ArcoL🐼inux founder Erik Dubois has announced he is stepping away from the project and and shutting down the popular Linux distro.

ArcoLinux is an Arch-based distro that has filled a special role in the Linux communityඣ. The distro is 90% st🌜raight Arch, but includes a number of ArcoLinux-specific applications, as well as some from the Chaotic AUR.

Even more than the distro itself, Ar🐓coLinux was a valuable source of information, with Dubois publishing thousands of instructional videos on YouTube, as well as founding the ArcoLinux University. Dubois explained his reason fo🐲r ending the distro in .

A farewell to the ArcoLinux University

Reflecting on 8 Years of Teaching, Building, and Promoting Linux

After eight years of dedica🐎tion to the ArcoLinux project and the broader Li🗹nux community, the time has come for me to step away.

This decision wasn’t made lightly. But as I approach 60, I’ve found myself with less energy, less focus, and making small mistakes that remind me I’m no longer at my peak. I want to leave ArcoLinux while it’s💯 still strong, and while I can look back with pride at everything we’ve accomplished together.

Dubois goes on to list his project’s impressive accomplishments before expounding on his reasons for stepping back and what’s next.

Why It’s Time to Step Back

Aging is humbling. As I near 60, I’ve come to realize I simply don’t have the same mental sharpness or stamina I used to. I catch myself making little mistakes — the kind that matter when you’re maintaining 𓆉an ecosystem with this many moving parts.

Rather than let that diminish the quality of ArcoLinux, I chooওse to leave it while🍌 it’s still stable, respected, and valuable.

Dubois says he wants “to slow down, enjoy life, and maybe tinker with Linux just for fun again—without the pressure of running a large project.” He says “the code, the videos, the documentation—they’ll remain online for others to learn from, fork, or remix.”

For existing ArcoLinux users, there will be transiti𝓰on packages in the coming weeks that make it easy transition to vanilla Arch without the need to reinstall.

Moving Forward

Going forward, wꦿe will provide you with transition packages that allowꦉs users to convert their existing ArcoLinux systems into an Arch Linux setup. This package will:

• Remove ArcoLinux branding (logos and themes) wherever needed/wanted
• Replace pacman.conf with a new one focused on Arch and Chaotic-AUR
• Change the arcolinux-mirrorlist into one source only – github (free)

You can keep on rolling as you are on Arch – no need to reinstall

While we will no longer build or maintain our own or AUR packages, we will rely on Chaotic-AUR to provide binary packages. This community resource will c🍒ont𒅌inue the heavy lifting for AUR support — a role we have fulfilled ourselves for the past 8 years.

T💯he transition is expected to💃 be complete by July 1, 2025.

While Dubois’ announcement is unfortunate for ArcoLinux users, it is also completely understandable. After years maintaining the distro, it’s understandable that Dubois wants to retire and enjoy having fun with Linux, rather than it being a job.

ArcoLinux should also serve as a cautionary tale. There are many distros in the Linux ꦡcommunity, some of which are maintained by companies and large c♋ommunities, while others are maintained by a single individual. Relying on a distro that is maintained by a single user, or just a couple of users, always runs the risk of that distro disappearing.

At the same time, ArcoLinux also demonstrates exactly what kiꦓnd of distro users do well to rely on, even if it is a smaller distro maintained by one person. While ArcoLinux is going away, the fact that it is essentially just Arch Linux underneath means that users hav🧸e an easy path forward.

At the end of the day, ArcoLinux will be missed, but the lega꧟cy it leaves ♛behind will continue on for years to come.