pearOS Installer

A macOS-style system installer for pearOS, an Arch Linux-based distribution. Built with Electron, it provides a clean, guided installation experience that erases the target disk and installs the full pearOS system — similar to macOS's installer workflow.

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • The Challenge
  • Links
• My Contributions
  • What I Worked On
  • Built With
  • What I Learned

Overview

The Challenge

The pearOS installer needed to support users across multiple languages and provide a smooth, intuitive installation experience. The original architecture made it difficult to add new language support, and navigation between installer pages had UX friction points that confused users during the critical installation process.

Links

• GitHub: pearOS-archlinux/pearOS-installer (23 stars)

My Contributions

What I Worked On

As a contributor, I focused on internationalization, architecture, and user experience:

• i18n multi-language support — implemented a comprehensive internationalization system allowing the installer to be translated into multiple languages, making pearOS accessible to a global audience.
• Architecture for language extensibility — designed and refactored the i18n architecture so adding new languages requires minimal effort — just adding a language file without touching core installer logic.
• UX navigation fixes — improved the page navigation flow between installer steps, reducing user confusion and making the installation journey more intuitive and predictable.

Built With

• Electron — cross-platform desktop framework
• JavaScript — core logic
• Bash — system installation scripts
• Arch Linux — target distribution

What I Learned

Working on the pearOS installer taught me about desktop application development with Electron and the complexities of internationalizing installer workflows. I learned how critical UX clarity is in system-level tools — where a confusing step can mean a failed installation or data loss.