New to Linux? Yeah, DON'T Use Manjaro...

If you're new to Linux, there's a good chance you've been recommended Manjaro Linux. After all, you get all of the benefits of a rolling-release distro without all of the instability of Arch Linux! Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, after using Manjaro myself in the past I just can't recommend it to anyone, especially newbies to Linux. In this video, let me explain why I no longer trust Manjaro with anything...

Background footage:

Sources:

0:00 Why use Manjaro?
2:39 The packaging problem
6:25 My experience
9:06 Manjaro's many mistakes
13:49 So what should you use instead of Manjaro?

[oldtiger]

I've used Linux right after the very first distros came out. Debian was one of those, and it is still my "go to" distro. If the distro that you are using works for your needs, that is the correct one. 🙂

[EmileNani]

I've daily driven Manjaro on 3 machines, the longest being 5 years. I use both AUR packages and Manjaro's packages and haven't had any breakages or anything failing

[SvalbardSleeperDistrict]

I've used Manjaro for the longest time among all distros, and have been using it for about a year now both on my desktop and laptop. I've had issues with package updates and a few other little things. But when I take a look at a bigger picture on different distros, I come across articles, videos, etc mentioning issues with all of them at different times, so the expectation I have is that no matter which distro I may choose, sooner or later there will be an issue with it. So I've been sticking with Manjaro, and have been pretty happy with it lately.

[ivozubovic]

Interesting how I had the exact opposite experience with Arch and Manjaro. I've been using Arch as a main distro for about 2-3 months and I had problems popping up daily. Breaking the system, visual bugs and so. I've been using mainly Manjaro for almost 2 years now (and used AUR) and had almost no problems. It's actually the first Linux distro that I felt was stable enough for my main operating system.

[ronaldood]

When I was new to Linux I tried mint and enjoyed it. But because of my needs, it just felt hampered. Several Linux users kept pushing to avoid Arch and just use Manjaro or Fedora since they just “work” and I had nothing but issues. Fully manually installing Arch and carefully reading the wiki was the best decision I made. Arch is very comprehensive, I can manage exactly what I need, and because documentation is excellent I have zero issues figuring out problems. I don’t view myself as better for using Arch, I more respect those who do Linux from scratch, but Arch is the “true” beginner distro for understanding Linux. My view, anything that encourages you to learn and keep learning is a fantastic tool. Huge respect to Arch community, even when they get mad over people not rtfm.
Edit: no disrespect to Manjaro or Fedora users. Enjoy what works for you. I speak only for my personal needs.

[AacatNet]

2 years ago I used Ubuntu and no matter what, .NET was broken with the latest release so I couldn’t code until Microsoft fixed it. So I just booted up Manjaro and it worked right out the box. I think there are plenty of reasons to use or not use a distro.

[ZersVoid]

Funny, I was one such user for my first daily drive distro. I was with Manjaro for a bit, but I’m currently daily driving EndeavourOS.

[deldrinov]

The bootloader meme kicked me. I once lost not bootloader, but kernel after updating Manjaro. 10/10 highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn how boot process works.

[AyaWetts]

I had problems learning Linux and nothing ever working, and I would get frustrated. Ubuntu made me give up for a while (like a year)... I installed Manjaro KDE and used it a long time because it ran perfectly. It was fantastic and the only reason I was able to learn and stick to Linux. I've used tons of Distros now, and mainly just use Fedora now, but I'll always have fond memories of Manjaro KDE working great enough to make me not give up. I had more breakages and problems with Arch than I ever did with Manjaro.

[dktol]

I must admit that I find Manjaro's theming and desktop layouts very attractive. Any quick and easy way to incorporate these into a generic arch install, or an endeavour os install? Maybe an aur meta-package, or a 3rd party package repo?

[Korodarn]

I used Manjaro for a long time, but I'm much happier with Endeavour. I switched to Nobara briefly, but Endeavour has been my favorite and I don't see myself leaving for anything else after leaving and coming back to it, and I've gone through a lot of different distros.

[galgrunfeld]

I did go through a baby Distro phase with Kubuntu, however after swapping to Manjaro - and that was approximately 3-4 years ago, I haven't had the issues you're talking about - I tried to install official packages, didn't have clashes with other AUR packages due to dependencies on newer versions of packages, an unstable system or buggy behavior - it was quite reliable for me and the performance was good. I even messed around plenty of times with Wine, theming, I changed the display manager once or twice, changed the kernel manually once and customized, changed the shell and did various other customizations. When it comes to packages I also always preferred system packages or packages released by their developers rather than AUR/user-maintained packages.

Was my costumization/using of the system just low-level enough that I didn't run through significant issues? 'cause I really don't remember anything significant, but it's still a possibility that I simply don't remember.

What do you think: has it gotten worse since then or did? Or did I just miss those issues? Or did I behave responsibly? I'd ask about my memory, too, but I really can't know at this point.
What are your thoughts?

[electricz]

I use TempleOS btw. Made by rhe God himself

[JoelMogwasa]

I could never be convinced by anyone to no use any distro, I test the distro myself and if it works for me believe I'm gonna use it until I find it inappropriate.

[robotron]

Manjaro is the best Linux distro out there. I was a total noob and I absolutely fell in love with how easy it was to use and how powerful it is. I've even configured it to do pentesting. Im using Manjaro to type this right now! It's my favorite distro. Period.

[gepronx]

I've been using manjaro as my first distro and got enough linux experience and understanding. Recently got an SSD and installed arch with archinstall on it with ease. To be honest, for me arch is just like manjaro but with some packages missing by default.

[rocstar]

I started using linux 2 years ago with manjaro, and I still use it, I have manjaro xfce on my laptop and manjaro-minimal xfce on my desktop. The first one that I switched to linux was my laptop and I did broke some things while learning at the start, but I never had a big problem in using it on a daily basis. Nowadays I use manjaro on its unstable branch so I'm as up to date as arch (dont have the 4:10 problem). I did had a little problem on a manjaro forum with a core dev, but it was solved when I took some time to dialog with him in dm. Overall it's a pretty good distro although I heard a lot of complaints (mostly about untrust of the community (linux in general) on the core devs of manjaro). I will take a look in this EndeavorOS probably though and I did play with Arch a little bit for some days and will probably try it again in the future.

[davidcrawford]

I been using Linux Mint for it just works but I was considering to explore and try Manjaro but I do not want the headache. Thank you for the informative video :)

[oniondesu]

havent used it in like 4 years but back then i was very new to linux and it broke constantly, having so much interconnected software with configs made by someone else makes every problem so hard to find a fix for. doing everything yourself like arch might be difficult to start with, but when something breaks you tend to understand what went wrong because you put the thing together to start with.

[kenneth_romero]

What's your thoughts on ArcoLinux? Its suppose to be a build up to being able to create your arch install on your own. I tried it for a bit and really enjoyed it, very basic but simple.