• • • • • • •
 • Home Page, Headlines
 • DW Weekly, Comments
 • Packages, Package Management
 • Glossary, FAQ, Mobile Site 		 • Search, Sitemap
 • Major Distributions
 • Submit Distribution
 • Upcoming Releases
  • About DistroWatch
 • Page Hit Ranking
 • Advertise
 • CryptoCoin.cc

Arch Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Arch Linux

Arch Linux

Last Update: 2019-02-21 02:20 UTC

Arch Linux is an independently developed, x86_64-optimised Linux distribution targeted at competent Linux users. It uses 'pacman', its home-grown package manager, to provide updates to the latest software applications with full dependency tracking. Operating on a rolling release system, Arch can be installed from a CD image or via an FTP server. The default install provides a solid base that enables users to create a custom installation. In addition, the Arch Build System (ABS) provides a way to easily build new packages, modify the configuration of stock packages, and share these packages with other users via the Arch Linux user repository.

Popularity (hits per day): 12 months: 13 (569), 6 months: 14 (585), 3 months: 16 (586), 4 weeks: 15 (573), 1 week: 19 (479)

Average visitor rating: 9.32/10 from 267 review(s).


Arch Linux Summary
Distribution Arch Linux
Home Page http://www.archlinux.org/
Mailing Lists https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/
User Forums http://bbs.archlinux.org/
Alternative User Forums
Documentation http://wiki.archlinux.org/
Screenshots DistroWatch Gallery
Screencasts
Download Mirrors http://www.archlinux.org/download/ •
Bug Tracker http://bugs.archlinux.org/
Related Websites Planet Arch • Arch for Raspberry Pi • Wikipedia • Arch Brazil • Arch Chile • Arch Denmark • Arch France • Arch Germany • Arch Hungary • Arch Italy • Arch Russia • Arch Spain • Arch Turkey
Reviews 2016: Keith Curtis
2015: DistroWatch • Keith Curtis • LWN
2011: Guillermo Garron
2010: ITworld • LWN
2009: It's A Binary World • DistroWatch • Adventures in Open Source • Polishlinux
2008: Guia do PC (Portuguese) • DistroWatch • OStatic • Blogspot • Wordpress
2007: Blogspot
0.8: Polishlinux • Pro-Linux (German) • Skatox (Spanish) • Tuxmachines
0.7: USALUG • Wordpress • OSNews • LinMagazine (Hebrew) • Linux Magazine (PDF) • LinuxUser (German) • ABC Linuxu (Czech) • OSNews • LWN • OSNews
0.5: OSNews • OSNews
0.3: OSNews
Where To Buy OSDisc.com (sponsored link)

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases, download links and checksums:
 • 2012-11-02: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2012.11.01
 • 2012-10-07: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2012.10.06
 • 2012-09-08: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2012.09.07
 • 2012-08-05: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2012.08.04
 • 2012-07-22: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2012.07.15
 • 2011-08-20: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2011.08.19
 • 2010-05-18: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2010.05
 • 2009-08-09: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2009.08
 • 2009-02-17: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2009.02
 • 2008-06-24: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2008.06
 • 2008-04-16: Development Release: Arch Linux 2008.04 RC
 • 2007-10-07: Distribution Release: Arch Linux 2007.08-2
 • More Arch releases...

  Headlines:
 •2018-09-10 Arch team answers questions on Reddit
 •2018-07-10 AUR packages compromised
 •2017-11-08 Arch drops 32-bit x86
 •2017-01-24 Arch Linux phasing out 32-bit
 •2016-06-27 Updated screen may not reattach
 • More Arch headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view: Major packages only (52) All tracked packages (226)
  • To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
  • Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
  • Colour scheme: green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
Linux Media
Linux Mint 19.1$5.95
Ubuntu 18.10$5.95
Debian 9.8.0$5.95
openSUSE 15.0$5.95
Manjaro 18.0$5.95
Fedora 29$5.95
MX Linux 18.1$5.95
USB Flash Drives
Linux Mint 19.1 16GB$14.95
Ubuntu 18.10 16GB$14.95
Fedora 29 16GB$14.95

Free Shipping on orders over $20
Professional Quality
Click here to visit OSDisc.com now


Advertisement

StickerYou
Create Custom Stickers, Labels, Tattoos and Decals at StickerYou

As a valued partner and proud supporter of DistroWatch, StickerYou is happy to offer a 10% discount on all Custom Stickers, Business Labels, Roll Labels, Vinyl Lettering or Custom Decals. StickerYou is your one-stop shop to make your business stick! Use code DISTRO10 at the checkout page to apply your discount.


Feature current 2011.08.19 2010.05 2009.08 2009.02 2008.06
overlord		 2007.08
dontpanic		 0.8
voodoo		 0.7
wombat		 0.6
widget		 0.5
nova		 0.4
dragon		 0.3
firefly		 0.2
vega		 0.1
homer		 Feature
Release Date 2019-02-21 2011-08-19 2010-05-17 2009-08-09 2009-02-17 2008-06-24 2007-08-05 2007-04-01 2005-01-24 2004-03-01 2003-07-21 2002-12-18 2002-08-07 2002-04-17 2002-03-11 Release Date
End Of Life                               End Of Life
Price (US$) Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Free Price (US$)
Image Size (MB)   1-659                           Image Size (MB)
Free Download PKG ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO ISO Free Download
Installation Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Text mode Installation
Default Desktop                               Default Desktop
Package Management Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Pacman Package Management
Release Model Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Rolling Release Model
Office Suite GOffice, Calligra, LibreOffice -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- KOffice KOffice KOffice     Office Suite
Processor Architecture x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686, x86_64 i686 i686 i686 i686 i686 i686 i686 Processor Architecture
Init Software systemd SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV SysV Init Software
Journaled File Systems Btrfs, ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ext4, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, JFS, ReiserFS, XFS ext3, ReiserFS ext3, ReiserFS ext3, ReiserFS ext3, ReiserFS ext3, ReiserFS Journaled File Systems
Multilingual                               Multilingual
Asian Language Support                               Asian Language Support
Full Package List current 2011.08.19 2010.05 2009.08 2009.02 2008.06 2007.08 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 Full Package List

Full Package List:   Arch Linux 0.4
  Number of packages: 323 (download as TXT)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  •  abiword 1.0.2
  •  alsa-driver 0.9.0rc6
  •  alsa-lib 0.9.0rc6
  •  alsa-utils 0.9.0rc6
  •  apache 1.3.27
  •  apmd 3.0.2
  •  arts 1.1.0
  •  at-spi 1.0.2
  •  aterm 0.4.2
  •  atk 1.0.3
  •  audiofile 0.2.3
  •  aumix 2.8
  •  autoconf 2.57
  •  automake 1.7.2
  •  bash 2.05b
  •  bc 1.06
  •  bftpd 1.0.22
  •  bin86 0.16.10
  •  bind 9.2.1
  •  binutils 2.13.1
  •  bison 1.75
  •  blackbox 0.65.0
  •  bonobo activation 1.0.3
  •  bug-buddy 2.2.0
  •  bzip2 1.0.2
  •  cdparanoia 9.8
  •  cdrdao 1.1.7
  •  cdrtools 2.0pre3
  •  clisp 2.30
  •  control-center 2.0.1.1
  •  cpio 2.5
  •  cups 1.1.17
  •  curl 7.10.2
  •  cvs 1.11.2
  •  cvsup 16.1f
  •  db 4.0.14
  •  dcron 2.3.3
  •  devfsd 1.3.25
  •  dhcpcd 1.3.22pl1
  •  dialog 0.7
  •  diffutils 2.8.1
  •  dillo 0.6.6
  •  divx4linux 5.01
  •  docbook xml 4.1.2
  •  docbook xsl 1.55.0
  •  dosfstools 2.8
  •  doxygen 1.3rc1
  •  e2fsprogs 1.32
  •  ed 0.2
  •  eel 2.0.7
  •  emacs 21.2
  •  enlightenment 0.16.5
  •  eog 1.0.3
  •  esd 0.2.29
  •  ethereal 0.9.7
  •  exim 4.10
  •  expat 1.95.4
  •  fetchmail 6.2.0
  •  file 3.39
  •  file roller 2.0.4
  •  filesystem 0.4
  •  fileutils 4.1
  •  findutils 4.1
  •  flashplugin 6.0r69
  •  flex 2.5.4a
  •  fluxbox 0.1.14
  •  fnlib 0.5
  •  freetype1 1.3.1
  •  freetype2 2.0.9
  •  fvwm 2.4.12
  •  gail 0.17
  •  gaim 0.59.6
  •  gcc 3.2.1
  •  gconf-editor 0.3.1
  •  gconf 1.2.1
  •  gd 2.0.8
  •  gdb 5.2.1
  •  gdbm 1.8.3
  •  gdk-pixbuf 0.18.0
  •  gdm 2.4.0.11
  •  gdsl 1.0
  •  gedit 2.0.5
  •  gentoo 0.11.34
  •  gettext 0.11.5
  •  gftp 2.0.14
  •  ggv 1.99.95
  •  ghostscript 7.05.5
  •  gimp-print 4.2.4rc1
  •  gimp 1.2.3
  •  gkrellm 2.1.3
  •  glib2 2.0.7
  •  glib 1.2.10
  •  glibc 2.3.1
  •  gmp 4.1
  •  gnome-applets 2.0.3
  •  gnome-common 1.2.4
  •  gnome-desktop 2.0.9
  •  gnome-games 2.0.4
  •  gnome-media 2.0.2.5
  •  gnome-mime data 2.0.1
  •  gnome-panel 2.0.10
  •  gnome-session 2.0.8
  •  gnome-system monitor 2.0.2
  •  gnome-terminal 2.0.1
  •  gnome-utils 2.0.5
  •  gnome-vfs 2.0.4
  •  gnome-vfs extras 0.99.5
  •  gnome2-user-docs 2.0.1
  •  gnupg 1.2.1
  •  gpm 1.20.0
  •  gqview 1.2.0
  •  grep 2.5
  •  groff 1.17.2
  •  gtk-doc 0.9
  •  gtk2 2.0.9
  •  gtk 1.2.10
  •  gtk engines 1.9.0
  •  gv 3.5.8
  •  gvim 6.1
  •  gzip 1.2.4a
  •  hdparm 5.2
  •  icewm 1.2.2
  •  imagemagick 5.5.2
  •  imap 2002.RC5
  •  imlib 1.9.14
  •  initscripts 0.4
  •  intltool 0.22
  •  ion 20020207
  •  ipfm 0.11.4
  •  iptables 1.2.7
  •  ircd 2.10.3p3
  •  ircii-pana 1.0c19
  •  irssi 0.8.6
  •  ispell 3.2.06
  •  joe 2.9.7
  •  jpilot 0.99.3
  •  kbd 1.08
  •  kdeaddons 3.1rc5
  •  kdeadmin 3.1rc5
  •  kdeartwork 3.1rc5
  •  kdebase 3.1rc5
  •  kdebindings 3.1rc5
  •  kdeedu 3.1rc5
  •  kdegames 3.1rc5
  •  kdegraphics 3.1rc5
  •  kdelibs 3.1rc5
  •  kdemultimedia 3.1rc5
  •  kdenetwork 3.1rc5
  •  kdepim 3.1rc5
  •  kdesdk 3.1rc5
  •  kdetoys 3.1rc5
  •  kdeutils 3.1rc5
  •  kdevelop 2.1.4
  •  kdoc 2.0a54
  •  kernel 2.4.20
  •  koffice 1.2
  •  lame 3.92
  •  less 378
  •  lesstif 0.93.36
  •  lesstifextensions 9.0.9
  •  lftp 2.6.2
  •  libao 0.8.3
  •  libart lgpl 2.3.10
  •  libbonobo 2.0.0
  •  libbonoboui 2.0.3
  •  libgail-gnome 1.0.1
  •  libglade 2.0.1
  •  libgnome 2.0.5
  •  libgnomecanvas 2.0.4
  •  libgnomeprint 1.116.0
  •  libgnomeprintui 1.116.0
  •  libgnomeui 2.0.5
  •  libgtkhtml 2.0.2
  •  libgtop 2.0.0
  •  libidl2 0.8.0
  •  libidl 0.6.8
  •  libjpeg 6b
  •  libogg 1.0
  •  libpcap 0.7.1
  •  libpng 1.2.5
  •  librep 0.16.1
  •  librsvg 2.0.1
  •  libtiff 3.5.7
  •  libtool 1.4.3
  •  libungif 4.1.0
  •  libvorbis 1.0
  •  libwnck 0.17
  •  libxml2 2.4.24
  •  libxslt 1.0.22
  •  libzvt 2.0.1
  •  licq 1.2.0a
  •  lilo 22.3.4
  •  linc 0.5.2
  •  links 2.1pre7
  •  logrotate 3.6.5
  •  m4 1.4
  •  mad 0.14.2b
  •  mailman 2.0.13
  •  mailx 8.1.1
  •  make 3.80
  •  man 1.5k
  •  manpages 1.53
  •  mawk 1.3.3
  •  mc 4.5.55
  •  metacity 2.4.3
  •  mktemp 1.4
  •  mm 1.2.1
  •  modutils 2.4.22
  •  mozilla 1.2.1
  •  mpg321 0.2.10
  •  mplayer 0.90rc1
  •  mtx 1.2.17
  •  mutt 1.4
  •  mysql 3.23.54
  •  naim 0.11.4.12
  •  nano 1.0.9
  •  nasm 0.98.35
  •  nautilus 2.0.7
  •  ncurses 5.3
  •  net-tools 1.60
  •  netcat 1.10
  •  netkit-base 0.17
  •  netkit-ftp 0.17
  •  netkit-telnet 0.17
  •  nfs utils 1.0.1
  •  ngrep 1.40.1
  •  nmap 3.00
  •  openldap 2.1.8
  •  openssh 3.5p1
  •  openssl 0.9.6h
  •  orbit2 2.4.3
  •  pacman 2.2
  •  pango 1.0.5
  •  parted 1.6.4
  •  patch 2.5.4
  •  pccts 1.33mr
  •  pcmcia cs 3.2.0
  •  pcre 3.9
  •  perl 5.8.0
  •  php 4.2.3
  •  pilot link 0.11.5
  •  pine 4.51
  •  pkgconfig 0.14.0
  •  popt 1.7
  •  portmap 5beta
  •  ppp 2.4.1
  •  procinfo 18
  •  procmail 3.22
  •  procps 3.1.4
  •  proftpd 1.2.7
  •  psmisc 21.2
  •  python 2.2.2
  •  qt 3.1.1
  •  rar 3.0
  •  ratpoison 1.1.1
  •  rcs 5.7
  •  rdate 990821
  •  readline 4.3
  •  reiserfsprogs 3.6.4
  •  rep-gtk 0.17
  •  ripperx 2.4
  •  rsync 2.5.5
  •  ruby 1.6.7
  •  rxvt 2.6.4
  •  samba 2.2.7
  •  sawfish 1.2
  •  screen 3.9.11
  •  scrollkeeper 0.3.11
  •  sdl 1.2.5
  •  sed 4.0.5
  •  sh-utils 2.0
  •  shadow 4.0.3
  •  slocate 2.6
  •  snarf 7.0
  •  strace 4.4
  •  sudo 1.6.6
  •  sysklogd 1.4.1
  •  sysvinit 2.84
  •  tar 1.13
  •  tcl 8.4.1
  •  tcp_wrappers 7.6
  •  tcpdump 3.7.1
  •  tcsh 6.12
  •  textutils 2.1
  •  tin 1.4.6
  •  tk 8.4.1
  •  totem 0.10.0
  •  traceroute 1.4a12
  •  unzip 5.50
  •  util-linux 2.11y
  •  vim 6.1
  •  vorbis tools 1.0
  •  vsftpd 1.1.3
  •  w32codec 0.90pre7
  •  w3m 0.3
  •  wget 1.8.2
  •  which 2.14
  •  whois 4.5.33
  •  windowmaker 0.80.2
  •  wine 20021125
  •  wvdial 1.53
  •  wvstreams 3.70
  •  x2x 1.27
  •  xautolock 2.1
  •  xaw3d 1.5
  •  xchat 1.8.10
  •  xemacs-sumo 20020919
  •  xemacs 21.4.9
  •  xfce 3.8.18
  •  xfree86 4.2.1
  •  xine-lib 0.9.13
  •  xine-ui 0.9.13
  •  xlockmore 5.05
  •  xmlto 0.0.10
  •  xmms 1.2.7
  •  xplanet 0.94
  •  xscreensaver 4.06
  •  yelp 1.0.6
  •  yp tools 2.7
  •  ypbind mt 1.12
  •  ypserv 2.6
  •  zip 2.3
  •  zlib 1.1.4


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Arch Linux

Average rating
9.3
from 267 review(s)
Please selecting a rating in the range of 1-10.
Please write at least one sentence about the distribution while limiting your review to 2040 characters.


What are your thoughts on Arch Linux?
Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system.
Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review.

Version:

Rating:    out of 10

Comments (maximum 2,040 characters):



Past reviews - sort by:

Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2019-02-20
Votes: 0


 Perfect Linux distribution for advanced users, the cons of this distro is only on the installation because no gui just a command line but the wiki are good everything are on arch wiki.

Arch linux have a lot of packages both on official packages and aur but this is a rolling release distro, the update is very huge.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 8
Date: 2019-02-18
Votes: 2


 While it is, in my opinion, the best rolling release distribution out there, it lacks a lot of binary packages which forces you to use AUR (Arch User Repository) which basically is packaged, NOT AUDITED NOR MANAGED source code.
I for my part needed to recompile the kernel since the Arch devs, at some point removed security modules that i was using all the time.
I am a developer, i need good convenient GUI tools for version control and stuff that i code in C#, C++, php and HTML on a regular basis anything else i do in kate.
Arch lacks monodevelop, tortoisehg, tomoyo-linux and the list goes on and on, they just expect you to use the AUR and vote for the package to be (once in a blue moon) included in their community repo.
There are also binary packages in AUR but you can't trust them because this are some unknown users uploading binary executables without any validation system which is nuts.
These circumstances forced me to abandon ship with more than 20 AUR packages needed to be rebuilt after every system upgrade, even with 16 cores and 32 threads this process takes around 25 minutes, eats up a lot of power and is very tedious in it's nature since you can't code very well when the cooler gets too noisy.
I moved to a non Arch distro, i really really would like to write which one it is because it is perfect with all the packages covert but im not sure if this violates the distrowatch policy.



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2019-02-16
Votes: 2


 One of the best linux distro for almost every need.


Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 267 reader reviews of Arch Linux...

Copyright (C) 2001 - 2019 Atea Ataroa Limited. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Privacy policy. Change privacy settings.
DistroWatch.com is hosted at Copenhagen.

Contact, corrections and suggestions: Jesse Smith
Tips: BTC 1J5s35r7v8L3k2zmr3JmUfydzvdnsiNXm2 • PayPal.me/distrowatchweekly