Arch Linux

DhoklaBhai

Member

Registered: 2026-08-27

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

Context:
- fairly new linux user. linux journey (over 2 years) wsl -> ubuntu -> mint -> pop os -> debian -> arch
- installed arch with help of gemini + archinstall with KDE-plasma, didn't like UI
- installed again with help of gemini + archinstall with LUKS on LVM + hyprland -> tried removing encryption later, something broke.
- installed again with gemini + read wiki a little + arch way (NO archinstall)  -> no encryption / firewall / etc.
- now struggling to even copy paste from one nano editor to another.

Questions:
- what is community's thoughts on using AI to install and use arch?
- am I an impostor because of using gemini?
- is AI frowned upon?
- why do I feel like I have been cheating to install arch?

Last edited by DhoklaBhai (2026-08-29 17:01:39)

SimonJ

Member

From: Spain

Registered: 2021-05-11

Posts: 379

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

The problem is you are not learning, if you follow the wiki and understand the steps you can see why you are doing things.

I would not use AI and not use archinstall. Manually following the wiki steps also helps when something goes wrong as you have some idea of what it can be and also you know a bit about the wiki search and links.

It seems clear your way is not working as you should not need to reinstall to solve a problem.

but hey, I am a random person on the internet giving my two cents worth of opinion. :-)

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Rlu: 222126

Celsuss

Member

Registered: 2026-01-27

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

I don't trust AI doing something important when I don't have the knowledge to review what the AI is doing is correct.
If I just want to generate a simple html site then sure I let the AI go wild.
But when it comes to arch Linux I recommend reading the wiki so you learn.

Tiikerihai

Member

Registered: 2025-06-25

Posts: 40

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

I don't see the point in either caring about any of this or using Arch if you're just going to use AI to solve everything while not absorbing the knowledge required to do this yourself. You can certainly use Arch with AI hand holding, just like you can use it with Arch Install.. but it seems like Arch is an unnecessary speed bump for the use case.

Last edited by Tiikerihai (2026-08-27 20:24:26)

Nikolai5

Member

From: North West, England, UK

Registered: 2024-01-27

Posts: 287

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

You're not an imposter, but you are sabotaging yourself by not learning.

Learning is solving a problem and figuring it out by reading about the topic in the wiki, and just being generally inquisitive.
I'm not sure how you're using Gemini, as you don't give those details, but what is it doing for you? What are you asking it? What is it giving you that the wiki doesn't give you? Gemini seems overkill as the wiki tells you in pretty clear terms how to install the system and your choice of DE.

AI is frowned upon in the sense that you are using it over a source of truth, and AI makes mistakes, a lot of them.

In terms of cheating, its like cheating in a video game, that might just be the way you want to play and that's fine, but you aren't going to be able to play the game as well as someone who put effort into getting through it without cheats, and you may not understand the game as well.

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Ryzen 7 9850X3D | AMD 7800XT | KDE Plasma

DhoklaBhai

Member

Registered: 2026-08-27

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

Thankyou all for your help. I get it now.
My gut feeling of `I am doing something wrong` was right. I was not learning.
I was letting gemini do the heavy lifting and not using my brain cells enough.

@Nikolai5
(ashamed of typing this here but just want to be honest) I prompted "how to install arch linux". This gave me step by step starting with `iwctl` till `hyprland` and even further and wherever I felt I didn't know I was doing I asked gemini again.
To be honest, I didn't know arch wiki was this fun to read because I did not bother.

[no need to read further, just me rambling]
Learned my lesson now.
Reading the hell out of wiki now. Trying things, breaking them, fixing them. And it feels much more rewarding
now trying to do stuff using vim. found `vimtutor`.
pretty sure I would have missed `vimtutor` if I stuck with AI only.

going to mark thread as [solved]

y8v

Member

Registered: 2026-05-28

Posts: 54

Re: [SOLVED] Impostor syndrome kicking in + feels like cheating.

If you're using AI (slop) to install Arch, presumably for ease of install, just use

archinstall

instead. It's easy AND no AI slop

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"I hate snaps because they are snaps and snaps suck"