Arch Linux ARM
Arch Linux ARM is a port of Arch Linux for ARM processors. Its design philosophy is "simplicity and full control to the end user," and like its parent operating system Arch Linux, aims to be very Unix-like. This goal of minimalism and complete user control, however, can make Arch Linux difficult for Linux beginners as it requires more knowledge of and responsibility for the operating system.

History and development 
Arch Linux ARM is based on Arch Linux, which is a minimalist Linux distribution first released on March 11, 2002. The idea of making a single,  official port of Arch Linux for devices with ARM processors was born from members of the Arch Linux PlugApps and ArchMobile development teams, notably Mike Staszel, who went on to found the Arch Linux ARM project.

Kevin Mihelich is currently Arch Linux ARM's primary developer. Arch Linux ARM is community-developed, with software development and user support provided fully by volunteer effort and donations. Also, unlike other community-supported operating systems such as Ubuntu, Arch Linux ARM has a relatively small user base, making user participation in development especially important.

Arch Linux ARM has a rolling release cycle, i.e. new software is packaged as it is released. This "bleeding edge" release cycle of small, frequent package updates differs from release cycles of Linux distributions such as Debian, which focus on large, scheduled releases of packages proven to be stable.

Supported processors 
Unlike Arch Linux, which is aimed at x86-64 CPUs, Arch Linux ARM supports low- and high-end ARM CPUs.

At the low end, there is support for ARMv5 platforms like plug computers and OXNAS-based ARMv6 Pogoplugs, although support for ARMv5 and ARMv6 will be dropped at the start of February 2022 owing to low usage. Arch Linux ARM also supports many single-board computers such as the Raspberry Pi.

At the higher end, there is support for:

 ARMv7 first generation Cortex-A8 platforms, such as the BeagleBoard or Cubieboard
 ARMv7 second generation Cortex-A9 and Tegra platforms, such as the PandaBoard or TrimSlice
 ARMv7 third generation Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A15 platforms, such as the Cubieboard2, Odroid XU, Samsung Chromebook (series 3), Samsung Chromebook 2 or Raspberry Pi 2
ARMv8 64-bit capable Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A72 platforms, such as the Odroid C2 and N2, Acer Chromebook R13 or Raspberry Pi 3.

Arch Linux ARM can run on any device that supports ARMv5te, ARMv6h, ARMv7 or ARMv8 instruction sets, including the 64-bit ARMv8 instruction set of the Raspberry Pi 3 and 4.

For a list of officially supported platforms, see archlinuxarm.org's Platforms page. For a list of unofficial, community-supported devices, see archlinuxarm.org's Community-Supported Devices forum.

Reception 
Arch Linux ARM has gained popularity as a lightweight Linux distribution, and in 2014 was growing in popularity among single-board computer hobbyists. Arch Linux ARM is also known for having good community support.

See also 

 List of Linux distributions
 Comparison of Linux distributions

References

External links 
 
List of Linux ARM distributions at distrowatch.com

ARM Linux distributions
ARM operating systems
Linux distributions