Arch taught me how to fuck my computer and now its my main squeeze.

Archwiki and archinstall are amazing

'Cause no other computer will let you touch it, let alone sudo it.

Around 3 years ago I switched to Arch from Ubuntu(22.04) after 2-3 months of being a new user to Linux because I read that Arch was one of the best distros for setting up a custom system for tiling window managers. I was already testing i3wm on Ubuntu and I was ready to make i3wm my main desktop, so decided to take the Arch route. It really did feel like a jump into the dark even though I wasn't completely new.

For a moment I hated not knowing anything but after a few bruises I ended up learning enough things to be comfortable, and learning other non Linux topics by inertia. It was totally worth it, although I would tell my younger self to take it much slower.

Some windows refugees do start with arch, btw.

sudo touch me now

I've been working on Linux since '96. As time goes by I keep drifting more and more towards boring and stable distributions. I just don't want to be bothered with a system that needs me to groom it constantly.

I picked Arch as my first distro about a year ago or so. Sure there was some things to learn but Archinstall was a breeze and after that the popularity of the distro means that there's lots of people asking and answering questions online. Also Archwiki is just fantastic. No regrets.

It's tough for a distro to have both a strong newbie community and a strong old-timers community at the same time. Well done Arch community!

I like to ask Linux people "Would you recommend Arch for a newbie?" Not because I have any intention of using Arch, but their answer to that question helps me judge the quality of their advice going forward.

100%, I already gave a job and hobbies thanks.

I don't see what's so hard about arch compared to debian. Different package manager, great wiki.

It really depends on whether they're an enthusiast excited about it or they're just trying to ditch windows...

9/10 times, no.

it's like nobody even knows about finger anymore

To be fair, I did exactly that the first time i went to an Indian restaurant and it was fine. The reported spiciness was why i went though and it was great.

As someone that was already in the IT realm professionally, and had previously dabbled with Linux on old hardware I decided that I would take the plunge. Trial by fire if you will.

Every distribution I had tried up to Arch didn't sit well with me. At least not to replace my Windows install. On the same note; I hated that I could only delve so deep into understanding my Windows system. And I absolutely despise the data greed from Microsoft as well.

It was time to take matters into my own hands. What better way for me to learn than to "build it myself."

The Arch Wiki was a huge help. First install I ever did I neglected to use archinstall. Just so that I could grasp some of the concepts of what archinstall was doinig.

The more and more I used Arch, the more and more I learned.

Arch has been the distribution for me. It has offered me everything that I need, and everything that I want. It has become mine to a degree that I am comfortable. It has taught me so much that it makes using other Linux distributions natural. The only real difference is that other distributions I use I just have to learn what underlying services and such are on it, and even then, the Arch Wiki has me covered.

Polishing dotfiles is a valid hobby, and can be fun now and then, but when I need to do actual work I reach for my debian laptop.

Archwiki is an invaluable resource even when I'm not working in arch based systems. I think it's a testament to the community that the ArchWiki has been maintained at the level it has (which is quite high) for as long as it has (a long while).

And believe it or not, the 1/10 case: also no.

I did that and had to be helped out because I drank so much beer trying to wash it down.

I'm thinking of transitioning my Laptop from Windows 10 to Arch, need a decent drive though.

I feel like a crack dealer right now, but, have you heard of Linux from Scratch?

I get what you mean with build it yourself, but Arch is more or less like a lego kit. LFS is the material manifestation of the concept of madness. I did it once, it was fun, it was crazy, I don't want to ever do it again. Afterwards I immediately switched my main machine from Arch to Mint. I have a deeper understanding of how an OS works under the hood now, and a strong appreciation for the work put forth by distro maintainers. All I want now is a system that works straight away. I no longer want to build myself anything. Tinkering is a hobby, I need a working tool. Today I use Bazzite and all my tinkering is devoted to how can I make rare old games run on Linux. It's the difference between buying a chair and taking up carpentry as a hobby.

reminds me of the good ole slackware days. i ran a domain off an old 486/dx2 in the 90’s. was a 3 letter domain too. why did 22yo me let that shit expire?!?

imho that’s kinda why i went ios for my phone. i dev in linux, deal with robotics, hardware, signals, “security” and whatnot to get paid. i just want something that works.

that reminds me. i need to commit and push my latest vimrc.

I would have used Arch as a teenager, at that time I reinstalled DOS/Windows every other month anyways and learned a lot.

Eventually I got fed up with all that and switched to Mint.

Yep.

In 2002, I used Gentoo.

In 2026, I use Kubuntu.

(I should probably switch since Canonical's policies are increasingly bothering me, but meh, I can't be bothered to reinstall more than once a decade.)

I'd say no but you'll probably end up there eventually. At least for me I went crunch bang++, popOS, fedora, arch, bazzite, cachyOS, now thinking about arch again

Eh, rolling release distros are great for gaming. I recommend it enthusiasts (noob or not) and gamers. If you just need a rock solid platform for a server or browsing the web / word processing then sure slap some Debian or Fedora on there and call it a day.

I've used Debian since 2001 or so. I reinstall whenever I have a new computer, unless I'm decommissioning another computer at the same time.

Good thing too, it's not secure. Lots of germs transmit by fingering.

I've used Arch on and off since around 2006 or so. I've used most distributions, including Gentoo, and in recent years things like Debian and atomic Fedora. I've settled for NixOS now though and I don't see it changing unless a better declarative OS/language comes along (Guix is a good contender with its Scheme).

I don't recommend things based on if people are new to it or not. I recommend things based on if they read and are willing to learn or not.

If you don't read, arch is not a good distro for you.

Which is awesome (as long as they know what they're getting into, or even if they don't, if they've got the patience and stamina to learn a lot)

this

you can just choose to use software that isn't dev/nightly versions, and you're fine

unless you want to see stuff break... then you install all of the nightly versions and have stuff break sometimes!

Surely you need to make a cron job to do this on changes? 😅

Honestly, if you are new to Linux and are making the switch because you enjoy customisation and tinkering, a manual Arch install is the way to go. It's fun and you learn a lot, while still having a good OS.

I built a LFS system in the 1990s. It was cool and informative but I decided to switch to Gentoo to ease my compilation pain. Eventually I switched to Debian after waiting a day for KDE and Star Office to build in on day. 😅

you can try it. i personally recommend you install it without the archinstall script once so that you learn a bit about how linux works, and if you dont want to learn so much stuff at once, either install it through archinstall or choose a different distro. you're probably going to learn some stuff once something breaks, though that could take a while

of course though, i'd only say that to someone who shows a lot of enthusiasm for linux. if they simply don't want windows, i'd just recommend fedora

Man, that Indian restaurant reference is just fucking spot on

I think it depends on how we define a newbie. No experience with linux at all? Hell, no. They'll likely fail and never touch it again. Someone who understands some basics and really wants to learn? Go ahead.

One of my biggest mistakes was ordering "spicy" level Thai food. Took me about a week to finish it because I could only handle one bite every few hours.

eh if you're REALLY interested in linux you can do it with no prior knowledge

though i guess you can't be that interested in linux without knowing anything...

One local Thai shop had the sense to offer both "$nationality spicy" and "thai spicy"

Agreed. The wiki is so good that I refer to it to fix problems on completely different distros. Also, the archinstall script is basically a TUI installer. Anyone who can install Debian can install Arch.

You go in there to learn. I think many know this before entering. And if they didn't plan ahead; then it's a happy accident.

Nowadays you dont even have to use iOS/android to get something that just works, GrapheneOS for example also is fully there already (apart from NFC payment but that's really the only thing)

Same. I settled on Debian around 1999 and stayed there. A brief side trip to the ope source Solaris.

I think this usually comes from people using AUR or nightly packages, which can cause stuff to break if you update often. That's what I did when I first tried Arch.