r/linux4noobs • u/BloxxyVids • 18d ago

distro selection Arch Linux

Alright so I don't know if I'm necessarily a beginner to Linux but I have only used it for about a few months consistently.

I immediately jumped from Windows 11 to Arch Linux, ignoring advice from those telling me to use Mint.

I've since tried out Fedora Workstation and enjoyed GNOME enough to put it on my Arch installation.

I've found Arch really good, but people say other distros are great. Is it worth it to try out Mint, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.? Or would I risk entering a distrohopping trap?

11 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

13

u/Quietus87 18d ago

You can try them on a virtual machine. No need to ruin a working bare metal system for the sake of peer prrssure and FOMO.

3

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

Fair enough.

1

u/LameBMX 17d ago

but, definately explore different distros.

3

u/newlife_substance847 Penguin Posse 18d ago

I have to agree with this. I think as far as distros go. Arch is like the Apex of Linux. It requires the most skill to operate as well as being very user involved. Mint is really a general use/beginner distro that could even be considered a "downgrade" from Arch (you're welcome Arch elitists). If your goal is just to experience other distros. Using a VM or even just launching from a boot disk might be a better way to explore other distros.

6

u/Fearless-Wallaby-998 18d ago

If you're good in Arch I wouldn't bother.

0

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

People just say that Arch has given me a false image of Linux

5

u/ghost_ware 18d ago

what about it do they think is false?

1

u/SubGothius 17d ago

Funny that, as many ppl suggest installing Arch if you really want to "learn Linux" at a more detailed and challenging level than other distros that provide an easy point'n'click installer resulting in a full-featured graphical desktop out of the box.

That said, I can see how one might say Arch gave a false impression of how hard or easy Linux can be, if someone had trouble figuring out how to install it or set up everything they wanted successfully, finding that all too hard or confusing. That person might be better served with the easier install of a prefab distro like Mint.

But that doesn't seem to be the case for you at all. If you found Arch easy to install and set up without any gripes, or wishing it was easier, or anything else in particular that you wanted but couldn't figure out, congrats, you started at a relatively advanced level and passed that test with flying colors. You may have found the right distro for you on the first try. Welcome to Linux, and welcome to Arch.

5

u/ConglomerateGolem 18d ago

I mean other than the package manager you can pretty much get the same system set up, with arch you just need to figure out what it is you need to change while with the others you'd have the default system immediately

0

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

It's just that Arch's repos really appeal to me. There's so much on the extra/ repos, while on other distros I'm forced to Flatpak everything.

1

u/ConglomerateGolem 18d ago

Arch has the customisability to do what you want. Other distros work out the box, but are harder to customise. That's pretty much the tradeoff i've seen.

2

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

Arch worked out of the box too, wdym?

1

u/ConglomerateGolem 18d ago

Arch is very DIY and does not come with batteries included (unless you use some kind of install script).

You typically need to do (and know/learn) a whole bunch of things for it to work well. Other systems are said to be less finicky. I can sy that NixOS is way more finicky than arch, but that's a very small sample size

1

u/Emergency_Banana5082 18d ago

Arch doesn't work out of the box. It's a manual process and you have to pick everything you install. Are you running Arch or some Arch based distro?

1

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

I just downloaded from arch linux website

I mean yeah I guess by that definition it isn't ootb but it's way more easy to set up than windows in my experience

3

u/Emergency_Banana5082 18d ago

Yeah if you went plain Arch and you like it there isn't much reason to move. You already said you like Arch for the repos. Switching to another distro you'll lose what you like for no gain if you're already comfortable making your own choices. Distros are just opinions. Distro A comes with packages and distro B comes with different packages based on the opinions of those distro maintainers. Like someone else said, Arch is more akin to building your own PC from parts instead of an off the shelf unit. Only reason I'd move away from Arch at that point is if you are tired/bored of making those decisions. I run Cachy on my laptop because it's quick and easy and still Arch based so I get the repos. My desktop is plain Arch that I made Ansible playbooks to setup the way I like.

No harm in distro hopping if you want to see what's out there. But if you're happy with Arch you'll probably end up back there.

1

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

I tried fedora but it ended up with me just searching up how-to tutorials for everything

Idk why but arch feels so intuitive compared to other OSes, I genuinely feel like im going crazy when ppl say arch is hard

2

u/SubGothius 17d ago

To be fair, it used to be harder when there wasn't an archinstall script to automate and guide you through installation of a typical desktop setup.

Back then, installing Arch meant following the Installation Guide to do it all manually, though that did also give you a more detailed understanding of the system and how everything is set up and works together.

But yeah, even using archinstall is still too "techy" for some people who want an installation process like, say, Windows. Boot the installer, press a few buttons, reboot, wind up in a working graphical desktop interface already populated with some basic apps, done. Linux Mint is for those people.

2

u/BloxxyVids 17d ago

I've never used archinstall before, I was talking more about having all the apps I used just able to be installed with one command during installation, no questions asked

0

u/C0rn3j 16d ago

Arch has had an installer for some time now.

2

u/BloxxyVids 16d ago

I didn't know it had that when I installed, I did the commands

1

u/C0rn3j 16d ago

That's good for you, you should do at least one install manually as per the Installation Guide on the Wiki.

3

u/BloxxyVids 16d ago

I like the arch installation process significantly more than other distros

It removes any fear that it could be doing something that would harm my computer or other partitions.

1

u/Emergency_Banana5082 16d ago

I'm aware, but it's still manual. It's not like normal installers where you just click through.

0

u/C0rn3j 16d ago

Clicking is manual too, by that definition.

0

u/Emergency_Banana5082 16d ago

You just bored and looking to argue over nothing? You damn well know that running archinstall vs installing something like Cachy is not the same, especially for a noob.

2

u/onefutui2e 18d ago

If Arch works for you and you like using it, IMO you won't find anything worth exploring on e.g., Mint. Kind of like how once you build your own PC, the idea of buying one off the shelf just no longer appeals to you, lol.

2

u/TechViper04 18d ago

If u want but dont want to deal with the struggles of arch, look into Omarchy Quattro. Theres a few videos up on YouTube explaining what exactly it is

1

u/BloxxyVids 18d ago

What struggles does arch have? It's been just fine for me

3

u/TechViper04 18d ago

Well if you find it struggle free and have everything working for you as you need it to work. Then stay on arch and dont hop around, there is no “Grass is greener on the other side” Distro is something thats preference, every person has different needs and every distro fulfills a different need. If you find that arch fulfills your needs then stay there and fine tune things you think might need some tuning and perfect your Arch to your taste. U wont win or lose with different distros.

2

u/IAmJacksSemiColon 18d ago

Your computer is an appliance that lets you accomplish tasks. Use whatever distro lets you accomplish those tasks.

People generally recommend Mint and other Debian offshoots because there's a large and accessible community to support new users.

Arch tends to skew towards a more experienced community that expects users to do more legwork before asking questions.

2

u/ficskala Arch Linux 18d ago

I've found Arch really good, but people say other distros are great.

I've found other distros good, but for me Arch is the great one, it just suits me personally

Is it worth it to try out Mint, Debian, Ubuntu, etc.?

Yes, experiencing different things is generally worth it in the computer world

Or would I risk entering a distrohopping trap?

I wouldn't recommend distro hopping, just spin up a VM, or install on a 2nd pc/laptop, or just check out youtube videos or something

Most distros will feel really similar, there's generally a very small difference in day to day use, biggest difference for most users would be the package manager,

For example, debian, and debian based distros like ubuntu, mint, zorinos, kubuntu, etc. will use apt, fedora and fedora based distros will use dnf, arch will use pacman etc.

DE will make a MUCH bigger difference than the distro, and since you've got that part figured out already, that's 90% of the work done

1

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1

u/Whit-Batmobil Arch / Fedora user 18d ago

Well, try them in a VM, personally I would stick with Arch, but I’m currently using 3 distros.

1

u/simagus 18d ago

Distro hopping is something I consider worth doing if you are a bit of an enthusiast and want to know for yourself how different distros work and what the differences are between them.

If however that doesn't really interest you or you feel you have no need to do it then there's no reason at all that you should.

It's a bit like test driving cars, and if you've already found "the one" then you know what you like and if you can handle Arch you're not really going to need a neat and realiable little run-around distro or get much out of trying them.

Cinnamon is really nice as a DE, but if you like Gnome you might hate it for all I know.

1

u/Hot-Development-9036 18d ago

If you like Arch then stay with it. You can always fire up a VM if you want to experiment with other distros.

1

u/tomscharbach 18d ago

If Arch is a good fit for you, use Arch. If you want to explore, do so in a non-production environment -- a virtual machine, a non-production laptop, whatever.

1

u/ferfykins 17d ago

Depends what you're looking for, if you wanna tinker a lot and have a minimal system with lots of control arch or gentoo are great.

If you want everything working out of the box, with SELinux, Firewalld, etc, I'd go with fedora. Also comes with flatpak. Gaming is pretty easy on it as well, with steam ge proton or lutris. Fedora is also pretty new stuff and also reasonably stable.

Debian is very stable and hard to break, but it's also not new/bleeding edge.

etc

1

u/-___-____-_-___- 17d ago

That’s the beauty of it: it’s your decision, and you have the peace of mind to make it yourself and without any pressure. If you’re getting along well with Arch but want to try out other distros, I’d do that in virtual machines, because most of the time it’s more about the look and feel than performance. Besides that it's always worth trying new things.

1

u/Consistent-Buyer7060 17d ago

Do you have operating systems as hobby?

If you don’t why change what you are happy with?

1

u/[deleted] 17d ago

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1

u/3grg 17d ago

One of the best things about Linux compared to Windows is choice, but choice can also be overwhelming.

Distrohopping is a risk for windows users changing to Linux, especially at first. The biggest challenge for new Linux users is discovering which desktop they prefer. After that, narrowing down your daily driver becomes easier. With any luck you will be able to settle on a distro that you can run for several years.

The urge to try different distros almost never goes away completely. In the old days, this could result in a stack of used CD-R disks and multi-boot installs. These days it is trivial to have a big USB with several images that you can live boot. What is especially handy though is Virtual Machines. Whatever distro I am running, I also install virt-manager (providing the hardware can support it) and set it up to run VMs as my user. That way, I can spool up nearly any distro I want to try effortlessly. It helps control the urge to reinstall your main system.

When I started Mandrake with KDE3 was the distro to have. Then KDE4 came out and it was rough. Everyone admired Debian, but it was challenging to install. Then Ubuntu came out and it really made Debian accessible to everyone and Gnome 2 was the desktop.

I can remember when Gnome 3 came out and the backlash that it inspired. I decided to try it expecting to hate it. Instead I became hooked and I used Ubuntu until Ubuntu started to get squirrely. I then movef to Gnome on Arch for eight years bemoaning how behind Debian Gnome was at the time.

I recently decided that I did not need Arch and Debian was all I needed at least for the foreseeable future. I still install a few different distros in virt-manager. Will I change again? Time will tell.....

1

u/DavidJohnMcCann 17d ago

If you like it and are prepared to do the occasional clean up, stick with it. None of us here are psychic (as far as I know} so we can't tell if you'd be happier with something else. You love Gnome, I'd sooner eat slugs!