RISC-V hardware, use the LTS image rather than the latest release, since the architecture list differs.
Who it is for
Developers curious about the Chinese Linux ecosystem, anyone evaluating CentOS migration options, and teams with LoongArch or Arm boards will learn the most. Western enterprises should compare it with Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux on support, language and compliance needs before committing.