Arch Linux

lucacerone

Member

From: Spain

Registered: 2012-05-04

Posts: 144

Website

May be newbie.. advices?

Dear all,
I'm Luca, I just joined the Arch community and just wanted to introduce.
I'm not yet an Arch user, but I'm seriously considering to switch to it.
I thought that before launching in this adventure, it might have been useful before
to check with you guys if Arch might be the best solution for me.

I've been an Ubuntu user for a long time now, and though I'm grateful to Canonical for having me allowed
to become a Linux user, I feel that I know need to experiment with an OS where I have more control over things.

Although I'm an experienced Linux user (8yrs or so) I wouldn't define myself an expert, but rather an advanced desktop user.
As such I'm looking for an OS where things can work pretty easily, but where you can customize the environment to your
need. I'm the kind of user that is not afraid to change configurations, compile a program and experiment with settings,
but doesn't want to do everything from scratch.

I like the concept of Arch rolling-release and that is one of the main reasons I got interested in it..
What scares me about switching to Arch is that all the review I've read say it is a system for the "tech-savy".
As I've very few space available on my laptop, should I decide to switch I'll have to do it removing my Ubuntu
installation, so I want to be sure that I'll be able to make things work in a reasonable amount of time, as I use
my laptop a lot for my work.

First of all I'd like to know, how is hardware support? I have an HP Pavillon DV6000 (5 years old) with an Nvidia graphic card,
and a Realtek wifi controller.
Do you know if I'll be able to make things work (hopefully they would work out of the box)?
There are also a few software I'll need and I'd like to know if they work:

Latex, LibreOffice, VLC, ffmpeg,Matlab, a web browser, a web client, a good text editor, possibly a C++ IDE.. and do all the tasks you usually do with a computer: watching a dvd (I have an external dvd reader), using external hd, organize photos, use skype.. this sort of thing.

I'd really appreciate if you could help me understanding if Arch might be right for me or not.. what I should be prepared to face, what would be the
advantages an what would be the drawbacks.. It would be great to have some feedback from Ubuntu users that switched to Arch...

Thanks a lot in advance for your help,
Cheers,
Luca

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,822

Re: May be newbie.. advices?

Hello, and welcome to Arch.  I would guess that you have what it takes to use Arch.  Hardware support is as good as any other disto as that is mostly a function of the kernel.  It certainly supports your menagerie of applications.  I use an HP Pavilion DV4 as my primary machine.  Everything works but the modem.  This includes the IR remote.

Arch has a bit of reputation of being hard on people who are unwilling to do basic research before posting questions.  It is well deserved.  We have excellent documentation and a (IMHO) superb forum community.  Read them carefully and, if you do pose a question, tell us what you have read.  If it seems you have not done research, you are more than likely to receive an RTFM response with a nudge in the correct direction.

You might want to start by reading all of the articles of the wiki main page.

We look forward to your joining us.

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Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
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How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

drcouzelis

Member

From: Connecticut, USA

Registered: 2009-11-09

Posts: 4,092

Website

Re: May be newbie.. advices?

Hi, Luca.

Yes, Arch Linux can do all of those things. As for hardware and software support, Arch Linux has all of the software and drivers that are available in other Linux distributions, except the versions in Arch Linux are usually (maybe always) newer.

What scares me about switching to Arch is that all the review I've read say it is a system for the "tech-savy".

It's not scary. The only requirement to use Arch Linux is a willingness to read and learn on your own. If you use the Arch Linux Beginner's Guide it should take you much less than a day to setup, maybe only a few hours.

Last edited by drcouzelis (2012-05-05 15:04:28)

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,614

Website

Re: May be newbie.. advices?

I'll second ewaller's welcome and views on arch.

To specify, nothing really works "out of the box" as there is no box... but more to the point, the basic arch install leaves you with a very basic system with the tools (pacman) to build in whatever features you desire.  Wireless may not work "out of the box" but it will work as soon as you install/activate it following some excellent wiki guides.

Arch is a DIY distro, but all the tools and instructions are available to make it very easy to do it yourself.

Arch runs well on nvidia.  You can choose the open source nouveau driver or the nvidia there are wiki pages and forum discussions comparing these.  For my purposes nouveau has worked wonderfully and IMHO was a bit simpler to set up.  Realtek wifi is also well supported.

I've used all the software you mention except for matlab and IDEs, but I know others use these on arch with no problems.  Each one may take a little set up and configuration, but in each case, you'll find a wiki page that will walk you through it.

Some consider arch to be for "advanced" users.  I think that's nonsense, unless by advanced one means capable of following simple, well written, step by step instructions.  I like to think of arch as a really well written cook book: it is simple enough so that anyone who desires can become a master chef, but those who just want to drive up to a window to get a burger and fries probably will not like Arch.

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"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

DSpider

Member

From: Romania

Registered: 2009-08-23

Posts: 2,273

Re: May be newbie.. advices?

The FAQ is also a good place to start.

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"How to Succeed with Linux"

I have made a personal commitment not to reply in topics that start with a lowercase letter. Proper grammar and punctuation is a sign of respect, and if you do not show any, you will NOT receive any help (at least not from me).

lucacerone

Member

From: Spain

Registered: 2012-05-04

Posts: 144

Website

Re: May be newbie.. advices?

First of all thank you all for your advices, they have been useful
I've a very important deadline that doesn't allow me to take 1-2 days to reinstall everything right now,
but you have convinced me to give Arch a try
I'll start going through the wiki and the documentation to get ready to configure my hardware,
and as soon as I've finished this work I'll try and become an Arch user
(I was wrong, I actually have a Broadcom wireless card.. and reading the wiki it seems that this card  requires the broadcom-wl driver that
might cause some instability problem, so I don't want to risk being stuck without internet for long )

Also, as I live in Dublin (Ireland), are you aware of any local Arch user group here?
It would be nice to have people you can actually meet to be helped and (when I'd be experienced enough)
help to solve eventual issues

See you in a while as an Arch mate
Have a nice day,
Luca

Last edited by lucacerone (2012-05-06 10:04:38)