Switching to Arch Linux | Part 1 | 10 Day Challenge

This is Day 1 of the Switching to Arch Linux 10 Day Challenge. Right off the bat... if you are trying this just download Manjaro because this install process would be a nightmare for something not technically inclined. However, I am really starting to turn that corner after getting over the initial installation and configuration.

Recommended Starter Guides:

[hardrived]

I once tried installing Arch drunk and I ended up with Gentoo.

[waspbr]

Now, in order to get the full arch experience, you should start every conversation by telling people that you use Arch Linux, regardless of the context of the conversation.

[fubaralakbar]

Arch=a bag of coffee beans
Gentoo=a shovel and some plants
Ubuntu=a Keurig

[theboogymaster]

Yes the install may be painful for users with less Linux experience but remember that arch is a rolling release which means you'll install it only once. Nevertheless its my favourite Linux distro which gives power to the user.

[Kingramze]

Usually Linux fans suggest Arch as a hazing ritual. I've done it. Once. It really makes you appreciate both the flexibility of Linux and the usefulness of using a polished, hand-holding distro with more tightly controlled package management so you don't accidentally bork your install.

[jonspoonamore]

Old Net/Sys Admin here.... Arch is a fine distro. So is Slackware. But... I'm lazy and like to keep my sanity when installing a distro. I cut my Linux Teeth on Slackware back in the late 90's. Arch and Slackware are command-line "Install Hell" IMO! I do not miss the days of distro installations having to modify/create config files out the ying-yang! Long live Modern Automatic-Install Distros for the normal masses.

[ViniciusSilvadaCruz]

Omg. I have the exactly same feelings in the same order... And now I love arch so much... I learn more about Linux on the first 2 hours of arch then in 10 years using Ubuntu... Great video. Keep going. Sub.

[Alamodem]

I just switched from windows to linux mint cinnamon. Its great. As a new linux user. Ive found mint very easy and a great package.

[magnussorensen]

Welcome to ArchLinux. Glad to have you. =)

[beefcake]

you wanna learn linux, use arch
you wanna use linux, go for something else

that's my conclusion :)

[HouseOfAlastrian]

Ever since I dived into Linux as part of my IT Networking course at TAFE (in Australia) last year, where they taught us to use CentOS, I've been tumbling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole of Linux... researching so many different distros, looking for what I can do for gaming, what I can do for a distraction free writing machine so I can get my other career as a novelist off the ground and minimise procrastination...

Where I'm at now... mastering Arch Linux is my long term goal. So much freedom to be had in that distro... but that freedom definitely comes at a cost of taking the time to figure it all out.

[dov]

I actually really like the philospohy behind Arch. It may sound crazy at this point, but Arch is built around simplicity.

[aristotelispapageorgiou]

I am a new Arch Linux user myself. I got confused with all the AUR tools and i decided to install AUR packages only when I really need them and then only manually. It is actually pretty easy.

[michadybczak]

I love Manjaro and use it for a few years. Tried Arch once, even not the true install but some simply installed Arch and I didn't like it. It was too raw and required too much work I wasn't interested in. Manjaro is simpler and more ready out of the box and that is what I'm expecting from OS.

[brianjune]

After distro hopping between Mint and Ubuntu for some time I never really felt I understood Linux, I was never forced into understanding much if any CLI level stuff, the general file structure, etc. So roughly 6 months ago I slapped a new drive in my PC and thought I would just go thru the experience with vanilla Arch as a true learning experience because I understood that it was a from scratch build it up as you go thing and had no intention of making it my everyday primary distro....

Well just as you said... I turned a corner "very" quickly and in my case I actually enjoyed the challenges I ran into for this and that because I was forced to "read" and understand something which traditionally was taking care of behind a [ Next ] button or some other from of UI wizardry...

In terms of the AUR, after experiences such as installing Discord and some other packages which are "not" wrapper friendly... I was forced into reading and understanding more on the AUR... now I don't use any helper and really prefer the manual method which isn't a big deal.... create a folder for AUR downloads... git clone [AUR git url], cd to package folder, makepkg -sc, then if all went well... makepkg --install or makepkg -i or directly use pacman -U [name of built archived package]....

Ps... Add: alias p="sudo pacman" to your .bashrc you will find or appreciate quickly typing " p -Syu " a bit easier over time vs " sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade " from the apt based stuff ;-)

[offspec]

Hey Chris, appreciate the candid view on your experiences. I have only seen a few of your videos but the frame rate on this one might be why it was a bit jarring. It could be something else but I was experiencing a weird discomfort and when you mentioned the down sampling it felt like a reasonable explanation. Keep up the quality content!

[dukereg]

I don't agree with "use Manjaro, it's easier" or "use Arch, you learn more", because they are each a misleading half of the story. An anecdote: I started installing Arch but got frustrated at how much work it was, so I swapped to an edition of Manjaro that sounded close to what I wanted. I immediately had the Ubuntu problem of not knowing how it worked, how the pieces fitted together, and which obscurely named pieces of software I needed to get rid of to have what I actually wanted. I also found basic things like wifi management to be straight up worse to use than what I had set up on Arch. Within a day I was back on Arch, with a healthy understanding of BOTH what I was buying AND what I was paying for it. I have the perspective now to know that a half-way distro like Arch is more suitable for me than either extreme control Gentoo or extreme convenience Ubuntu. I said "for me" because everyone needs to decide the balance they're comfortable with, but it's wonky to assume that quick and easy to get started is some kind of golden virtue rather than a huge trade-off.

[stevejohnson]

This is why a lot of us go with something like Trisquel, and learn from the inside out. You learn either way, but meanwhile can get your tasks done. I too keep coming back to XFCE as well. Nothing wrong with LXDE, Gnome etc., but XFCE just seems more intuitive, and I know it's more reliable.

[ritual]

Curious to see how you feel after the 10 days is up. Arch is definitely not for the lazy. It does take effort and a willingness to learn new things. Like anything, you learn enough of one thing, and eventually it becomes easy. So yeah, curious as to how you will feel about it after the 10. I'm much like the person you described in the video, who is a Linux enthusiast, who loves learning new things, so Arch was right up my alley. Been on it for about a year now, and I've spent A LOT of time (not so much _fixing_, as many anti-rolling releasers will have you think), but I feel it totally worth it.

Anyways, good on you for giving it a shot, and extra props on you for putting it on metal of your main workstation at home. That takes cajones, especially for someone who has been pumping out videos at the rate you have been doing. Kudos:)

[walterazbill]

My first experience with linux is Arch. I've needed to restart 4 times already. I've managed to load up openbox and i3, but most of the tutorials I've seen have been using/experimenting with packages I later don't care much for, so I'm doing it 1 more time to really get an understanding of each package.