2/18/2017 Arch Linux - ArchWiki

ArchLinux
FromArchWiki

ArchLinuxisanindependentlydeveloped,x8664generalpurposeGNU/Linuxdistributionthatstrivesto
providethelateststableversionsofmostsoftwarebyfollowingarollingreleasemodel.Thedefaultinstallationis
aminimalbasesystem,configuredbytheusertoonlyaddwhatispurposelyrequired.

Contents
1Principles
1.1Simplicity
1.2Modernity
1.3Pragmatism
1.4Usercentrality
1.5Versatility
2History
2.1Theearlyyears
2.2Themiddleyears
2.3BirthoftheArchWiki
2.4ThedawningoftheageofA.Griffin
2.5ArchInstallScripts
2.6Thesystemdera
2.7Dropofi686support

Principles
Simplicity

ArchLinuxdefinessimplicityaswithoutunnecessaryadditionsormodifications.Itshipssoftwareas
releasedbytheoriginaldevelopers(upstream)withminimaldistributionspecific(downstream)changes:patches
notacceptedbyupstreamareavoided,andArch'sdownstreampatchesconsistalmostentirelyofbackported
bugfixesthatareobsoletedbytheproject'snextrelease.

Inasimilarfashion,Archshipstheconfigurationfilesprovidedbyupstreamwithchangeslimitedtodistribution
specificissueslikeadjustingthesystemfilepaths.Itdoesnotaddautomationfeaturessuchasenablingaservice
simplybecausethepackagewasinstalled.Packagesareonlysplitwhencompellingadvantagesexist,suchasto
savediskspaceinparticularlybadcasesofwaste.GUIconfigurationutilitiesarenotofficiallyprovided,
encouraginguserstoperformmostsystemconfigurationfromtheshellandatexteditor.

Modernity

ArchLinuxstrivestomaintainthelateststablereleaseversionsofitssoftwareaslongassystemicpackage
breakagecanbereasonablyavoided.Itisbasedonarollingreleasesystem,whichallowsaonetimeinstallation
withcontinuousupgrades.

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ArchincorporatesmanyofthenewerfeaturesavailabletoGNU/Linuxusers,includingthesystemdinitsystem,
modernfilesystems,LVM2,softwareRAID,udevsupportandinitcpio(withmkinitcpio),aswellasthelatest
availablekernels.

Pragmatism

Archisapragmaticdistributionratherthananideologicalone.Theprincipleshereareonlyusefulguidelines.
Ultimately,designdecisionsaremadeonacasebycasebasisthroughdeveloperconsensus.Evidencebased
technicalanalysisanddebatearewhatmatter,notpoliticsorpopularopinion.

ThelargenumberofpackagesandbuildscriptsinthevariousArchLinuxrepositoriesofferfreeandopen
sourcesoftwareforthosewhopreferit,aswellasproprietarysoftwarepackagesforthosewhoembrace
functionalityoverideology.

Usercentrality

WhereasmanyGNU/Linuxdistributionsattempttobemoreuserfriendly,ArchLinuxhasalwaysbeen,and
shallalwaysremainusercentric.Thedistributionisintendedtofilltheneedsofthosecontributingtoit,rather
thantryingtoappealtoasmanyusersaspossible.ItistargetedattheproficientGNU/Linuxuser,oranyone
withadoityourselfattitudewhoiswillingtoreadthedocumentation,andsolvetheirownproblems.

Allusersareencouragedtoparticipateandcontributetothedistribution.Reportingandhelpingfixbugs
(https://bugs.archlinux.org/)ishighlyvaluedandpatchesimprovingpackagesorthecoreprojects
(https://projects.archlinux.org/)areveryappreciated:Arch'sdevelopersarevolunteersandactivecontributors
willoftenfindthemselvesbecomingpartofthatteam.ArcherscanfreelycontributepackagestotheArchUser
Repository,improvetheArchWikidocumentation,providetechnicalassistancetoothersorjustexchange
opinionsintheforums(https://bbs.archlinux.org/),mailinglists(https://mailman.archlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/),or
IRCchannels.ArchLinuxistheoperatingsystemofchoiceformanypeoplearoundtheglobe,andthereexist
severalinternationalcommunitiesthatofferhelpandprovidedocumentationinmanydifferentlanguages.

Versatility

ArchLinuxisageneralpurposedistribution.Uponinstallation,onlyacommandlineenvironmentisprovided:
ratherthantearingoutunneededandunwantedpackages,theuserisofferedtheabilitytobuildacustomsystem
bychoosingamongthousandsofhighqualitypackagesprovidedintheofficialrepositoriesforthex8664
architecture.Supportfori686willcease(https://www.archlinux.org/news/phasingouti686support/)in
November2017.

Archisbackedbypacman,alightweight,simpleandfastpackagemanagerthatallowstoupgradetheentire
systemwithonecommand.ArchalsoprovidestheArchBuildSystem,aportslikesystemtomakeiteasyto
buildandinstallpackagesfromsource,whichcanalsobesynchronizedwithonecommand.Inaddition,the
ArchUserRepositorycontainsmanythousandsmoreofcommunitycontributedPKGBUILDscriptsfor
compilinginstallablepackagesfromsourceusingthemakepkgapplication.Itisalsopossibleforuserstobuild
andmaintaintheirowncustomrepositorieswithease.

History
Theearlyyears

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux 2/4
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JuddVinet,aCanadianprogrammerandoccasionalguitarist,begandevelopingArchLinuxinearly2001.Its
firstformalrelease,ArchLinux0.1,wasonMarch11,2002.InspiredbytheelegantsimplicityofSlackware
(http://www.slackware.com/),BSD,PLDLinux(http://www.pldlinux.org/),andCRUX(http://crux.nu/),and
yetdisappointedwiththeirlackofpackagemanagementatthetimeVinetbuilthisowndistributiononsimilar
principlesasthosedistros.But,healsowroteapackagemanagementprogramcalledpacman,toautomatically
handlepackageinstallation,removal,andupgrades.

Themiddleyears

TheearlyArchcommunitygrewsteadily,asevidencedbythischartofforumposts,users,andbugreports
(https://dev.archlinux.org/~dan/archstats.svg).Moreover,itwasfromitsearlydaysknownasanopen,friendly,
andhelpfulcommunity(http://www.osnews.com/story/4827).

BirthoftheArchWiki

On20050708theArchWikiwasfirstsetupontheMediaWikiengine.

ThedawningoftheageofA.Griffin

Inlate2007,JuddVinetretiredfromactiveparticipationasanArchdeveloper,andsmoothlytransferredthe
reinsovertoAmericanprogrammerAaronGriffin(https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=38024),aka
Phrakture,whoremainstheleadArchdevelopertothisday.

Overtheyears,theArchcommunitycontinuedtogrowandmature,andhasrecentlyreceivedanunusual
amountofattentionandreviewforaLinuxdistroofitsmodestsize.

Archdevelopersremainunpaid,parttimevolunteers,andtherearenoprospectsformonetizingArchLinux,so
itwillremainfreeinallsensesoftheword.ThosecurioustoperusemoredetailaboutArch'sdevelopment
historycanbrowsetheArchentryintheInternetArchiveWaybackMachine
(http://web.archive.org/web/*/archlinux.org)andtheArchLinuxNewsArchives
(https://www.archlinux.org/news/).

ArchInstallScripts

The20120715releaseoftheinstallationimagedeprecated(https://www.archlinux.org/news/installmedia
20120715released/)themenudrivenArchInstallationFrameworkinfavoroftheArchInstallScripts.

Thesystemdera

Between2012and2013thetraditionalSystemVinitsystemwasreplacedbysystemd.[1]
(https://www.archlinux.org/news/installmedium20121006introducessystemd/)[2]
(https://www.archlinux.org/news/systemdisnowthedefaultonnewinstallations/)[3]
(https://www.archlinux.org/news/endofinitscriptssupport/)[4](https://www.archlinux.org/news/finalsysvinit
deprecationwarning/)

Dropofi686support

On20170125itwasannounced(https://www.archlinux.org/news/phasingouti686support/)thatsupportfor
thei686architecturewouldbephasedoutduetoitsdecreasingpopularityamongthedevelopersandthe
community.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux 3/4
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Category: AboutArch

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