Is ArchLinux Too Good?

sml · 2008-05-26 12:02:56

I have been using Arch for a number of years but there is a problem ... everything always works perfectly and hence it is boring!

So I was using KDE for many months and nothing ever crashed and always worked perfectly. So to spice things up, I started using other window managers / desktop managers. They all work perfectly as well.

Hmm .. so I try out other distributions (like Ubuntu, Fedora, Puppy, Slax etc etc .. I have tried them all) .. and they seem to crash and have endless problems. So I go back to Arch.

I have tried moving to Testing & Unstable Arch repositories but they would eventually trip me up and I would be stuck

This cycle has now been occurring for 3 years.

What should I do?

dhave · 2008-05-26 12:06:24

(1) Be happy.
(2) Learn to play an instrument.
(3) Write some poetry.
(4) Fix an old lady's computer (Boy Scout good deed for the 21st century).
(5) Meet a nice girl* and settle down. Or not.

*I know, I know. You might be a nice girl yourself. In which case, figure it out.

Last edited by dhave (2008-05-26 12:09:38)

Allan · 2008-05-26 12:08:57

Surely your are affected by one of the greater than 500 bug reports (http://bugs.archlinux.org/index.php?project=1). If not, install the relevant package and have problems!

dhave · 2008-05-26 12:10:40

A more pertinent reply than my previous one:

Search the forum for unanswered posts or unresolved problems. There are plenty, I'm sure. Share the wealth!

tomk · 2008-05-26 14:12:24

dhave has touched on some of the Real-Life possibilities, so I won't go there. From a strictly Arch perspective, how about these:

Allan wrote:

Surely your are affected by one of the greater than 500 bug reports (http://bugs.archlinux.org/index.php?project=1). If not, install the relevant package and have problems!

... and then solve the problem, and post the fix in the bug report.

Contribute to the wiki - new articles, amendments/corrections to existing articles, etc.

Work on an Arch project - take your pick from projects.archlinux.org, checkout the code, do stuff to it.

Try [testing] again, but with more thorough preparation i.e. inform yourself why packages are in testing, read about the testing version, get an idea of what to expect. If it "trips you up" again, try to work out why. If you find a bug, report it, preferably with a fix.

More generally, I know that there are numerous aspects of open source development that I would like to know about, but I just can't get around to them all. If you feel that too, pick one, or a few, and make yourself an expert.

shazeal · 2008-05-26 20:14:12

Or you could infect everyone you know with Arch goodness like I did. My girlfriend uses it, my parents use it for both home and their business, Some of my friends have been brainwashed and use it, my cat wants to use it, I just want to be a drummer...

B-Con · 2008-05-27 00:43:21

Perhaps this will help average out all the "Arch is too unstable" threads...

Misfit138 · 2008-05-27 01:42:30

B-Con wrote:

Perhaps this will help average out all the "Arch is too unstable" threads...

Hehe. Good point.
I too have nothing but good luck with Arch. The quality is just ''there''. There are literally only a handful of what I would call quality distros, and Arch is certainly at the top of my list.

Ghost1227 · 2008-05-27 05:10:04

Misfit138 wrote:

B-Con wrote:
Perhaps this will help average out all the "Arch is too unstable" threads...
Hehe. Good point.
I too have nothing but good luck with Arch. The quality is just ''there''. There are literally only a handful of what I would call quality distros, and Arch is certainly at the top of my list.

I would have to concur as well... most every problem i've had with Arch ended up being PEBKAC errors...

kakabaratruskia · 2008-05-27 05:35:38

get a premium account on playboy tv.

finferflu · 2008-05-27 07:08:20

This is true for me as well, nothing broke since I installed Arch, apart from a few minor annoyances. For example the other day X wouldn't start, and all I had to do was changing the graphics card driver name in xorg.conf from "i810" to "intel", and everything was fine again. Perfect.

vennen · 2008-05-27 18:16:42

tomk wrote:

Contribute to the wiki - new articles, amendments/corrections to existing articles, etc.

I can translate some wiki into russian. Where and with what start?

I suggest I must learn wiki syntax. Right?

Misfit138 · 2008-05-27 19:28:16

Is Arch too good? You can never be too good.
..but my list for highest quality distros would be:
Arch- minimal yet convenient. Completely stable for me, and all the packages I can handle plus ABS.
Slackware- minimal and stable. Too minimal for my everyday use.
Debian- Stringent testing and a huge dev community are its biggest strengths..and weaknesses
Fedora- Strong innovation and bleeding edge, but sometimes unstable. Not minimalist enough for my taste, but high quality IMO.

foxbunny · 2008-05-28 12:44:26

Here's my list. Note the empty slots for distros yet to come to fill in 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.

Arch
_____
_____
_____
Slackware
Gentoo

catwell · 2008-05-28 13:04:28

I'd say (out of those I've tried):

Arch
Slackware
Debian

No Gentoo anymore, they've go too wrong for that.

Gauvenator · 2008-05-29 03:11:14

imxp:

Arch - I love the how customizable it is, lightweight, speedy, love pacman...plus it's the only one that works with my wireless card lolz
Ubuntu - good for a quick and easy linux install, and not terribly slow
openSuSE - if I feel lazy this one is easy to unselect stuff you don't need to install, however, it is a bit slow for my tastes

jrick · 2008-05-29 04:24:55

While everyone else is doing it...

Arch
FreeBSD
sidux

Slackware would probably rank pretty high if I actually used it and learned it more. FreeBSD would be #1, but it has some problems with my hardware and PKGBUILDs are much easier to write that Ports.

KyKo · 2008-05-29 04:35:03

I liked Slackware for speed, flexibility and control... I liked Debian for apt... Arch takes the best of both.

drum · 2008-05-29 04:53:41

arch gnome
pclos gnome
slackware dropline gnome

kensai · 2008-06-01 00:21:11

Misfit138 wrote:

Slackware- minimal and stable. Too minimal for my everyday use.

I love the way you can make Slackware to be not minimal using slackbuilds, still you need some time to make it into a very user friendly OS. I am just trying to do that, I love challenges like that, I even remember when I made FreeBSD a user friendly OS. Although it took me like 3+ weeks. Is just so great how Arch just takes a day or two to tweak into a very user friendly OS.

LEGEND

user friendly = capable to enjoy on everyday multimedia and entertainment use

Last edited by kensai (2008-06-01 00:22:24)

Misfit138 · 2008-06-01 00:26:24

kensai wrote:

Misfit138 wrote:
Slackware- minimal and stable. Too minimal for my everyday use.
I love the way you can make Slackware to be not minimal using slackbuilds, still you need some time to make it into a very user friendly OS. I am just trying to do that, I love challenges like that, I even remember when I made FreeBSD a user friendly OS. Although it took me like 3+ weeks. Is just so great how Arch just takes a day or two to tweak into a very user friendly OS.
LEGEND
user friendly = capable to enjoy on everyday multimedia and entertainment use

Slackbuilds are sweet, but there are very few of them compared to PKGBUILDs. And I completely agree, Slack and BSD can be forced into what I want, but it takes too much work. May as well start with Arch.

kensai · 2008-06-01 00:31:30

Misfit138 wrote:

Slackbuilds are sweet, but there are very few of them compared to PKGBUILDs. And I completely agree, Slack and BSD can be forced into what I want, but it takes too much work. May as well start with Arch.

Usually I just start testing Slackware and BSD releases on summers because of this. If I want an OS to be set up fast Arch is the only way to go.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-05-26 12:02:56

Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#2 2008-05-26 12:06:24

Re: Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#3 2008-05-26 12:08:57

Re: Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#4 2008-05-26 12:10:40

Re: Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#5 2008-05-26 14:12:24

Re: Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#6 2008-05-26 20:14:12

Re: Is ArchLinux Too Good?

#7 2008-05-27 00:43:21

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#8 2008-05-27 01:42:30

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#9 2008-05-27 05:10:04

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#10 2008-05-27 05:35:38

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#11 2008-05-27 07:08:20

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#12 2008-05-27 18:16:42

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#13 2008-05-27 19:28:16

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#14 2008-05-28 12:44:26

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#15 2008-05-28 13:04:28

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#16 2008-05-29 03:11:14

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#17 2008-05-29 04:24:55

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#18 2008-05-29 04:35:03

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#20 2008-06-01 00:21:11

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#21 2008-06-01 00:26:24

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#22 2008-06-01 00:31:30

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