Artix Linux

Artix Linux (or simply Artix ) is a rolling-release Linux distribution partially based on Arch Linux, with a primary goal to provide init and service management freedom. Artix offers OpenRC, runit, s6, and dinit. In contrast to Arch, Artix does not use systemd with the default init and service manager being OpenRC.

Artix Linux has its own repositories, and it is not recommended by developers to use Arch packages due to differences such as naming conventions and contrasting init systems.

Arch OpenRC and Manjaro OpenRC were started in 2012. In 2017, these projects were split and Artix Linux was created.



Release history
Artix initially offered two installation environments, a base command-line ISO image and the graphical Calamares installer based on LXQt desktop, with an i3 version following later. Those early versions featured the OpenRC init system. The latest installation media are available in a variety of desktop environments like LXDE, XFCE, MATE, Cinnamon and KDE Plasma 5. Additionally, two unofficial community editions featuring GTK and Qt desktops and a larger software base are offered, aiming at too-busy-to-customise or less experienced users. All current installation media come in OpenRC, runit, s6, and dinit versions.

Reception
An early review published on DistroWatch on 27 November 2017 found a few bugs, but overall "Artix is working with a good idea [...] It's minimal, it is rolling and it offers a little-used init system. All of these I think make the project worthwhile." More critical, another review at the time from linux-community.de concluded "the results so far are not exactly motivating." Much more favourable reviews were later featured in both sites. A review from Softpedia gave Artix a 5 out of 5 stars rating, noting its "beautiful and pleasant graphical environments." Distrowatch readers' reviews on Distrowatch are mostly very favourable, with an average rating of 9.2 out of 10.

Due to the fact that the majority of Linux distributions use systemd, Artix is geared towards more experienced users and developers, who are able to dissect problems as well as create own scripts for initialization of the services and sometimes reprogram these services to be able to start them (e.g. pipewire or stubby).

Artix has its own hardcoded theming to suit the specific needs of its developers. The users may notice these themes may not be removable or changed and break other themes. To use other themes, the user must remove Artix specific packages and the code in /etc/environment. All these changes make Artix not suitable for newbies and novices.