Arch Linux
| Arch Linux | |
|---|---|
|
|
 Arch Linux with the desktop environment Gnome (3.2) |
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| developer | 2002-2007: Judd Vinet; 2007-2020: Aaron Griffin; since 2020: Levente Polyak |
| License (s) | GPL and other licenses |
| Current version | Rolling Release (monthly snapshot for installation) |
| ancestry |
GNU / Linux ↳ Arch |
| Architecture (s) | AMD64 , ARM (unofficial) |
|
www.archlinux.org www.archlinux.de |
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Arch Linux [ ɑːrtʃ ˈlinʊks ] is an AMD64- optimized Linux distribution with rolling releases whose development team follows the KISS principle (“keep it simple, stupid”). In favor of simplicity, graphical installation and configuration aids are dispensed with. Because of this minimalist approach, Arch Linux can be seen as a distribution for advanced users. Arch Linux was introduced by Judd Vinet in early 2001, inspired by Crux and BSD . On October 1, 2007, Vinet announced his resignation as project manager, and was succeeded by Aaron Griffin.
Arch Linux is being further developed by a core team of around 25 and helpers from the growing community, so-called "Trusted Users". All distribution-specific developments are published under the GPL .
Special features of the distribution
Arch Linux was completely redeveloped with Linux From Scratch , but is based on Crux and other distributions. For Arch building a was Slackware -Linux respectively a BSD system, to feature a Debian -like package management and build system of Gentoo combined. Similar to Gentoo, the releases are only snapshots of the current state of development ( rolling release ).
Since October 2012, systemd has also been used as the init system for a new installation . There are no configuration programs for installing and setting up the basic system or for application and server programs; instead, reference is made to the original documentation and configuration, so that general howtos and instructions can be used.
philosophy
Arch Linux was developed as the "basic operating system for advanced users". The Arch Linux philosophy is based on the following two points:
- Keep it simple, follow the KISS principle . Simplicity is defined here as
without unnecessary additions or changes
. - Do not use any GUI tools for configuration that hide the actual processes from the user.
Package management
Arch Linux is designed to use binary packages. Basically, packages are organized with the specially developed package manager Pacman . In addition, the Arch Build System (ABS) can be used to create new packages for software that is only available in source code.
Pacman
Pacman is a package manager specially developed for Arch Linux, but it is also used in other Linux distributions. Pacman can resolve dependencies and automatically download, install, update and remove all necessary packages from the Arch repositories , comparable to Debian's APT . The special thing about Pacman is its consistent use even with local sources, which are mostly available as packages created by the Arch Build System (ABS).
Up to version 4 of the Pacman package manager, there was no support for signed packages. Packages and metadata were not checked for authenticity by Pacman during the download process. In March 2011, an article by the renowned online magazine LWN.net criticized the security of the package distribution infrastructure due to the lack of an integrity check of the package metadata . There were checksums of the individual packets, but this metadata was not provided with a digital signature , which is why malicious modifications to the packets could not be detected. In November 2011, package signing became mandatory for new packages, and every official package has been signed since March 21, 2012.
Package sources
The official Arch Linux packages are managed in four software repositories :
- core contains packages that are required for the operation of a basic system.
- extra contains packages that extend the range of functions, e.g. B. desktop environments , database systems , etc.
- community contains packages that are maintained by the community, ie the "trusted users".
- multilib contains packages that allow native i686 programs (such as Steam) to run on an AMD64 system .
Most of the development takes place in the testing repositories before the packages are moved to the stable repositories:
- testing , community testing and multilib testing contain packages that could be buggy and still need to be tested.
Transfers of packages that change from testing to core must be approved by several developers beforehand. The respective developers are responsible for packages in the other repositories.
There are also a few repositories that contain the latest versions of the desktop environments:
- gnome-unstable contains the latest packages of the Gnome software before they are released separately.
- kde-unstable contains the latest KDE software packages before they are published separately.
In addition, third party repositories can be integrated that offer adapted or newer versions of the software packages.
Arch Build System (ABS)
The Arch Build System is a ports- like package manager. Arch uses a text file called PKGBUILD, which among other things contains the instructions for downloading and configuring the respective programs. The user can use this file to adapt the programs contained in Arch's package management to his own needs, for example by inserting a patch . The makepkg program executes these instructions and compiles and / or prepares the packages for installation by pacman. An Arch package is basically nothing more than a compressed tar archive which, in addition to the files to be installed, contains a few more files (.PKGINFO, .BUILDINFO and .MTREE) with all the metadata that Pacman needs to deal with packages.
ABS also offers the option of rebuilding the entire system with your own compiler flags.
Arch User Repository (AUR)
In addition to the repositories, users in the Arch User Repository (AUR) offer self-made PKGBUILD scripts for packages that are not contained in the repositories. The PKGBUILD scripts simplify building packages from the sources by explicitly listing and checking dependencies and configuring the installation according to the Arch architecture. However, because of the possible security risks, these PKGBUILD scripts will never automatically be present in the official repositories. The Arch User Repository provides the community with over 40,000 PKGBUILDs that are not in the official repositories.
Update model
In contrast to other major distributions such as Ubuntu and Fedora , which release updated installation media at intervals of several months or years, Arch Linux works with a rolling release system. Package management enables users to keep their systems continuously up-to-date by making current software packages available promptly, usually without changes ( keep it simple ). Rather than moving the user between discrete versions, Arch Linux installation media are just snapshots of the current set of packages, sometimes with revised installation software. If updates have been installed, it makes no difference which former installation medium Arch was installed from. In fact, some members of the Arch forums proudly display the age of their installation.
On July 22nd, 2012 it was announced that the installer would be replaced by a set of simple scripts to avoid delays in the release cycle. A new image is now offered at the beginning of each month, which has the release date as a version in the file name; for example 01/04/2013 for the image that appeared on January 4, 2013. Early installation images had names, for example version 0.1 was released on March 11, 2002 under the name Homer ; it was followed by Vega , Firefly , Dragon , Nova (2003), Widget (2004), Wombat (2005), Noodle (2006), Gimmick , Voodoo (as version 0.8, 2007), Duke (as version 2007.05), Don't Panic , Core Dump (2008) and Overlord as the last named release.
Derivatives
There are several distributions that are either based directly on Arch Linux or use its programs, such as EndeavorOS , Manjaro , Parabola GNU / Linux-libre or SystemRescueCd . A comprehensive list can be found in the Arch Wiki.
Web links
- Arch Linux website
- German Arch Linux website
- Radio Tux interview with Thomas Bächler, Pierre Schmitz about Arch Linux from FrOSCon 08 (MP3 file; 14.5 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Future of the Arch Linux Project Leader Arch Linux News (Feb. 24, 2020)
- ↑ Arch Linux Downloads. Retrieved April 25, 2019 .
- ^ Judd Vinet: Arch Leadership. In: Arch Linux. October 1, 2007, accessed July 18, 2008 .
- ^ Arch Linux proposes switch to systemd. In: The H Open. August 15, 2012, accessed September 3, 2012 .
- ^ Arch Linux. In: Arch Linux Wiki. January 26, 2017. Retrieved February 15, 2017 .
- ↑ FS # 5331 - Signed Packages . Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ↑ 'Arch Linux and (the lack of) package signing' English-language article on LWN, last accessed on March 31, 2011.
- ↑ FS # 5331 - Signed packages in the Pacman Bug Tracker, accessed on November 10, 2019.
- ↑ Allan McRae: Pacman Package Signing - 4: Arch Linux. December 17, 2011, accessed February 29, 2012 .
- ^ Having pacman verify packages . Gaetan Bisson. June 4, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
- ↑ Install media 2012.07.15 released . archlinux.org. July 22, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ↑ True multilib for Arch Linux x86_64. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ Arch Linux: Popular KISS distro - Interview - Part II . Hardware.no. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
- ^ Arch Linux Review. In: DVD-Guides.com. August 2007, accessed on October 21, 2019 .
- ↑ Pierre Schmitz: Install media 2012.07.15 released. In: Arch Linux. July 15, 2012, accessed January 3, 2013 .
- ^ Arch-based distributions. May 22, 2019, accessed on August 23, 2019 .