Arch Linux 0.2 (Vega) Released

The 0.2 iso is up on the mirrors and ready for download. I've named it Vega, after the 5th brightest star in the sky, and one that's particularly visible from my location in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Here's a summary of additions/improvements:

  • interactive installer cabable of cd- or ftp-based installs
  • pacsync utility for upgrading your system automatically
  • more packages, latest versions of all packages
  • stock kernel package
  • improved package manager
  • root/boot disk images for install and rescue
  • many small bugfixes

The 0.2 iso is actually ~30mb smaller (281mb) than the 0.1 iso, which is a slightly different trend than most distributions take. Other packages can be easily installed with the pacsync utility after your system is standing on its own feet. Check out the pacsync manpage for more info.

Focuses for 0.3 include dependency support in pacman, better documentation and a developed package contributor network. I've had some great package contributions from some Arch Linux users already. Keep it up!