ArcoLinux 6.8

ArcoLinux wants to get back to our initial goal to stay around 2 Gigabyte as size for the ArcoLinux iso.

It is our vision to give you the means to install ANY desktop environment :

• ArcoLinuxD – with scripts build upon ArcoLinuxD iso
• ArcoLinuxB – with an iso build upon ArcoLinux iso (more in month of June and July – see future projects at bottom of article)

Around the release date there were issues with network manager applet, pamac-aur and package-query. The issues were fixed very rapidly. We decided to make a new build with all the updates on them. We took the opportunity to install our own changes and updates as well. As a result our version will be 6.8.2.

• personalized arcolinux-lightdm-gtk-greeter and arcolinux-lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
• personalized arcolinux-slim application
• personalized arcolinux-oblogout application

This will give us much more flexibility later when building isos with ANY desktop environment.

We have upgraded the Calamares installer from 3.1.12-4 to 3.1.13-3. We will wait and see how the new calamares 3.2 performs before implementing it.

On the live dvd you can log out and log back in with the user login liveuser and the password empty and take a look at the desktops. Logout and log back into Openbox or i3.

Because of issues for some people with specific Nvidia graphical cards we do not install xf86-video-nouveau any more on the iso. The issue was that they could not log into Xfce any more. Openbox and i3 worked.

Luckily for us : we have more than one desktop. If one breaks, we can always fall back on the other two.

In the background we are creating a new way for you to build an ArcoLinux iso with ANY desktop environment. For this reason we have created separate calamares configurations that we can change at will for the many desktops we will visit.

• arcolinux-calamares
• arcolinuxd-calamares

but also

• arcolinuxb-calamares-xfce
• arcolinuxb-calamares-openbox
• arcolinuxb-calamares-i3

…
We will get more into this in the month of June/July. More info at the bottom of this article.

We have added the following applications :

• gnome-screenshot to be able to have jpg images
• gnome-software-packagekit-plugin to get images in gnome-software
• xcape to have a superkey that opens the menu in Openbox – see config – now hashtagged out

We decided to trim down our iso and remove elements we either not use or that might be considered a security liability. You can install them if you want them after the installation of the iso. Our goal is to stay around 2 Gigabytes for the ArcoLinux iso.

• libreoffice
• discord
• zoom
• flashplugin
• filezilla
• google-talkplugin

We get feed-back that Libreoffice is not in French or in Russian or any other language. Of course not. We can not install all the languages out there. Being developers we actually never use Libreoffice.

Further more I would like to point out that there so many great office applications out there. Choosing is always losing. You choose one and install its language package.

• Libreoffice
• Openoffice
• Calligra
• Gnumeric
• Onlyoffice
• WPS Office
• Abiword
• SoftMaker Office
• Oxygen Office
• Yozo Office
• …

Discord is no longer installed via the iso. However it will be installed if you run the ArcoLinux-Nemesis scripts. We will continue to use it for our communications. Discord collects information about their users. You decide whether you want to install it or not.

Zoom was not performing as good as expected in team meetings. The limitation of 10 minutes did not help either.

Flashplugin is considered to be a liability by some. You install it if you need it.

Filezilla is an ftp client. Not used by the ArcoLinux team.

Google-talkplugin is not needed to have a hangout conversation. That is all the ArcoLinux team needs.

We have made the following improvements

• more uniformity between two neofetch configs
• arcolinux i3 has python-pywal with keyboard shortcuts
• bspwm has python-pywal with keyboard shortcuts
• awesome has python-pywal with keyboard shortcuts
• variety config update to latest version and compatible with bspwm and awesome
• bashrc was updated to include a local .bin folder

We have updated the following AUR packages

• downgrade
• peek
• sardi-icons
• surfn-icons
• grub-customizer
• inxi
• glxinfo
• pamac-aur
• package-query
• python-pywal
• sublime-text-dev
• trizen
• vivaldi
• vivaldi-codecs-ffmpeg-extra-bin

The full package list of the latest iso can always be found on github at this address :

https://github.com/arcolinux/arcolinux-iso/blob/master/archiso/packages.x86_64

We can now change at will our lightdm-gtk-greeter. It is now in a package and not on the iso. This will give us more flexibility for the future developments.

We have created two new conkies Arco-Elegant and Arco-Eleganto.

Arco-Elegant is written in the “old” conky coding and Arco-Eleganto is written in the “new” lua coding.

We will use it to compare, to learn and figure out why some things are not that evident when it comes down to conkies, the many desktops and their display managers.

We created a new package arcolinux-bin-git to include a new script to read out information of your system. Like neofetch or screenfetch or even like the conkies. The idea is to include a FUN factor.

Check your new ~/.bin folder.

IT IS OUR INTENTION TO PROVIDE YOU EACH MONTH WITH A NEW SCRIPT.

Nick has created for us 3 new Arc themes called

• blood
• fire
• emerald

The sardi icons, you see here, are in Sardi-Flexible-Variations-icons-git.

We created also the matching Oblogout icons and have updated the configuration file to select them.

Python-pywal is the package. The command is wal. Python-pywal will change the look of your computer in an instant. It will use the colors of your wallpaper and will decide what colors to use. You can not decide the colors. You see this tool mainly in tiling window managers like i3, awesome, bspwm etc. We have included keyboard shortcuts in i3 to easily change it.

This idea come to us when we were developing Bspwm.

We have added a new application Quick System Info and have added it to your Xfce settings. You can use it to report back to us on the forum.

Installed via arcolinux-applications-git package.

There are still software engineers around that hardcode their image-path for the application. These icons will never change whatever theme you may choose. This hardcode-fixer script we run after a clean install can now also be run via the Xfce settings or CTRL + ALT + M.

New package created for it – arcolinux-applications-git

Common and important applications are now also available in Xfce settings

• pulse audio volume control
• disks
• dconf-editor
• gparted
• grub-customizer
• hardinfo
• mintstick

New package created for it – arcolinux-applications-git.

We have added more custom actions to thunar – the file manager of XFCE like

• change ownership to root
• change ownership to user
• md5sum check
• sha1sum check
• symbolic link

In the background we are creating a new way for you to build an ArcoLinux iso with ANY desktop environment. For this reason we have created separate calamares configurations that we can change at will for the many desktops we will visit.

• arcolinux-calamares
• arcolinuxd-calamares

but also

• arcolinuxb-calamares-xfce
• arcolinuxb-calamares-openbox
• arcolinuxb-calamares-i3
• arcolinuxb-calamares-awesome
• …

You can find these efforts on this github : https://github.com/arcolinuxb

B stands for Build or Build Your Own Iso.

We will get more into this in the month of June and July.

In the months June-July we will create the ArcoLinuxD-Plasma scripts but also the ArcoLinuxB-Plasma iso.

Upgrading ArcoLinux boils down to 2 main actions

• copy/paste hidden content from /etc/skel to your home directory
• keep updating with pksyua

And sometimes we create a new package.
Install it with sudo pacman -S arcolinux-new-package-name
Always check whether it will be installed in /etc/skel or not.

If you followed the video (now deleted) to update from 6.7.1 to 6.8.1 you will find out near the end what extra steps you need to take to get to 6.8.2. Above video includes all the steps to get to 6.8.1 AND 6.8.2.

You will get a new lightdm-gtk-greeter as end result. (see image above)

Rest stays the same.

Basically we will replace the old code with new packages.

Lightdm-gtk-greeter and lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings

DO NOT REBOOT BETWEEN LINES – run one after the other in your terminal.

sudo pacman -R lightdm-gtk-greeter lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings/
sudo pacman -S arcolinux-lightdm-gtk-greeter arcolinux-lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings

oblogout

sudo pacman -R oblogout
sudo pacman -S arcolinux-oblogout

slim

sudo pacman -R slim
sudo pacman -S arcolinux-slim

On some of the ArcoLinuxD desktops you may need to delete xfce-slimlock too:

sudo pacman -R slim xfce-slimlock