Garuda Linux

Garuda Linux is a Linux distribution targeted towards gaming based on Arch Linux. It is available in multiple desktop environments, but the KDE Plasma version is the main one. The term Garuda, originating from Hinduism and Buddhism, is defined as a divine eagle-like sun bird and the king of birds.

Garuda Linux, being based on Arch, features a rolling release update model using Pacman as its package manager.

History
Garuda Linux was released on 26 March 2020 by Shrinivas Vishnu Kumbhar, a university student from India and SGS from Germany.

Features
The operating system provides GUIs for all operations, instead of focusing on the command line like Arch Linux. Garuda Linux installation process is done with Calamares, a graphical installer. The bootloader used is GRUB. The distribution uses the btrfs file system by default which supports snapshots. The snapshots can be accessed from the bootloader and support compression. Garuda includes Manjaro's pamac GUI frontend for Pacman that allows for the installation of packages from pacman and Snap and Flatpak packages. Support for the AUR is provided by Chaotic-AUR. The command line can also be used. It also includes Garuda Settings Manager, a program for system settings such as the kernel, and Garuda Assistant for changing admin settings. The main theme of Garuda Linux is a custom KDE Plasma theme known as Dra460nized (dragonized) which resembles macOS.

Garuda Linux includes Garuda Gamer, a GUI offering easy installation of gaming related packages.

The rolling release model means system software components are updated during normal software updates, instead of a special software update having to be used.

Desktop environments
Garuda Linux's flagship desktop environment is KDE Plasma, but it offers other desktop environments such as Cinnamon, GNOME, Deepin, XFCE, i3, and Hyprland. Support for the newest version of KDE Plasma, Plasma 6, is available.

System requirements
Garuda Linux's hardware requirements vary depending on the desktop environment used. The system requirements are listed below:


 * Minimum requirements:
 * 30 GB storage
 * 4 GB RAM
 * Video card with OpenGL 3.3 or better
 * 64-bit System
 * Recommended requirements:
 * 40 GB storage
 * 8 GB RAM
 * Hardware-accelerated GPU
 * CPU: x86_64 CPU, Intel VT-x/AMD-V/SVM
 * If installing to VirtualBox, VirtualBox Later or equal to 6.1.14

Garuda Linux also requires a storage device for the ISO file that contains 4 GB of space for their standard versions. Larger desktop environments such as KDE require a storage device with 8 GB storage space available.