Manjaro, the Linux distribution based on Arch has just put out a major new release with Manjaro 18.1.0 - Juhraya.
Something of a controversial decision was the Manjaro team were possibly going to replace the FOSS office suite LibreOffice in favour of the proprietary FreeOffice. After they took on plenty of feedback, they decided to drop that plan. Instead, when installing you now get the choice between the two or no office suite at all. Additionally according to what the Manjaro team said, SoftMaker (the developer), actually expanded FreeOffice to support more Microsoft formats due to the demand from the Manjaro community so thats' quite nice.
Pictured: Manjaro KDE Plasma Edition.
One of the other big additions in this release is the inclusion of their new software store named "bauh" (formely fpakman).
Bauh is a graphical package manager for both Snaps and Flatpak giving you the best of all worlds. So Manjaro now supports Snaps, Flatpaks and the Arch AUR.
You can download it here where it gives you a choice between XFCE 4.14, KDE Plasma 5.16, GNOME 3.32 or Architect which enables you to customise basically anything.
If you missed some recent Manjaro news, they actually formed a company to work on it professionally.
Personally, I've been using Manjaro now for around two months as my main daily driver and it has been a fun experience. I was fully expecting at least some kind of instability but it has been really smooth.
Like my wallpaper? You can download the source file here. It's under the CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication license (info), created by Frank during one of our older competitions.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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As I reinstalled Ubuntu Mate, I wondered why, if Manjaro could determine that I had an Optimus setup, would the DE offer me an option that would bork my OS? Rather than get an answer, I decided I wasn't ready for the thing.In my experience, when you install Manjaro into a VM, it will install every Nvidia driver! Of course the VM is not using real GPU acceleration and those drivers are useless in the VM. I don't think removing the drivers was an option, either, because it was a dependency of the hardware detection tool, which was a dependency of the Manjaro Core suite.
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Proprietary office suite? Software store? I thought Manjaro was just arch with more conservative approach to packages, but it seems that it's to Arch something like Ubuntu to Debian? I'll stick with the vanilla distro, thank you very much. ;-)Not trying to sound like a snob, but I've been feeling the same way the past few weeks about Manjaro. I may reinstall the kids' computers with the Architect ISO next time. Even then, I'm not sure. Using installer helpers for Arch is not supported, but that might be my next step... I'm also watching EndeavorOS to see what they're doing.
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Regarding snaps/flatpaks, I was a bit out of the loop but recently read an interview by someone at Canonical talking about the advantages and... holey moley, now I get why people hate Canonical with a passion. So much that is wrong and even downright hostile to other distros or FOSS. Flatpak seems less problematic, but I'm doubling down in my support of just using distro repositories.Link to interview?
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Don't get me wrong, there is a lot I like about Manjaro, but I'm really tired of seeing so many newcomers breaking their system because they selected the wrong option in that minefield. It's consolidating the reputation that "GPU drivers are unstable on Linux", especially since Manjaro is often recommended to newbies and they have no idea how to recover from a broken state.I'd say Manjaro is about as close to the same task as managing an Arch machine after it's installed. I actually think it's just a little more annoying since it's not the same as my main rig. (I find myself annoyed finding things installed that I wish weren't. And I find the system updater program overwriting my mirrors list annoying.) For that reason, I think I agree with you that Manjaro should not be recommended to new GNU/Linux tasters. Give them something like Pop! OS, Mint, Elementary OS, or Ubuntu.
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@Liam, you running out of spaceOh yeah I know :(, no extra funds for a new drive right now.
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For that reason, I think I agree with you that Manjaro should not be recommended to new GNU/Linux tasters. Give them something like Pop! OS, Mint, Elementary OS, or Ubuntu.
All of those options are fixed release, though. I think target audiences like gamers will want a rolling release, they've got to stay up to date for maximum compatibility and performance. Most of the rolling release distros however have a reputation for not being very user friendly to the masses. Manjaro's mission is trying to bring the goodness that's Arch to them. How well it succeeds is debatable, but Manjaro is around for quite some time now so I think it has to be doing something right.
That being said, I think the rolling release distro of choice for Linux beginners is actually Solus. The experience with that for me was butter smooth, the only reason I eventually switched was software availability in repos. Solus is hurting a bit because of no AUR.
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As I reinstalled Ubuntu Mate, I wondered why, if Manjaro could determine that I had an Optimus setup, would the DE offer me an option that would bork my OS? Rather than get an answer, I decided I wasn't ready for the thing.In my experience, when you install Manjaro into a VM, it will install every Nvidia driver! Of course the VM is not using real GPU acceleration and those drivers are useless in the VM. I don't think removing the drivers was an option, either, because it was a dependency of the hardware detection tool, which was a dependency of the Manjaro Core suite.
Interesting. So something about an Optimus setup confounds Manjaro? Maybe they'll integrate Nvidia's Optimus GPU switcher and somehow use it to present a better GPU selection for the Optimus-burdened user.
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Link to interview?
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-canonical-views-the-snap-ecosystem-as-a-compelling-distribution-agnostic-solution/
It is actually defending snaps and its "advantages", but I was still horrified because I didn't know about the issues in the first place. I was like "wait, Canonical wants to control distribution of snaps for all distros and calls that 'agnostic'? The backend is proprietary?"
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Um. That certainly confirms my gut feel that I prefer flatpaks.Link to interview?
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-canonical-views-the-snap-ecosystem-as-a-compelling-distribution-agnostic-solution/
It is actually defending snaps and its "advantages", but I was still horrified because I didn't know about the issues in the first place. I was like "wait, Canonical wants to control distribution of snaps for all distros and calls that 'agnostic'? The backend is proprietary?"
Side note: So, according to the article Canonical are doing an "internet of things" push and all their packages for that are snaps, period? Isn't IoT one of the few areas where you'd expect bloat to still actually matter, because you're using tiny cheap computers with little storage?
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The backend is not agnostic; I see your point. The distributable product is, though. After reading the entire interview, it sounds like they're making Steam for apps. As long as app publishers don't exclusively build Snaps akin to game publishers choosing Epic, I don't see much of a problem with what Ubuntu is doing. As long as we all have free choice and the choices are pretty equal, I think the Snap Store will be a good option for users that don't use computers as a hobby but are running Linux.Link to interview?
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-canonical-views-the-snap-ecosystem-as-a-compelling-distribution-agnostic-solution/
It is actually defending snaps and its "advantages", but I was still horrified because I didn't know about the issues in the first place. I was like "wait, Canonical wants to control distribution of snaps for all distros and calls that 'agnostic'? The backend is proprietary?"
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The backend is not agnostic; I see your point. The distributable product is, though. After reading the entire interview, it sounds like they're making Steam for apps. As long as app publishers don't exclusively build Snaps akin to game publishers choosing Epic, I don't see much of a problem with what Ubuntu is doing. As long as we all have free choice and the choices are pretty equal, I think the Snap Store will be a good option for users that don't use computers as a hobby but are running Linux.
I see a big issue with promoting a "solution" to distributing software across all distros that doesn't try to work together with other distros at all, but rather tries to retain control over the entire thing. Feels more like a takeover than a contribution. And it relies on proprietary software, which is enough reason to prefer other alternatives and bonkers for the makers of a popular distro. It is way too closed and centralized - I absolutely don't want Linux software installation as a whole to depend on a single company and their closed service. So I feel that any software that chooses to use snap instead of other solutions is a loss.
It also promotes proprietary software and does a lot of things for the convenience of developers/maintainers at the cost of disadvantages for end-users, which is not exactly good.
I mean, it is not the end of the world, but there are too many issues for me to see it as a step forward... in particular when there are other efforts that don't have those issues.
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...I absolutely don't want Linux software installation as a whole to depend on a single company and their closed service.I completely agree with this!
It also promotes proprietary software and does a lot of things for the convenience of developers/maintainers at the cost of disadvantages for end-users, which is not exactly good.Being nit-picky here, but the disadvantages to end-users I think you're talking about probably wouldn't be realized by them, only the superusers and nerds. The convenience and simplicity would only feel like an advantage to the layman I think.
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...I absolutely don't want Linux software installation as a whole to depend on a single company and their closed service.I completely agree with this!
It also promotes proprietary software and does a lot of things for the convenience of developers/maintainers at the cost of disadvantages for end-users, which is not exactly good.Being nit-picky here, but the disadvantages to end-users I think you're talking about probably wouldn't be realized by them, only the superusers and nerds. The convenience and simplicity would only feel like an advantage to the layman I think.
Sure, most non-techie users aren't aware of the issues, or don't know of the alternatives. I don't think this means they aren't affected or wouldn't care if they knew... many of the advantages of the system for the end-user, like sandboxing, wouldn't be visible either.
From a simplicity/convenience (for users) point of view, I think a great GUI frontend for apt would be the best thing they could make. Display a curated selection of software that is easy to find and to understand and just install it normally.
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I'm a former user of Linux Mint, Xubuntu, and Debian. I've been using Manjaro since December of 2015. I also manage ~20 towers/laptops for friends/family, all running Manjaro. I made the switch on my computers after looking for a good rolling release distro that supported Xfce.
In my experience, Arch/Manjaro are king when it comes to having access to a massive amount of the latest/greatest software without having to sacrifice stability. Manjaro's update announcements will have instructions in the rare event you need to take manual action for successful updates.
These packages are installed on any manjaro system. They are required by the Manjaro Hardware Detection tool (mhwd). These are not the actual drivers, just profiles/ids for detecting when those drivers are applicable.
There are minimal ISOs available that do not come with snap and flatpak, amongst other things.
The mirrors list is updated as new mirrors are added and old mirrors go away, in addition to updating which servers provide the best connection (lowest latency). If you want to manually limit which servers it pulls from, I recommend setting specific countries with the following:
You can see what countries have mirrors with
Last edited by lectrode on 13 September 2019 at 11:05 pm UTC
In my experience, Arch/Manjaro are king when it comes to having access to a massive amount of the latest/greatest software without having to sacrifice stability. Manjaro's update announcements will have instructions in the rare event you need to take manual action for successful updates.
In my experience, when you install Manjaro into a VM, it will install every Nvidia driver!
These packages are installed on any manjaro system. They are required by the Manjaro Hardware Detection tool (mhwd). These are not the actual drivers, just profiles/ids for detecting when those drivers are applicable.
core/mhwd-amdgpu 1.2.1-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-ati 7.7.0-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-catalyst 1:15.201.1151-2 [installed]
core/mhwd-db 0.6.3-12 (base) [installed]
core/mhwd-nvidia-340xx 340.107-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-nvidia-390xx 390.129-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-nvidia-418xx 418.88-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-nvidia-430xx 430.40-1 [installed]
core/mhwd-nvidia-435xx 435.21-1 [installed]I find myself annoyed finding things installed that I wish weren't. And I find the system updater program overwriting my mirrors list annoying
There are minimal ISOs available that do not come with snap and flatpak, amongst other things.
The mirrors list is updated as new mirrors are added and old mirrors go away, in addition to updating which servers provide the best connection (lowest latency). If you want to manually limit which servers it pulls from, I recommend setting specific countries with the following:
sudo pacman-mirrors -c my,countries,hereYou can see what countries have mirrors with
pacman-mirrors -lLast edited by lectrode on 13 September 2019 at 11:05 pm UTC
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As I reinstalled Ubuntu Mate, I wondered why, if Manjaro could determine that I had an Optimus setup, would the DE offer me an option that would bork my OS? Rather than get an answer, I decided I wasn't ready for the thing.In my experience, when you install Manjaro into a VM, it will install every Nvidia driver! Of course the VM is not using real GPU acceleration and those drivers are useless in the VM. I don't think removing the drivers was an option, either, because it was a dependency of the hardware detection tool, which was a dependency of the Manjaro Core suite.
Interesting. So something about an Optimus setup confounds Manjaro? Maybe they'll integrate Nvidia's Optimus GPU switcher and somehow use it to present a better GPU selection for the Optimus-burdened user.
Correct, until recently* Manjaro had only limited support for Optimus. They only offered the bumblebee+bbswitch method, which is really not enough in this day and age. Worse, that method can make the distro impossible to install on some machines because it causes ACPI lockups. That's another reason why I really don't want to recommend Manjaro for gaming. If you have an Optimus laptop, prefer Ubuntu or PopOS.
I wrote optimus-manager in an attempt to provide better support for Optimus machines in Arch-based distros such as Manjaro, but it's still a hacky solution.
* (I said "until recently", because Manjaro has just added support for the new Prime offloading method. I'm not sure how they handle it and how it cohabits with their bumblebee+bbswitch method, it's something I need to test.)
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Thanks for the pretty informative post. You cleared up the Nvidia "driver" piece. However, I have already performed the mirrorlist preferences. The problem is I don't seem to be able to type in my own mirror entry into the file. Manual touches get overwritten. Plus, and this might be outdated information, I think the update program (Octopi?) performs a pacman -Sy just to check for updates. If that is happening, it breaks the release consistency with the stuff you already have installed.I find myself annoyed finding things installed that I wish weren't. And I find the system updater program overwriting my mirrors list annoyingThe mirrors list is updated as new mirrors are added and old mirrors go away, in addition to updating which servers provide the best connection (lowest latency). If you want to manually limit which servers it pulls from, I recommend setting specific countries with the following:
sudo pacman-mirrors -c my,countries,here
You can see what countries have mirrors withpacman-mirrors -l
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* (I said "until recently", because Manjaro has just added support for the new Prime offloading method. I'm not sure how they handle it and how it cohabits with their bumblebee+bbswitch method, it's something I need to test.)
Do you mean the on-demand GPU switcher that was talked about a bit here on GoL?
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Proprietary office suite? Software store? I thought Manjaro was just arch with more conservative approach to packages, but it seems that it's to Arch something like Ubuntu to Debian? I'll stick with the vanilla distro, thank you very much. ;-)Not trying to sound like a snob, but I've been feeling the same way the past few weeks about Manjaro. I may reinstall the kids' computers with the Architect ISO next time. Even then, I'm not sure. Using installer helpers for Arch is not supported, but that might be my next step... I'm also watching EndeavorOS to see what they're doing.
Tried Endeavor last week still wip a few issues but there is def potentially
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I find Snaps/Flatpaks and AUR mutually exclusive.
How so? I use Manjaro for like 1 year now, and I use some packages from AUR and some from Flatpak and they work very good. Please elaborate...
Or snaps for that matter; as long as user gets whats desired and all work. Snaps have always worked fine for me.
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oldrocker99 Sep 16, 2019
After 11 years of Ubuntu, and a couple of derivatives, I wanted to compile my go-to music player, Aqualung. I had done it several times in the past 3 years:><::><:, and couldn't even compile GTK2, which is a dependency for Aqualung.
I knew that Aqualung is in the AUR. I tried Manjaro. It completely compiled Aqualung in under five minutes, with two clicks and my password.
I'm hooked. There are packages in the AUR long ago abandoned by Canonical, and programs I love, like exfalso and pypar2.
It is faster than Ubuntu, running roughly 1/5 of the daemons that Ubuntu does at idle. I have gotten some improvement in game speed, not to mention the system overall.
Steam, of course, is preinstalled.
Give it a shot; so far, the best distro I've ever used.
Last edited by oldrocker99 on 16 September 2019 at 12:27 am UTC
I knew that Aqualung is in the AUR. I tried Manjaro. It completely compiled Aqualung in under five minutes, with two clicks and my password.
I'm hooked. There are packages in the AUR long ago abandoned by Canonical, and programs I love, like exfalso and pypar2.
It is faster than Ubuntu, running roughly 1/5 of the daemons that Ubuntu does at idle. I have gotten some improvement in game speed, not to mention the system overall.
Steam, of course, is preinstalled.
Give it a shot; so far, the best distro I've ever used.
Last edited by oldrocker99 on 16 September 2019 at 12:27 am UTC
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