The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

lucke · 2008-10-16 20:45:03

It's easier now that netbooks are available ;-p

skezzolo · 2008-10-17 08:06:11

I wouldn't know about others but, to ME, Arch is the best distro ever. Amen.
It's .. just perfect.

Kooothor · 2008-10-18 20:13:30

/me love arch

SomeGuyDude · 2008-10-18 23:41:19

Also, the community deserves some great kudos. You all have put up with a lot of dumb crap on my part.

handy · 2008-10-19 00:14:10

Renan Birck wrote:

If it weren't for Arch, I'd had given up on Linux a long time ago and bought a Mac.

I bought a Mac & run Arch on it!

roadt · 2008-10-23 07:23:33

Archlinux is part of my desktop computer life now. I even use it in my work everyday.

lightweight, fexible, customizable. there are not just several words. and one of most difficult thing
is to make it real.
well, Archlinux make it.
i feel very few restirction beside the useful tools.

the most impressive thing is that
with archlinux, you can try, make some change, try your ideas ,and also contrib back to community QUICKLY EASILY.
that's really great.

A good tool can help you much as you stands on giant's shoulder, Vice versa.
Archlinux is great tool to make the computer as your service, and not only make you to "handle computer".

thanks guys to create this great distro!

skualito · 2008-11-20 12:03:32

Not really original, but kind of the same stuff here, distro hopping for 2 years, mandriva-ubuntu-debian-puppy-dsl-lfs-... and ARCH-LINUX, really amazed. Fit my needs completely, great great work, thanks guys

skualito

Ranguvar · 2008-11-20 19:13:46

The vanilla-ness and KISS of Slackware, except more cutting edge, nicer configs, and (IMO) the best package management available. Only thing I miss is probably USE flags from Gentoo, but I'll definitely give that up for Arch simplicity, more binary packages, vanilla-ness, and less elitism.

Simple isn't just good, it's the best.

thunderogg · 2008-11-23 19:53:30

After some trouble free months with Arch, I began to get a bit restless with all the news on the new distro releases coming up, so I thought: Maybe I missed something. Maybe there IS something better. Well, after having downloaded and tested the most famous distros, once again, I realized there is no distro that beats Arch! Yes, it's a lot of work to configure it, but once it's done, it's so sweet. And I've learned a whole lot configuring it. So, a BIG thanks to the developers and the people who helped putting the Wiki together!

I feel calmer now.

Last edited by thunderogg (2008-11-23 19:54:26)

cubekid · 2008-11-23 19:57:04

Haha, actually, I went through that exact same though process just a few weeks ago, when the new Ubuntu came out. I figured I should try it out, just to see how it was, and maybe it actually was better. And even though it had quite a few really nice things, I had to switch back to Arch because it just wasn't as KISS. I'm not going anywhere now

Plus, I can't help believing that pacman+aur is superior to apt-get

thunderogg · 2008-11-23 20:01:07

cubekid wrote:

Haha, actually, I went through that exact same though process just a few weeks ago, when the new Ubuntu came out. I figured I should try it out, just to see how it was, and maybe it actually was better. And even though it had quite a few really nice things, I had to switch back to Arch because it just wasn't as KISS. I'm not going anywhere now
Plus, I can't help believing that pacman+aur is superior to apt-get

Agree. I also found nice things in Ubuntu, but there were a lot of strange things making it hard to configure.

thomasknowles · 2008-11-23 20:16:39

Being a Ubuntu user since 2005 I have been unknowingly heavily dependent on it's auto-configuration and modifications on the software I downloaded through aptitude. Though with Archlinux it's a breath of fresh air, installing essentially what I want, not what is provided. Now I keep my Archlinux on my desktop (and thoroughly enjoying it) and OpenBSD for my server. I have never looked back.

GraveyardPC · 2008-11-30 05:49:33

thomasknowles wrote:

Being a Ubuntu user since 2005 I have been unknowingly heavily dependent on it's auto-configuration and modifications on the software I downloaded through aptitude.

I too was completely unaware of this dependance. In fact I was so sheltered that I'd actually started to -- wait -- for bug fixes and updates...on linux! It felt like I was back on Windows! Luckily I woke up and downloaded Arch, and I've never been happier.

P.S. ABS and AUR rock!

migizi · 2008-12-08 17:55:57

Arch fits almost all my needs. I started with Gentoo back in 2002 or 3. It was my first jump into Linux, albeit not the best distro for a newbie. A couple years ago I tried Ubuntu for awhile. It was nice to pop the cd in and walk away. Ubuntu just wasn't for me, I felt like I had no control over the system. I had also tried Mandriva, SUSE, Fedora, Dream, and Slackware. I then went to Sabayon because it was Gentoo based and got me up and running fairly fast. Problem was Gentoo/Sabayon was taking too long to release package updates in the stable branch. I started using Arch a couple months ago and have done at least 30 different installs on a couple computers to learn the ins and outs. I have to say that Arch is by far my favorite distro to use. The only thing I don't like is that KDE 3 was taken out of the main branch but KDEMod3 fixed that issue for me. Yaourt also makes things really easy for packages not in Core, Extra, or Community.

addr · 2008-12-13 02:32:34

I am an inveterate distro-hopper...I just like fiddling with the things.
I have Arch Xfce and Arch Kde4 installed and have to say that Arch with Xfce is the fastest thing I have ever used including Gentoo on 64bit at least.
Spending some time on installation of Arch (and configuring Xfce, it must be said) is actually enjoyable since the documentation is so good...eh...on Arch not Xfce.
I am from Debian and already a fan of the rolling distro so Arch being bang up to date is a real pleasure.
I know I'll continue to fiddle especially with Gentoo but Arch Xfce is now my default and I can't see me changing.
Just installed the printer and was expecting a lot of Googling and hassle...took about five minutes following the Wiki.
The documentation is unparalleled.
Thanks to all involved with Arch, I am so glad I tried it!
My next project is to fire up Larch and make a live cd to install it on my wife's computer

balu · 2008-12-13 16:55:48

You guys at Arch rock!

I am a distro hopper like many others here and I find myself switching back to Arch while I am not experimenting.

Last edited by balu (2008-12-13 17:00:11)

Schneibster · 2008-12-21 01:17:11

I have been a UNIX system admin since 1987, and a Linux user since 1996. I have stuck mostly with SuSE, but I've tried all the majors. SuSE was nice because of the support for just about every piece of hardware, but lately my 2GHz 2GB laptop has been running out of steam; not quite enough CPU, not quite enough memory, a bit slow on networking, not doing 3D acceleration with my 945GM, and sound was getting to be a real problem. I went looking specifically for a performant but well-supported distro.

Congratulations, folks, this is it. I've got everything I wanted and more. It makes x64 SuSE 11.0 look slow, and it supports everything except my memory stick reader (it'll read MMC and SD but not memory sticks... YET. I may do something about that myself if I get around to it). I've got RDP access to all my Windows boxes, and VNC to all my Linux boxes. I can surf my file servers, join my Windows domain, use my wireless at full speed, and burn DVDs. It's got Compiz with ALL the options enabled. And NetworkManager finally works.

And the install to get all of this working took less than half a day (not counting getting hosed by a network script update).

It's not for newbs- but then again, what is... that's GOOD?

Once again, congratulations, this distro absolutely rox.

highvoltage · 2008-12-21 16:44:49

Ranguvar wrote:

The vanilla-ness and KISS of Slackware, except more cutting edge, nicer configs, and (IMO) the best package management available. Only thing I miss is probably USE flags from Gentoo, but I'll definitely give that up for Arch simplicity, more binary packages, vanilla-ness, and less elitism.
Simple isn't just good, it's the best.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

smartboyathome · 2008-12-24 21:49:52

Well, after getting my suspend to work today with Arch Linux, I have to say it is THE best distro (for me, of course) around. First, I was able to get my native resolution at boot (I have an Intel x3100 graphics card) using 915resolution (something I couldn't do on a distro like Ubuntu), and now I was able to get my suspend working due to the uswsusp package with an included demo patch (just put mine in and away I went). And to top it all off, creating packages for your favorite programs on Arch is very easy. Arch is just perfect (again, for me, so that I don't run into any future critics)!

Misfit138 · 2008-12-27 20:29:34

highvoltage wrote:

Ranguvar wrote:
The vanilla-ness and KISS of Slackware, except more cutting edge, nicer configs, and (IMO) the best package management available. Only thing I miss is probably USE flags from Gentoo, but I'll definitely give that up for Arch simplicity, more binary packages, vanilla-ness, and less elitism.
Simple isn't just good, it's the best.
Couldn't have said it better myself.

I like this....

...carry on..

gun26 · 2009-01-07 15:31:34

I've been a full-time Linux user for almost 6 years now. Back in 2003 I was using Gentoo on my then-new Athlon-xp box. That same year, I came across an article or post where the writer praised Arch strongly. I'd never heard of it but was intrigued enough to make room for an Arch installation, and it's stayed ever since. By 2006 it was my main distro, although I've never stopped experimenting with others. For me, Arch's commitment to passing on the intent of upstream developers unadulterated to end users is key. Controlling my system the time-honoured way by editing simple text files feels right. Whenever I run something like Suse or Fedora (or Ubuntu, most of the time) I find myself losing patience quickly.

Arch's rolling release model does result in occasional breakage, but it occurs seldom and is easily fixed. These days I'm on Arch64 on an Intel quad-core, and everything Just Works - mostly better than any of the big distros' 64-bit versions.

More noteworthy strengths for Arch are pacman and the abs system, and how easy it is to create and modify PKGBUILDs in order to get customized versions of packages. And let's not forget AUR, the TU's who maintain it, and the Community repo. Together they provide Arch an extraordinary range of packages for a volunteer-maintained so-called "small" distribution.

In fact, you could say that Arch and the way it operates is a microcosm of everything that's right about open source - simple, open and on the leading edge.

DeLiCe · 2009-01-07 22:03:38

hello,
i have entered linux world with mandrake (mandriva now days) then switched to suse, opensuse, debian, slackware then i saw arch entering on distrowatch for the first time, well slackware was good enought but with times going on and life becoming complicated it helps on nothing passing hours looking for a missing dependecy for an out of list slackware packages policy.
pacman, abs, aur, rc files, kdemod = pure happiness !
archlinux is what a linux system should be !
archlinux + kdemod is what an operating system should be !

in fact, arch is on continuous evolution and things are always moving from good to better.

MrE · 2009-01-14 04:12:48

Like many others here, I've done my fair share of distro hopping, some staying for a couple of months, others not even a couple of hours. My first foray into Linux, somewhere between 2003 and 2004, was Debian Woody. While not quite as hard as Gentoo, Debian is (was) not exactly the easiest distro to start out with... I spent days trying to get X up and running, booting back and forth between Debian and XP cos not even my network was working (and I hadn't heard of lynx yet) but eventually got it all up and running.
It didn't take long before I was using Debian for most of my PC needs, and soon the choice was made to get rid of the dual boot system and go 100% Linux, so a Debian reinstall followed.

By then I had also acquired a laptop (a Toshiba Portege 7200, P3 650 MHz with 320 MB RAM which simply choked on XP) on which I installed Xandros, which was quickly replaced by Yoper but lack of updates/development meant it was time for another distro hop. I attempted a HD install of Knoppix after being mightily impressed with its outstanding hardware detection - this is what Windows was meant to do, but never did! - as well as being Debian based (I had already learnt to love apt-get) but the installer wasn't that great at the time and the install failed (probably lack of Linux knowledge kept me from fixing it).

Then I heard rumours about a new distro on the block that everybody was talking about: Ubuntu. The fact that it was Debian based instantly appealed to me and it looked really polished so I installed it on both my desktop and my laptop and that was the start of a long term love affair with Ubuntu. Somewhere along the way my dislike of KDE turned into another love affair and Ubuntu made way for Kubuntu.

Having become a real distro hopper by then and wanting some exposure to other distros (read: non Debian derivatives), the laptop saw various incarnations of Mandrake/Mandriva, SimplyMepis (OK, Debian based), Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Linux Mint (fair enough, Ubuntu based), Dream Linux, SUSE/OpenSUSE (which, while really polished and well designed, ran like a dog on my geriatric Toshiba), Xubuntu, DSL, gOS (my first encounter with E17, wow!!) and yes I was even foolish enough to attempt to run Sabayon Linux on it, which worked well enough... as long as I didn't try to install software!

However, I just kept going back to Kubuntu as it was an up-to-date Debian and I just could not let go of the awesome apt-get (and later aptitude).

Always hungry for another distro to play with, I considered Slackware but was put off by the lack of proper dependency handling, then came across CRUX which looked really interesting but ultimately led me to discover Arch Linux.

I installed it on my laptop which was struggling with the bloat and treacle effect of OpenSUSE, and I could almost hear a sigh of relief from the poor machine when it first booted into Arch. This was, bar perhaps Yoper, by far the fastest distro I had come across.

Sadly the hard drive died a couple of months ago so I bought an Eee PC 901 in November. Although still a happy Kubuntu user, I opted for Mandriva 2009.0 because of their official out-of-the-box support for the Eee series and I needed something installed really quickly (which ruled out Arch) as I was going on holiday and I sure wasn't gonna stick with Xandros. As it turned out, the promise of out-of-the-box support wasn't quite true (yet) for the 901 model, but it ran well, looked really good and I was determined to this time stick with a non-Debian derivative so as to broaden my horizon.

But then I got annoyed by the numerous bugs in KDE4.1, and the wireless just refusing to associate with my WPA2 protected home network and one or two other places (although it worked fine pretty much everywhere else!!) so I started to look around for another Eee friendly distro and decided it was time to bring Arch back into the game.

My Eee PC is now running Arch Linux for the third day and it feels like it's on steroids, it's as if I have overclocked the CPU! Not only that, wifi at home now works fine. I have now spent a bit more time playing with Arch than I did on my old Toshiba, and I think I have found my new permanent distro! My longstanding love affair with Kubuntu is now reaching the final stages and I'm planning to replace it with Arch on my desktop in the next week or so. I still love apt (and always will) as it's simply one of the best package management systems around, but pacman seems to be at least on par and I'm currently being wowed by the holy trinity of pacman, yaourt and powerpill!

Nothing against Kubuntu, it has served me really well, but as far as I'm concerned Arch Linux is simply the best distro around, it's lean, it's fast, it's simple, so a big THANK YOU to the people behind this impressive distro!

Oh, and as for Debian, my first Linux love, I'm running Lenny on my two Linksys NSLU2s!!
(I guess that makes Debian my Linux mistress?)

Last edited by MrE (2009-01-14 04:37:14)

MrE · 2009-01-14 04:30:34

GraveyardPC wrote:

I too was completely unaware of this dependance. In fact I was so sheltered that I'd actually started to -- wait -- for bug fixes and updates...on linux! It felt like I was back on Windows! Luckily I woke up and downloaded Arch, and I've never been happier.
P.S. ABS and AUR rock!

Haha, yes I so recognise that!

Turgon · 2009-01-14 09:20:34

Hey! Sorry for my bad english, but i would like to thanks to Archlinux.. I always has been afraid of linux at all, because i tried to install Ubuntu about a year ago, and it wasn't successful .. Second attempt was about six mounth ago, and i tried allmost every basic distro: Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, CentOs, Slackware, LinuxMint, Gentoo.. After some time, i stayed with Ubuntu, because ot its "polishness", BUT! I feel with that distro boringly, and found too much things that i wasn't needed (in default install).. Than i found Arch. It took to me about two weeks to
understand how to make things work, how to configure, and what a benifits of this distro.. I liked this community also, very helpful.. Thanks to all of you!!! Maintainers, comunity, all!!!

Last edited by Turgon (2009-01-14 09:23:02)

Arch Linux

#301 2008-10-16 20:45:03

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#302 2008-10-17 08:06:11

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#303 2008-10-18 20:13:30

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#304 2008-10-18 23:41:19

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#305 2008-10-19 00:14:10

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#306 2008-10-23 07:23:33

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#307 2008-11-20 12:03:32

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#308 2008-11-20 19:13:46

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#309 2008-11-23 19:53:30

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#310 2008-11-23 19:57:04

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#311 2008-11-23 20:01:07

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#312 2008-11-23 20:16:39

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#313 2008-11-30 05:49:33

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#314 2008-12-08 17:55:57

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#315 2008-12-13 02:32:34

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#316 2008-12-13 16:55:48

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#317 2008-12-21 01:17:11

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#318 2008-12-21 16:44:49

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#319 2008-12-24 21:49:52

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#320 2008-12-27 20:29:34

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#321 2009-01-07 15:31:34

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#322 2009-01-07 22:03:38

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#323 2009-01-14 04:12:48

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#324 2009-01-14 04:30:34

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

#325 2009-01-14 09:20:34

Re: The Official Unofficial 'Arch is Best' Thread

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