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Arch Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Arch Linux

Arch Linux

Last Update: 2019-03-24 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 (566), 6 months: 16 (576), 3 months: 16 (584), 4 weeks: 16 (576), 1 week: 19 (539)

Average visitor rating: 9.33/10 from 270 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
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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.
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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 2019-03-24 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 2009.02
  Number of packages: 160 (download as TXT)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  •  acl 2.2.47-1
  •  aif 2009.01.24-1
  •  archlinux-installer 2009.02-2
  •  attr 2.4.41-1
  •  bash 3.2.048-3
  •  binutils 2.19.1-1
  •  bzip2 1.0.5-3
  •  coreutils 6.12-1
  •  cpio 2.9-3
  •  cracklib 2.8.13-1
  •  cryptsetup 1.0.6-2
  •  dash 0.5.4-4
  •  db 4.7.25-2
  •  dbus-core 1.2.4-1
  •  dcron 3.2-3
  •  ddrescue 1.7-1
  •  device-mapper 1.02.30-1
  •  dhcpcd 4.0.10-1
  •  dialog 1.1_20080819-1
  •  diffutils 2.8.1-6
  •  dmapi 2.2.8-3
  •  dmraid 1.0.0.rc14-2
  •  dnsutils 9.5.0.P2-1
  •  dosfstools 3.0.1-1
  •  e2fsprogs 1.41.3-2
  •  elinks 0.11.5-1
  •  expat 2.0.1-2
  •  file 5.00-1
  •  filesystem 2009.01-1
  •  findutils 4.4.0-1
  •  fuse 2.7.4-1
  •  gawk 3.1.6-2
  •  gcc-libs 4.3.3-1
  •  gdbm 1.8.3-5
  •  gen-init-cpio 2.6.17-3
  •  gettext 0.17-2
  •  glibc 2.9-4
  •  gnu-netcat 0.7.1-2
  •  gnutls 2.6.3-1
  •  gpm 1.20.5-2
  •  grep 2.5.3-3
  •  groff 1.20.1-1
  •  grub-gfx 0.97-11
  •  gzip 1.3.12-4
  •  hdparm 9.6-1
  •  heimdal 1.2.1-3
  •  inetutils 1.6-3
  •  initscripts 2009.01-1
  •  intel-536ep 2.56.76.0-59
  •  intel-536ep-utils 2.56.76.0-28
  •  intel-537 2.60.80.0-59
  •  intel-537-utils 2.60.80.0-28
  •  iputils 20071127-2
  •  ipw2100-fw 1.3-2
  •  ipw2200-fw 3.0-2
  •  iwlwifi-3945-ucode 15.28.2.8-1
  •  iwlwifi-4965-ucode 228.57.2.23-1
  •  iwlwifi-5000-ucode 5.4.A.11-1
  •  jfsutils 1.1.13-1
  •  kbd 1.14.1.20080309-2
  •  kernel-headers 2.6.27.6-2
  •  kernel26 2.6.28.4-1
  •  klibc 1.5.15-1
  •  klibc-extras 2.5-2
  •  klibc-kbd 1.15.20080312-8
  •  klibc-module-init-tools 3.5-1
  •  klibc-udev 135-2
  •  less 418-1
  •  lftp 3.7.8-1
  •  libarchive 2.6.1-1
  •  libdownload 1.3-1
  •  libevent 1.4.8-2
  •  libgcrypt 1.4.3-2
  •  libgpg-error 1.6-1
  •  libidn 1.11-1
  •  libldap 2.3.43-3
  •  libpcap 1.0.0-1
  •  libsasl 2.1.22-7
  •  libtasn1 1.7-1
  •  libusb 0.1.12-3
  •  licenses 2.4-1
  •  lilo 22.8-2
  •  logrotate 3.7.7-3
  •  lshwd 1.1.3-5
  •  lua 5.1.4-2
  •  lvm2 2.02.44-1
  •  lzo2 2.02-3
  •  mailx 8.1.1-5
  •  man 1.6f-2
  •  man-pages 3.17-1
  •  mdadm 2.6.8-1
  •  memtest86+ 2.11-1
  •  mkinitcpio 0.5.23-1
  •  mlocate 0.21.1-1
  •  module-init-tools 3.5-1
  •  nano 2.0.9-1
  •  ncurses 5.7-2
  •  ndiswrapper 1.53-4
  •  ndiswrapper-utils 1.53-1
  •  net-tools 1.60-13
  •  nfs-utils 1.1.3-2
  •  nfsidmap 0.21-2
  •  nmap 4.76-3
  •  nspr 4.7.3-1
  •  ntfs-3g 2009.1.1-1
  •  ntfsprogs 2.0.0-2
  •  openssh 5.1p1-2
  •  openssl 0.9.8j-1
  •  openvpn 2.0.9-4
  •  pacman 3.2.2-1
  •  pacman-mirrorlist 20090108-1
  •  pam 1.0.3-1
  •  parted 1.8.8-2
  •  pciutils 3.0.3-1
  •  pcmciautils 015-2
  •  pcre 7.8-1
  •  perl 5.10.0-4
  •  popt 1.14-1
  •  portmap 6.0-2
  •  ppp 2.4.4-7
  •  pptpclient 1.7.2-1
  •  procinfo 19-3
  •  procps 3.2.7-5
  •  psmisc 22.6-2
  •  readline 5.2.013-2
  •  reiserfsprogs 3.6.21-1
  •  rp-pppoe 3.10-1
  •  rt2500 1.1.0_B4-26
  •  rt2x00-rt61-fw 1.2-3
  •  rt2x00-rt71w-fw 1.8-3
  •  sdparm 1.03-2
  •  sed 4.1.5-3
  •  shadow 4.1.2.1-2
  •  speedtouch 1.3.1-1
  •  spidermonkey 1.7.0-1
  •  sqlite3 3.6.10-1
  •  squashfs-tools 3.4-1
  •  sysfsutils 2.1.0-4
  •  syslog-ng 2.1.3-2
  •  sysvinit 2.86-4
  •  tar 1.21-1
  •  tcp_wrappers 7.6-8
  •  tcpdump 4.0.0-2
  •  texinfo 4.13a-3
  •  tiacx 20080210-8
  •  tiacx-firmware 2-1
  •  tzdata 2009a-1
  •  udev 135-1
  •  unionfs-utils 200611041820-1
  •  usbutils 0.73-5
  •  util-linux-ng 2.14-1
  •  vi 7.2.65-1
  •  wget 1.11.4-1
  •  which 2.20-1
  •  wireless_tools 29-2
  •  wlan-ng26-utils 0.2.9-1
  •  wpa_supplicant 0.5.11-1
  •  xfsprogs 2.10.2-1
  •  zd1211-firmware 1.4-2
  •  zlib 1.2.3.3-3


Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Arch Linux

Average rating
9.3
from 270 review(s)
Please selecting a rating in the range of 1-10.
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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2019-03-18
Votes: 9


 Thank you, Arch Linux! System always up-to-date and never broken.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2019-03-09
Votes: 12


 Hard to install, but easy to use. The wiki is wonderful and helps with the first part. The stability is really good, but you should check the front page in case any manual intervention is needed before upgrading. It's probably the best distro for tweakers and people that like to know their system really well. It is also really nice to get vanilla software from upstream projects (ecept in very rare cases where change really is needed) and to get the new software fairly fast after release. This doesn't necessarily appeal to LTS users who don't want their workflow to ever change, but for those of us that like to hav the newest versions of software, it is really nice.

The repos have fewer titles than Debian-based distros, but they have most of what you would need. The AUR takes care of the few more esoteric packages you might want, but it is a bit of a risk to run user packaged software, so the smaller repos in Arch is a bit of a con. Otherwise, it is an ecellent distro.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2019-02-26
Votes: 4


 Good and stable system. Not recommended for new people that wish to go in Linux ASAP though -- the console installation is time consuming.


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See all 270 reader reviews of Arch Linux...

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