The distribution features the LXDE desktop environment

Apr 18, 2015 04:15 GMT  ·  By

Arne Exton had the pleasure of informing Softpedia about a new distribution of GNU/Linux created from the ground up for the Raspberry Pi 2 tiny computer board and called RaspArch.

As its name might suggest, RaspArch is an ARM operating system derived from the lightweight and powerful Arch Linux distro. It boasts a custom Linux 3.18.11 LTS kernel and LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment).

In fact, RaspArch is a remaster of the Arch Linux ARM operating system that features a traditional desktop environment and some of the most popular open-source applications, including the Mozilla Firefox web browser and GIMP image editor.

"When you have installed RaspArch to your Micro SD card, you can use the system like any other Arch Linux system, i.e. install new programs, etc.," says Arne Exton in an email to Softpedia.

However, it appears that RaspArch has been designed especially for the second-generation Raspberry Pi, model B, which was released in February 2015 and boasts a Quad-core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU running at 900MHz, and 1GB RAM.

It will not work with other versions of the Raspberry Pi computer board. You can download RaspArch build 150414 right now from Softpedia. Detailed installation instructions are provided by Arne Exton on his website.