Revision 489772684 of "Ark Linux" on enwiki

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{{AfDM|page=Ark Linux (2nd nomination)|year=2012|month=April|day=29|substed=yes|origtag=afdx|help=off}}
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{{Distinguish|Arch Linux|ALT Linux|ALinux}}
{{Notability|Products|date=November 2009}}
{{Primary sources|date=November 2009}}
{{Infobox OS
| logo                   = [[Image:Arklinux distrowatch.png|50px|The Ark Linux logo]]
| screenshot             = [[Image:Arklinux installer.png|200px]]
| caption                = Ark Linux installer
| developer              = [[Bernhard Rosenkraenzer]] et al.
| family                 = [[Linux]]
| source_model           = [[Open source]]
| working_state          = Current
| latest_release_version = 2008.1 <!-- If you update this, don't forget to update [[Comparison of Linux distributions]]-->
| latest_release_date    = {{release date and age|2008|05|14}}
| latest_preview_version = Alpha
| latest_preview_date    = {{Start date and age|2011|01|14|}}
| kernel_type            = [[Monolithic kernel|Monolithic]] (modular)
| updatemodel            = [[Advanced Packaging Tool|APT]]
| package_manager        = [[RPM Package Manager|RPM]]
| license                = Various
| website                = [http://www.arklinux.org/ http://www.arklinux.org/]
}}

'''Ark Linux''' is a [[Linux distribution]] maintained by a group of volunteers and aims to be easy to install and use. Its default [[desktop environment]] is [[KDE]].

Ark Linux is available both as an installable CD and as a [[Live CD]], and is [[free software]].

==Principles==
The primary goals of Ark Linux are:
* Being easy to install and learn.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.arklinux.org/
| title=Ark Linux homepage
| publisher=Ark Linux
| accessdate=2008-03-20}}</ref>
* Including all tools and applications a typical desktop user will need.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/FAQ:+What+is+this%3F
| title=Ark Linux FAQ
| publisher=Ark Linux
| accessdate=2008-03-20 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20071102134736/http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/FAQ:+What+is+this |archivedate = 2007-11-02}}</ref>
* Including ''only'' tools and applications a typical desktop user will need—avoid becoming "bloated".<ref name="Announcement of Ark Linux 2007.1">{{cite web
| url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ark-Linux-Ark-Linux-Live-2007-1-Released-63133.shtml
| title=Announcement of Ark Linux 2007.1
| publisher=Softpedia
| accessdate=2008-03-20}}</ref>
* Making installation of additional software as easy and fast as possible.<ref name="Announcement of Ark Linux 2007.1" />
* Being a technically sane development environment.<ref name="Announcement of Ark Linux 2007.1" />
* Remaining 100% [[free software]] - [[GNU General Public Licence|GPL]] where possible, otherwise other [[The Free Software Definition|free]] and [[Open Source Definition|open source]] licences<ref name="ArkLinuxSite">{{cite web| last =| first =| authorlink =| coauthors =| title =ArkLinux.org| work =| publisher =Ark Linux| date =| url =http://www.arklinux.org/ |format =| doi =| accessdate =2010-04-02 |archiveurl= |archivedate= |deadurl=no}}</ref>
* Remain true to the [[The Free Software Definition|Free Software Standards]] <ref name="ArkLinuxSite"/>

== Content ==
The Ark Linux core system is made up of one CD that tries to provide what the typical new desktop user will need, such as an office suite, Internet access tools, instant messaging and filesharing clients.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/Software+Map
| title=Ark Linux software map
| publisher=Ark Linux
| accessdate=2008-03-20 |archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080212031441/http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/Software+Map |archivedate = 2008-02-12}}</ref>
Nothing else is included, for example server-centric applications and development tools are not part of the core system.

Many applications that are not included in the core system can be installed online using [[Advanced Packaging Tool]], and are available on add-on CDs.

Additionally, a separate online repository of unsupported software (this includes software that's free to use, but not [[open source]], such as [[Adobe Flash]]) is available.

==Package management==
Ark Linux uses [[APT-RPM]], a version of the [[Advanced Packaging Tool|APT]] for the [[RPM Package Manager|RPM]], with Kynaptic (a KDE port of [[Synaptic Package Manager|Synaptic]]) as the graphical frontend, to manage its packages.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.arklinux.org/content/en/FAQ:What+packaging+system+does+Ark+Linux+use,+and+why%3F
| title=Ark Linux FAQ on packaging
| publisher=Ark Linux
| accessdate=2008-03-20}} {{Dead link|date=November 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> Future releases of Ark will use [[ZYpp]] as a replacement,<ref>[http://arklinux.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/another-look-at-linux-packaging-systems/ Another look at Linux packaging systems]</ref> making Ark the first third-party distribution to use the native package manager of [[openSUSE]].

In addition to its releases, Ark Linux has 4 package trees:
* Dockyard: Tested packages belonging to the core system.
* Dockyard contrib: Tested packages that are not part of the core system, e.g. due to licensing restrictions
* Dockyard-devel: Development tree (core system). Normally usable, but may break at times. After testing, packages are moved from Dockyard-devel to Dockyard.
* Dockyard-devel contrib: Development tree (not part of core system).

A standard installation receives updates and extra packages from the Dockyard and Dockyard contrib trees.

For Ark Linux packagers, a number of small convenience tools are included, commonly known as the v* toolchain (even though not all the tools start with a v). They are designed to help generate patches and spec files for the RPM source packages.<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://wiki.arklinux.org/Packaging
| title=Ark Linux Wiki page on packaging
| publisher=Ark Linux
| accessdate=2008-03-20}}</ref>

== Release history ==
All releases are tested snapshots of the Dockyard tree (see Package Management above) - a default installation will update from the Dockyard and Dockyard contrib trees.

There is no need to reinstall when a new release is made—since the Dockyard tree gets updated, a user automatically gets the new release by running an [[Advanced Packaging Tool|apt-get]] dist-upgrade.

The first test release (1.0 alpha 1), basically a proof of concept that showed Linux could be installed in 3 mouse clicks, was made in August 2001.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

Subsequent public releases include:
* 19 March 2005 - Ark Linux 2005.1
* 31 March 2005 - Ark Linux 2005.1-SR1
* 10 December 2005 - Ark Linux 2005.2
* 2 August 2006 - Ark Linux 2006.1, Ark Linux Live 2006.1
* 17 August 2007 - Ark Linux 2007.1, Ark Linux Live 2007.1
* 14 May 2008 - Ark Linux 2008.1—Last KDE 3.x based release

However, there is usually a Dockyard ISO available (see Package Management above), which sometimes will be updated further than the last release. For example, the Ark Linux 2007.1 release encountered some hardware support glitches, such as not detecting AHCI SATA controllers. A hot-fix ISO was released, which included this functionality, but the version number was not increased, as other known errors were yet to be fixed.

==See also==
* [[Comparison of Linux LiveDistros]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.arklinux.org/ Ark Linux official website]
*{{DistroWatch|ark|NAME=Ark Linux}} (Note that DistroWatch shows all software included on any of the add-on CDs in addition to the software in the core OS; it doesn't show software included in the contrib repository though)

{{Linux-distro}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2011}}
[[Category:RPM-based Linux distributions]]
[[Category:Free software]]
[[Category:2001 software]]
[[Category:KDE]]

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