Why Do So Many YouTubers Run Arch Rather Than Mint?

I've been asked thousands of times, "Why do run ABC distro instead of XYZ distro?" And the most common form of this question comes from Linux Mint fans asking, "Why do run Arch instead of Mint?" Or sometimes they ask why there are so many people on YouTube running Arch rather than Mint? Let's discuss...

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[joegee]

I've tried many distros but have mostly settled on Mint because I just don't have the time or desire to hand craft a custom system. But I do enjoy watching other people go through the process.

[lorduggae]

The last statement is the truth "you run what you wanna run, I run what I wanna run". Should be the motto of more people in the Linux world. ALL our distros of choice have value, if only to us.

[SarcasticTofu]

You are using Arch so that you can walk to a complete stranger and whisper to that person's ear "I use Arch by the way!" 😜

[brq]

Mint is a good distro for people who want to use desktop Linux without having to go under the hood on a regular basis (also for older family members to have a low maintenance machine). Arch is a good distro for those who want to deep dive and learn everything about Linux as well as develop their skillset. I use Fedora because it's the perfect middle ground for me where I can just use the defaults and occasionally learn about more advanced stuff with the safety of an easy workstation.

[christophernuzzi]

DT isn't anti-Mint, he's anti-mouse.

[toranshaw]

Switched to Linux is a big Linux YouTuber that uses Mint, especially on his main work machines.

EDIT: Awesome Open Source is another channel, I've noticed, where the host uses Mint.

[fubaralakbar]

Pop OS here. I'm always excited when someone switches to it, but I would never pressure anyone to do so.

[louishurr]

I’ve found that no matter what you do in life, the more you learn and the deeper you go, there will always be someone more advanced than you who looks at you like a novice. Most people don’t even know what Linux is, let alone know the difference between the “advanced” distros and the “beginner” distros. Anyone actually looking down on you for running Mint and not whatever, probably just has an insecurity problem. No one can be an expert at everything. 😂

[themisterchristie]

Like others I've settled on Mint because I don't have the time for too much playing around but still like to play around. I worked with the XFCE version and slowly customized AwesomeWM to something I'm pretty happy with.

Like you said, Run what you want, it's all good.

[marsdrums]

I've never understood questions like that regarding Linux. Linux is VERY broad with unlimited configuration possibilities and singling out a certain distribution and asking why you don't use it is like asking someone why they don't use Calligra or OnlyOffice rather than LibreOffice... Because that's what I feel comfortable using. I've used Mint and it's a great distro. But when I switched to Arch, I wanted to try something different. My attitude was, if I can get Arch installed, I'll check things out with it. 3 years later, I am glued to Arch and AwesomeWM. I love it so much! I don't have any desire to go back to Linux Mint. As great of a distro that is, it's just not built right for ME anymore. It's a great beginning stepping stone though.

[BitsOfTruth]

Very well put Dude. And you didn't need to cut down any body, group, or distro to say it. For as smart as you are, (and you truly are smart), you are definitely not full of yourself. I like the way you explain things about 98.8 percent of the time. You nailed it again.

[kackotopi]

One thing I got an issue with, is when some recommend Arch or Arch-based distros to potential new GNU/Linux users whom straight up say they want to switch from Windows to GNU/Linux, that is like scaring them away. I'll always recommend Linux Mint to them, not only because it is a perfect replacement, but their community/forums is friendly and all around great for a new user.

[Zeioth]

I like how well explained this is and how it doesn't look down on other distros. Because it's true! It is just a different case of use. You very rarely have a "this is better than this". Ultimately it boils down to what you need. And how would you know what you need if you don't know what there is to explore in the first place? That's the beauty of it.

[distant]

After 6 years of using arch i got tired of it breaking and I've switched to mint cuz i had tried every other major distro available, and there was nothing that quite cut it. Happy with it for a month or two that I've used it. Riced i3, configured NVIM + TMUX, for my developer workflow, and haven't touched it since.

[Technopath]

So I love Linux Mint, and the Cinnamon desktop in particular, when it comes to my personal laptops, but my main rig just must use Arch or an Arch-based distro since I seem to have this really bad habit of breaking Linux Mint whenever I try to do anything advanced (like my multi-drive encryption setup or if I want to use a different DE). Arch just lets me do what I need to do without much trouble.

I'm actually switching to EndeavourOS since I'm still learning how to get encrypted drives to play nice with GRUB and this lets me get my main rig operational again. Arch actually is just easier for how I use my system, even if it's a lot harder out-of-the-box than something like an Ubuntu-based distro. So now I've got EndeavourOS for my main gaming rig, Linux Mint for my primary laptop, Fedora Workstation for my creative writing PC, and Fedora Server for my two servers.

[valdimer]

Probably 3 years ago i used to be that guy asking which distro was best and why people use arch over mint or mint over ubuntu over and over. It took me a long time to simply realize that its as simple as the answers i was given. Customizability. Thats it, there's no magic distribution out there. Period. I think its because we live in a world where companies compete against each other to try to create better products. Linux just doesn't work that way. Sure, Ubuntu and Mint work to create the easiest environments to use, but that's just to draw in users to start using linux. The problem is, simply because you use Ubuntu doesn't necessarily mean you understand what Linux is actually capable of and that revelation was how i realized WHY other distros exist.

[KeepItTechie]

I'm the same way. In order to get certain things set up for recording it's easier to install a stripped down system. Thanks DT for breaking this down. Linux is all about freedom and personal preference.

[kylerjohnson]

Hey DT, I love your videos and your pragmatism. I'm really glad you did this one - a lot of people needed this message.

I've been using GNU/Linux for over 7 years. My daily driver is Ubuntu. I don't need to customize it all that much - just a few extensions and a theme. I'm a software developer so my focus needs to be on the software I'm developing, not my OS or constant system maintenance necessary to keep a rolling release distro stable. I have another machine I run Arch on and I tinker a lot on that one, but if I break it (or I don't do my due diligence and a package from the AUR breaks my install on an update), I don't lose productivity.

[janAkaliKilo]

That's why I enjoy OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. You have multiple options during install - full desktop (Gnome/KDE), minimal desktop (LXDE) or no desktop environment.
With Last option you literally get Arch (rolling distro), but a lot more stable, because you can't do partial updates. OpenSUSE even has AUR-like user repositories supported in package manager.

[manuel.garcia]

Great video, I personally use Mint in my house's PC due is easy to navigate and stuff for me, my wife and children. At work I made a installation of Zorin OS in all PCs and people is actually now used to it. Linux is so amazing 😍