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Arch Linux RSS Feed DistroWatch.com: Arch Linux

Arch Linux


Last Update: 2026-08-11 01:15 UTC


arch-2026.07.01 (more screenshots in our gallery)  
Image 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: 14 (642), 6 months: 12 (674), 3 months: 17 (458), 4 weeks: 24 (379), 1 week: 27 (402)

Average visitor rating: 9.1/10 from 302 review(s).


Arch Linux Summary
Distribution Arch Linux
Home Page http://www.archlinux.org/
Mailing Lists https://lists.archlinux.org/mailman3/lists/
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)
2023: DistroWatch
2019: Ordinatechnic
2016: Keith Curtis
2015: DistroWatchKeith CurtisLWN
2011: Guillermo Garron
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:
 • 2026-08-03 Arch project to block new pushes to AUR
 • 2026-06-19 Arch User Repository hit with more attacks
 • 2026-06-12 Arch Linux reports malicious incident in AUR repository
 • 2026-04-06 Arch Linux changes firewall packages
 • 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
 • More Arch headlines...

Table Notes and Explanations

(Please refer to the table below.)
  • Select view:
  • 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 2026-08-11 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 Format pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg pkg Package Format
Package Management                               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
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 (1.2.16.1) 1.2.16.1 -- -- -- -- -- 1.0.14 1.0.13 1.0.8 1.0.2 0.9.4 0.9.0rc6 0.9.0rc2 -- -- alsa-lib (1.2.16.1)
amdgpu (25.0.0) 25.0.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- amdgpu (25.0.0)
apparmor (5.0.2) 4.1.7                             apparmor (5.0.2)
apt (3.3.2) 3.3.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- apt (3.3.2)
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 (9.20.26) 9.20.26 -- -- -- -- -- 9.4.1-P1 9.4.0 9.3.0 9.2.3 9.2.2 9.2.1 9.2.1 -- -- bind (9.20.26)
chromium (151.0.7922.108) 151.0.7922.108 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- chromium (151.0.7922.108)
cinnamon (6.6.9) 6.6.9 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- cinnamon (6.6.9)
cups (2.4.19) 2.4.19 -- -- -- -- -- 1.2.12 1.2.10 1.1.23 1.1.20 1.1.19 1.1.17 1.1.15 -- -- cups (2.4.19)
e2fsprogs (1.47.4) 1.47.4 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 (1.47.4)
ffmpeg (9.0) 9.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ffmpeg (9.0)
firefox (153.0.4) 153.0.3 -- -- -- -- -- 2.0.0.6 2.0.0.3 1.0 0.8 -- -- -- -- -- firefox (153.0.4)
flatpak (1.18.1) 1.18.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- flatpak (1.18.1)
freetype (2.14.3) 2.14.3 -- -- -- -- -- 2.3.5 2.3.1 2.1.9 2.1.7 2.1.4 2.0.9 2.0.9 -- -- freetype (2.14.3)
gcc (16.2.0) 16.1.1 -- 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 (16.2.0)
gimp (3.2.4) 3.2.4 -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.17 2.2.13 2.2.2 2.0pre3 1.2.5 1.2.3 1.2.3 -- -- gimp (3.2.4)
git (2.55.0) 2.55.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- git (2.55.0)
glibc (2.44) 2.44 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 (2.44)
gnome-shell (50.4) 50.4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- gnome-shell (50.4)
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 (4.22.4) 4.22.4 -- -- -- -- -- 2.10.13 2.10.11 2.6.1 2.2.4 2.2.2 2.0.9 -- -- -- gtk (4.22.4)
httpd (2.4.68) 2.4.68 -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.4 2.2.4 2.0.52 2.0.48 -- -- -- -- -- httpd (2.4.68)
hyprland (0.56.2) 0.56.2                             hyprland (0.56.2)
inkscape (1.4.4) 1.4.4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- inkscape (1.4.4)
kmod (34.2) 34.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- kmod (34.2)
krita (6.0.3) 6.0.3 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- krita (6.0.3)
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
LibreOffice (26.2.5) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- LibreOffice (26.2.5)
libselinux (3.11) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- libselinux (3.11)
linux (7.1.8) 7.1.6 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 (7.1.8)
mariadb (12.3.2) 12.3.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mariadb (12.3.2)
mate-desktop (1.28.2) 1.28.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mate-desktop (1.28.2)
mesa (26.2.0) 26.1.6 -- -- -- -- -- 6.5.2 6.5.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- mesa (26.2.0)
nautilus (50.2.2) 50.2.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 2.2.4 2.0.7 -- -- -- nautilus (50.2.2)
NVIDIA (610.57.04) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- NVIDIA (610.57.04)
openjdk (26.0.2) -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- openjdk (26.0.2)
openssh (10.5p1) 10.4p1 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 (10.5p1)
openssl (4.0.1) 3.6.3 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 (4.0.1)
perl (5.44.0) 5.42.2 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 (5.44.0)
php (8.5.9) 8.5.9 -- -- -- -- -- 5.2.3 5.2.1 5.0.3 4.3.4 4.3.2 4.2.3 4.2.2 -- -- php (8.5.9)
plasma-desktop (6.7.4) 6.7.4 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- plasma-desktop (6.7.4)
postfix (3.11.6) 3.11.5 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- postfix (3.11.6)
postgresql (18.4) 18.4 -- -- -- -- -- 8.2.4 8.2.3 7.4.6 7.4.1 7.3.3 -- -- -- -- postgresql (18.4)
Python (3.14.7) 3.14.6 -- -- -- -- -- 2.5.1 2.5 2.4 2.3.3 2.2.3 2.2.2 2.2.1 -- -- Python (3.14.7)
qt (6.11.1) 6.11.1 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.3.3 3.3.0 3.1.2 3.1.1 3.0.5 -- -- qt (6.11.1)
samba (4.24.5) 4.24.5 -- -- -- -- -- 3.0.25b 3.0.24 3.0.10 3.0.2 2.2.8 2.2.7 2.2.5 -- -- samba (4.24.5)
systemd (261.2) 261.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- systemd (261.2)
thunderbird (153.0.3) 153.0 -- -- -- -- -- 2.0.0.6 1.5.0.10 1.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- thunderbird (153.0.3)
vim (9.2) 9.2 -- -- -- -- -- 7.1 7.0 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.0 vim (9.2)
vlc (3.0.23) 3.0.23_2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- vlc (3.0.23)
wayland (1.26.0) 1.26.0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- wayland (1.26.0)
xfdesktop (4.20.2) 4.20.2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 3.8.18 4.0.3 3.8.18 3.8.18 -- -- -- xfdesktop (4.20.2)
xorg-server (21.1.24) 21.1.24 -- -- -- -- -- 1.2.0 1.2.0 (6.8.1) -- -- -- -- -- -- xorg-server (21.1.24)

Reader Ratings
Reader supplied reviews for Arch Linux

Average rating
9.1
from 302 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

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Past reviews - sort by:

Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-08-09
Country: United States
Votes: 2


Arch Linux is simply brilliant. With Arch Linux being a rolling release, I have found it to work great with any x86 system.
Historically Arch has been an install it yourself distribution. Having the freedom to decide want and how things are installed and setup on your own system is extremely liberating. Now days Arch is packaged with a very basic limited third party project installer script, but I used RichARCH btw. With it I was able to get Arch Linux up and running simply and quickly. It also has Hyprland and Niri ricing options.


Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-08-09
Country: United States
Votes: 2


The best decision I could have made over the past few months was stepping a little outside my comfort zone by moving away from Mint and giving Arch a try. And don't get me wrong, Mint is excellent and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but with Arch I have much more control over what goes into my system. I can save quite a bit of space by avoiding drivers, programs, and other utilities that I simply wouldn't use, while also having fewer unnecessary services running in the background, since I can pick and choose exactly what I want installed.

Another great thing is the much wider variety of packages available, and it's usually quite easy to find a build recipe for something that isn't in the official repositories. Even when you can't find one, it's not particularly difficult to learn how to write one yourself. The Arch Wiki and forums will probably have just about all the information you'll need to get it done.

The mirrors are another nice bonus. There are hundreds of them around the world, so it's very easy to find a fast one relatively close to you. This also greatly reduces the chances of a download failing halfway through an update. But, in my opinion, the best part is that Arch is constantly updated, which means you can get the latest versions of your packages very quickly. This also helps avoid being stuck on older versions with unresolved security issues.

Of course, this comes with a trade-off: occasionally, a package might break. Fortunately, that hasn't happened to me so far. The system has been running extremely well for the past few months, and I haven't experienced a single crash. I'm extremely satisfied with the experience so far!



Was this review helpful? Yes No
Version: current
Rating: 10
Date: 2026-08-08
Country: New Zealand
Votes: 2


Arch is probably the most "comfortable" distribution I've ever used. Even when I try out, use, and spend some time with other distros, this is the one I always end up coming back to.

The flexibility of choosing exactly what you want in your system is something that's really hard to give up. And with that comes an incredible amount of customization. You're not tied to a bunch of predefined configurations, so you can, and are encouraged to, do things your own way. All of this while the distribution still follows its philosophy of keeping things simple. So, contrary to what some people still think, you don't need to be a computer science expert to install and configure everything properly.

It's also impossible not to mention the excellent selection of packages available in the official repositories, along with the AUR. Despite going through a few rough patches over the past few months, the AUR is still incredibly useful and important. It's great to look for a package and find that there's probably already a PKGBUILD ready for you. Just run a command, sit back, and wait for the "magic" to happen while you have a cup of coffee.

Another huge strength of the distribution, at least for me, is its absolutely fantastic wiki, probably the best in the entire Linux ecosystem. These "little" details make the whole experience so much more comfortable, and they end up making it surprisingly hard to leave. When you put all of these things together, it's easy to understand why Arch has such a strong appeal and why so many people end up sticking with it for years.

And that's probably what makes Arch so special to me. It gives you a lot of freedom without making things unnecessarily complicated, while also providing an excellent ecosystem and all the tools you need to build the system you actually want. Arch is definitely one of those distributions that I think every Linux user should try at least once in their life.


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See all 302 reader reviews of Arch Linux...



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