The rolling release distros article has been updated from 9 to 12 entries.
Important note on Arch’s ranking:
Arch Linux sitting near the top (ascending order) of this list is not a dig at Arch. Arch delivers packages directly from upstream with minimal intervention. There is no automatic rollback mechanism, no batching or delaying of updates for additional QA, and no hand-holding.
Users are expected to read the wiki, follow the mailing list, and manage their own system. That is the entire point of Arch, and it is very good at what it sets out to do.
The reason it ranks low here is that this list is sorted by how worry-free and hands-off each distro is for someone picking up a rolling release. Arch was never designed to be that.
The distributions ranked above it exist specifically because they add the guardrails that Arch intentionally leaves out. If you run Arch and keep it running well, that says more about you as a user than it does about where Arch lands on this list!
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What was added
The biggest additions are CachyOS and EndeavourOS.
CachyOS was on the newer side when I originally wrote the article and I hadn’t spent enough time with it to include it fairly. It’s earned its spot now.
EndeavourOS is one that honestly should have been on the list from the start, so that’s been corrected.
openSUSE Slowroll has been moved out of the Other Noteworthy Mentions section and into the main list at #1. It was always noted as deserving that spot, and it’s matured enough to justify the promotion.
Tuxedo OS has been added to the noteworthy mentions section as well.
Manjaro has also been moved down to #12 (least stable). Arch now sits at #11.
While Manjaro delays Arch packages for extra testing, in practice those delays can introduce dependency conflicts between held-back packages and Manjaro’s own repos.
Arch at least gives you a clean, predictable upstream experience.
The full ranking and write-ups for each have been updated accordingly.