ArchBang has been around for a long time. It started as a simple idea — take Arch Linux, add a lightweight window manager, and ship something that just works out of the box without getting in your way. That idea hasn’t changed. What has changed is the cost of keeping it going.
The honest situation
Running ArchBang isn’t free. There’s hosting, bandwidth, domain renewals, and the hardware I use to build and test ISOs. For a long time donations roughly covered it. That’s no longer the case. Costs have crept up and donations have dropped off, and the gap between the two is getting harder to ignore.
I’m not writing this to guilt anyone. If you use ArchBang and it works for you, that’s genuinely enough. But if you’ve ever thought about throwing a few quid toward the project and haven’t got around to it, now’s a decent time.
Where the project is at
Development is active. Recent releases have brought in kernel 7.0, a refreshed summer look, Waybar improvements, and FruitBANG — a live ISO running the MangoWM Wayland compositor for anyone who wants to try a tiling Wayland setup without committing to a full install. That’s been a fun side project and the feedback has been positive.
The core ArchBang ISO keeps getting rebuilt as Arch updates roll in. Kernel bumps, package refreshes, small fixes — it’s not glamorous work but it keeps the project current and usable for new installs. That’s not stopping.
Where it’s going
More of the same, mostly. Regular ISO rebuilds, continuing FruitBANG development, and whatever else seems worth exploring. I’d like to spend more time on the installer — it works but it could be smoother. There’s also more to do on the Wayland side as things mature upstream.
None of that requires a budget. It requires time, which I have. The hosting and infrastructure side is where the money matters.
How to help
If you want to support the project, you can do that via Ko-fi or GitHub Sponsors. Even a small amount makes a difference — it’s not about getting rich off a hobby project, it’s about keeping the lights on.
If donating isn’t an option, spreading the word helps too. Tell someone about ArchBang if you think they’d get something out of it. Write a forum post. Link to the site. That kind of thing has value.
Thanks for using ArchBang. It’s been going longer than I expected when I started it, and I’d like to keep it going.
Stay safe.