Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Brand Logo

agnos.is Forums

  1. Home
  2. Linux
  3. Can we please, PLEASE for gods sake just all agree that arch is not and will never be a good beginner distro no matter how many times you fork it?

Can we please, PLEASE for gods sake just all agree that arch is not and will never be a good beginner distro no matter how many times you fork it?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Linux
linux
356 Posts 170 Posters 3.0k Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • A [email protected]

    Ok, so arch doesn’t break because it’s unstable, it just breaks anyways. And it doesn’t break more in general, it just breaks worse more often. Got it.

    I’ll still stay away from the bleeding edge.

    N This user is from outside of this forum
    N This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #201

    If you want to talk about breakage we can, as long as you understand that's not what people mean when they say stable. About breakages Arch doesn't break that often, or at all, I can't recall a single time my system broke for an update or for something that was not entirely my fault.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • L [email protected]

      Arch is aimed at people who know their shit so they can build their own distro based on how they imagine their distro to be. It is not a good distro for beginners and non power users, no matter how often you try to make your own repository, and how many GUI installers you make for it. There's a good reason why there is no GUI installer in arch (aside from being able to load it into ram). That being that to use Arch, you need to have a basic understanding of the terminal. It is in no way hard to boot arch and type in archinstall. However, if you don't even know how to do that, your experience in whatever distro, no matter how arch based it is or not, will only last until you have a dependency error or some utter and total Arch bullshit® happens on your system and you have to run to the forums because you don't understand how a wiki works.

      You want a bleeding edge distro? Use goddamn Opensuse Tumbleweed for all I care, it is on par with arch, and it has none of the arch stuff.

      You have this one package that is only available on arch repos? Use goddamn flatpak and stop crying about flatpak being bloated, you probably don't even know what bloat means if you can't set up arch. And no, it dosent run worse. Those 0,0001 seconds don't matter.

      You really want arch so you can be cool? Read the goddamn 50 page install guide and set it up, then we'll talk about those arch forks.

      (Also, most arch forks that don't use arch repos break the aur, so you don't even have the one thing you want from arch)

      D This user is from outside of this forum
      D This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #202

      Very bad post. And Tumbleweed has OBS (Open Build Systems), although I dont even know if that is the right name for its AUR equivalent.

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • N [email protected]

        every one of the Linux users that wants to be elitist about their distro runs arch based on how hard it is.

        Which always makes me laugh because I use Arch mainly because I'm a lazy ass and want something easy to maintain.

        L This user is from outside of this forum
        L This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #203

        I tired it as well to see what this aur was all about but kinda hated it since it's so opaque if they wanted to be as hardcore as they say they would build packages by hand and that can be done on any distro.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • grrgyle@slrpnk.netG [email protected]

          I would, however, recommend Arch if you're a Linux novice looking to learn about Linux in a more accelerated pace.

          D This user is from outside of this forum
          D This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by
          #204

          Or Void Linux.

          C T 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • xavier666@lemm.eeX [email protected]

            That was solved in about 10min with a liveusb and replacing grub with systemdboot

            Try explaining that to a newbie

            D This user is from outside of this forum
            D This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #205

            I am not a newbie and wouldn't even know how to do it without using a manual (archwiki)

            L 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • D [email protected]

              The package manager way of delivering distro management, updates and upgrades is an archaic and dumb idea. Doomed to fail since inception and the reason Linux never broke the 1% of users in forever. It's a bad model.

              Atomic and immutable distribution of an OS is the preferred and successful model for the average user who wants a PC to be a tool and not a hobby on itself. I don't think the traditional package manager will ever go away. But there are alternatives now.

              D This user is from outside of this forum
              D This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #206

              Wait, immutable distribution don't have a packet manager? But you can still install flatpaks?

              D 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • L [email protected]

                Arch is aimed at people who know their shit so they can build their own distro based on how they imagine their distro to be. It is not a good distro for beginners and non power users, no matter how often you try to make your own repository, and how many GUI installers you make for it. There's a good reason why there is no GUI installer in arch (aside from being able to load it into ram). That being that to use Arch, you need to have a basic understanding of the terminal. It is in no way hard to boot arch and type in archinstall. However, if you don't even know how to do that, your experience in whatever distro, no matter how arch based it is or not, will only last until you have a dependency error or some utter and total Arch bullshit® happens on your system and you have to run to the forums because you don't understand how a wiki works.

                You want a bleeding edge distro? Use goddamn Opensuse Tumbleweed for all I care, it is on par with arch, and it has none of the arch stuff.

                You have this one package that is only available on arch repos? Use goddamn flatpak and stop crying about flatpak being bloated, you probably don't even know what bloat means if you can't set up arch. And no, it dosent run worse. Those 0,0001 seconds don't matter.

                You really want arch so you can be cool? Read the goddamn 50 page install guide and set it up, then we'll talk about those arch forks.

                (Also, most arch forks that don't use arch repos break the aur, so you don't even have the one thing you want from arch)

                A This user is from outside of this forum
                A This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #207

                Veterans will always go back to Debian. It is inevitable.

                M A bennieandthez@lemmygrad.mlB L T 7 Replies Last reply
                0
                • L [email protected]

                  Arch is aimed at people who know their shit so they can build their own distro based on how they imagine their distro to be. It is not a good distro for beginners and non power users, no matter how often you try to make your own repository, and how many GUI installers you make for it. There's a good reason why there is no GUI installer in arch (aside from being able to load it into ram). That being that to use Arch, you need to have a basic understanding of the terminal. It is in no way hard to boot arch and type in archinstall. However, if you don't even know how to do that, your experience in whatever distro, no matter how arch based it is or not, will only last until you have a dependency error or some utter and total Arch bullshit® happens on your system and you have to run to the forums because you don't understand how a wiki works.

                  You want a bleeding edge distro? Use goddamn Opensuse Tumbleweed for all I care, it is on par with arch, and it has none of the arch stuff.

                  You have this one package that is only available on arch repos? Use goddamn flatpak and stop crying about flatpak being bloated, you probably don't even know what bloat means if you can't set up arch. And no, it dosent run worse. Those 0,0001 seconds don't matter.

                  You really want arch so you can be cool? Read the goddamn 50 page install guide and set it up, then we'll talk about those arch forks.

                  (Also, most arch forks that don't use arch repos break the aur, so you don't even have the one thing you want from arch)

                  fpuertas@lemmy.mlF This user is from outside of this forum
                  fpuertas@lemmy.mlF This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #208

                  I started with Arch

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • daggermoon@lemmy.worldD [email protected]

                    idk I'm kind of a fucking idiot and I started with Manjaro.

                    K This user is from outside of this forum
                    K This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #209

                    I didn't start with manjaro, but it was the only one that seemed to play nice with my system and programs out of the five or so I tried. I've never had an issue with it after 2 years, so... eh?

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • mrmobius@sh.itjust.worksM [email protected]

                      I'm not completely up to speed with the core principles of Arch, but I think it revolves around KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).
                      Meaning that Arch doesn't hold your hand with nice GUIs. Instead, it tries to make the command line interface as easy to understand and use as possible.
                      So if you run into a problem, you're more likely to understand how to fix it, or at least what the root cause is. Which is not a given when you're used to distros with more abstraction like Ubuntu.
                      Then again, this design concept is not for everyone.

                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #210

                      is the basic arch CLI commands any different from discord bots? it feels easier to use if you think its same as playing with a discord bot. using CLI isnt some kind of programming

                      S F 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • A [email protected]

                        On the contrary, I'd still argue it's a good distro for beginners, but not for newbies. people who are tech-sawy and not hesitant to learn new things.

                        I jumped straight into EndeavorOS when I switched to Linux, since arch was praised as the distro for developers, for reasons.

                        Sure, I had some issues to fight with, but it taught me about all the components (and their alternatives) that are involved in a distro.

                        So, once you have a problem and ask for help, the first questions are sorts of "what DE/WM do you use?... is it X11 or wayland? are you using alsa or pipewire?".

                        Windows refugees (like me) take so many things for granted, that I think this kind of approach really helps in understanding how things work under the hood. And the Arch-wiki is just a godsend for thst matter. And let's be real, you rarely look into Arch-wiki for distros other than Arch itself, since they mostly work OOTB.

                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #211

                        The Arch-wiki was my main reason for switching to arch. When I used an ubuntu based distro I felt like I had to rely on forum posts to figure out anything whereas with arch everything is documented incredibly well

                        umbrella@lemmy.mlU I 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • A [email protected]

                          Some functionality (menus, networking) working not as expected, random glitches, bugs, instabilities...also, now coming from the experiences of others (wasn't there at the time), one time even GRUB had an update that broke it on all systems with Arch, forcing many to halt updates. In my eyes, from personal experience and experiences of others, it got a reputation as a quite messy system.

                          independantiste@sh.itjust.worksI This user is from outside of this forum
                          independantiste@sh.itjust.worksI This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #212

                          Oh wow yeah I had forgotten about the grub update, the only way to not have a bricked computer was to be active in the arch communities because they didn't remove the faulty package even though it was known to brick computers

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • 0 [email protected]

                            Ubuntu or one of its variants

                            Even Mint? Seems to be the go-to recommendation for newbies.

                            independantiste@sh.itjust.worksI This user is from outside of this forum
                            independantiste@sh.itjust.worksI This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #213

                            Never was able to try mint, I only did once but the installer didn't work for some reason, probably Nvidia related so I don't blame mint for it.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • N [email protected]

                              What are people doing that breaks their computers? I have used arch for like 15 years now and nothing ever goes wrong?

                              The closest would be on my desktop sometimes nvidia drivers are in a state that breaks display reinit on wake from sleep but my thinkpad is always fine.

                              Seriously who are you weird computer vandals going around and breaking everything all the time? What do you do?

                              K This user is from outside of this forum
                              K This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #214

                              sometimes nvidia drivers are in a state that breaks display reinit on wake from sleep

                              Hmm, got a question for you about that. What did that appear as for you? Just a black screen and nothing else if it went to sleep?

                              I had a recently installed app fuck something in my settings so my display is going to sleep after 10 minutes, and when I wake it up I get a normal appearing lock screen with a login. If I login, the screen goes black and all I can see is the mouse cursor. I think about 1 time in 10 it will have no issues and I get back to whatever I'm doing.

                              N 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • daggermoon@lemmy.worldD [email protected]

                                Clearly you've never used it for an extended period, or If you have you never installed packages from the AUR.

                                C This user is from outside of this forum
                                C This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #215

                                Wrong on both fronts!

                                I've been using Manjaro exclusively for at least 4 years and I have several AUR packages installed!

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • F [email protected]

                                  "I didnt read the changelogs"

                                  I have never read the changelogs and I have never broken my EOS install ever.

                                  Weak bait.

                                  jackbydev@programming.devJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                  jackbydev@programming.devJ This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #216
                                  • Arch users everywhere: You MUST read the Arch news files before updating.
                                  • Also Arch users when updating: Oops, I forgot to read the news file.
                                  • pacman when updating: I have pre install hooks but I don't print the news files updates by default because that's probably bloat or something.

                                  Make it make sense

                                  Q 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • U [email protected]

                                    AFAIK no systemd -> no flatpak -> don't recommend to newbs. Say what you will about flatpak, but it is the official distribution method for some popular pieces of software and large GUI software generally works better through it (in my experience) - think Blender, GIMP etc.

                                    nullpotential@lemmy.dbzer0.comN This user is from outside of this forum
                                    nullpotential@lemmy.dbzer0.comN This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #217

                                    No software worth its salt offers only flatpak installation. I don't use flatpak at all and Blender works flawlessly. I'm not sure what a flatpak version could possibly do any better than the version I use.

                                    U 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • S [email protected]

                                      is the basic arch CLI commands any different from discord bots? it feels easier to use if you think its same as playing with a discord bot. using CLI isnt some kind of programming

                                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #218

                                      is the basic arch CLI commands any different from discord bots? it feels easier to use if you think its same as playing with a discord bot. using CLI isnt some kind of programming

                                      Thanks for the hearty chuckle, zoomer.

                                      Bash and all other shell languages are programming languages. The terminal is just a REPL for a language primarily meant to be used as a REPL for managing your OS.

                                      S 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • N [email protected]

                                        Arch can be forked into a beginner distro, just look at SteamOS, but one of the major advantages of Arch is the AUR and to be able to use it you have to have packages in the same (or similar) enough version to Arch, and THAT is not beginner friendly. But having an Arch fork that can't access the AUR loses most of the reason people would want to use Arch, so you end up with distros aimed at beginners that are also running bleeding edge packages which is a recipe for disaster.

                                        3 This user is from outside of this forum
                                        3 This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #219

                                        Cachyos can access aur? Thats what Paru is for? I could be mistaken, still very new

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • K [email protected]

                                          sometimes nvidia drivers are in a state that breaks display reinit on wake from sleep

                                          Hmm, got a question for you about that. What did that appear as for you? Just a black screen and nothing else if it went to sleep?

                                          I had a recently installed app fuck something in my settings so my display is going to sleep after 10 minutes, and when I wake it up I get a normal appearing lock screen with a login. If I login, the screen goes black and all I can see is the mouse cursor. I think about 1 time in 10 it will have no issues and I get back to whatever I'm doing.

                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #220

                                          Yeah black screen with mouse cursor is the thing. If I check the logs it'll complain about errors trying to get display foo. Can switch to a TTY session and kill shit and get display back if I restart X.

                                          nfi why the mouse cursor still works.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups