Manjaro Linux

Manjaro Linux

Manjaro Linux 15.09
Developer Roland Singer, Guillaume Benoit, Philip Müller
OS family Unix-like
Working state Current (Bleeding edge, rolling release)
Source model Open source
Initial release July 10, 2011 (2011-07-10)[1][2]
Latest release 16.10.3 "Fringilla" / November 27, 2016 (2016-11-27)
Latest preview Not Available / October 31, 2016 (2016-10-31)
Kernel type Monolithic (Linux)
Userland GNU
Default user interface Xfce, Plasma 5[3]
License Free software licenses
(mainly GPL)
Official website manjaro.org

Manjaro Linux /mənˈdʒɑːroʊ lɪnəks/, or simply Manjaro, is a Linux distribution based on Arch Linux. Manjaro Linux is based on the rolling release update model similar to that of Arch Linux and uses pacman as its package manager.[4]

Relation to Arch Linux

Manjaro Linux is based on Arch Linux and has its own collection of repositories. The distribution aims to be new user-friendly while maintaining the Arch base, most notably the Pacman package manager and compatibility with the Arch User Repositories. Manjaro itself uses three sets of repositories: the unstable repositories contain the most bleeding edge Arch packages, possibly one or two days delayed; the testing repositories contain packages from the unstable repos synced every week, which provides an initial screening; and the stable repositories contain only packages that are deemed stable by the development team.[5]

History

In mid 2013, Manjaro was in the beta stages, though key elements of the final system, such as a GUI installer (currently an Antergos installer fork), a package manager (Pacman) with its choice of frontends Pamac (GTK+) for Xfce desktop and Octopi (Qt) for its Openbox edition, MHWD (Manjaro HardWare Detection, for detection of Free & Proprietary video drivers), and Manjaro Settings Manager (for system wide settings, user management, and graphics driver installation and management) have been implemented.[6]

Release history

The current release of Manjaro Linux is 16.10, codename "Fringilla", which was released on 31 October 2016 and is the fifth version to utilize a build number as the official version instead of a traditional version due to it being a rolling release OS. Manjaro 15.09 was the first stable release after beta stage.[7]

Version Release date
Old version, no longer supported: 0.1 2011-07-10
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8 2012-08-20
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.1 2012-09-21
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.2 2012-11-10
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.3 2012-12-24
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.4 2013-02-25
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.5 2013-04-11
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.6 2013-06-02
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.7 2013-08-28
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.8 2013-11-24
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.9 2014-02-23
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.10 2014-06-09
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.11 2014-12-01
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.12 2015-02-06
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8.13 2015-06-14
Old version, no longer supported: 15.09 2015-09-27
Old version, no longer supported: 15.12 2015-12-22
Old version, no longer supported: 16.06 2016-06-06
Old version, no longer supported: 16.06.1 2016-06-11
Old version, no longer supported: 16.08 2016-09-01
Current stable version: 16.10 2016-10-31
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still supported
Current stable version
Latest preview version
Future release

The 0.8.x series releases were the last version of Manjaro to use a version number. The desktop environments offered, as well as the amount of programs bundled into each separate release have varied for different releases.

Xfce and KDE Plasma 5 are the official desktop environments.[8] Community supported versions include: E17, MATE, LXDE, Cinnamon/GNOME-Shell, KDE/Razor-qt (a Manjaro Turkey project) and Fluxbox. Other editions are also available for install in the repos.[9][10]

GNOME Shell support was dropped with the release of version 0.8.3.;[11] however, efforts within Arch Linux made it possible to restart the Cinnamon/GNOME edition as a community edition.[12]

As of Manjaro 0.8.11, many community editions have been created which include the following: Netbook, Cinnamon, PekWM, Fluxbox, MATE, LXQt, Enlightenment, GNOME and LXDE.[13]

The 0.8.12 release is predominantly a maintenance release and includes very few changes to system defaults relative to the previous 0.8.11 ISOs, with some notable exceptions, such as out-of-the-box support for the exFAT file system and the change to pacman 4.2.[14]

During the development of Manjaro 0.9.0, in the end of August 2015, the Manjaro team decided to switch to year and month designations for the Manjaro version scheme instead of numbers. This applies to both the 0.8.x series as well as the new 0.9.x series, renaming 0.8.13, released in June 2015, as 15.06 and so on.[15] Manjaro 15.09, codenamed Bellatrix and formerly known as 0.9.0, was released on 27 September 2015 with the new Calamares installer and updated packages.[15]

Features

Manjaro Linux comes with both a CLI and a graphical installer. The rolling release model means that the user does not need to reinstall the system to keep it up-to-date.[16] Package management is handled by pacman via command line (terminal), and frontend GUI package manager tools called Pamac (for its default Xfce edition) & Octopi (for its KDE edition). It can be configured to be either a stable system (default) or bleeding edge in line with Arch.[17]

The repositories are managed with their own tool called BoxIt, which is designed like git.[18]

Reception

In January 2013, Jesse Smith of DistroWatch reviewed Manjaro Linux 0.8.3. He noted, "Manjaro does just about everything quickly. The system is light and the Xfce desktop is very responsive. The distribution seems designed with the idea it will stay out of the way as much as possible." Smith ran into problems with updates breaking the installation:

“ "The one serious issue I ran into during my trial came in the wake of an update. After several days of smooth use I ran into a problem when, after an update, Manjaro Linux would no longer boot. Attempts at booting in fallback mode or with various kernel parameters failed to get the system to a stage where I could login. Sadly, this signaled an end to my trial and acted as a reminder of the risks in maintaining a rolling release distribution." ”

He concluded that the distribution is geared towards experienced Linux users as it requires a great deal of knowledge to install and run.[19]

In July 2014, Jesse reviewed Manjaro Linux again, v0.8.10. In a reversal of his previous impression, he concluded:

“ "I have tried Manjaro Linux before and, in the past, I felt Manjaro was of good quality, but not particularly remarkable. My experiences from the past week have changed my perspective. The distribution is probably the most polished child of Arch Linux I have used to date. The distribution is not only easy to set up, but it has a friendly feel, complete with a nice graphical package manager, quality system installer and helpful welcome screen. Manjaro comes with lots of useful software and multimedia support. During my time with the distribution I ran into no serious problems, in fact virtually no problems at all, making it one of the more attractive desktop distributions I have run so far this year."[20] ”

Variants

OpenRC with the wmaker desktop
OpenRC

OpenRC was started in June 2014 as a version of Manjaro that omits systemd.[21] Robert Storey of DistroWatch noted, "Manjaro OpenRC is mostly systemd free - it uses ConsoleKit2 instead of logind, and eudev instead of systemd-udev. However, it bundles some of the systemd libraries in a eudev-systemdcompat package, mostly due to how Arch packages systemd."[22]

References

  1. ↑ Singer, Roland (ying) (2011-07-10). "Manjaro Linux Distribution". Community Contributions, Arch Linux Forums. Retrieved 2015-12-12. Hi all, I am working now since a longer time on my arch linux livecd. It is called manjaro linux and uses the Desktop Environment Xfce. I uploaded a first testing livecd which is very experimental and many features are still missing. I would be thankful for any bugs reported,.... or if somebody wants to help and join the project he is always welcome.
  2. ↑ "[0.8.8] Release Candidate 4 released (XFCE/Openbox) - Final images". manjaro.org. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  3. ↑ "Get Manjaro". Manjaro Linux. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  4. ↑ "About page on the Manjaro Wiki". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  5. ↑ "Repo page on the Manjaro Wiki". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  6. ↑ "Mhwd page on the Manjaro Wiki". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  7. ↑ Nestor, Marius (2015-12-02). "Manjaro Linux 15.12 (Capella) Will Be Officially Released on December 22, 2015". Softpedia. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  8. ↑ "Manjaro 0.8.5.2 got unleashed!". manjaro.org. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  9. ↑ "Manjaro 0.8.5 Community Editions released (MATE, LXDE, KDE)". Retrieved 2013-04-23.
  10. ↑ "Desktop Environments page on the Manjaro Wiki". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  11. ↑ "Manjaro 0.8.3 has been unleashed!". Retrieved 2013-04-24.
  12. ↑ "Manjaro 0.8.5.2 Community Releases unleashed (KDE, Cinnamon, MATE)". Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  13. ↑ "Manjaro Linux - Community Editions". SourceForge. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
  14. ↑ "Manjaro 0.8.12 released". manjaro.github.io. Manjaro Linux. Retrieved 2015-02-08.
  15. 1 2 "Manjaro Update 2015-09-27 (stable)". manjaro.github.io. Manjaro Linux. Retrieved 2015-09-27.
  16. ↑ "Manjaro Linux Distribution". Linux Magazine (Spanish Edition) (88). Furthermore, Manjaro is a rolling distribution, i.e. it can be continually updated without ever having to install a new version. And speaking of installation, despite the primitive aspect of the text-based installer, the GUI process is very easy and has many assistants to detect and configure your hardware.
  17. ↑ "About page on the Manjaro Wiki - features". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
  18. ↑ "What's happening behind the curtain?". 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2016-10-31.
  19. ↑ Smith, Jesse (2013-01-14). "Return to Manjaro Linux 0.8.3". DistroWatch. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  20. ↑ Smith, Jesse (2014-07-14). "Exploring Manjaro Linux 0.8.10 (Xfce edition)". DistroWatch. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
  21. ↑ "OpenRC Manjaro". 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
  22. ↑ "Manjaro OpenRC review". 2015-06-01. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
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