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XFree86 4.3.0 is out February 27, 2003 posted by judd

XFree86 4.3.0 was released today and the Arch package is ready to go. The new version of Xfree86 now has xft2 and fontconfig built in, so if you've already got these packages installed on your system, you will get a package conflict error when you try to --sysupgrade with pacman. You can fix this by removing the xft2 and fontconfig (ignoring dependencies) and then re-running --sysupgrade. You might get a couple file conflicts as well, but these are just leftover cache files from the fontconfig package. If they're fonts.cache-1 files, you can safely --force them. # pacman -Rd xft2 fontconfig # pacman -Syu

Pacman 2.3 Released February 23, 2003 posted by judd

Pacman 2.3 went out today. It has a few key bugfixes, a cleaner --search output, and the first stage of source-side auto-resolving dependencies. We've also opened a third package repository called unstable. This repo will contain packages that are deemed unstable by the software author(s) and/or the Arch Linux package maintainers.

Arch 0.4 (Dragon) Released December 18, 2002 posted by judd

We are pleased to present Arch 0.4 to the public for general consumption. The ChangeLog and package list are at their usual locations. This release comes with KDE 3.1rc5 and GNOME 2.0.2 as well as the latest versions of all our usual packges: OpenSSL 0.9.6h, OpenSSH 3.5p1, XFree86 4.2.1, Linux 2.4.20, GCC 3.2.1, and Glibc 2.3.1. Dragon still provides a streamlined package set (323 packages) but if you want more you can always access our unofficial package repository, which has about 350 more packages and is growing fast. Docs can be found here and live help can usually be found in the #archlinux channel on irc.freenode.net. We also have a user forum where you can post your problems and suggestions. Happy holidays!

Arch moves to GCC 3.2 October 2, 2002 posted by judd

After a few weeks of testing, we are ready to move to gcc 3.2. We have rebuilt every package with the gcc3 compiler, so this means that you will see a very large update the next time you run pacman -Syu. It is advisable to reboot your machine after this upgrade. Remember to run 'lilo' before rebooting. Note that packages from the unofficial repository may not work for a few days. We are in the process of rebuilding them now. With gcc3 out of the way, we are focusing our efforts on the 0.4 release. Stay tuned.

Pacman 2.1 Released August 22, 2002 posted by judd

Pacman 2.1 has new functionality to allow the use of multiple package repositories and multiple servers. This was brought about so we could open a new 'unofficial' package repository that will hold all the unsupported packages that never made it into the official Arch package area. To start using the unofficial repository, just upgrade to pacman 2.1 and edit your /etc/pacman.conf. Find the block that starts with '[unofficial]' and uncomment it and the servers listed underneath. Then just run pacman as usual and it will check both repositories for packages. This also opens up a new opportunity for the more adventurous: You can now create and use your own local package repositories. I often keep my own PKGBUILD files in /usr/abs/local and install them on to my box. Now I can turn that into a functional repository that can be used with the 'pacman --sync' operation. The new 'gensync' script will do the dirty work for you. See the pacman manpage for a crude explanation.

Arch 0.3 (Firefly) Released August 7, 2002 posted by judd

At long last, Arch Linux 0.3 is released! Firefly sports the new pacman 2.0, many new/updated packages and a (hopefully) smoother installation process. There is also some user documentation available which will get you started with the nuances of pacman and makepkg. All packages now have meta-info and dependencies, and the improved ABS system will allow you to follow different package trees. See the changelog for a list of new packages. The 0.3 iso is about 543 MB with all the new packages. If there is enough demand, I will release a second, smaller iso that only contains the base packages. From there it is easy to install any additional packages with pacman's new --sync feature.

Pacman 2.0 Released July 23, 2002 posted by judd

Pacman 2.0 was released yesterday and should be on the mirrors soon. Some new pacman features: Package-level dependency functionality Built-in FTP support New database structure md5-based backup file control (a la rpm) Ability to upgrade packages from a remote server Auto-resolving dependencies with --sync A search option for finding new packages The 'abs' sync script for updating your ABS tree Dependency checking at the source level with makepkg More package meta-info available with the --info option Easy conversion from a pacman 1.x database I expect to release Firefly in the next week or so.

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