14 DAY TRIAL // Here's another Linux distribution that adopts the EXT4 filesystem, Arch Linux 2009-02, announced last night (February 16th) by Aaron Griffin. Arch Linux is a bleeding-edge independently developed Linux distribution. This is the first release of Arch Linux for 2009 and it brings some of the latest and greatest Linux technologies available today, such as Linux kernel 2.6.28 and support for the evolutionary EXT4 filesystem. The latter was also added in the installer, which means that every Arch Linux user will be able to easily create EXT4 partitions.
"We proudly announce the release of the new Arch Linux installation images, version 2009.02. It took us quite a while, but we think the result is worth it: we added some cool new things and ironed out some long-lasting imperfections." - said Aaron Griffin in the official release announcement.
Highlights of Arch Linux 2009-02:
· Updated Linux kernel to version 2.6.28; · Added EXT4 support in the installer; · Added maintenance and rescue aptitudes for EXT4 partitions; · Added ISO images with the ISOLINUX bootloader, as an alternative for the GRUB-based ones; · Fixed various bugs in the installer; · Updated documentation; · Added Arch Linux Installation Framework, the next-generation installer, which is still in development.
Also, three weeks ago, on January 27th, the Arch Linux community announced the immediate availability of the popular KDE 4.2 desktop environment for their distribution. Before you update, the team suggests to backup your ~/.kde4 folder and start with a clean configuration!
Arch Linux is a flexible and lightweight GNU/Linux distribution that embraces the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle. It uses i686 and x86_64 optimized packages that offer you an improved performance over other distributions.
A step-by-step installation tutorial (with screenshots) can be found here.
Download Arch Linux 2009.02 right now from Softpedia.