Manjaro

Manjaro (/mænˈɑːr/ man-JAAR-oh) is a free and open-source Linux distribution based on the Arch Linux operating system that has a focus on user-friendliness and accessibility. It uses a rolling release update model and Pacman as its package manager.[6] It is developed mainly in Austria, France and Germany.[6]

Manjaro
Manjaro 22.1 "Talos" (Xfce)
DeveloperManjaro GmbH & Co. KG
OS familyLinux (Unix-like)
Working stateCurrent (bleeding edge, rolling release)
Source modelOpen-source
Initial releaseJuly 10, 2011 (2011-07-10)[1][2]
Latest release23.0[3] Edit this on Wikidata / 5 September 2023 (5 September 2023)
Latest preview22.4 Beta 1 / June 23, 2022 (2022-06-23)
Repository
Package managerpacman, libalpm (back-end)[4]
Platforms
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux kernel)
UserlandGNU
Default
user interface
Xfce, KDE Plasma 5, GNOME, Plasma Mobile, Phosh[5]
LicenseFree software licenses (mainly GNU GPL)
Official websitemanjaro.org

History

Manjaro was first released on July 10, 2011.[1] By mid 2013, it was in the beta stage, though key elements of the final system had all been implemented, including a GUI installer (then an Antergos installer fork); a package manager (Pacman) with a 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).[7]

GNOME Shell support was dropped with the release of version 0.8.3 in 2012.[8] However, efforts within Arch Linux made it possible to restart the Cinnamon/GNOME edition as a community edition.[9] An official release offering the GNOME desktop environment was reinstated in March 2017.[10]

During the development of Manjaro 0.9.0 at the end of August 2015, the team decided to switch to year and month designations for Manjaro's 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.[11] 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.[11]

In September 2017, Manjaro announced that support for i686 architecture would be dropped because "popularity of this architecture is decreasing".[12] However, in November 2017 a semi-official community project "manjaro32", based on archlinux32, continued i686 support.[13]

In September 2019, the Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG company was founded. It's FOSS website stated the company was formed '... to effectively engage in commercial agreements, form partnerships, and offer professional services'.[14]

Official editions

Manjaro Xfce, featuring Manjaro's own dark theme and the Xfce desktop.[15]

Manjaro KDE, featuring Manjaro's own dark Plasma theme and the latest KDE Plasma 5, apps and frameworks.[16]

Manjaro GNOME became the third official version with the Gellivara release; it offers the GNOME desktop with a version of the Manjaro theme.[10]

While not official releases, Manjaro Community Editions are maintained by members of the Manjaro community. They offer additional user interfaces over the official releases, including Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin,[17] i3, MATE, and Sway.[18]

Manjaro also has editions for devices with ARM processors, such as single-board computers or Pinebook notebooks.[19]

Features

Manjaro comes with both a CLI and a graphical installer. The rolling release model means that users do not need to upgrade/reinstall the whole system to keep it all up-to-date inline with the latest release.[20] Package management is handled by Pacman via the command line (terminal) and via front-end GUI package manager tools like the pre-installed Pamac. It can be configured as either a stable system (default) or bleeding edge, in line with Arch.[6]

The repositories are managed with their own tool, BoxIt, which is designed like Git.[21]

Manjaro includes its own GUI settings manager where options like language, drivers, and kernel version can be configured.[22]

Certain commonly used Arch utilities, such as the Arch Build System (ABS), are available but have alternate implementations in Manjaro.[23][24]

Manjaro Architect is a CLI net installer that allows users to choose their own kernel versions, drivers, and desktop environments during the install process. Both the official and the community edition's desktop environments are available for selection.[25] For GUI-based installations, Manjaro uses the GUI installer Calamares.[26]

Screenshot of Manjaro 17.0 Cinnamon Edition
Screenshot of Manjaro 17.0 i3 Edition

Release history

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

Manjaro typically includes the latest versions of supported desktop environments.[27]

Version Release date Codename Kernel Notes
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.1 2011-07-10
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.0[28][29] 2012-08-20 Askella 3.4.9 Only Xfce and KDE Plasma editions
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.1[30] 2012-09-21 3.4.x
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.2[31] 2012-11-10 3.4.x
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.3[8] 2012-12-24 3.4.x
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.4[32] 2013-02-25 3.7.x
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.5[33] 2013-04-13 3.8.5
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.6[34] 2013-06-02 3.9.x
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.7[35] 2013-08-26 3.4.59 LTS
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.8[36][37] 2013-11-24 3.10.20
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.9[38][39] 2014-02-23 3.10.30 Support for LUKS and LVM partition encryption, improved UEFI support, improved filesystem detection and handling.[40]
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.10[41] 2014-06-09 3.12.20
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.11 2014-12-01
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.12 2015-02-06
Old version, no longer maintained: 0.8.13 2015-06-14
Old version, no longer maintained: 15.09 2015-09-27 Bellatrix 4.2.0 [42]
Old version, no longer maintained: 15.12[43] 2015-12-22 Capella
Old version, no longer maintained: 16.06 2016-06-06 Daniella
Old version, no longer maintained: 16.06.1 2016-06-11
Old version, no longer maintained: 16.08[44] 2016-08-31 Ellada
Old version, no longer maintained: 16.10[45][46] 2016-10-31 Fringilla
Old version, no longer maintained: 17.0[15][16][47] 2017-03-07 Gellivara 4.9 LTS First official version with GNOME[10]
Old version, no longer maintained: 17.1[48][49] 2017-12-31 Hakoila 4.14 LTS First made available pre-installed on the Manjaro Notebook from Station X, the Spitfire.
Old version, no longer maintained: 18.0[50] 2018-10-30 Illyria[51] 4.19 LTS
Old version, no longer maintained: 18.1.0[52] 2019-09-12 Juhraya[53] 4.19 LTS Choice between LibreOffice and FreeOffice during installation
Old version, no longer maintained: 19.0[54] 2020-02-25 Kyria 5.4 LTS
Old version, no longer maintained: 20.0[55] 2020-04-26 Lysia[55] 5.6.7
Old version, no longer maintained: 20.1[56] 2020-09-11 Mikah[56] 5.8 Manjaro Architect edition now supports ZFS installations. Building AUR packages is now part of upgrade process.[27]
Old version, no longer maintained: 20.2[57] 2020-12-03 Nibia[57] 5.9[57]
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.0[58] 2021-03-24 Ornara 5.10 LTS
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.1[59] 2021-08-17 Pahvo 5.13
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.2.0[60] 2021-12-23 Qonos 5.15
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.2.1[61] 2022-01-04 Qonos 5.15
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.2.2[62] 2022-01-23 Qonos 5.15
Old version, no longer maintained: 21.3.0[63] 2022-06-17 Ruah 5.15
Old version, no longer maintained: 22.0.0[64] 2022-09-12 Sikaris 6.1
Current stable version: 22.1.0[65] 2023-04-21 Talos 6.1
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

Relation to Arch Linux

The main difference compared to Arch Linux is the repositories.

Manjaro uses three sets of repositories:[66]

  • Unstable: contains the most up to date Arch Linux packages. Unstable is synced several times a day with Arch package releases.
  • Testing: contains packages from the unstable repositories after they have been tested by users.
  • Stable: contains only packages that are deemed stable by the development team, which can mean a delay of a few weeks before getting major upgrades.[66]

As of January 2019, package updates derived from the Arch Linux stable branch to the Manjaro stable branch typically have a lag of a few weeks.[67][Note 1]

Derivatives

Netrunner Rolling, in addition to Blue Systems Netrunner, which is Debian-based. The first version of Netrunner Rolling was 2014.04, which was based on Manjaro 0.8.9 KDE. It was released in 2014. The last released version was Netrunner Rolling 2019.04.[68]

The Sonar GNU/Linux project[69] was aimed at providing a barrier-free Linux to people who required assistive technology for computer use, with support for GNOME and MATE desktop. The first version was released in February 2015, the latest release was in 2016.[70] As of 2017, the Sonar project was discontinued.[71]

Hardware

Manjaro on the PinePhone

Although Manjaro can be installed on most systems, some vendors sell computers with Manjaro pre-installed on them. Suppliers of computers pre-installed with Manjaro include StarLabs Systems, Tuxedo Computers, manjarocomputer.eu[72] and Pine64.

Manjaro with Plasma Mobile desktop environment is the default operating system on PinePhone, an ARM-based smartphone released by Pine64.[73][74]

Reception

Over the years, Manjaro Linux was recognized as a desktop easy to set up and use, suitable for both beginners and experienced users.[75][76] It is recommended as an easy and friendly way to install and maintain a cutting-edge Arch-derived distribution.[77][67] Some reviewers find appeal in the large range of contributed software available in the AUR, which has a reputation for being kept up to date from upstream resources.[77] Others highlight the wide selection of official and community editions with different desktop environments.[78]

Very early versions of Manjaro had a reputation for crashing and for installation difficulties,[79][40] but this was reported to have improved with later versions,[78] and by 2014 was, according to Jesse Smith of DistroWatch, "proving to be 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."[80]

Smith did a review of Manjaro 17.0.2 Xfce in July 2017, and observed that it did "a lot of things well".[77] He went on to extol some of the notable features as part of his conclusion:

"I found Manjaro's Xfce edition to be very fast and unusually light on memory. The distribution worked smoothly and worked well with both my physical hardware and my virtual environment. I also enjoyed Manjaro's habit of telling me when new software (particularly new versions of the Linux kernel) was available. I fumbled a little with Manjaro's settings panel and finding some settings, but in the end I was pleased with the range of configuration I could achieve with the distribution. I especially like that Manjaro makes it easy to block notifications and keep windows from stealing focus. The distribution can be made to stay pleasantly out of the way."[77]

Notes

  1. Lag figure did not differentiate for package updates needed for fixing security vulnerabilities
  1. i686 support is maintained by the manjaro32 project.
  2. ARM support is maintained by the Manjaro ARM project.

References

  1. Singer, Roland (ying) (10 July 2011). "Manjaro Linux Distribution". Community Contributions, Arch Linux Forums. Archived from the original on 26 September 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2015. 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. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  3. "Manjaro 23.0 Uranos released". 5 September 2023. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  4. "Pacman Home Page". www.archlinux.org. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  5. "Get Manjaro". Manjaro Linux. Archived from the original on 9 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  6. "About page on the Manjaro Wiki". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  7. "Mhwd page on the Manjaro Wiki". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  8. Müller, Philip (24 December 2012). "Manjaro 0.8.3 has been unleashed!". Archived from the original on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  9. "Manjaro 0.8.5.2 Community Releases unleashed (KDE, Cinnamon, MATE)". 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  10. Landauer, Bernhard (7 March 2017). "Manjaro GNOME 17.0 released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  11. "Manjaro Update 2015-09-27 (stable)". manjaro.github.io. Manjaro Linux. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  12. Müller, Philip (2 September 2017). "[Maintenance] 2017-09-02 – Phasing out i686 support". Manjaro Linux. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018.
  13. "[Unstable Update][x32] 2017-11-24 - i686 lives!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 24 November 2017. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  14. Das, Ankush (9 September 2019). "Manjaro Linux Graduates From A Hobby Project To A Professional Project - It's FOSS". It's FOSS. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  15. Müller, Philip (7 March 2017). "Manjaro XFCE 17.0 released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  16. Müller, Philip (7 March 2017). "Manjaro KDE 17.0 released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  17. Nestor, Marius (28 September 2020). "First Look at Manjaro Deepin Edition: Deepin Beauty Powered by Arch Linux". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  18. "Manjaro - Downloads". Manjaro. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  19. "Manjaro ARM is creating a rolling release Linux distribution for ARM devices". Patreon. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  20. "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.
  21. Roland (1 August 2012). "What's happening behind the curtain?". Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  22. "Manjaro Linux - enjoy the simplicity". manjaro.github.io. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  23. "Where is ABS?". Manjaro Linux Forum. Archived from the original on 18 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  24. "Building AUR packages using manjaro-tools - Dev Tools". Manjaro Linux Forum. 31 December 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  25. "Install Manjaro as you want with Architect". manjaro.org. 27 March 2017. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  26. Installing Manjaro, retrieved 31 August 2020
  27. "Manjaro 20.1 "Mikah" Is Here with Linux 5.8, Latest KDE Plasma and GNOME Desktops". 9to5Linux. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  28. Müller, Philip (20 August 2012). "Finally! Manjaro XFCE edition is released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  29. Müller, Philip (20 August 2012). "Last but not least! Manjaro KDE!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  30. Müller, Philip (21 September 2012). "Manjaro 0.8.1 XFCE edition released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  31. Müller, Philip (10 November 2012). "Manjaro 0.8.2 has been released!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  32. Müller, Philip (25 February 2013). "Manjaro 0.8.4 has been released!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  33. Müller, Philip (13 April 2013). "Manjaro 0.8.5 released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  34. Müller, Philip (2 June 2013). "Manjaro 0.8.6 got unleashed!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  35. Müller, Philip (26 August 2013). "Manjaro 0.8.7 hits the Wild!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  36. Müller, Philip (24 November 2013). "Manjaro 0.8.8 lands on our servers". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  37. "Manjaro Smooths Out Arch's Rough Edges" (Reviews). LinuxInsider. 12 December 2013. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  38. Müller, Philip (23 February 2014). "Manjaro 0.8.9 hit our Servers". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  39. "Manjaro 0.8.9 review – KDE and Xfce desktops". LinuxBSDos.com. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  40. "Manjaro 0.8.9 KDE Review - Gorgeous & Beginner Friendly, But Not Responsive Under Stress". 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  41. Müller, Philip (9 June 2014). "Manjaro 0.8.10 is online!". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  42. "Hands-on with Manjaro Linux 15.09: A new favourite". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  43. "Manjaro 15.12 Xfce - It started almighty but then". Dedoimedo. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  44. Müller, Philip (31 August 2016). "Manjaro Ellada finally released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  45. Müller, Philip (31 October 2016). "Manjaro Fringilla finally released". Manjaro. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  46. "Manjaro Linux 16.10 Xfce - Surprised me, I like". Dedoimedo. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  47. "Manjaro 17.0.1 Gellivara (Che Guevara) - Pretty decent". Dedoimedo. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  48. "Manjaro 17.1.6 Hakoila Plasma - A rollercaster of Tux". Dedoimedo. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  49. "Manjaro 17.1.6 Hakoila Xfce - Whither goest thou?". Dedoimedo. Archived from the original on 20 June 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  50. "Manjaro v18.0 released!". Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  51. "Manjaro Linux on Twitter". 8 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018 via Twitter.
  52. "Manjaro 18.1.0 - Juhraya finally released!". Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  53. "Manjaro Linux on Twitter". 12 September 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2019 via Twitter.
  54. "Manjaro 19.0 released (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Architect)". Manjaro Linux Forum. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  55. Müller, Philip (18 April 2020). "Manjaro 20.0 released (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Architect)". manjaro.org. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  56. Müller, Philip (11 September 2020). "Manjaro 20.1 released (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Architect)". manjaro.org. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  57. "Manjaro 20.2 Nibia got released". 3 December 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  58. "Manjaro 21.0 Ornara released!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  59. "Manjaro 22.1 Talos released". Manjaro forum. 6 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  60. "Manjaro 21.2.0 Qonos released!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 23 December 2021. Retrieved 25 December 2021.
  61. "Manjaro 21.2.1 Qonos released!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 4 January 2022.
  62. "Manjaro 21.2.1 Qonos released!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 23 January 2022.
  63. "Manjaro 21.3 Ruah released!". Manjaro Linux Forum. 17 June 2022.
  64. Müller, Philip (12 September 2022). "[Stable Update] 2022-09-12 - Kernels, LibreOffice, KDE Gear, KDE Frameworks, Firefox, Thunderbird, Pipewire, Mesa". Manjaro Linux Forum. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  65. "Manjaro 22.1 Talos released". Manjaro Linux Forum. 21 April 2023.
  66. "Switching Branches". Manjaro wiki. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  67. Verma, Adarsh (9 January 2018). "9 Best Linux Distros For Programming And Developers (2018 Edition)". Fossbytes. 8. Manjaro Linux. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019.
  68. "Netrunner Rolling 2019.04 released". 20 April 2019. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  69. "Sonar GNU/Linux". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  70. "Sonar 2016.03 released - an accessible OS focused on assistive technology". 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  71. "Sonar GNU/Linux". DistroWatch. March 24, 2018. Archived from the original on November 23, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  72. "manjarocomputer.eu". Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  73. Rudra, Sourav (16 February 2021). "PinePhone To Ship With Manjaro ARM + Plasma Mobile UI As Default OS". It's FOSS News. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  74. "PINE64 Reveals Default OS For The Upcoming Linux-Based PinePhones". Fossbytes. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  75. Antil, Pradeep (16 November 2018). "Manjaro Linux 18.0 – Review and Features". Linux Buzz. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  76. "Hands-on with Manjaro Linux 15.09: A new favourite". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  77. Smith, Jesse (July 3, 2017). "Manjaro Linux 17.0.2 "Xfce"". DistroWatch Weekly (719). Archived from the original on November 4, 2017. Retrieved December 9, 2017.
  78. Watson, JA (10 March 2017). "Manjaro Linux 17.0 has arrived: An excellent time to give it a spin". ZDNet. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  79. Smith, Jesse (January 14, 2013). "Return to Manjaro Linux 0.8.3". DistroWatch. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 20, 2013.
  80. Smith, Jesse (14 July 2014). "Exploring Manjaro Linux 0.8.10 (Xfce edition)". DistroWatch. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.