this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
565 points (84.7% liked)

Linux

55284 readers
1279 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

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)

(page 3) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 6 points 3 months ago

It's a good beginner distro if you want to stumble, fall, and learn things. It's not a distro where everything is all good right out the box. For that, maybe try something like Linux Mint Debian Edition or Bazziteos

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 months ago

Petulant counterpoint: SteamOS 3.0 is based on Arch and is a good newbie distro

[–] qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (4 children)

If your distro can't be forked into a "beginner distro" then it's fundamentally flawed IMHO.

To be clear, I've used Arch as my daily drivers for a while, and while it's not the best fit for my needs (I use Debian mostly), there's nothing that I experienced that was incompatible with a "beginner" distro.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Hitch42@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Is there really enough of an epidemic of newbies being recommended Arch to warrant this amount of ire? All I ever hear is how Arch is the “hardcore” distro and beginners should all use Linux Mint.

I’m someone who has only ever poked around with Linux Mint on a thumb drive a few times to see what it’s like and thinking, “Yep. This is a working operating system.” and then going back to Windows because there was never any compelling reason to switch.

But I recently decided to have a dedicated PC with Linux on it and I chose CachyOS because I want to play games. (Yes, I know you can game on other distros.) And I’m… fine. I’m computer literate, I did my research, and I knew that using an Arch-based distros was “being thrown into the deep end.” But I followed the instructions, as well as some advice, and the setup completed without any issues.

I’m using my PC and things “just work.” Apparently I’m just an update away from everything collapsing into smoldering wreckage. If that happens, I’ll try to fix it, and maybe I’ll learn something in the process. If not, I’ll try to keep my files backed up so I can restore things. Or maybe I’ll decide that I hate it and try something else, but… so far so good.

[–] thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

If timeshift is not already installed, please do. Do a snapshot before you update and set the settings to auto delete / keep only a certain number (or do it manually) so you don't fill your hard drive. I usually keep 1 monthly, 3 weekly and 3 dailies on a rolling basis

If you do the snapshot religiously then when an update breaks it you can just boot a liveUSB and restore (mint iso is a live USB and has it already installed).

You do of course then need to work out what broke and why once you've rolled back to the prior working state

[–] chaoticnumber@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

What the fuck are you on about? Jesus christ, we get ragebait in here too now?

Know your usecases. Thats it. Linux isn't hard if you do.

But no, let me recommend the jet engine service manual to my 6 year old that is learning to read. You're going to have a bad time.

For the record, since this post and most comments irked me, arch is fine. I'm using arch on my workstation/personal rig for years. Fedora on the laptop because I need a stable work thing. Alpine VMs on the homelab because it needs light and stable.

USECASES!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] VARXBLE@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago

I went from Windows to Mint, to Pop-OS, to EndeavourOS and haven't left EOS.

My time with Mint and Pop were about a week each. I switch from Windows to Linux 2 years ago.

For my experience, jumping into Arch feet first has been a great learning experience. My desktop PC is a gaming PC first, so having the most up to date packages has been great. It's helped 'de-mystify' Linux for me. I've had to troubleshoot issues, but thanks to Arch's excellent and extensive documentation, with some light reading I've manages to make it work.

I'm now moving on to setting up my own Homelab/Server, which will NOT be Arch based (...unless...?), because the experience with learning how to navigate Linux with Arch has given me the confidence to tackle something I have absolutely no experience in (NETWORKING).

[–] despaircode@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

That depends on what the beginner's goal is. Arch could very well be a nice beginner distro, as could Gentoo or Slackware or any other "hard" distro if you're determined to learn. My baptism of fire was on Slackware in the 90s (which I'm still on), long before "beginner distros". Trying and failing was a big part of the fun. If you're determined to learn, I don't see any issue with starting with a distro that doesn't hold your hand.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] GravitySpoiled@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 months ago (3 children)

It's the best beginner distro for those beginners who want to learn about linux.

[–] oo1@lemmings.world 4 points 3 months ago

I agree, there's a lot of people in this thread who seem to know exactly what is good or bad for a new user. But I don't see many being sensitive to what the user might actually want to achieve. New users are not a homogeneous group.

If the user wants to both use (stably) and learn (break stuff) simultaneously, I'd suggest that they start on debian but have a second disk for a dual boot / experimentation. I don't really use qemu much but maybe that's a good alternative these days. But within that I'd say set them self the challenge of getting a working arch install from scrath - following the wiki. Not from the script or endeavourOS - I think those are for 4th/5th install arch users.

I find it hard to believe that I'd have learned as much if ubuntu was available when I started. But I did dual boot various things with DOS / windows for years - which gave something stable, plus more of a sandbox.

I think the only universal recommedation for. any user, any distro, is "figure ourt a decent backup policy, then try to stick to it". If that means buy a cheap used backup pc, or raspberry pi and set it up for any tasks you depend on, then do that. and I'd probably pick debian on that system.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] randomaside@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is funny. I feel like I see a "which arch is better" post almost everyday now.

A lot of people I think would be well suited to be on Bluefin or Bazzite. I really can't sing the praises of it enough. It has a ton of well developed resources and the Appstore is flatpak centric. It really does give you that ChromeOS like experience for the average user.

End users should really be nowhere near package management. They should just be able to run the apps they want and expect them to work.

[–] ozymandias117@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

My job is literally to make Linux distros using Yocto for various boards. I'm constantly writing new build scripts or updating build scripts, debugging the kernel/systemd/glibc and whatever libraries are on the system.

All of my work and personal desktops run some version of Fedora Atomic or a uBlue variant right now.

With distrobox/toybox/brew and using podman/docker/KVM+qemu, even as a tinkerer, it's great

[–] visnudeva@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 months ago

LINUX IS AN EXPERIENCE NOT SOMETHING TO ENDLESSLY DEBATE ABOUT.

[–] Maiq@lemy.lol 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

I want linux to be as welcoming as possible to everyone and the newbie question of what distro to use will come up a lot. I dont think it's helpful in any way to bicker about why my choice in linux is better. We should be giving them the tools to make the best decision for themselves

What if we built a beginners linux community (Linux, Where Do I Start -> LWDIS) and point to all the distros communities, and on those distro specific communities they had beginner friendly install, setup, rice, maintenance instructions and advice along with a difficulty rating. I don't know if stickies are a thing here but could be helpful in keeping relevant info on top. This could be a place for fanboys to shine on there favorite distro while keeping the basic inclusive LWDIS community free of bickering about distros that might cause confusion and turn people off.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] K0W4LSK1@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I started with real arch and loved it. Different strokes different folks

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›