Arch Linux based Distros¶
will be your best choice if you have prior experience with Linux and can get behind the concept of rolling releases.
Arch based distros are fast, have a simple structure and allow their users great control over the OS.
Another benefit is the Arch User Repository (AUR) with a massive amount of user-maintained package builds available to be compiled using an AUR helper like paru.
Useful Links:
Arch Linux News for package updates that require manual intervention and other related Announcements.
There a two Arch based Distros available:
Arch Linux ARM (Alarm)¶
archlinuxarm.org
is community port attempting to bring Arch Linux to ARMv7 and v8 based devices.
Benefits:¶
- Fast, very customizable base OS
- Barebones images, ship without any DE or WM installed
- Arch Wiki
- Rolling release model should provide up-to-date packages
Drawbacks:¶
- Can be overwhelming for new users
- Barebones images, ship without any DE or WM installed
- Good chance of breaking your system if you mess around & don't know what youre doing
- Rolling updates can introduce breaking changes, bugs
- Repositories have been quite stale for a while, shipping outdated packages that are behind regular Arch
pipa-mainline, 6.15.11
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Artix Linux ARM (ARMtix)¶
armtixlinux.org
is the ARM port of the Artix Linux Distro, a fork of Arch that doesnt use the Systemd init system, instead offering the user a choice between multiple init systems.
Benefits:¶
- Same as Alarm
- No Systemd (Maintainer provides images shipping with
dinit,openrc,runit&s6)
Drawbacks:¶
- Same as Alarm
- No Systemd (Learning curve if youre used to Systemd based OSs, packages may not be compatible / need adjustments for your init system)
Useful links:
Auris, the Artix User Repository of Init Scripts
main: pipa-mainline, 6.15.11
strawberry: pipaDB, 7.0.8
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