beginners guide

z5rz · 2016-09-03 01:41:36

i have been away from arch (and linux) for a couple of years... I recently decided to load it back on. There used to be a 'beginners guide' in the wiki. this was, in my humble opinion, a great doc to help navigate and learn the nuances of linux. It is no longer there. any references to it just redirects to the 'installation guide'. are there plans to bring the 'beginner's guide' back?

thanks in advance

frank604 · 2016-09-03 02:22:29

I guess it has been consolidated into https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/installation_guide
Either the beginner's guide is obsolete or has been mistakenly deleted. I'm not sure what happened to it. With that said, unofficially, if you wish to use a cached version for reference you can view this

jasonwryan · 2016-09-03 02:37:46

Discussed, at length: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?ti … reat_Merge

z5rz · 2016-09-03 12:31:27

Thanks frank604.. That certainly helps..

Jasonwryan - thanks for the link. Respectfully, it doesn't appear to be much of a discussion. From a neophyte's point of view if I may.. I would presume, and I just am presuming, that one of the goals would be to bring as many people into Linux, Arch in particular. The current install guide is minimalistic. Which is ok if that was your goal. In quickly scanning the the post you sent the link to, the powers at large felt the beginners guide was too long. Well your consumer base, at least this lone voice feels the new improved guide its a tad too short. I realize that you folks could do these installs easily. At one time I could as well. I have been away from Arch for a couple of years and have forgotten more than I knew. There have been a lot of changes. This, from my point of view is one of the biggest. While I am sure it is less work for those who maintain, I am not sure in the long run it will help. Just a lone voice with an unsolicited opinion.

Again, thanks

Trilby · 2016-09-03 12:50:32

z5rz wrote:

I would presume... that one of the goals would be to bring as many people into Linux, Arch in particular.

This is most certainly not true. We're happy to welcome anyone who wants to join this community, but we have no goal to recruit.

z5rz wrote:

.. your consumer base ...

Arch linux doesn't have consumers, it is not for sale.

z5rz wrote:

I am not sure in the long run it will help.

Perhaps. There are valid discussions about what the right balance in the install guide is - and it is a wiki, thus continually open to revision and improvement. Feel free to contribute to those discussions if you have ideas on how the installation guide can be a better resource for this community. But if you think it needs help to better bring as many people to arch as possible, or to expand our "consumer base" then just stop right there - these are entirely wrong-headed goals.

Big picture reply:

Arch is not for everyone. Linux is great because there are so many different distros that can cater so well to so many different users. Some people like a system that just magically works that they never have to think about or understand. Others want to tinker and know everything about there system. Some people like widgets. Some people like command lines. Trying to make any distro one-size-fits-all and good-for-everyone will only ensure that it fits no one and is good for no one.

Such efforts are like going into a big-and-tall store and insisting that their products are not right for their consumer base of all people and they should have shorter slimer clothes to fit the average person so they can bring as many people as possible into the store. That's clearly absurd. The whole purpose of the store is to serve a certain subset of people who struggled to get what they needed elsewhere. Don't mess up the big-and-tall store for the big-and-tall people. If you aren't big-and-tall, shop elsewhere.

And pre-emptively: this is not "elitist" or any other such nonsense. Big-and-tall people do not claim to be better, smarter, or more deserving of clothes than others. They just want a store where they can shop, get products that work for them, and - perhaps - not feel guilt, frustration, or shame that they don't look like the models and mannequins in other stores.

Alad · 2016-09-03 14:55:05

Seriously? Here, you can see it all repeated 500 times over:

https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comm … _the_wiki/

And no, the Beginners' guide (or any other guide apart from the actual Installation guide) won't return to the wiki. Feel free to make suggestions to the Installation guide.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ta … tion_guide

P.S. About that cached Beginners' guide, I do love how this time, people linked a translation of a Russian revision from January 2015. Even if you linked the original version from August 2016, it is equally out of date: some of the links broke, it has inaccurate statements fixed in the installation guide, different configuration examples, etc.

Last edited by Alad (2016-09-03 15:03:55)

z5rz · 2016-09-03 15:13:29

obviously I hit a few sensitive spots and that was not my intent. Terms such as 'consumer' were more used with semantics, not to offend. I am a consumer in that I have only taken what you provided. I am aware of how Arch is not for sale

I made no comments in terms of an elitist distro. Those are yours.

You may find my comments and opinions absurd. I will respect that. I will disagree, but I will respect your opinion.

I will now step back from this discussion.

Alad, thank you for the link to the comments. I did try to search on this forum before I posted and obviously missed the boat there.

Sincerely, thank you all

ewaller · 2016-09-03 16:21:38

z5rz wrote:

I made no comments in terms of an elitist distro. Those are yours.

Speaking for others, we agree. When I read that I saw that it was premtive -- Trilby even said so

frank604 · 2016-09-03 17:39:36

Wow, didn't know the guide was removed. I'll keep that in mind from here on out.

@Alad ha, that was the only one that showed up on first page for me. Oudated and russian, kinda how I like my woman

Arch Linux

#1 2016-09-03 01:41:36

beginners guide

#2 2016-09-03 02:22:29

Re: beginners guide

#3 2016-09-03 02:37:46

Re: beginners guide

#4 2016-09-03 12:31:27

Re: beginners guide

#5 2016-09-03 12:50:32

Re: beginners guide

#6 2016-09-03 14:55:05

Re: beginners guide

#7 2016-09-03 15:13:29

Re: beginners guide

#8 2016-09-03 16:21:38

Re: beginners guide

#9 2016-09-03 17:39:36

Re: beginners guide

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