ArchLabs 2022.02.12

Mayank Sharma has a soft spot for new Arch-based distros, and this time around he’s found one that tickles his fancy.

- Mayank Sharma

IN BRIEF

Originally inspired by BunsenLabs, the distro began to bring over the concepts of the popular minimalist Debian-based distro on top of an Arch base. However, over the years the distro has changed considerably and is best described as a Arch distro for the experienced Linux user.

SPECS

CPU: 1.4GHz

Mem: 1GB

HDD: 15GB

Build: 64-bit only

Over the years, the ArchLabs distro has deviated considerably from its origins. It now suits users who want to exploit Arch’s famed customisability to build their installation from scratch, but with some added conveniences to minimise the time it takes to deploy a pure Arch system.

ArchLabs caters to users who aren’t afraid of the command line, but want to run a desktop distro without spending a lot of time to compile everything from scratch. Unlike some of the other popular Arch-derivatives, the 64-bit only distro doesn’t boot into a Live environment. Instead, its install-only medium takes users to its text-based installer dubbed AL-Installer. It’s fairly straightforward to navigate and includes all the conveniences of a modern distro installer, without the bloat.