Cinnarch Linux Reborn as Antergos

From the ‘Linux Desktop Follies’ files:

I like Arch and I like Cinnamon, so for me Cinnarch Linux was an obvious fit. Except for the fact that apparently Cinnamon doesn’t work so well with Arch.

In early April Cinnarch devs decided to throw in the towel on their distro stating that:

“While Cinnamon is a great user interface and we’ve had a lot of fun implementing it, it’s become too much a burden to maintain/update going forward.”

The successor to Cinnarch has now emerged under the name Antergos. The word Antergos is, “galician word to link the past with the present.”

Ok.

But here’s the kicker. Cinnamon is still supported (though it’s not the default).

Cnchi has now the ability to install your favorite desktop. Right now you can choose between a Gnome, Cinnamon, Xfce or Razor-qt installation, being Gnome the default choice.

Alright, so Cinnamon is no longer the default choice, but it’s still a choice.

So the long story short on this distro dying and coming back is an exercise in rebranding.

On a lazy day, sure I prefer to have my distro all nice and packaged up and Cinnarch provided that. But as a sometimes Arch user, power setting and the ability for extreme per-arch customization is why I use it – so for now this (sometimes) Arch user will just use the mainline of Arch.

Antergos is part of a breed of Linux distros (and I’d include the defunct Fuduntu in that category) that I would classify as being somewhat ephemeral. They serve a need at a point in time, but when it comes to medium-long term usage, they aren’t going to go the distance.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.