I Tested Artix Linux: A Delightful SystemD-Free Distro for Experienced Users (and ChromeOS Speed)

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ZDNET Highlights

• Artix is ​​a Linux distribution with a different approach, but it has a lot in common.
• It offers very fast boot times and excellent all-around performance.
• Artix uses the OpenRC init system and ships with minimal apps.

“The Art of Linux” – This is where the name of the Artix distribution comes from, and this modern, free take on Linux takes the art in its name seriously.

But don’t be misled; Artix (an Arch-based rolling release distribution) is not geared towards artists (although it certainly could be). Rather, Artix is ​​about the art of creating a unique Linux distribution while replacing many of the common bits and pieces.

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For example, Artix has abandoned systemd in favor of XLibre or Wayland, along with OpenRC or dinit (user’s choice) in place of Xorg. According to the Artix FAQ, developers “love SystemD”, but would never use it. And by disconnecting systemd, developers can rest assured that upstream changes will not ultimately affect the project and that systemd cannot infiltrate binary packages.

I don’t want to get into controversies, but I will say this: systemd may not be liked by everyone, but it has become the standard. Because of that, distributions that refuse to adopt it will struggle to gain more ground.

It’s a shame, because some of those system-less distributions are actually quite good. Similar is the case with Artix. Upon installing Artix (which was very easy), the first thing I noticed was how fast it boots; We’re talking about ChromeOS-speed here. Don’t blink; Otherwise, you will miss bootup.

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Once I logged in, I immediately noticed another thing that Artix does differently. Most modern distributions that use KDE Plasma as the desktop environment keep the now-default floating panel option. I believe it gives the desktop a bit more modernity, which I like. Artix doesn’t go that route and, instead, opts for a traditional panel. Of course, the theme is dark (which has also become the norm now – much to my dismay). There’s just enough transparency, and the overall effect is quite nice.

preinstalled apps

Click on the menu, however, and you’ll see that Artix doesn’t ship much in the way of user applications. Sure, there’s a menu for Office, but it only has the Okular PDF viewer. Well then, let’s install some apps to make this distribution useful.

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Ruh roh… no app store, which means we’ll have to take care of things from the command line. Click Menu and then System > Console to open a Terminal window.

Let’s try to set up a GUI app store.

sudo pacman -c octopi

fingers crossed. Then, bingo! Within seconds, I had the Octopi GUI App Store installed. Menu > System > Octopi to open a new app and start the installation of the software I need. A little bit of LibreOffice, a little bit of GIMP, a little bit of VLC media player and Flatpak to pick up the extra stuff. Unfortunately, there is no support for Flatpak apps in Octopi.

Given that using KDE Discover on Arch-based distributions is not recommended, it seems that all Flatpak apps will have to be managed via the command line. This is not a problem for me, but for those who are not accustomed to CLI (command line interface), it may be a bit of a hindrance. But then again, that’s just the nature of Arch and all its derivatives.

Another oddity is that Artix opts for the Falcon web browser. Although I respect Falcon and think it’s a viable option, I don’t think it’s really a browser for the masses.

openrc

I’ve been using systemd for so long that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to use a separate initialization manager. Well, Artix comes with OpenRC. Turns out, it’s not very challenging. For example, let’s say you want to start the SSH service. To start the SSH daemon, the command would be:

sudo rc-service sshd start

Easy. The same is true for stopping and restarting, so:

sudo rc-service sshd stop

sudo rc-service ssh restart

How does the Artix perform?

Here’s another area where I have no complaints. Artix is ​​like many other Linux distributions I’ve used: it’s fast. From boot to application installation and opening apps, the speed of Artix is ​​impressive.

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I did my usual testing with Olama Local AI. I will say that downloading the Olama service took longer than expected, but that may be a problem with their servers, not Artix.

Since Aritx uses OpenRC, I had to create an init file for Olama. To do this, I created a new file called olma in the /etc/init_d/ directory (note: swap out _ for . in this command and all previous commands that point to the OpenRC initialization directory).

sudo nano /etc/init_d/ollama

In that file, I added the following:

#!/sbin/openrc-run

command = “/usr/local/bin/olmaserv”

command_background = true

pidfile=’/run/ollama.pid’

Name=”Olama”

depend() {

need net

}

start_pre() {

checkpath –directory –mode 0755 /run

}

Save and close the file.

Give executable permissions to the file:

sudo chmod +x /etc/init_d/ollama

Add service to:

sudo rc-update add olma default

Start Service:

sudo rc-service olma start

You should be good to go.

I pulled out llama3.2 LLM and asked my questions, and Artix/Ollama answered without hesitation. Well played, Artix, well played.

What is Artix for?

The answer to this question is very simple: if you follow your own path and feel like you can enjoy an operating system that challenges you. just enough To enhance your Linux skills, Artix can be a suitable option. Everything it does is a little different, but it does everything so well that I find this Linux distribution a viable and enjoyable choice.

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However, if you are not interested in boosting the system, you can consider EndeavorOS Titan as your Arch-based distribution.