ArchLabs Linux
ArchLabs 2022.01.18 with Openbox
DeveloperNathaniel Maia & Matthew Dobson[1]
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Latest releaseRolling release 2023.06.07[2] / 8 June 2023; 8 months ago (2023-06-08)
Marketing targetGeneral purpose
Available inEnglish
Update methodPacman
Package managerPacman
Platformsx86-64
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
UserlandGNU
Influenced byBunsenLabs
Default
user interface		NA
LicenseGNU General Public License
Official websitewww.archlabslinux.com

ArchLabs Linux is a discontinued lightweight rolling release Linux distribution based on a minimal Arch Linux operating system with the Openbox window manager.[3] ArchLabs is inspired by BunsenLabs.[4][5]

Features

The ArchLabs distribution contains a text-based installer, "AL-Installer" as its installation method,[6] as well as baph, an AUR helper.[7] The installer gives the user the ability to choose from 16 different assorted Desktop Environments and Window Managers as well as a selection of extra software, Linux Kernels, Display Managers and shells.

History

Initial releases used the Calamares installer. Early versions of ArchLabs started to become bloated with many unnecessary applications and programs. This sparked a change in direction. A slim down of the ISO size from over 2Gb in size down to approximately 580mb made download times a lot quicker.

Mínimo was the first of this minimal release with a change from the traditional Openbox panel, Tint2 to Polybar. Also introduced in this release was the original welcome script, named "AL-Hello" which was a nod to the "brother" distribution BunsenLabs.[8][9] Mínimo was also the final release to have a release name, following releases followed a numbering pattern of YYYY.MM.

2018.02 release brought a new and improved AL-Hello welcome script and many additions and refining to the ArchLabs experience.[10]

2018.07 saw more improvements to the newly written AL-Installer.[11]

With the release of 2018.12 came the removal of the live environment and the post install script "AL-Hello". Options for choosing desktops and window managers as well as a selection of apps have been added to AL-Installer (ALI).[6] Also introduced in this 2018.12 release was the in house AUR (Arch User Repository) Helper, baph (Basic AUR Package Helper).[7]

2019.10.29 was ArchLabs third release for 2019 (After 2019.1.20 & 2019.10.28). Many changes were made including additional desktop environments and window managers added to the installer. Most notably, awesomewm and jwm.

ArchLabs first release of 2022[12] brought with it a new custom Window Manager called dk.[13] Also included is a custom panel and menu for the Sway Window Manager called nwg-shell.[14]

The ArchLabs installer now includes 16 assorted Desktop Environments and Window Managers, such as i3, dwm, bspwm, LXQt, jwm, XFCE, Awesome, Fluxbox, KDE Plasma, Deepin, Gnome, and Cinnamon.[15] Most are installed as the developer intended with no customisation. Openbox, awesomewm, dk and Sway are the only customised environments supplied by the ArchLabs installer.

Matthew Dobson announced that 2023.06.07 would be the final release.[16]

Release history

The current release of ArchLabs Linux is "2023.06.07", which was released on 8 June 2023.[17]

Color Legend
Red Old version
Green Latest version
Blue Future version
Version Codename Release date Kernel
idea[18][19] Start 1 January 2017 —
Alpha[18][19] — 24 February 2017 —
1.0[18][19] — 3 March 2017 —
3.0[1][18][19] — 6 March 2017 —
3.4[20] — 7 April 2017 —
4.0[21] — 29 April 2017 —
4.1[18] Yoda 4 June 2017 —
5.0[19] R2-D2 7 July 2017 4.11.9[3]
2017.09[22][23] Mínimo[4] 17 September 2017 4.12.13[3]
2017.10[24] 2017.10 24 October 2017 4.13.19
2017.10[24] LTS 24 October 2017 4.9.56[3]
2017.12[25] 2017.12 23 December 2017 4.13.3
2018.02[10] 2018.02 26 February 2018 4.15.5
2018.03[26] 2018.03 4 March 2018 4.15.6
2018.05[27] 2018.05 11 May 2018 4.16.8
2018.07[11] 2018.07 29 July 2018 4.17.10
2018.12[6] 2018.12 18 December 2018 4.19.9
2019.01[17] 2019.01 20 January 2019 4.20.3
2019.10.28[17] 2019.10.28 28 October 2019 5.3.7
2019.10.29[17] 2019.10.29 29 October 2019 5.3.7
2020.05.04[17] 2020.05.04 4 May 2020 5.6.8
2020.11.04[17] 2020.11.04 4 November 2020 5.9.3
2021.05.02[17] 2021.05.02 2 May 2021 5.11.16
2022.01.18[17] 2022.01.18 19 January 2022 5.16.1
2022.02.12[17] 2022.02.12 13 February 2022 5.16.8
2023.01.20[17] 2023.01.20 20 January 2023 6.1.7
2023.02.05[17] 2023.02.05 5 February 2023 6.1.9
2023.06.07[17] 2023.06.07 8 June 2023 6.3.6

References

  1. ^ a b Brett & Matt (6 March 2017). "Release of ArchLabs +3". www.ArchLabs.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  2. ^ ""ArchLabs News"".
  3. ^ a b c d DistroWatch. "ArchLabs Linux". www.distrowatch.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in English)
  4. ^ a b "ArchLabs Linux". SourceForge.
  5. ^ "ArchLabs Review: A Quick Look At The Rising Arch Based Linux Distribution - It's FOSS". itsfoss.com. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Distribution Release: ArchLabs Linux 2018.12.17 (DistroWatch.com News)". distrowatch.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  7. ^ a b "baph". bitbucket.org. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  8. ^ "DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD". distrowatch.com. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  9. ^ "ArchLabs Makes Up for Parabola's Curve Balls | Reviews | LinuxInsider". www.linuxinsider.com. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  10. ^ a b "ArchLabs First Release for 2018 – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  11. ^ a b "ArchLabs Linux 2018.07 – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  12. ^ "2022.01.18 Release". forum.archlabslinux.com. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  13. ^ "dk". bitbucket.org. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  14. ^ "nwg-shell". github.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Errors installing ArchLabs on VM". 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ "ArchLabs 2023.06.07 Release and a Farewell". 8 June 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Change Log". ARCHLabs.github.io. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  18. ^ a b c d e Erik, Matt, Brett and Hari (4 June 2017). "The release of Yoda or ArchLabs 4.1". www.ArchLabs.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (in English)
  19. ^ a b c d e The Development Team (7 July 2017). "The release of R2-D2 or ArchLabs 5.0". www.ArchLabs.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in English)
  20. ^ The Development Team (7 April 2017). "The release of ArchLabs 3.4". www.ArchLabs.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in English)
  21. ^ The Development Team (29 April 2017). "The release of ArchLabs 4.0". www.ArchLabs.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in English)
  22. ^ "ArchLabs Are Proud To Present….. – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
  23. ^ DistroWatch (17 September 2017). "Distribution Release: ArchLabs 2017.09". www.distrowatch.com. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (in English)
  24. ^ a b Matt, Nate, Brett, Rajat and Hari (24 October 2017). "ArchLabs 2017.10 Release". «www.ArchLabsLinux.com». Archived from the original on 5 November 2017.((cite news)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)(in English)
  25. ^ "Rounding Out 2017 With a Final Release – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  26. ^ "2018.03 Release Now With Hotfixes – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  27. ^ "The Release of ArchLabs 2018.05 – ArchLabs Linux". Archived from the original on 11 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2019.

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