The Arch Linux project appears to have enjoyed a rather robust and successful 2024 with Valve continuing to it as a base for their SteamOS distribution and now engaging more with upstream Arch Linux. Downstreams like CachyOS, Manjaro, and EndeavourOS continue to make it an appealing choice for enthusiasts and gamers. And then the continued improvements to Archinstall for an easy-to-use and quick installer and other enhancements overall made for a well-rounded year.
Arch Linux continues to maintain a great trajectory for being a community-driven Linux distribution that is popular especially with enthusiasts, gamers, and other power users. In recapping some of the best Arch Linux highlights for the year, here is a look at the most popular Arch Linux news articles on Phoronix over the course of 2024:
Arch Linux Will Now Use Dbus-Broker As Its Default D-Bus Daemon
Arch Linux is finally going the way of Fedora and others in making Dbus-Broker its default D-Bus daemon implementation.
Valve Helping Arch Linux With Build Service Infrastructure & Secure Signing Enclave
Valve’s SteamOS is built atop Arch Linux and now the company is further helping the upstream Linux distribution by collaborating with resources to help with build service infrastructure and a secure signing enclave.
Arch Linux Increasing Its vm.max_map_count To Help Steam Play Games & Other Software
Similar to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Fedora 39, and other recent Linux distributions increasing its vm.max_map_count default in order to satisfy some Windows games running under Valve’s Steam Play (Proton) and other memory-intensive software, Arch Linux is also increasing its default value.
Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Now Defaults To Btrfs Rather Than XFS
Arch Linux derivative CachyOS that is optimized for a nice desktop experience and shipping a nice set of performance optimizations/tuning by default is out with its June 2024 refresh.
Arch-Based Endeavour OS Updates ISO With Linux 6.7 Kernel, Mesa 23.3.3
Endeavour OS as the popular desktop rolling-release Linux distribution built upon Arch Linux has published updated ISOs that bundle in the stable Linux 6.7 kernel as well as other package updates.
SteamOS 3.6 Preview Released With Linux 6.5, Updated Arch Linux & Mesa 24.1
Valve tonight released a SteamOS 3.6 Preview as the latest version of their Arch Linux derived operating system that powers the Steam Deck and can be installed on other devices as well.
Arch Linux Based CachyOS Switches To Open NVIDIA Kernel Modules, COSMIC Desktop Option
Arch Linux powered CachyOS that is known for its performance optimizations and other enhancements is out with its “August 2024” rolling release update.
Immutable Version Of Arch-Based Manjaro Linux Available For Testing
For those intrigued by the likes of Fedora Silverblue, Vanilla OS, and NixOS for an immutable Linux distribution but desiring something based on Arch Linux, Manjaro Linux has an immutable variant now available for testing.
Arch Linux’s Pacman 6.1 Released With Cache Server Support
It was two years since the release of Pacman 6.0 as Arch Linux’s package manager software while overnight Pacman 6.1 was released with a tag line “it’s been a while…” With Pacman 6.1 comes a few new features.
Archinstall 2.8.3 Arch Linux Installer Adds COSMIC Desktop Option
Just one week after the Archinstall 2.8.2 update, another release of this command-line driven Arch Linux installer is now available for quick and easy Arch deployments.
Upstream Linux 6.11 Makes It Easy To Build A Pacman Kernel Package For Arch Linux
The upstream Linux 6.11 kernel is making it easier to build a Pacman package of the kernel for use on Arch Linux and other Arch derived distributions relying on Pacman.
Archinstall 2.8 Further Refines The Easy Arch Linux Installation Experience
Archinstall 2.8 is out today as the latest update to this easy-to-use, text-based Arch Linux installer that makes it much faster deploying this popular Linux distribution.
CachyOS Had A Really Great Year Advancing This Performance-Optimized Arch Linux Platform
The CachyOS Linux distribution has really been on fire this year delivering impressive new features and performance optimizations for this Arch Linux derived OS.
Archinstall 2.8.2 To Speed Up Arch Linux Installations, Other Fixes
Archinstall is the wonderful command-line driven installer that was introduced to the Arch Linux ISOs three years ago for making it quicker and easier to get a customized Arch Linux installation. Out today is Archinstall 2.8.2 to further refine that experience.
CachyOS Explores Optimizing Its Kernel With AutoFDO
CachyOS continues to be a fascinating Arch Linux based distribution that pushes the boundaries of out-of-the-box performance with a variety of patches, optimization techniques, specialized package builds, and more. One of the latest areas they are exploring is making use of AutoFDO for their kernel builds.
CachyOS Optimizing More Packages With PGO For Up To ~10% Better Performance
The Arch Linux based CachyOS operating system that is known for pursuing aggressive performance while still delivering a nice Linux desktop experience is out with its September 2024 release.
Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Pulls In THP Shrinker & AMD Cache Optimizer
The Arch Linux based CachyOS Linux distribution has issued its November 2024 media refresh. Notable this time are pulling a few performance-related patches into its kernel build.
Arch Linux Installer “Archinstall” 2.8.1 Adds Experimental LVM Support
Archinstall 2.8.1 is now available for the newest version of this easy-to-use, command-line driven installer for the Arch Linux operating system.
CachyOS Rolls Out Zen 4 Optimized Repository For Maximizing Zen 4 & Zen 5 Performance
Arch Linux based CachyOS has released their “July 2024” release that also introduces an AMD Zen 4 optimized repository that caters to current Ryzen 7000/8000 and EPYC 4004/8004/9004 (Zen 4) procssors and upcoming Zen 5 processors.
Archinstall 3.0 Overhauls The Text-Based Arch Linux Installer
Archinstall is the convenient text/CLI-based installer for Arch Linux that allows getting the Linux distribution easily installed in a matter of minutes. Released today is Archinstall 3.0 that overhauls the Arch Linux installer with now using the curses library for rendering of the text interface.
Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Adds Bcachefs Installer Support
Arch Linux derived CachyOS is known for its aggressive performance optimizations and running well on modern hardware. It’s also leading when it comes to adopting other new Linux/open-source features. With this weekend’s May 2024 ISO update, CachyOS has rolled out initial support for installing to a root file-system based on Bcachefs.
Upstream Linux 6.12 Makes It Easier To Build A Debug Kernel For Arch Linux
The upstream Linux 6.11 kernel introduced the ability to easily produce a Pacman kernel package for Arch Linux with the new “make pacman-pkg” target. With Linux 6.12 new additions to the Kbuild code make it easy to also produce a debug kernel build for Arch Linux systems.
Arch Linux Powered EndeavourOS Restores ARM Support
Arch Linux built EndeavourOS has released new install media in celebrating the project’s fifth anniversary. Making this 5th anniversary release all the more exciting is the project has restored support for EndeavourOS on ARM.
Manjaro 24.1 Released With GNOME 46, KDE Plasma 6.1 & Xfce 4.18 Desktop Options
Manjaro 24.1 “Xahea” debuted on Tuesday as the newest update to this Arch Linux based distribution. Manjaro 24.1 is the first new tagged release since May and with it comes updated desktop options, the Linux 6.10 kernel, and other package upgrades.
Arch Linux Working To Affirm Its Package Sources Under A BSD Zero Clause License
Arch Linux package sources with its PKGBUILD files and similar have lacked carrying a clear license. Arch Linux developers have been working to come together to allow all Arch Linux package sources to be licensed under a BSD zero-clause “BSD0” license.
