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Arch Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Arch Linux

Arch Linux


Last Update: 2026-02-04 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: 23 (409), 6 months: 15 (605), 3 months: 17 (587), 4 weeks: 20 (545), 1 week: 22 (598)

Average visitor rating: 9.2/10 from 288 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/DistroWatch Torrent Archive
Bug Tracker http://bugs.archlinux.org/
Related Websites Planet ArchArch Linux ARMWikipediaArch BrazilArch ChileArch DenmarkArch FranceArch GermanyArch HungaryArch ItalyArch RussiaArch SpainArch Turkey
Reviews 2024: MichlFranken (German)
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2016: Keith Curtis
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2010: LWN
2009: It's A Binary WorldDistroWatchAdventures in Open SourcePolishlinux
2008: Guia do PC (Portuguese) • DistroWatchOStaticBlogspotWordpress
2007: Blogspot
0.8: PolishlinuxPro-Linux (German) • Skatox (Spanish) • Tuxmachines
0.7: USALUGWordpressOSNewsLinMagazine (Hebrew) • Linux Magazine (PDF) • LinuxUser (German) • ABC Linuxu (Czech) • OSNewsLWNOSNews
0.5: OSNewsOSNews
0.3: OSNews
Where To Donate, Buy or Try

Recent Related News and Releases
  Releases announcements with 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:
 • 2026-01-12 Progress on the Arch Linux Package Management project
 • 2025-08-19 Arch Linux experiences denial of service attack
 • 2025-08-01 Arch User Repository hit by more malware
 • 2025-07-19 Arch Linux discovers and removes malware from AUR
 • 2025-06-20 Arch splits Plasma session options into separate packages
 • 2025-05-28 Arch Linux installer gains support for Btrfs snapshots
 • 2025-02-17 Arch Linux is retiring old repositories
 • 2024-11-18 Arch system installer gets new text-based menu system
 • 2024-05-22 Arch community discusses mirror requirements
 • 2023-04-11 Arch powers the PINE64 PineTab-V
 • More Arch headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
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  • 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 2026-02-04 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) 1400-1500 600-700                           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
Default Browser                               Default Browser
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
Package 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
Package
alsa-lib (1.2.15.3) 1.2.15.3 -- -- -- -- -- 1.0.14 1.0.13 1.0.8 1.0.2 0.9.4 0.9.0rc6 0.9.0rc2 -- -- alsa-lib (1.2.15.3)
amdgpu (25.0.0) 25.0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (25.0.0)
apparmor (4.1.4) 4.1.4                             apparmor (4.1.4)
apt (3.1.15) 3.1.15 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apt (3.1.15)
bash (5.3) 5.3 4.2 4.1 4.0 3.2.48 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.0 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05b 2.05a 2.05a bash (5.3)
bind (9.20.18) 9.20.18 -- -- -- -- -- 9.4.1-P1 9.4.0 9.3.0 9.2.3 9.2.2 9.2.1 9.2.1 -- -- bind (9.20.18)
chromium (144.0.7559.132) 144.0.7559.109 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (144.0.7559.132)
cinnamon (6.6.6) 6.6.6 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.6.6)
cups (2.4.16) 2.4.16 -- -- -- -- -- 1.2.12 1.2.10 1.1.23 1.1.20 1.1.19 1.1.17 1.1.15 -- -- cups (2.4.16)
e2fsprogs (1.47.3) 1.47.3 1.41.14 1.41.11 1.41.8 1.41.4 1.40.8 1.40.2 1.39 1.35 1.35 1.33 1.32 1.27 1.27 1.25 e2fsprogs (1.47.3)
ffmpeg (8.0.1) 8.0.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ffmpeg (8.0.1)
firefox (147.0.3) 147.0.2 -- -- -- -- -- 2.0.0.6 2.0.0.3 1.0 0.8 -- -- -- -- -- firefox (147.0.3)
flatpak (1.16.3) 1.16.3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.16.3)
freetype (2.14.1) 2.14.1 -- -- -- -- -- 2.3.5 2.3.1 2.1.9 2.1.7 2.1.4 2.0.9 2.0.9 -- -- freetype (2.14.1)
gcc (15.2.0) 15.2.1 -- 4.5.0 4.4.1 -- 4.3.1 4.2.1 4.1.2 3.4.3 3.3.3 3.3 3.2.1 2.95.3 2.95.3 2.95.3 gcc (15.2.0)
gimp (3.0.8) 3.0.8 -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.17 2.2.13 2.2.2 2.0pre3 1.2.5 1.2.3 1.2.3 -- -- gimp (3.0.8)
git (2.53.0) 2.53.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- git (2.53.0)
glibc (2.43) 2.42 2.14 2.11.1 2.10.1 2.9 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.3.4 2.3.2 2.3.2 2.3.1 2.2.5 2.2.5 2.2.5 glibc (2.43)
gnome-shell (49.3) 49.3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (49.3)
grub (2.14) 2.14 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.95 0.94 0.93 -- -- -- -- grub (2.14)
gtk (4.20.3) 4.20.3 -- -- -- -- -- 2.10.13 2.10.11 2.6.1 2.2.4 2.2.2 2.0.9 -- -- -- gtk (4.20.3)
httpd (2.4.66) 2.4.66 -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.4 2.2.4 2.0.52 2.0.48 -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.66)
inkscape (1.4.3) 1.4.3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4.3)
kmod (34.2) 34.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- kmod (34.2)
krita (5.2.15) 5.2.15 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (5.2.15)
LibreOffice (26.2.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- LibreOffice (26.2.0)
Package 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
Package
libselinux (3.10) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- libselinux (3.10)
linux (6.18.8) 6.18.7 3.0.3 2.6.33.4 2.6.30.4 2.6.28.4 2.6.25.6 2.6.22.1 2.6.20.4 2.6.10 2.6.3 2.4.21 2.4.20 2.4.19 2.4.18i 2.4.18 linux (6.18.8)
mariadb (12.1.2) 12.1.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (12.1.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.28.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (25.3.4) 25.3.4 -- -- -- -- -- 6.5.2 6.5.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mesa (25.3.4)
mysql (9.6.0) -- -- -- -- -- -- 5.0.45 5.0.37 4.1.9 4.0.18 4.0.13 3.23.54 3.23.51 -- -- mysql (9.6.0)
nautilus (49.4) 49.4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.4 2.0.7 -- -- -- nautilus (49.4)
NVIDIA (590.48.01) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (590.48.01)
openjdk (25) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (25)
openssh (10.2p1) 10.2p1 5.8p2 5.4p1 5.2p1 5.1p1 5.0p1 4.6p1 4.6p1 3.9p1 3.8p1 3.6.1p2 3.5p1 3.4p1 -- 3.1p1 openssh (10.2p1)
openssl (3.6.1) 3.6.1 1.0.0d 1.0.0 0.9.8k 0.9.8l 0.9.8h 0.9.8e 0.9.8e 0.9.7e 0.9.6l 0.9.6i 0.9.6h 0.9.6e -- 0.9.6c openssl (3.6.1)
perl (5.42.0) 5.42.0 5.14.1 5.10.1 5.10.0 5.10.0 5.10.0 5.8.8 5.8.8 5.8.6 5.8.3 5.8.0 5.8.0 5.8.0 5.6.1 5.6.1 perl (5.42.0)
php (8.5.2) 8.5.2 -- -- -- -- -- 5.2.3 5.2.1 5.0.3 4.3.4 4.3.2 4.2.3 4.2.2 -- -- php (8.5.2)
plasma-desktop (6.5.5) 6.5.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.5.5)
postfix (3.10.7) 3.10.7 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.10.7)
postgresql (18.1) 18.1 -- -- -- -- -- 8.2.4 8.2.3 7.4.6 7.4.1 7.3.3 -- -- -- -- postgresql (18.1)
Python (3.14.3) 3.14.2 -- -- -- -- -- 2.5.1 2.5 2.4 2.3.3 2.2.3 2.2.2 2.2.1 -- -- Python (3.14.3)
qt (6.10.2) 6.10.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.3.3 3.3.0 3.1.2 3.1.1 3.0.5 -- -- qt (6.10.2)
samba (4.23.5) 4.23.5 -- -- -- -- -- 3.0.25b 3.0.24 3.0.10 3.0.2 2.2.8 2.2.7 2.2.5 -- -- samba (4.23.5)
systemd (259) 259 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- systemd (259)
thunderbird (147.0.1) 147.0.1 -- -- -- -- -- 2.0.0.6 1.5.0.10 1.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- thunderbird (147.0.1)
vim (9.1) 9.1 -- -- -- -- -- 7.1 7.0 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.0 vim (9.1)
vlc (3.0.23) 3.0.21 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vlc (3.0.23)
wayland (1.24.0) 1.24.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.24.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.1) 4.20.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.8.18 4.0.3 3.8.18 3.8.18 -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.1)
xorg-server (21.1.21) 21.1.21 -- -- -- -- -- 1.2.0 1.2.0 (6.8.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- xorg-server (21.1.21)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Arch Linux

Average rating
9.2
from 288 review(s)



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

Your review (minimum 250 words):




Past reviews - sort by:

Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-01-26
Votes: 0


Coming from Debian, which I used for years, I have to say I’m genuinely impressed with Arch Linux. I left Debian mainly because of new hardware; the stable branch simply doesn’t cater well to that, and I didn’t feel like waiting around. Arch, by contrast, was straightforward to set up, and updates, via both pacman and yay, have been fast and reliable so far. I ended up choosing Arch after trying Void, openSUSE Tumbleweed, and Fedora, all of which were interesting in their own ways, but none quite stuck.

I’m deliberately trying to limit how much I install from the AUR, mostly because I see it as a bit of the Wild West. From the official repositories, I use AbiWord, Audacity, FileZilla, Firefox, Foliate, GIMP, Grsync, Midnight Commander, qBittorrent, Quod Libet, Scribus, Signal, Shortwave, Steam, VLC, and Zim Wiki. From the AUR, I use yay itself, autofs, Brother-HL2350 drivers, Gear Lever, Chrome (for work), LocalSend, and Zotero. I also rely on a couple of AppImages and some Flatpaks, including Flatseal, GPU Screen Recorder, Heroic, Kdenlive, Parabolic, and RustDesk.

Arch is, of course, a minimal distribution in the truest sense: it lets you decide exactly what goes on your system. That aspect strongly reminds me of how I’ve always installed Debian. Archinstall deserves a special mention, it’s a logically structured and surprisingly pleasant installation tool, which feels very un-Arch in the best possible way.

That said, Arch isn’t for Linux newcomers. It’s for people with general Linux knowledge who want full control over their system. There’s no hand-holding, and you’ll almost certainly end up consulting the Arch Wiki, a fantastic resource, even if I personally find it a bit convoluted at times and wish some explanations were clearer.

For now, I’m sticking with Arch as long as it remains reliable and doesn’t break. Coming from Debian’s rock-solid stability, even in Testing, I still feel slightly on edge, half-expecting something to explode after an update. But so far, Arch Linux has delivered. No emergency rollbacks, and that’s reason enough for me to stay.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-01-08
Votes: 29


SHOCKINGLY reliable
I've been ping-ponging between Windows and Ubuntu and Ubuntu-derivatives for many years, Ubuntu always gave me trouble in the most peculiar ways and I have always assumed it was just the way Linux is.
About a year ago I decided to give Arch a try to see what all the fuss was about, with everyone talking about it being bleeding-edge and customizable.
Frankly, it just works, I've encountered exactly one system breaking problem and fixing it was as easy as reverting with timeshift, checking the Arch homepage and following the steps they described.
The fact that you need to install everything manually is not difficult, but it is a hassle, it's just a matter of following the excellent wiki and getting it out of the way (or just using archinstall, but the Arch enthusiast crowd hates when you do that, owing to all the people asking questions in their forums going "I don't know what my configs are or what software I'm using, whatever archinstall put there")

The only reason I wouldn't recommend it to someone new to Linux is that the initial setup is daunting, for anyone else it's brilliant.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 9
Date: 2025-12-19
Votes: 9


After trying a lot of Linux’s distro’s I stayed with Archlinux. I justed began using Linux fully this year due better support of Steam on Linux. So far I have the best experience and performance with Archlinux on older systems and new.

I have tried Kubuntu and Ubuntu in the past, also a great stable (OS) Operating Systems. If you want easymode, stability and everything prepared for you, then I can advise Fedora, Ubuntu or Manjaro/EndeavourOS/CachyOS. With guides on the internet and youtube, you are able to get a great Linux installation! If you’re curious, don’t let fear or other comments get to you installing Archlinux. Experience it yourself. Using network cable and enter Archinstall in the command line is the easyway.

Why Archlinux?
- I have tried many other distro’s but I don’t like man in the middle updates and I always want the latest stable security updates/kernel, software, etc.. (Archlinux has a stable release channel, just like other linux distro's);
- The other Linux distro’s are somehow using more resources, then Archlinux, also the other Linux distro's needed a few adjustments or KDE Plasma and Gnome sometimes reacted differently.
- So far i don't see any bloatware, you can fully decide yourself which user interfaces or applications are installed
- Updating Archlinux is quite easy. Sudo Pacman -Syuu or Arch-update (AUR package) is working great for me; I have even used Pamac (Manjaro); but I prefer Arch-update (AUR package)
- With every linux distro you need Rufus or Linux distro provider USB installer; similar like Windows or MacOSX, there are enough guides for this. I don’t think this is a reason for excuses anymore
- I’m running steam with default settings from the Archlinux repository; as Flatpak wasn’t stable for me on linux distro's and I needed to use commandline stuff for each game
- As you are reading, yes i'm using AUR, but I keep this to the minimum (Arch-update, Postmaster, secureboot, AppAnvil, Grub Customizer, Brave (Browser)). Yay or Paru was easy to use, similar as Pacman. With other applications i use Archlinux repository and Flatpak. For virtualization i can advise Qemu with VirtManager, or Incus.

Good luck!


Was this review helpful? Yes No

See all 288 reader reviews of Arch Linux...



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