Arch linux

Chat about Linux in general
Forum rules
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
cinnamoncoffee
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:25 am

Arch linux

Post by cinnamoncoffee »

Hi,
I'd like to hear about your opinions and experiences with Arch linux.
I have got an old laptop that I use no more and I was wondering If I should try Arch on it. I've been using linux for 1,5 year now and still consider myself a newbie but would like to learn more. I'm unemployed right now so I've got plenty of time on my hands and if it doesn't work I've got nothing to lose.
Still I would like to hear your opinions if it is worth it. Also, what do you think about Arch in general, it's security, stability and other pros and cons?
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.13 Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X550CA
User avatar
xenopeek
Level 25
Level 25
Posts: 29509
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:58 am

Re: Arch linux

Post by xenopeek »

Whether you "should" try Arch Linux is up to you. I use it on my main system and the Arch Way clicks with me: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar ... Principles. There's a nice page comparing Arch Linux to other distros like Linux Mint: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar ... Linux_Mint. If you think it is something you want to do, the Beginner's Guide takes you through the installation steps (note all the links to other parts of the wiki for things that may be relevant for you if you're not familiar with it): https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_guide. Finally, to get familiar with pacman (the package manager) the Pacman Rosetta may be useful as you can look up apt-get/apt-cache/dpkg commands you know and how the same action would be done with pacman: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman_Rosetta.

I stepped up to another level of knowledge about Linux by starting to use VirtualBox to run multiple distros and by starting to help out others here on the forums. I learned most from the latter, for which having all the editions / versions of Linux Mint in VirtualBox was very useful. Few years after that I switched to Arch Linux because I wanted to try the latest GNOME release. I liked both so much that I stuck with it. pacman is a very nice package manager. It's very fast and I especially like that it shows you for all optional dependencies (known as recommends and suggests on Linux Mint) what that optional dependency will add to the package.
Image
Crewp

Re: Arch linux

Post by Crewp »

Hi cinnamoncoffee, I have used Manjaro which is based on Arch and found it to be very fast, always the latest software, as it is a rolling release you need not re-install newer versions, and it has a community version with the Cinnamon desktop which was nice. That said, there is a bit of a learning curve with some things as Arch is different in a lot of respects.But it might be a good starting point to learn Arch. Anyway, have fun with it, and I hope you enjoy it.
DrHu

Re: Arch linux

Post by DrHu »

I really like Arch's forum and detailed help
--whether is the xfce desktop or others..
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar ... tributions

But since I went through so many Linux distributions and found them similar enough --excepting Red Hat (rpm) verses Debian(apt); I have eventually settled on Mint xx XFCE desktiop

How deep do you want to dig
--if deep, you could go for LFS (linux from Scratch) or other custom install
  • If its only to be using apps and desktop
    --then it is a matter of the style and support you prefer..
And learning more might lead you into working with BASH more or getting regex
http://www.regular-expressions.info/
http://www.regular-expressions.info/tools.html
User avatar
Flemur
Level 20
Level 20
Posts: 10097
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:41 pm
Location: Potemkin Village

Re: Arch linux

Post by Flemur »

I used Arch for a while, but found that Mint can be made as lightweight and fast as Arch, but Mint is easier but mostly more reliable; after Arch updates hosed the system twice, I gave up on it. If you want to start with a sensible bare-bones install and then add what you need, take a look at Debian.
Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] if/when it is solved!
Your data and OS are backed up....right?
rliegh
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 3:50 am

Re: Arch linux

Post by rliegh »

I'm on a mac and I'm setting up a VirtualBox VM to see how well OSX and Arch work together, and also to teach myself Arch (while having a nice Mint desktop to fall back on).
cinnamoncoffee
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 117
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:25 am

Re: Arch linux

Post by cinnamoncoffee »

thank you for the replies.
Ive never heard of LFS but is sounds very interesting. How is it different from arch?
Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.13 Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela Machine: Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X550CA
User avatar
xenopeek
Level 25
Level 25
Posts: 29509
Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 3:58 am

Re: Arch linux

Post by xenopeek »

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar ... utions#LFS

In short, LFS is only documentation—no package manager, no repositories, no ports systems, no anything. You'll have to find and download source code of anything you want to use manually and compile it. There's about 2000 packages on a fresh Linux Mint install. An Arch Linux installation with the same software installed has about 1000 packages (due to Debian/Ubuntu heritage of Linux Mint where one source will be split into many packages). I don't really see the attraction of LFS, at least not for practical desktop use. Or what you'd expect to learn from it—I think you learn more from contributing to some project.

If you're a die hard for compiling everything from source, go with Gentoo and you at least get a package manager and a ports system.

If you have specific compile time optimizations you need for some package, Arch Linux' ABS let's you do the same as with Gentoo but with the benefit of other packages being easily installed from binary package without needing to compile everything. AUR is Arch Linux's user repository of ports for easy compilation of software not in the standard repositories. Again here is a great opportunity to learn more about Linux by contributing—have some software that's neither in the repositories nor in the AUR? Submit a build for it yourself!
Image
User avatar
Fred Barclay
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4185
Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2014 11:12 am
Location: USA primarily

Re: Arch linux

Post by Fred Barclay »

If I can chime in...
I run Arch on my older old machine ((*not* a typo :) ) with the MATE desktop. Boot time is fast--turn-on to login is between 25-40 seconds or less. It's nice because there's not extra "fluff" or anything unwanted to slow you down.
However, this same build-it-yourself mentality takes some patience. Right now I'm trying to figure out why Arch sees all my text files on an ntfs thumbdrive as executable (Mint doesn't), and tracking down the root cause of problems can take a little bit of time. I also prefer apt to pacman--though I do like pacman. But IMHO, Arch is one of the best ways to learn Linux, and is easily worth your time.
(Also, the Mint forums are a bit nicer in my experience than the Arch forums. No reason to avoid Arch--just a heads-up. And I'm a member there, so please don't repeat this! ;) )
Image
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy."
- Albert Einstein
julian1

Re: Arch linux

Post by julian1 »

I installed linux mint mate 17.3 on an old 10-years old fujitsu-siemens laptop with 512 GB ram and 50 GB disk space because it was extremely too slow with windows xp sp3 (which was factory preinstalled). No DVD drive and no USB boot was available. I used the plop utility to boot from USB. Now it works like a normal computer. And everything works fine: sound cards, video, youtube, scientific programs like octave with gui etc. It is faster than some i5-laptops with 2 GB ram running windows 7 or 10. And linux mint is so much better and easier than arch linux.
gold_finger

Re: Arch linux

Post by gold_finger »

If you're looking to learn, Arch is a great way to do that. They've got some of the best documentation around. Take your time and read relevant docs for type of install your planning (D.E. and/or W.M you're going to use, file managers, etc.) ahead of time so you know what to expect and what things may need manual configuration after install. Don't get discouraged if first attempt or two don't work out as planned. Getting stuck and researching solutions is part of learning process.

I've got Arch installed on an old 2002 Pentium single core desktop with 512MB Ram and a 2008 HP Elitebook dual-core with 2GB Ram. No D.E., just a tiling WM called Awesome -- so system is very light on resources and the performance on both machines is incredible. I was especially surprised by the old desktop with this lightweight setup. I can honestly say that most applications run "fast" or with very little delay -- the exception being video streaming with a web browser. Firefox is a bit slow because it has turned into a bit of a memory hog over the years. (Have it installed, but don't use it much.) But QupZilla works very well and I use Dillo for various websites also and that browser flies.

Long story short -- I was trying something different by not using a D.E. and using a tiling W.M. which I had no prior experience with. I learned a lot from that and continue to tinker with those machines to learn more. Took a couple of weeks to get things the way I wanted, but effort was well worth it in my opinion.
Locked

Return to “Chat about Linux”