Prominent Arch Linux Developer Morten Linderud Resigns After a Decade, Leaving Pacman Without a Sole Maintainer
Morten Linderud, known as Foxboron, stepped down as an Arch Linux developer and security team member, leaving Pacman and other packages needing new maintainers.
Editor's Note ·
- Clarification:
- The headline states Linderud's resignation is "Leaving Pacman Without a Sole Maintainer." Neither cited source explicitly makes this claim about Pacman specifically. Phoronix's report lists Pacman only among packages "now in need of a new maintainer" per Linderud's resignation email, and separately states, using the word "also" to signal a distinct fact, that he "was also the sole maintainer of WPA_Supplicant, fsverity-utils, and other packages" -- explicitly reserving 'sole maintainer' language for those two packages, not Pacman. The headline's characterization of Pacman is an inference, not a sourced fact.
Overview
Morten Linderud, an Arch Linux developer, security team member, AUR maintainer, and package maintainer known by the handle “Foxboron,” has resigned from the project, according to Phoronix. Linderud confirmed the departure himself in a post on his personal blog titled “Resigning from Arch Linux”, writing that he had “resigned from Arch Linux a package maintainer, developer and security team.”
What We Know
Linderud spent about a decade with the project. On his blog, he wrote, “I’ve spent around 10 years as an AUR maintainer, security team, Package Maintainer and then Developer.” Phoronix similarly described his tenure as “a decade serving as an Arch Linux developer, package maintainer, and security team member.”
Explaining his decision, Linderud wrote on his blog, “Things are changing and it’s a good time to let go.” He credited himself with specific technical contributions over the years: according to Phoronix, “he was responsible for debug packages on Arch Linux, initial work on their Git migration, and other contributions to the project.” Linderud’s own account matches this, crediting himself with having “implemented support for debug packages” and done “the initial POC work that would become the git migration.”
Linderud is stepping back from Arch Linux contributions but not from open-source work generally. On his blog, he said he still intends “to continue working on my projects around TPMs, secure boot and platform security stuff.” Phoronix reported the same plan, noting he intends to “pursue his open-source work around TPMs, Secure Boot, and related security initiatives.”
The resignation leaves a number of Arch Linux packages in need of new maintainers. Phoronix reported that, per Linderud’s resignation email, packages now needing a new maintainer include “mkinitcpio, Bolt, nvme-cli, Go-Tools, Pacman, arch-install-scripts, archlinux-keyring, archlinux-repro, and others.” Phoronix also reported that Linderud was the sole maintainer of WPA_Supplicant, fsverity-utils, “and other packages.”
What We Don’t Know
Neither Linderud’s blog post nor the Phoronix report specified a timeline for when replacement maintainers might be found for the affected packages, or whether any Arch Linux team members have already stepped forward to take over specific packages such as Pacman.
Why It Matters
Arch Linux, like many large open-source distributions, depends on a relatively small number of volunteer maintainers for core infrastructure. Pacman is the distribution’s package manager, and archlinux-keyring underpins the cryptographic trust used to verify official packages. A maintainer with a hand in both leaves a notable gap for the project to fill, even as Linderud continues related security work outside Arch Linux.