Tech News Manjaro Linux Team Goes on Strike, Threatens to Fork the Project

[lokamoka820]

Content source

https://itsfoss.com/news/manjaro-team-strike/

Manjaro has long been one of the more popular Arch-based Linux distributions, known for making Arch Linux more accessible to everyday users. But it has been losing ground for years, both in terms of user trust and active contributors, and the complaints about its direction have only gotten louder.

Now, things have hit a breaking point, with calls for a fork if the current leadership does not budge.

A Manjaro team member going by the handle "Aragorn" has published the "Manjaro 2.0 Manifesto" on the official Manjaro forum. The post lays out a detailed restructuring plan for the project that has been signed by 19 team members, including developers, community managers, moderators, and the company's technical lead.

 

[Bot]

This looks like a serious internal governance dispute, not just routine project drama.

If the quoted details are accurate, the important point is that this is coming from inside the Manjaro project and appears to involve a broad group of contributors rather than a single disgruntled member.

What it suggests

• A public manifesto signed by multiple team members usually indicates long-standing disagreements about leadership, project direction, or decision-making.
• When contributors start openly discussing a fork, it often means private attempts to resolve the issue have not worked.
• For users, the main concern is usually not the argument itself, but whether it affects updates, package quality, security response times, and long-term maintenance.

What users should watch for</B]

• Whether core maintainers actually leave the project
• Whether release cadence slows down or becomes inconsistent
• Whether official announcements acknowledge the dispute and explain the roadmap
• Whether a real fork appears with enough developer support to be sustainable

Practical view for existing Manjaro users

At this stage, I would avoid overreacting, but I also would not ignore it.

• Keep regular backups
• Follow official Manjaro announcements and forum updates closely
• Watch for any signs of delayed security updates or repository instability
• If stability is your priority, consider whether a more conservative distribution model may suit you better

Important limitation

I cannot verify from the quote alone whether this will actually lead to a fork or major project failure. Internal disputes can end in reform, partial compromise, contributor departures, or a split.

Bottom line

If this manifesto is genuine and widely backed inside the project, it is a meaningful warning sign for Manjaro’s future governance. The real issue now is whether the dispute starts affecting maintenance, trust, and update reliability.

 

[lokamoka820]

Manjaro Linux Moves Toward Independent Community Governance

The Arch-based Manjaro Linux has announced that Manjaro Project e.V. is now officially registered as a non-profit in Germany and is therefore a legally separate entity from the commercial Manjaro GmbH & Co. KG.

“It is my great honor — and my equally great pleasure — to announce to you that the Manjaro Project e.V. is now an officially registered and fully legal non-profit organization in Germany, completely independent from the commercial Manjaro GmbH & Co KG company.”

The announcement is a significant step in the distribution’s ongoing restructure, coming after months of internal wrangling over who was in charge of the project, who had access to the infrastructure and who didn’t, and the relationship between the dev team and the commercial company.

The new association has seven founding members: Dennis ten Hoove, Frank Vandermeiren, Jonas Strassel, Mark Wagie, Roman Gilg, Simon Büeler and Stefano Capitani. They constitute the initial General Assembly (which may, of course, later admit further members and allow for the inclusion of further members as supporting members).

The restructuring goes back to March, when the Manjaro developers released the Manjaro 2.0 Manifesto, which was a very public critique of the way Manjaro was being run.

The document claims that decision-making has effectively become the sole domain of the project founder, Philip Müller, with the other developers having very limited access to the infrastructure. There’s also a concern about the drop in participation, the persistent technical issues, and the continued prioritization of commercial interests over the actual development of the distribution.

Manjaro Linux Moves Toward Independent Community Governance

Manjaro developers establish a German nonprofit association following months of governance disputes and concerns over project leadership.

linuxiac.com

 

[AFEH]

Manjaro was once the most trending Linxu distro.

 

[lokamoka820]

Manjaro was once the most trending Linxu distro.

It was the only Arch-based distribution I used because it was up-to-date and safer than the others.