Arch Linux

NamanSood

Member

Registered: 2018-08-18

Posts: 4

Beginning with Arch

Hello Everyone

I was recently taught about Linux and its uses and also some friends of mine suggested me to learn it as it deals with the actual coding and its processing. I've heard that ArchLinux is pretty amazing and customizable but is also a difficult OS to interpret and understand. I had a few questions regarding this which I lack knowledge about

Q) Is it worth learning Linux in 2018 and is some prior knowledge required to learn Arch

Q) What is the scope of linux in comparison to the coding languages such as python and java.

Q) What resources should i use to learn Arch for a complete and immaculate understanding.

It would be helpful if someone could throw some light on the same and guide me to the correct path.
Thank you in advance

ugjka

Member

From: Latvia

Registered: 2014-04-01

Posts: 1,806

Website

Re: Beginning with Arch

get virtualbox and dive in

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circleface

Member

Registered: 2012-05-26

Posts: 639

Re: Beginning with Arch

1) Only you can know if it is worth installing.  If you need arch or want arch, go ahead and install.  No prior knowledge is necessary, but do be ready to read and read and read (did I mention read?)  The arch wiki is great and should be the first place you go when you need to change something or install or anything with arch.

2) Not really sure what you mean here.  Just about any programming languages will work in arch.  Python and java are both very popular with arch, but of course c, c++, and all others work fine too.

3) The arch wiki is one of the best around.  Always go there first if you don't understand something or need guidance on how to proceed.

If you do decide to install arch, make sure you follow the Installation Guide to the letter.  Any other method is not supported here (and no, Antergos, Manjaro, and any other derivative are NOT arch and you cannot ask for help on these forums).  All that said, I would say go for it, you really have nothing to lose.

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,327

Re: Beginning with Arch

Hello Everyone
Q) Is it worth learning Linux in 2018 and is some prior knowledge required to learn Arch

If you have no prior knowledge of linux/unix/posix/ then you would have to spend many hours reading man pages, searching the web etc.
Arch does not target new users to linux.  Do you have a spare system (possibly virtual) that does not always have to be functional to practise on?

Q) What is the scope of linux in comparison to the coding languages such as python and java.

Scope in terms of what?

Q) What resources should i use to learn Arch for a complete and immaculate understanding.

I doubt anyone has a complete understanding of everything arch packages or every PKGBUILD.
I would recommend the arch wiki,  man pages plus other official package documentation,  targeted search engine queries and practical experience with arch.

headkase

Member

Registered: 2011-12-06

Posts: 1,976

Re: Beginning with Arch

I second VirtualBox.  A VM will let you break the system in all sorts of ways with little consequence.  Once you have a handle on how Arch works then you can install for real without breaking it too much. 

Trilby

Inspector Parrot

Registered: 2011-11-29

Posts: 29,523

Website

Re: Beginning with Arch

I concur with all points above - perhaps with a minor dissent on whether one needs prior linux experience to use arch.  Arch linux is targetted at experienced linux users.  But, personally, I really don't see the experience as a necessity provided one has the interest (and capacity) to read and learn.  Arch linux is a great way for a motivated learner to learn.

Often the bit that arch is targetted at experienced users is a bit more of a get out of jail free card for us.  When someone installs arch with absolutely no interest in learning, then they fumble into a big mess and expect someone else here to come to their rescue by doing all their thinking for them ... well, then we tell that user that arch is not for them.

But the fact is that many people with substantial background with other linux distros come to arch, and they come without the willingness to learn how arch works - then they get cranky and post on these forums about how horrible arch is because it doesn't work exactly like debian, or Cent OS, or Gentoo, or whatever.  So if one refuses to learn, no amount of previous experience with linux will make arch pleasant for them - but if one is really willing to learn, no amount of experience is all that necessary.

You are expected to get your hands dirty with arch - but you are given top-notch instructions on precisely how to do so correctly.  You just need to be willing and able to follow step by step instructions.  Which leads me to the main part of your question I want to respond to:

... but is also a difficult OS to interpret and understand.

This could not be farther from the truth.  Arch is one of the most transparent OSs.  There is a well known error message from GNOME: "Oh No! Something has gone wrong!".  That is difficult to interpet and understand - not because it is technical, but because it is not ... it's meaningless.  Now you can run GNOME on arch, but that example serves as a metaphor: other OSs often only give mostly meaningless messages that could not be deciphered regardless of one's technical expertise.  With arch, you will far more often see technical and detailed messages which may, at first, seem daunting, but you can actually learn what they mean.

EDIT: as to running in a virtual box, I personally don't see the point.  It is no easier to install in a VM - in fact, a VM presents of a few of it's own challenges (small though they may be).  The *only* reason I'd suggest a VM is if you had an OS like Windows on the device already and you had no way to properly reinstall Windows if your experimentation with linux leaves you unsatisfied.

As for the resources for a full understanding - the only resource that can provide this is time.  But for a sufficient understanding to get started:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Main_page

Last edited by Trilby (2018-08-18 19:48:03)

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

collector1871

Member

From: Poland

Registered: 2016-12-05

Posts: 51

Re: Beginning with Arch

buy dedicated & old laptop/notebook
i think it is better to use dedicated hardware than virtualbox
today old hardware is very cheap, even if you live in a Africa

if you like games, try install as many as possible games, wine, emulators, native linux, lutris
if you like movies, try to install software for movies, codecs, KODI, vlc, streams...
if you like ebooks & documents, try to install calibre, ePub, latex, markdown...
if you like photos, try to install imagemagick, gimp, photo collection software, photo software...
if you like communication, try to intall skype, pidgin, whatsapp, telegram, irc, teamviewer

if you like virtualization... servers, web & connection, programming,

basically, pick your topic and try to install scripts, plugins, productivity tools - and make it as powerful & functional as possible

Last edited by collector1871 (2018-08-18 19:52:14)

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opt1mus

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2011-12-31

Posts: 212

Website

Re: Beginning with Arch

On "[...] Linux in 2018 [...]";

Linux, *NIX is still very relevant today and will be for years to come, there are no indicators that it's going away any time soon, it may seem niche on desktop, but it has a huge share with internet services and so on. But as to whether it's relevant to you; that depends.

NamanSood

Member

Registered: 2018-08-18

Posts: 4

Re: Beginning with Arch

Are there future prospects for Arch Users in terms of Exposure and Jobs...(CSE student here). I would love to master something like Linux

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,327

Re: Beginning with Arch

If you are looking for something to add to your résumé to enhance employment prospects CentOS,  RHEL or Debian might be better choices.

Till1974

Member

Registered: 2018-08-19

Posts: 1

Re: Beginning with Arch

I would say that installing, configuring and maintaining an Arch system that is used daily for ones productive work and not just as a pet project inevitably involves a learning process about some important aspects of how GNU/Linux and computers in general work and thus embodies a good basis for further learning. That of course requires that you really do things manually by editing configuration files etc and not let the GUI of a DE do the work for you. It is not very difficult to install an Arch system with Plasma and all the KDE stuff without learning anything,