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Archcraft Linux: Minimalist and lightweight arch fork in the test
hello everyone Archcraft is an arch fork that focuses on minimalism and lightweight.
In the video we will take a look at what distinguishes Archcraft from the arch mother.
Stay tuned.
the distro
Archcraft's roots are in India.
Constitutionally, information is currently quite scarce.
It seems that the whole project hangs on one main developer by the name of Aditya Shakya.
A total of 6 contributors are listed on the GitHub page of the project, but ultimately
the distro is probably based on the shoulder of a lone wolf.
According to Distrowatch, the first release was in October 2021.
But that doesn't mean that's correct, because the first Reddit entry introducing Archcraft
is dated early 2020.
My installation of Archcraft took place in August 2021.
Since then, the thing has been running in my test environment.
Why so long?
For Distors with so little service, I also check something for relevance criteria and
general stability.
After all, you have to manage your limited time and I want to avoid falling for one-offs.
Archcraft is a minimal Linux distro built on top of Arch.
It aims to be a lightweight system.
This is already evident from the fact that desktop heavyweights such as Gnome or KDE
are not initially offered directly.
Instead, either the window manager Openbox is used or, as here, Xfce.
It is based on Arch directly and wants to offer a real Arch experience as well.
But where a clear deviation from Arch can be pinpointed is in the installation process.
Here it is made possible graphically with Calamares.
Another difference to Arch is the integration of the Arch User Repository (AUR), which can
be addressed via the AUR helper "yay".
distribution model
As already stated, Archcraft is based on Arch Linux and thus inherits everything associated
with Arch.
Bleeding Edge top current software is on board.
architecture
Package management and native package format Archcraft is only available for 64-bit architecture
and supports the Tar format known from Arch.
Commissioning / download from page
Want to get started?
Understood.
Go to the Archcraft page and then click Download and then the blue Download button again.
At the time of making this video, the march 15 image was the current image.
You can download via Github, Sourceforge or Torrent.
Once the ISO is downloaded, please verify its checksum as I demonstrated in the video
. There will also be a small series on how this can be verified under Windows, macOS
and Linux.
But I don't know what will go online first.
So if this video goes online first, check out my existing video.
Otherwise you can also find the series on my channel.
Archcraft's checksums are available on the download page .
Commissioning / installation
It starts in live mode and the Calamares Installer makes the installation noticeably easier compared
to Arch and feels like decades, if I may allow myself to comment personally.
By the way, the password for the live user is username liveuser and password liveuser.
Hacks and important commands (refresh, search etc)
Via Pacman
update system
sudo pacman -Syu search software
pacman -Ss package_name install a software
sudo pacman -S package_name via yay
Sync and update all packages from repo and AUR
$yay Sync and update AUR packages
$yay-Sua Install package from repo and AUR:
$yay -S [package_name] Remove package including dependencies and
configuration
$yay -Rns [package_name] Search for package in repo and aur
$yay -Ss [keyword] target group
Difficult to assess since there are now so many smaller forks in the Arch environment
chasing attention.
With the exception of Manjaro, I would not recommend Arch or an Arch derivative directly
for Linux newcomers.
Due to the rolling substructure, error situations can arise from time to time, which you then
have to be able to solve.
And mostly at terminal level.
Since not everyone is in the mood for the terminal, you should stay away from distros
that require it on the one hand and require the appropriate specialist knowledge on the
other.
Performance, Desktop &, Programs system measurement
My Archcraft installation occupies a whopping 12 GB of disk.
To be fair, one must also mention that there is almost 5 GB of app cache.
My initial benchmark value in memory consumption, i.e. directly when idling after the start,
is around 590 MB Ram.
Desktop interface and concept
Xfce is currently in version 4.16.1.
As you can see, the developer has lent a hand with the design and, in my opinion, delivers
a round ball.
It doesn't even look that bad.
The concept of the desktop is roughly similar to that of Windows.
So below a bar that holds the start menu on the left, followed by quick launchers.
Open windows are in the middle and system indicators and controls are on the right.
This is basically home cooking and shouldn't present anyone with a completely new usage
concept.
You know what I mean.
It's going well and you should find your way around quickly.
Let's get back to the design for a moment.
The theme is Adapta-Nokto and thus obscure.
The counterpart is Adapta-Eta or Adapta.
If that's too turquoise for you, you'll find Arc and Nordic as alternatives.
The symbols are supplied with their own archcraft set.
Alternatively, there is Arc or Papirus, among others.
As mentioned, the desktop looks good and feels modern.
Pre-Installed Software
Kernels: 5.16 Browsers: Firefox and Midori
E-mail client: not pre-installed Office package: not pre-installed
Software container: not pre-installed General pre-installed software:
Archcraft wants to be minimal.
Now the disk space consumption does not suggest this.
However, the way the system is equipped with software shows that things are quite spartan
here.
There is very little pre-installed, as you have seen.
So you have to be prepared to install missing software afterwards.
The commands for that were in the hacks earlier.
By the way, Pamac is not pre-installed by default.
However, you can install this later from the AUR.
Forgot command?
No problem.
That would be possible via "yay -S pamac" and then for most people probably 1 for pamac
all.
After that you can also search for software via Gui and install or uninstall it.
Features and conclusion What was the first sentence in this post?
Exactly: Archcraft is an arch fork that focuses on minimalism and lightweight.
In my opinion, not too much is promised here.
We get a pretty bare-bones system that, unlike Arch itself, we can install fairly easily.
You get the graphical interface included, but then the noticeable difference to Arch
stops.
Now you're faced with the following situation: Once you've installed Arch, you'll probably
want to build on the fruits of your labor.
If you are currently using a non-Arch distro, then it might be easier for you to get a taste
of it here.
Then you still have a lean system with the latest software.
Yes, where does this lead now?
I honestly don't know either.
So if you already have Arch installed, you shouldn't get weak here.
If you want to get a taste of it, you will find a light and up-to-date Arch daughter
in Archcraft alongside the countless others such as Manjaro, EndeavorOS, Arcolinux, Heftorlinux
or Garuda Linux.
Well, you didn't think I forgot the greet question, did you?
What if the editor gave up tomorrow and quit?
Well, that wouldn't be nice, because on the one hand you've run into a flash in the pan
and in the future you'll probably have to look out for a new distro.
On the other hand, there would not be immediate danger because you would still be supplied
via the Arch substructure and the package sources.
What would be the conclusion?
Arch always fires out a lot of updates.
That always amazes me.
But I also have to be amazed at how quickly this is always done by hand.
On the other hand, if I update an openSUSE Tumbleweed system, I notice how old zypper
is in comparison.
So here Arch is at the forefront.
That's lightning fast.
However, I am concerned that this seems to be more or less a lone wolf project.
Sure, a few noses still contribute, but a certain risk remains open.
So if you are keen on Arch and beautiful Xfce Desktop, you can also check out EndeavorOS,
ArcoLinux or Manjaro.
In principle, you get something similar, but with a larger developer community, especially
at Manjaro.
But Manjaro isn't on the Bleeding Etch Arch Way, so it's up to you to decide what you
want.
Antergos says hello but doesn't have to be!
I wouldn't change prematurely and if I do and the whole thing goes wrong, you may have
to keep changing.
If you don't want to take the risk but still want new Arch software, then take a look at
one of the alternatives mentioned.
To be fair, however, I have to say that I installed Archcraft at the beginning of August
2021 and have tested it at irregular intervals since then.
Of course, there were always major updates.
There were never any problems or other complications.
It went smoothly.
In the interests of transparency and honesty, I do not want to conceal the experience I
have gained at this point.
Thanks for watching,
I hope you enjoyed this video,
If you did hit that thumbs up button, it helps me to make good content for you, other then
that, I will see you in tomorrow's video, peace out.