03.07.14

Arch Linux is Becoming More Mainstream

Posted in GNU/Linux at 8:02 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Archlinux

Summary: Arch (GNU/)Linux is used by a lot of people and inspiring big derivatives such as Manjaro, Chakra GNU/Linux, and more

LAST YEAR we started writing quite a lot about Arch (GNU/)Linux because it had become popular, and not just among advanced computer users. Many people out there are now Arch users, including, according to this new interview [1], the voice behind Linux Voice. Arch is a very fast-moving distribution which offers the latest of everything (including Linux of course [2,3]), so no wonder we see many people raving about it [4] and exploring it [5].

Chakra, a beautiful derivative of Arch, was recently reviewed by DistroWatch [6] and another derivative, Manjaro, received two good reviews in recent weeks [7,8].

As we argued last year, for those who seek a cutting-edge, secure, community-driven distribution that is not Debian “unstable”, Arch is definitely an option. One can think of Manjaro, Chakra etc. as the Knoppix/Ubuntu of Debian. █

Related/contextual items from the news:

The Linux Setup – Graham Morrison, Linux Voice

I’ve run Arch for a couple of years. I like its minimalism and the way you end up knowing every installed component. I’m not massively keen on having to check the Arch website before upgrades (because things break), or the way you have to start from scratch with every fresh install. Getting hold of the latest releases is one of the most important parts of my job, and the Arch User Repository is the best way I’ve found of getting hold of software that more often than not installs. I love the way it bundles the source code, and the way you can rollback packages. It’s also relatively straightforward to modify packages yourself, which I’ve occasionally found useful. At the moment, I’ve also got Mageia 4, Fedora 20 and Mint 16 installed on the same machine.
Linux Kernel 3.13 Finally Arrives on Arch Linux, with a Warning

During the last years Arch Linux proved to be a pioneer distribution, especially when we talk about the latest software releases. Unfortunately, this was not the case with Linux kernel 3.13, which caused some issues and required modular PS/2 keyboard support.
Linux Top 3: Shuttleworth Leaves Upstart, Arch Assaults Security and Android x86 4.4
The Dark Arch Linux Desktop

Okubax’s desktop is actually pretty simple — it’s less about the wallpaper and more about the other customisation tricks.
Converting to Arch Linux: Lessons Learned

Probably the best part for me(so far) is with breaking away from Ubuntu, I’ve been forced to take a serious look at the various window managers and desktop environments out there. Which has brought me to i3.wm, on it’s own its excellent although there are a lot of new key bindings for me to learn and a almost crazy amount of customizability to play with, and it is missing some of the standard functionality I want in a desktop environment, such as wall papers, lock screen etc. Luckily it can replace the window manager in XFCE4 easily and makes for an excellent combination.
Reviews: Chakra GNU/Linux 2014.02

The short version of all this is Chakra has some nice features and it does some interesting things. I love how amazingly fast the project’s build of KDE is on my hardware and I like that the project does some things a bit differently. I like that the team has put together an increasingly comprehensive collection of documentation. I especially appreciate that GTK-based software is no longer shipped in stand-alone bundles, but rather in an add-on repository, allowing the user to add software using a single package manager, rather than switching between different software managers. In short, I feel Chakra has made positive progress over the past year. The distribution still has rough edges, plenty of small, unpleasant surprises for the unwary user, but overall it is improving. The project is well worth a look if you are a fan of either Arch Linux or the KDE desktop.
Manjaro 0.8.9 review – KDE and Xfce desktops

Manjaro is one of just a handful of desktop distributions that are trying to make all the goodness of Arch Linux available to new and seasoned users alike. It’s matching along with Antergos and Chakra Linux in this regard, though it seems to be further along than Chakra Linux and running neck-and-neck with Antergos.
Manjaro 0.8.9 Released – A Ultimate Linux OS with Windows Feel, Review and Installation Guide

Manjaro Gnu/Linux is a Unix Like Operating System which is Arch Linux Based. This desktop oriented Distribution has desktop environment Xfce by default and any other desktop environment can be installed and configured later.