The packages for majority of Proton apps within the AUR (Arch User Repository) are either out of date or do not work anymore. For example, the current version of ProtonMail is 1.71, and the latest version on the AUR is 1.61, the ProtonVPN app is completely non-functional and abandoned (I need to connect directly using NetworkManager, meaning I cannot use all of the features of ProtonVPN to their full potential), etc. As devices like the Steam Deck, which are based on Arch, are gaining popularity. Especially in a world that's becoming increasingly more privacy aware than ever, with people switching to Linux in droves, it feels like a missed opportunity.

Hello, you can install easily Proton VPN on ARCH linux, following this page : https://archlinux.org/packages/?q=protonvpn
You get the package : proton-vpn-gtk-app
easy to install with sudo pacman -S <that package>
Enjoy !

Just to add, if you add support for Arch you are also supporting all the other distros based on Arch.

Hello,

In my eyes, Arch Linux is striding to be a Linux distribution that comes with sane defaults and lets the control in the hands of the user. While this may lead to a less secure operating system in the hands of less experienced users, this does enables it to be a viable choice when security and privacy is important.

The active community of Arch Linux is quite enormous, even when compared to giants like Ubuntu and RHEL. Many of the latest versions of mainstream packages are easy to find with pacman, while if that does not suffice, there are git repositories that can be pulled, built and istalled with makepkg in a collection called the Archlinux User Repository. There are currently a few versions of the Protonmail applications to find there:

yochananmarqos/proton-mail 1.0.6-1
Proton official desktop application for Proton Mail and Proton Calendar
yochananmarqos/proton-mail-bin 1.0.6-1
Proton official desktop application for Proton Mail and Proton Calendar

Paragoumba/proton-pass 1.22.0-1
Open-source password manager for effortless protection. Securely store, share and auto-login your accounts with Proton Pass, using end-to-end encryption trusted by millions.
brianrobt/proton-pass-bin 1.22.0-1
Open-source password manager for effortless protection. Securely store, share and auto-login your accounts with Proton Pass, using end-to-end encryption trusted by millions.

ali.molaei/proton-vpn-gtk-app 4.4.3-1
ProtonVPN GTK app, Maintained by Community
ali.molaei/python-proton-vpn-api-core 0.30.0-1
The proton-vpn-core-api acts as a facade to the other Proton VPN components, exposing a uniform API to the available Proton VPN services.

[!] No search results found for "proton-calendar".
[!] No search results found for "proton-drive".
[!] No search results found for "proton-wallet".

This is made possible by contributors that are either taking the .deb that you are distributing and packing them up in the arch repositories, or building them from 0 and maintaining them.

So to my feature request, could you try to include the protonmail apps for Linux in the mainstream Arch Linux repositories, or at least officially in the Archlinux User Repository? I understand you already have PKGBUILD files so the latter should be really easy to do.

Considering your position on open source, I am sure the main Arch Linux contributors would not mind being contacted by someone from the Protonmail team.

More information:

What is Arch Linux - Arch Wiki
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux

Arch compared to other distributions - Arch Wiki
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_compared_to_other_distributions

Arch FAQ - Arch Wiki
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Frequently_asked_questions

Arch is a major distribution with many others based on it. There's no reason it shouldn't be supported officially, either through direct distribution from Proton or providing an official PKGBUILD for it to be built by users. The current AUR client is unreliable at best.

I would be happy if they can simply provide a PKGBUILD file for each of the application available on Linux. Back when Bridge Beta came out, I liked the idea of getting the PKGBUILD file from a trusted source (their website), build it and done. Sadly newer services get less love, like Mail rpm and deb only.

how does one convince a trusted user to maintain protonvpn? LOL

Whilst this would be nice, it isn't really up to Proton.

To go from AUR to Community requires an Arch "Trusted User" to take ownership of the package.

To go from Community to Extra, requires Arch developers (who are separate from Trusted Users) to take ownership of the package.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Community_repository#Historical_background