Ark Linux changes to Zypper

The decision for a new packet manager was necessary, according to the Ark Linux blog because the Apt for RPM used for the 8 years prior to this time did not work optimally with the new RPM 5.0 packets.

From the possible alternatives, Zypper was selected because the C programmed packet manager is said to be well written and documented and in contrast to the scripting language based packet managers such as smart, yum, and urpmi, is less prone to user generated errors (for example, an update of python packets without discretion).

So far, Ark is the one distribution other than OpenSuse which uses Zypper as the frontend for packet management with RPM packets. The coming version 2009.1 offers 64-bit packets for the first time.