Arch-based distro minus systemd
making waves in the Linuxsphere
By Larry Cafiero
As of late, it seems that more and more distros are based on Arch Linux – by the way – than any other distro, which is for all intents and purposes as interesting as it is arguably irrelevant.
But nevertheless, what sets apart this week’s Distro of the Week – Artix Linux 2026-08 – from the crowd of both new and established Arch-based distros is that Artix removes systemd and supplants its init system with a choice of OpenRC, runit, s6, or dinit, making this one of the most interesting twists in the Linux universe.
A little history of Artix
According to Distrowatch, Artix Linux is a fork – or continuation as an autonomous project – of the Arch-OpenRC and Manjaro-OpenRC projects, and offers a lightweight, rolling-release operating system featuring the OpenRC init software.
Artix Linux’s history goes back to the distro’s roots. It began in 2012 when Arch OpenRC and Manjaro Open RC were both separate active Linux distros. In 2017 both these projects merged and Artix Linux was created.
Artix allows users the freedom from systemd, instead permitting users to choose between OpenRC, runit, s6, and dinit, although for the version we tested – 2026-08 – s6 and runit have yet to make the cut.
Additionally, Artix has its own repositories and, according to Wikipedia, “it is not recommended by developers to use Arch packages due to differences such as naming conventions and contrasting init systems.”
Installing Artix Linux
What version to choose? Not only does Artix Linux 2026-08 come with two init systems, it also comes in a variety of desktop environment flavors, namely Cinnamon, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, KDE Plasma, and Xfce. Downloading the Xfce version with the dinit system seemed to be the easiest choice, and with a relatively sane 2.1 GB ISO, the download went fairly quickly.
Putting the ISO onto a USB drive, the live USB version comes up with a plethora of helpful files along with the install icon on the desktop. Clicking the install icon brings up a standard Calamares installer, which goes through the standard motions of installing the new operating system: keyboard, location, drive setup, name/password and once you’ve confirmed it, you’re on your way.
A note about the system requirements for Artix Linux. The distro can run on a wide range of hardware, since the minimum requirements are fairly low. While the suggested RAM for Artix is 1 GB or higher, it will run on as little as 512 MB of RAM. Artix would prefer a dual-core 64-bit processor or faster, but will run on a 1 GHz processor, and 10 GB or more of disk space would suffice.
Kicking the tires on Artix Linux
Booting quickly after the install, the user can easily upgrade the distro to its full potential by running an Arch-based upgrade, specifically sudo pacman -Syu. Once that run is finished we were ready to take a look at the distro.
True to its fairly average ISO size, Artix Linux does not provide a wealth of software in the original install. The distro’s initial installation comes with several standard-issue software programs and tools, like GParted, Hexchat, Thunar file manager, Leafpad text editor, and the Parole media player, among others. But there is no email program and the web browser is a version of Falkon that has, at least for those new to it, a bit of a learning curve to negotiate.
Additionally, with no discernible program to install software on Artix, it was off to the command line on the terminal to install a few things. To play it safe, I installed the Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird e-mail client. Next was a couple of media programs like Strawberry to play music and VLC to watch videos. For this article, LibreOffice and GIMP were also necessary additions to the distro.
Once we got all of our proverbial software ducks in a row, it was time to get down to brass tacks.
The performance of the latest Artix Linux version was quite nimble, thanks in large part to its Arch base. A variety of software programs came up automatically and quickly, and items like audio discs were played constantly and non-stop, even while using other programs at the same time.
Of course, this means that multitasking was handled by the typical Arch-based aplomb, with the memory barely reaching over 2.5 GB even while using several software programs simultaneously. Listening to music was a joy with Strawberry – for some reason, I couldn’t get VLC to work, and I am blaming the hardware – and going through all the motions of daily computer use was nothing short of a dream with this distro.
Artix played nicely with online programs as well, handling tasks using Google Docs and Google Drive with ease.
Final thoughts
Artix Linux is enigmatic, but in more of a positive way. For example, while the fact that there is a shortage of available software in the original install could be considered a negative, it is a minor detail in the larger picture of the distro.
But here are the positives: Artix Linux has a fairly helpful user base by the look of its well-stocked wiki, should anything go wrong. And they may be on to something when it comes to a systemd-less Arch-based distro, for those who can’t – or won’t – use that particular init system for whatever reason.
But like Arch, Artix Linux is not really for Linux beginners, and I would say that only the more adventurous new Linux users make the foray in using this distro. The fact that there’s no way to add software other than with the terminal is its most glaring drawback for beginners. To say nothing of potential hardware hiccups that might throw beginners as well; for example, one of the Dell laptops I use came up with a black screen after installation, and after some research I found that a simple nomodeset at the boot worked wonders (which, of course, I found in the well-written wiki, so thank you, Artix folks).
However, if you’ve been around the Linux block a few times or if you’re an Arch-head, by the way, then Artix Linux should be a viable candidate for your daily driver. Again, we only tested the Xfce version of the distro, but I would imagine that other desktop environments behave roughly the same way – fast, agile, and dependable.
Grab an Artix Linux ISO at the Artix download page and go to town.
Do you have a distro you think would make a great feature for Distro of the Week? Don’t be shy—let me know! Email me at larry.cafiero@gmail.com and I’ll make an effort to make your choice available to the wider public … No suggestion is too mainstream!