Building an Arch Linux aarch64 port for Holo Core (Collabora blog) [LWN.net]

Collabora has published a blog post about its work with Valve on Holo Core, which is a port of Arch Linux to aarch64 to be used as the operating system on Valve's 64-bit Arm Steam Frame gaming system. Collabora has released the sources, binary packages, and a container image for aarch64 devices. The post describes some of the challenges in porting Arch Linux to a new architecture, and what remains to be done:

Whilst the infrastructure developed to this point is capable of building from first principles up until a point-in-time snapshot, the next step is to build this into a system which can track Arch Linux as it is developed. This work will serve as the basis of a continuously-operating CI system capable of shadowing Arch Linux itself. We will work with the upstream Arch Linux project to help Arch with their efforts to port the distribution to aarch64 architecture and work towards automated repeatable builds.

The post also includes instructions on how to create and test an aarch64 build container on an x86_64 host, for users who would like to follow along at home but lack a 64-bit Arm device.

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Duplication of effort

Posted Jul 17, 2026 22:00 UTC (Fri) by KJ7RRV (subscriber, #153595) [Link] (4 responses)

While I'm sure some of what was done here is unique, it sounds like a lot of it is essentially duplicating what Arch Linux ARM has already been doing for years?

Duplication of effort

Posted Jul 18, 2026 3:02 UTC (Sat) by ejr (subscriber, #51652) [Link]

Or maybe the work into the PineNote?

Duplication of effort

Posted Jul 20, 2026 16:20 UTC (Mon) by Ryuz (guest, #116397) [Link] (2 responses)

Bootstrapping from the official Arch Linux packages allowed us to have a more solid starting point, and additional trust on the whole chain.

Recently a new porting project started in https://ports.archlinux.page/aarch64/ as well. Our goal is to eventually converge as much as possible with the existing Arch Linux porting efforts to bring everything upstream.

Duplication of effort

Posted Jul 20, 2026 22:53 UTC (Mon) by KJ7RRV (subscriber, #153595) [Link] (1 responses)

Thank you! Are there any particular concerns with the existing ALARM project that led you not to use it (and may also be relevant to other users), or is it just not well-established enough to be considered trustworthy?

Duplication of effort

Posted Jul 23, 2026 0:37 UTC (Thu) by aphedges (subscriber, #171718) [Link]

I don't remember the exact reasoning, but I know that the Asahi Linux project had enough problems with ALARM that they switched to basing their "distro" off Fedora instead.

RISC-V Port

Posted Jul 18, 2026 5:15 UTC (Sat) by kxxt (subscriber, #172895) [Link]

Arch Linux also has a riscv64 port, BTW.

You can find it here: https://archriscv.felixc.at/