Arch Linux is an independently developed, i686/x86-64 general purpose GNU/Linux distribution versatile enough to suit any role. Development focuses on simplicity, minimalism, and code elegance. Arch is installed as a minimal base system, configured by the user upon which their own ideal environment is assembled by installing only what is required or desired for their unique purposes. GUI configuration utilities are not officially provided, and most system configuration is performed from the shell by editing simple text files. Arch strives to stay bleeding edge, and typically offers the latest stable versions of most software. Arch Linux uses its own Pacman package manager, which couples simple binary packages with an easy-to-use package build system. This allows users to easily manage and customize packages ranging from official Arch software to the user's own personal packages to packages from 3rd party sources. The repository system also allows users to easily build and maintain their own custom build scripts, packages, and repositories, encouraging community growth and contribution. The minimal Arch base package set resides in the streamlined [core] repository. In addition, the official [extra], [community], and [testing] repositories provide several thousand high-quality, packages to meet your software demands. Arch also offers an [unsupported] section in the Arch Linux User Repository (AUR), which contains over 9,000 build scripts, for compiling installable packages from source using the Arch Linux makepkg application. Arch Linux uses a "rolling release" system which allows one-time installation and perpetual software upgrades. It is not generally necessary to reinstall or upgrade your Arch Linux system from one "version" to the next. By issuing one command, an Arch system is kept up-to-date and on the bleeding edge. Arch strives to keep its packages as close to the original upstream software as possible. Patches are applied only when necessary to ensure an application compiles and runs correctly with the other packages installed on an up-to-date Arch system. To summarize: Arch Linux is a versatile, and simple distribution designed to fit the needs of the competent Linux® user. It is both powerful and easy to manage, making it an ideal distro for servers and workstations. Take it in any direction you like. If you share this vision of what a GNU/Linux distribution should be, then you are welcomed and encouraged to use it freely, get involved, and contribute to the community. Welcome to Arch!
Latest Newsqt4 replaces qt 2013-03-01 A new qt4 package is in [extra]. This replaces the current qt package. All packages depending on qt need to be rebuilt to depend on qt4. We have done this for all official packages, but you will need to rebuild packages installed from the AUR that depend on qt. Qt 5.x is now also available in [extra]. When you install both qt5-base and qt4 any Qt tool will refer to the 5.x version. We provide *-qt4 symlinks so you can explicitly force the 4.x version when you need it. Changes to LVM 2013-02-12 With lvm2 2.02.98-3, we now utilize lvmetad to activate LVM volumes automatically. This implies the following changes:
The lvm2 initramfs hook now requires the udev hook.
The use_lvmetad = 1 must be set in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf. This is the default now - if you have a lvm.conf.pacnew file, you must merge this change.
You can restrict the volumes that are activated automatically by setting the auto_activation_volume_list in /etc/lvm/lvm.conf. If in doubt, leave this option commented out.
If you need monitoring (needed for snapshots), run systemctl enable lvm-monitoring.service.
The lvmwait kernel command line ...
Final sysvinit deprecation warning 2013-02-04 As previously announced, initscripts are no longer receiving any testing and support has been dropped from various packages. Any users still using them should switch to systemd. initscripts, sysvinit and the various rc scripts are being removed from the repositories to avoid any confusion about their status. Update filesystem-2013.01-1 and glibc-2.17-2 together 2013-01-26 Due to moving of the /lib symlink from the glibc package to the more appropriate filesystem package, it is required to update glibc-2.17-2 and filesystem-2013.01-1 together. This will happen automatically when you run "pacman -Syu". Remember, partial updates are not supported and never use the "--force" option... A potential issue with the upgrade on x86_64 is finding conflicting files in /usr/lib64. All Arch Linux packages that had files in this directory have been updated, so update these individually first. Any AUR packages with files in this directory should be updated to install them in /usr/lib.
