The KISS (keep it simple, stupid) philosophy of Arch Linux was devised around the year 2002 by Judd Vinet, a Canadian computer science graduate who launched the distribution in the same year. For several years it lived as a marginal project designed for intermediate and advanced Linux users and only shot to stardom when it began promoting itself as a "rolling-release" distribution that only needs to be installed once and which is then kept up-to-date thanks to its powerful package manager and an always fresh software repository. As a result, Arch Linux "releases" are few and far between and are now limited to a basic installation CD that is issued only when considerable changes in the base system warrant a new install media.
Besides featuring the much-loved "rolling-release" update mechanism, Arch Linux is also renowned for its fast and powerful package manager called "Pacman", the ability to install software packages from source code, easy creation of binary packages thanks to its AUR infrastructure, and the ever increasing software repository of well-tested packages. Its highly-regarded documentation, complemented by the excellent Arch Linux Handbook makes it possible for even less experienced Linux users to install and customise the distribution. The powerful tools available at the user's disposal mean that the distro is infinitely customisable to the most minute detail and that no two installations can possibly be the same.
On the negative side, any rolling-release update mechanism has its dangers: a human mistake creeps in, a library or dependency goes missing, a new version of an application already in the repository has a yet-to-be-reported critical bug... It's not unheard of to end up with an unbootable system following a Pacman upgrade. As such, Arch Linux is a kind of distribution that requires its users to be alert and to have enough knowledge to fix any such possible problems. Also, the infrequent install media releases mean that sometimes it is no longer possible to use the old media to install the distribution due to important system changes or lack of hardware support in the older Linux kernel.
- Pros: Excellent software management infrastructure; unparalleled customisation and tweaking options; superb online documentation
- Cons: Occasional instability and risk of breakdown
- Software package management: "Pacman" using TAR.XZ packages
- Available editions: Minimal installation CD and network installation CD images for 32-bit (i686) and 64-bit (x86_64) processors
- Suggested Arch-based and Arch-like alternatives: Manjaro Linux (live with Cinnamon, Enlightenment, KDE, LXDE, MATE, Openbox, Xfce), Antergos (live with GNOME 3), ArchBang Linux (lightweight with Openbox), Chakra GNU/Linux (live CD with KDE), Bridge Linux (live with GNOME, KDE, LXDE and Xfce), ParabolaGNU/Linux (free software), KaOS (live with KDE)
Arch Linux (an example desktop)
Source from distrowatch
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