Arch Linux

brjoon1021

Member

Registered: 2006-11-15

Posts: 9

KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

Hi,

I want to move up to Arch from Mint and PCLOS but the installation routine has me a little apprehensive. I always read reviews of Arch Linux and sometimes the reviewers give the impression that the installation is not for newbies. I am not a newbie anymore but I don't have a lot of time to tinker or learn - just the facts.

So, Is the installation process challenging for the averagely intelligent person  with some Linux experience with the easier distros like Mint and PCLOS ? Also, how is KDE 4.1 working out on Arch ? I would definitely like to try it if it is up to snuff now. I read that 4.0 release was pretty bad.

Thanks,

B.

INCSlayer

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2007-09-06

Posts: 296

Website

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

if you dont have time to tinker or learn then maybe arch is not for you. Still if you want to try its fairly easy to install arch if you follow the beginners guide:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners_Guide
or if you think you can handle yourself and dont need baby steps then try:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Off … tall_Guide
if you are uncerain which one to use the go with the beginners guide
while im not currently using kde 4.1 it works fairly well (alot better then 4.0)

Last edited by INCSlayer (2008-07-31 17:15:17)

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dovie andi se tovya sagain

rooloo

Member

Registered: 2008-07-09

Posts: 218

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

any command line experience will be invaluable here in arch linux. You will have to spend some time setting up everything ONCE. After that, your just a pacman -Syu away from an up to date OS. You should never have to re-install. Which means basic administration task after that.

Just stay away from testing repository and you should never have to worry about anything breaking.

Personally I like to tinker. Breaking this OS several times has been a valuable experience.

Last edited by rooloo (2008-07-31 18:08:47)

11010010110

Member

Registered: 2008-01-14

Posts: 284

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

All distros break and need time to fix. Arch is no exception. Overall i think Arch needs the same time like say Mandriva

But i invite you to the testing and unstable world too. Come on ! its fun and it gives knowledge

Wellcome

brynjolf

Member

From: Sweden

Registered: 2008-05-25

Posts: 63

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

Text-based installers have one great advantage, they nearly always work. So if you take the time to learn how to use one you will most likely end up using it again (sometimes installers just dont work, I had a few problems with ATI and Ubuntu eg)

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Cerebral: "Welcome to the distro.  You'll never leave.  Mwahaha"

Zerathidune

Member

Registered: 2007-02-25

Posts: 102

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

As to the KDE question:

I'm using arch's KDE 4.1 packages and I'm pretty happy with them. KDE 4.1 is not as mature as 3.5.9 was, but it's certainly reasonable to call it a stable release, and I like what the KDE developers have done with it.  Been using it for a few days now.

I didn't really have any problems setting it up. It's perhaps worth noting that some apps are still the KDE 3 version, like amarok, and some apps haven't yet been updated to work with kde 4, like gtk-qt-engine.

brjoon1021

Member

Registered: 2006-11-15

Posts: 9

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

Thanks guys for your responses. I think I will probably not install Arch. I don't like using the command line and tinkering around. Therefor, I like Mint, Ultimate Edition, Mepis and Win XP and will stick to those and similar because I want an OS to just work with minimal time input from me. Just about everything else in the world is more important to me than messing around to get a computer to work right. Interminable newbie, I guess!

Thanks Again!

iggyst00ge

Member

Registered: 2008-01-24

Posts: 50

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

The documentation for installing Arch is pretty good.  I found that I did have to hunt around a bit at times to get everything set up, but it is all there if you look.  You can be up and running quite quickly if you know what you're doing.  If you don't, you might be in for a long afternoon.

The main difference between an Arch installation and say, PCLOS, is that with PCLOS, the install is always going to end up with a KDE desktop, KDM, sound, etc, so they can automate most of the process for you.  Arch is completely ala carte, so to get a KDE workstation, you have to do the base install, add a user and configure them, install X, add support for your graphics card, configure support for sound, install HAL, install KDE, install KDE applications, set up and configure networking, and then install KDM (and I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out).

Again, there is documentation for doing all of the above, BUT if you haven't done it before and you do things out of order, or can't figure out one of the steps, you can get stuck for a very long time.

What was your reason for wanting to ditch PCLOS in the first place?  Just something different or did you have something in mind?

Chris

Hi,
I want to move up to Arch from Mint and PCLOS but the installation routine has me a little apprehensive. I always read reviews of Arch Linux and sometimes the reviewers give the impression that the installation is not for newbies. I am not a newbie anymore but I don't have a lot of time to tinker or learn - just the facts.

So, Is the installation process challenging for the averagely intelligent person  with some Linux experience with the easier distros like Mint and PCLOS ? Also, how is KDE 4.1 working out on Arch ? I would definitely like to try it if it is up to snuff now. I read that 4.0 release was pretty bad.

Last edited by iggyst00ge (2008-08-01 17:45:42)

brjoon1021

Member

Registered: 2006-11-15

Posts: 9

Re: KDE 4.1 and installation questions.

I have it in my head that there must be something to be gained from the sweat investment that is made when installing Arch, Gentoo or Slack. Also, PCLOS won't install on one of my computers. It will definitely go onto the new one I am putting together ASAP. Yeah, I am convinced that I don't want to do the heavy lifting necessary to get Arch installed. Thanks for your response.

Thanks,

B.