CachyOS is an Arch-based rolling Linux distro that aims to provide users with improved performance while being simple. Betting on the XFS file system by default, it comes with an easy-to-use GUI installer (Calamares), making it an attractive choice for new users to the Arch ecosystem.
In the latest development from the CachyOS project, the team announced their April 2024 release, marking the fourth major update of the year. This release introduces crucial security fixes alongside a suite of new features to improve the overall user experience for its dedicated community of users.
What’s New in CachyOS April 2024 Release
Following the switch to a Plasma-only live image last month, April’s CachyOS update now features version 6.0.3 of the desktop environment, accompanied by the KDE Gear 24.02.1 app collection, and running on the newest Linux kernel 6.8.
The highlight of this release is the patch for the known vulnerability in the XZ library. Addressing this security concern, the team has incorporated a vital commit titled “Mitigate past commit of malicious xz actor by ensuring path names are only outputted via safe_fprintf to avoid escape sequences in paths hitting the terminal” into the “libarchive.”
In addition to security enhancements, the CachyOS team has made significant strides in user experience and system compatibility. Notably, the distribution has reverted to using X11 for its ISO releases, a change necessitated by issues encountered with Wayland when changing keyboard layouts in the Calamares installer.
A standout feature of this release is the introduction of a new partitioning layout for rEFInd, separating “/boot” and “/boot/efi” partitions. This simplifies multi-booting with Windows and other Linux distributions.
Another major addition is Plymouth, now the default for all available bootloaders. It provides users with a visually appealing boot animation featuring a spinning circle, the CachyOS logo, and the splash art of the user’s UEFI Motherboard Vendor, replacing the traditional scrolling text and enhancing the boot experience.
This release also sees a range of other updates and fixes aimed at improving system performance and usability. These include:
- A switch to ZSTD 19 Compression for the mkinitcpio image of the ISO, promising improved compression efficiency.
- Updates to various packages, including xz, Linux-cachyos 6.8, Pacman 6.1, Mesa 24.0.4, Plasma 6.0.3, Nvidia 550.67, and CachyOS-Settings, ensure users have access to the latest and most secure software versions.
- Bug fixes addressing issues such as autologin with SDDM and RAM usage spikes due to specific udev rules.
The announcement provides a complete list of changes. For those eager to experience the latest advancements in CachyOS, the April 2024 release is available for download from the SourceForge’s mirrors.
