Arch Linux

dale77

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From: Down under

Registered: 2007-02-10

Posts: 102

Website

Arch Linux first impressions

Hello all,

I have just recently decided to try arch linux. For a long while I have been running my own LinuxFromScratch system, but I have been looking for a little while for a nice KDE based system *with package management*.

So here I am now with an Arch KDE 3.5.6 system - what do I think?

1. KDE looks real nice! Fonts look very good.
2. nvidia drivers were simple to install and work as advertised, same ~6000fps under glxgears as under LFS
3. rc.conf, MODULES, DAEMONS, nice and simple!
4. pacman -S? Very nice. I got caught as a newbie when I didn't do a pacman -Sy before an update, and tried to pull down out-of-date files. Perhaps pacman -S could note that my synch was n weeks ago and warn?
5. Beginners Guide on the wiki. Very useful step by step to a KDE desktop.
6. All apps installed and work well, k3b, wesnoth, flashplugin, kmail, konq browsing, qemu + kqemu etc

The not so good

1. Twice now I have had a udev error on first boot into arch. Second boot it goes away. I put it down to my windows dual boot leaving some hardware in a dubious state. If I see it again I'll note the exact error message.
2. For some reason KDE 3.5.6 is not quite so snappy as on LFS. I can watch it paint as windows come up for the first time. Nothing major though.
3. modules & groups. It really sucks to get tripped up on missing modules (floppy) and groups (storage). Its my hardware let me use it by default I say!
4. ping myhostname returns unknown host. A little strange I think.
5. media mounting (usb key, floppy, cdrom) as my user seems a little flakey. Permissions problems preventing "safe removal" of the usb key etc.

TODO:

1. OpenOffice (although this seems to be 2.04 via pacman, perhaps I'll wait for 2.1 to arrive)
2. More learning about Arch....

A nice system thus far, this Arch Linux...

Dale

codemac

Member

From: Cliche Tech Place

Registered: 2005-05-13

Posts: 794

Website

Re: Arch Linux first impressions

for #4 under the not so good, did you edit your /etc/hosts to reflect your host name?

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http://codemac.net

dale77

Member

From: Down under

Registered: 2007-02-10

Posts: 102

Website

Re: Arch Linux first impressions

for #4 under the not so good, did you edit your /etc/hosts to reflect your host name?

Yes, that is what I did to fix it. I guess I would have expected the arch install to handle that detail.

Dale

iBertus

Member

From: Greenville, NC

Registered: 2004-11-04

Posts: 2,228

Re: Arch Linux first impressions

for #4 under the not so good, did you edit your /etc/hosts to reflect your host name?

Yes, that is what I did to fix it. I guess I would have expected the arch install to handle that detail.

Dale

It's a feature, not a bug. As a general rule you cannot count on the Arch installer to do any extra configuration tasks. It offers you the chance to edit the hosts file during setup.

dale77

Member

From: Down under

Registered: 2007-02-10

Posts: 102

Website

Re: Arch Linux first impressions

It's a feature, not a bug.

Spoken like a true developer!

I just thought it might be better to replace the "leave hosts alone" feature with a "add entered host name to hosts" feature.

Dale