The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

MilesRdz · 2009-03-30 05:47:48

I've distro hopped for about three years and I had most success with Ubuntu. One day I decided to give the ever so praised Arch Linux a try and I loved it! Now I have a home OS.

Primoz · 2009-03-31 14:10:22

Well I must say I really like Arch. I won't say that it's perfect. But it's close to perfect. The best thing is that all problems that you do are easily troubleshot.
I ironically enough heard about Arch on Linsux forum which many could percive as Windows troll den, but it's more a forum for Linux and BSD users that don't agree with mainstream Linux distros and their users (especially zeal of some Ubuntu users).
Anyway I heard a lot of good stuff about it on Linsux and thought if this guys who pretend to "hate" Linux say it's good then it's really good.
I did a bit of distro hopping, as everyone else, but my main OS was Kubuntu.
But recently I tried to make my Kubuntu too much like arch with arch-like boot process (now I know that Arch uses different init than Kubuntu) And I was as bleeding edge on Kubuntu as I could be
without having any serious breakage. And I did only tired Arch and knew how to get things done on it while getting same things done on Kubuntu was shrouded in mystery.
So I decided to take a jump. One thing why I was convinced was the AUR, and ABS I knew that if there isn't a package of something in repos I can easily compile it myself while anything I
tried to compile on Kubuntu didn't compile or didn't work.
But now I don't even need AUR nor ABS that much. But it's good to know that you have that power available to you.
So yeah Arch is pretty close to perfect. It's only fault is that it emulates the user too much.
meaning that if I make a mistake it will show in Arch. But that's not even that big of a problem it' more a part of learning experience.
When I was still on Kubuntu I would do full system reinstall if I broke my system. Now I don't need to.
I just remove whatever I broke and start over. Even if I borke X I know how to repair it. that's the real beauty of Arch.

Last edited by Primoz (2009-03-31 14:12:35)

bwh1969 · 2009-04-02 18:30:39

It is funny that Ubuntu has trouble with hardware, as it is supposed to be a more "out of the box" experience.

Here is what happened to my laptop with an atheros card... connection to my wireless sucked... like 1 MBPS sitting 3 feet from the access point. The it would stall, showing full strength. Before I learned about Arch, I stuck the broadcom card back in and used fwcutter. It worked but was flaky. The Ath5k driver was blamed.

The ath5k driver in Ubuntu still stank on my eee-pc not too long ago. Arch fired it right up.

I also had issues with the Intel driver (I have the 945 GMA in my eee-box - can u tell I like the miniature Asus products?), doing all sorts to "tearing" and had to majorly rework the xorg.conf.

Not so with Arch. I am using the Chakra Project live distro, but it is Arch.

mikesteele81 · 2009-04-13 06:30:37

About a week ago I installed Arch on my Samsung NC10 netbook. I come from a Debian / Ubuntu background, but decided to try out something that would give me a bit more control over this somewhat underpowered computer.

Arch linux is a great example of the old adage that "less is more". With just a few sessions of configuration I've got a system that boots to the desktop in under 20 seconds, has all the software I need and nothing I don't, and makes perfect sense.

If my wireless interface won't come up I know exactly which configuration files to check. If I want to install evince, say, without having to install half of gnome along with it I can just modify the installer through ABS. I'm finally liberated from running printing and mail services in the background just to satisfy dependancies for software I do use. When I check the process list I actually know what just about everything is. Best of all, so far I've been able to find an answer to every question that has come up within a few minutes of checking through the wiki and forums.

This is the best first impression I've ever had of a distro. Thanks to everyone who has made Arch linux what it is.

combuster · 2009-04-15 07:55:28

Well I'm a Linux user for 10 years now and I've used all the "major" distributions so far. 2 years ago I've got access to broadband connection using adsl and it opened a whole new world for me, before I sticked to the distro's that ship a majority of packages on dvd (debian, mandriva etc...) but then I've tried distro's like ubuntu, gentoo etc... Ubuntu did a nice job for me (no problem with deps, fast and stable) but while testing the upcoming 9.04 I came across some bugs (touchpad and keyboard doesn't work after a cold boot, solved by removing initrd but hey) and I was looking for a distro that, in case something goes wrong, I can fix and a distro that it doesn't chase faster boot times at all cost.

When I installed arch a few days ago I was dissapointed. Problems with intel X3100 and xorg gave me a whole lot of trouble but lucky me xserver 1.6 popped up in repo and I was thrilled. Everything works ok now, it's fast, it's configurable (when something troubles me I know where to look and how to fix it) and I like the fact that arch gave me the opportunity to build my linux box from scratch (not like gentoo though from stage 2 but hey this is great too). KISS ruleZ, I dont have to bang my head to the wall and guess what my distro did and why I cant get rid of annoying error messages or even can not boot my os because anything happens to arch - I did it and can easily revert it to the state in wich everything worked ok.

As far as I can see most of the major distro's are competing and trying to bring linux more accesible to windows users. And we, old faithfulls are being forgotten. I'm happy that there are distro's out there like gentoo and arch. Between these two I've decided to use arch beacause I really not too keen on compiling x and gnome on my box for 24-hours ;-)

Good work arch dev's, u got yourself another satisfied user...

hauntergeist · 2009-04-16 18:52:32

Where should I begin ... I directly started to try Gentoo cause a friend of mine recommended it. I was willing to learn and managed to install Gentoo. But afterwards I grew weary of tuning my USE flags and compiling every program.

So I searched for a distro that is lightweight, configurable and optimized for i686 as it should run on my old and still-in-use laptop. And that was Arch. Since then I used Arch as much as possible, I love the KISS principle and I nearly migrated from windows - there are a few programs I have to use and are only useable under M$.
I love my little minimalistic system and though I have problems there and then and sometimes overhelmed or confused by the amount of programs and ways to get something done I am able to master it with some time and the support of this great community of developers and committed users :-)

Arch is best! \o/

Last edited by hauntergeist (2009-04-16 18:53:22)

stabele · 2009-04-23 19:12:55

Peace for all brothers!
Arch, Gentoo, Debian, Crux, Slackware, CentOS and even Suse, Mandriva, Fedore and Ubuntu are all equal and great distros!

...Arch is just more equal and more great;)

Peasantoid · 2009-04-28 02:45:17

stabele wrote:

Peace for all brothers!
Arch, Gentoo, Debian, Crux, Slackware, CentOS and even Suse, Mandriva, Fedore and Ubuntu are all equal and great distros!
...Arch is just more equal and more great;)

Truth, bro'.

(edited to remove unfunny joke)

Last edited by Peasantoid (2009-04-28 02:46:48)

bwh1969 · 2009-04-28 11:01:54

I agree they all have their strong points. Arch is getting better at having things "just work." I especially like what they are doing with Arch here

http://chakra-project.org/

It does a pretty good job of giving the total experience "out of the box" while not seeming bogged down like some of the other distros that aim for that.

sfauzia · 2009-05-25 06:36:48

What I like about Arch Linux is that offers a blank slate: Linux and a package manager. Pacman is truly the best, and without the AUR I probably would not have stayed with Arch. I have never, so far, had to download something from source without yaourt or the ABS. My system is fast (11s bootup vs. 30s with Ubuntu), not buggy like it was with Ubuntu, and more customizable because all the config files are so accessible. Then the ArchWiki is very comprehensive and helpful; I was using it even before began using Arch Linux! I had tried openSUSE, both KDE and GNOME DE versions (the KDE version lasted longer on my computer than the GNOME, but RPM eventually became unbearable), Fedora (KDE, horrible experience), Debian (twice, both times didn't last more than a day), Puppy Linux, Fluxbuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu... each time coming back to Ubuntu, but never quite feeling right till I installed Arch Linux. Now, I am as happy as happy can be!

I like what Primoz pointed out. I used to reinstall Linux so often when a serious problem occured, sometimes several times during the month. It's far more easier to troubleshoot and fix issues in Arch than with other distros. I also like how our forums are less crowded, so there's no need to do bump posting to get your voice heard. Too many posts at the Ubuntu Forums go without a single reply...

Last edited by sfauzia (2009-05-25 06:47:13)

z.s.tar.gz · 2009-05-26 20:49:13

Arch is the best because it is/has three things others don't:

- User controled
- Good package management
- Community Driven

I just wish installing wasn't such a pain...

Peasantoid · 2009-05-26 20:50:05

z.s.tar.gz wrote:

I just wish installing wasn't such a pain...

Why not just clone your system and copy it back whenever you screw up? That's what I do.

jozefk · 2009-05-30 19:08:40

how do you clone your system and copy it back?

ozar · 2009-05-30 19:15:29

Peasantoid wrote:

Why not just clone your system and copy it back whenever you screw up? That's what I do.

Same here and have been doing so for years. It saves me countless hours of reinstalling from scratch, and allows me to be much more experimental than I'd be otherwise.

jozefk · 2009-05-31 07:14:16

man dar and there is everythign explained

cheers

Vamp898 · 2009-06-10 08:09:59

New Software
Godlike Package Manager
Arch Build System

just love it

n0w-X · 2009-06-11 23:37:50

well well well .. i never thought i would have joined the official Arch forum.. let me just start off as saying.. I started out on Linux when i had just a dial up modem which isnt too ancient to me, but maybe to others..

I started out using Redhat, then SuSE then Corell, then mandrake, then slackware, then debian, then gentoo, FReeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD and then jumped in the distro wars when I started using FreeBSD and hooped and hollared about how I would never use Linux again because of the distro variations and how i could not get one solid unified support on help with my hardware through config files... and now look approximately 11 years later.. after religiously using windows XP for multimedia purposes for three years, and also getting frustrated with FreeBSD for a couple of those... i made my way back to Arch Linux.. I think the package manager.. aka pacman was a great idea..

and although i still get pissed off every now and then because i want it to work straight out the box.. the one thing that always strikes me..is.. think how you are goign to make this work with the guidance of the forums and docs.. and i just want to thank the whole Arch Linux team for keeping my interest in Linux going after all these years.. Ubuntu is too easy.. and well i want to think for once.. and be happy at the end of the day, that at least i was competent enough to folow the docs and the forums to make this work to my satisfaction lol..

i will be carrying on my recordings on Linux now.. this will be very interesting..

vennen · 2009-06-21 05:51:00

Suspend-to-RAM and hibernation things always killed me in Linux. Thats why I avoided it on my laptop longtime and used M$ production. Yesterday I install pm-utils on my HP Compaq nx 7400 and was shocked about 'suspend to RAM' speed and waking up also. I got first Arch installation jn my desktop last year summer and still love it so much. Big, huge thanks to the team and all the community!

kjamc1982 · 2009-06-23 22:57:57

I have been using Linux on and off for the past ten years. I first used Red Hat and others at first since they were the easiest to install at the time. It was a great learning experience in the late nineties just to use something different. However, at the time my computer had a winmodem which sucked. I went on to other Linux distros, just never really liked them as much as Slackware. However, I have not try any recent Slackware and wanted something different with dependency checking package management. So I came to Arch and more than likely will stay with it. Now I just need to get rid of my Zune and I will be fine, "I think". Zune is used mostly for audiobooks.

guzz46 · 2009-06-28 01:02:27

I have not been a linux user for very long my first experience was with ubuntu 8.10 dual booting with vista, well after using ubuntu for a while it wasn't long before i completley removed vista all together, i liked the fact that my computer didn't seem to slow down over a period of time/get infected with spyware/need a antivirus program running in the background reminding me i haven't scanned my pc for over a week etc...
After learning the basics of using ubuntu i started getting the urge to try out other distro's to see if there was something better i was missing out on.
I tried mandriva, opensuse, mint, fedora, debian, puppy, sabayon and while liking certain aspects of each one i was never full satisfied with any of them, then i came across archlinux and i have to say i think my distro hopping is finally over.
I like the fact that it gives you a base system and allows you to customise it any way you want (after trying out a bunch of different desktop environments i eventually settled on xfce4 with compiz as the window manager)
It gives you complete control of want you to install, comes with pacman which downloads everything in a zipped format saving bandwith, has a great community that are fast to release patch's for propitery stuff like ati drivers, has a great wiki plus i don't have to wait six months for a new version to be released, i can't help but wounder why it doesn't sit higher on the distrowatch list.

Last edited by guzz46 (2009-08-15 04:29:56)

wriggary · 2009-06-30 10:56:15

Arch is the best because... I registered an account on the forums, checked my gmail, wrote my first post, all within a text mode installer... that actually works.

mjheagle8 · 2009-07-12 19:17:31

i just migrated to arch from ubuntu. i'm not going to lie, the install and initial configuration was a tad daunting. but it was definitely worth it. i use openbox, and it flies! way faster and better than ubuntu.

Curly Wurly · 2009-07-15 10:55:07

Yes, I love Arch, it's awesome.

User1279 · 2009-07-15 23:10:15

I am back from a year of Ubuntu. It was nice. But Arch is cool. KDEmod also! Keep on the good work.

archnub · 2009-07-18 03:35:14

I wont say that its THE best as I there are several distro's all vying for the #1 spot in my book, but Arch is certainly one of those on the short list. I think Arch is the very best distro out there for the niche that it seeks to fill.

Arch Linux

#301 2009-03-30 05:47:48

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#302 2009-03-31 14:10:22

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#303 2009-04-02 18:30:39

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#304 2009-04-13 06:30:37

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#305 2009-04-15 07:55:28

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#306 2009-04-16 18:52:32

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#307 2009-04-23 19:12:55

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#308 2009-04-28 02:45:17

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#309 2009-04-28 11:01:54

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#310 2009-05-25 06:36:48

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#311 2009-05-26 20:49:13

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#312 2009-05-26 20:50:05

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