## Introduction

Over the past few months, I’ve been getting asked the same questions again and again: What exactly is XeroLinux? And why is it locked behind a donation wall? So, I figured it’s about time to clear things up once and for all with this post.

Grab a seat and let’s dive in…

## XeroLinux Goal

XeroLinux is an Arch-based Linux distro I built mainly for myself, to make installing Arch easier using Calamares. And the desktop environment? Well, it’s gotta be KDE Plasma, obviously. At first, I went a bit overboard and packed in way too much bloat, kinda like Garuda, which honestly wasn’t great. Here’s a video from the very first release so you can see just how rough it was:

But over time, I kept trimming things down and optimizing until I had a solid base to build on. I didn’t want every possible piece of software included by default, just the key settings and system tweaks, the stuff that takes the longest to set up. By settings, I mean system optimizations and some ricing. Why? Because my needs change all the time, and packing everything in would just blow up the ISO size too much.

“What about drivers?” you might ask. Same deal. My hardware changes now and then, so including every driver under the sun wouldn’t make sense. Instead, I stick to the basics (kernel drivers) up front, with options to add more as you need.

Once I started sharing the ISO with my close friends, they loved how stable, easy to install, and lightweight it was, so they pushed me to turn it into a proper distro available to everyone. I was hesitant at first, since that meant I’d be responsible for support, but eventually, I took the plunge.

## Benefits & Features

Unlike many distros packed with tons of features and apps, XeroLinux focuses on a smooth, easy installation and helping you learn Arch Linux through the toolkit we provide. Check out the video below for a look:

The distro stays out of your way as much as possible and lets you build whatever setup you want, be it Gaming, Content Creation, Development or any combination of all three. Instead of forcing apps or tools you might not want, we leave it all up to you, keeping things bloat-free. It’s the kind of distro that puts you in control. Need help or want to know more? We’re always here.

## Rise & Fall

The Distro rose to become more popular than I had ever imagined, beating EndeavourOS at one point on DistroWatch as long as it was Free and available that is.. Yes, my fellow readers, that was great and all but with every rise comes a hard fall. What I mean by that is, once I added a price tag, things took a hit.

Adding Gnome by popular demand brought new challenges on top of everything else…

## Donation-Wall

When I started taking on more for the project, like pumping out new versions, the costs just kept growing. Honestly, I’m one person out here in Lebanon, and let’s just say it’s not exactly easy to find a solid job, so keeping things going got pretty tough. That’s why I had to step back for a bit and rethink everything. I even tried making it just a post-install script for Vanilla Arch, and that was okay for a while, but then people kept telling me to bring back the full distro, so I did.

But keeping things the same just wasn’t going to cut it if I wanted XeroLinux to survive. Then I noticed ArchCraft doing their own thing, charging for premium versions, and it made me think, “Hey, maybe I should try something similar.” That’s how the whole donation wall idea was born. If you decide to chip in, you’re supporting the time and effort I put in, not just paying for an ISO. And relax—the code is still totally free; you can always grab it from Github, fork it, tweak it, or do whatever you want.

Now before you say it, I will, “But it’s not the same !”. Honestly, I get that it’s not exactly the same, hear me out. He gives out these free versions for people to mess around with, but let’s be real, it’s all a clever marketing move. Pretty much every product out there has some kind of free demo that’s designed to hook you in. The whole point is to get you interested, so you’ll hopefully want to pay for the full or premium version later on.

XeroLinux doesn’t roll with the same kind of strategy because, honestly, it’s just too risky. Instead, it offers other ways to get pretty close results but not exactly the same, mostly through a bunch of handy scripts I put out there totally free.

You might be wondering what I mean by too risky, so here’s the deal: These scripts are powerful tools aimed mainly at folks comfortable with Arch Linux and who know their way around the command line. They give you loads of flexibility and choice, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea since they require some Linux know-how. So, rather than locking you into a one-size-fits-all approach, I prefer giving you options, mostly for the Linux geeks out there who want full control without the risk of breaking things unintentionally. If you’re more into clicking around in a GUI, no worries, you can always go with the distro itself or whatever suits your style. It’s really all about what you want to do and how deep you wanna dive into Linux fun.

If I put out a free version of the distro, most people would probably just stick with it and skip any paid ones. There’s also no way to make a limited free version that works right. From being part of the Linux community for a while, I’ve noticed that many people think Free in Free Open Source means free beer, which it doesn’t. It actually means you have the freedom to use, modify, and share the software however you want.

That’s why almost no one pays for such projects and we get attacked for charging for them. This has to stop or else projects will continue to fade away!

## Wrap-Up

Alright, let’s wrap things up!

Honestly, I know XeroLinux might not pack as many flashy features as CachyOS or some of the other distros out there, but that was never really the goal. I wanted to make something different. If you’re not vibing with the vision behind the project, that’s totally cool, just use whatever distro works for you. No hard feelings, no judgment.

Truth is, if I ever get a little more financially secure, I swear I’ll ditch the price tag entirely and make XeroLinux free for everyone. For now though, this is my only source of income, and things are pretty tight. I just hope folks get where I’m coming from.

Huge thanks to everyone who’s stuck by the project—whether you’ve chipped in financially or donated your time. You’re the reason I’m able to keep this going, and I seriously appreciate every bit of support. If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet or aren’t sure how to help out, check out the links below and see if there’s a way you’d like to jump in.

• The XeroLinux ISOs => Here
• Project Donations Page => Here

Also please let me know your thoughts in the comments below, tell me if you agree or disagree with the reasoning behind my actions. It’s ok if you don’t agree, I will not judge you, it’s a judgement-free zone over here.

Thanks for reading. ❤️🔥🙏