Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

rbrownclown · 2010-01-02 03:03:06

Hey, guys! I need some advise. I have a friend who has a "computer curse." It runs in his family as well. Computers break down FAST in his house. He was running Windows initially, but he switched to Linux because he kept getting NASTY viruses. Viruses so nasty, I would often have to use Windows Repair Install. Linux, obviously, eliminated that problem. It created a new problem, though. Linux constantly BREAKS on him! To be more specific, he's been using Debian-based distros. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc. All of them have been breaking on him. It's incredibly frustrating.

I've used Arch many times before. I absolutely love it, and I'm beginning to wonder if it would work for him (after I set it up for him, of course). I'm worried, though, about two things directly related - package management, and the system breaking. He ALWAYS finds a way to break the system. ALWAYS. I can lock down package management, but if I do that, he will go months and months without an update; increasing his chances of a breakage if a major security update is needed. Is there a way to balance this out?

sHyLoCk · 2010-01-02 03:07:07

Why are you asking us? You are yourself using Arch and you should know about Arch yourself. You can answer your own question. :\

rbrownclown · 2010-01-02 03:16:45

sHyLoCk wrote:

Why are you asking us? You are yourself using Arch and you should know about Arch yourself. You can answer your own question. :\

I'm seeking advise on how to balance out his package management problem. Arch breaks less then any other system I've ever used, but he WILL find some way to break it. Mark my words. >.<

Allan · 2010-01-02 03:19:58

Pick a stable release distro. e.g. Ubuntu LTS

lagagnon · 2010-01-02 03:24:53

There are some people who should never be behind the wheel of a vehicle and there are others who should never be between a keyboard and a chair. ;-)

I say lock it all down: use a Ubuntu LTS, shut off the updates completely, run off samba networking unless used, etc. Would he be happy as a normal (no admin priveledges)? Then do it. Maybe you might also want to check the hardware system, it sounds might strange he is breaking Linux.

gogi-goji · 2010-01-02 03:27:04

When you're constantly breaking your system like he is, regardless of the operating system, he's probably doing something terribly, terribly wrong. Arch linux probably won't help him, since it's not stupid-proof.

Come to think of it, you might be able to save him from himself if you limit his access to his own machine. You could try setting him up with an account with many restrictions, and deny him any root access. But this would result in you having to do all of his system administration, which you could do wover ssh. But that could be a pain in the ass for you.

livibetter · 2010-01-02 03:27:40

You can log in remotely and update his system, so it won't be out of date.

JuseBox · 2010-01-02 03:39:58

Someone came to me with an issue like this. Long story short he bought a mac. Tell him to either start reading a book or find a better solution to his issue ei library...

mikesd · 2010-01-02 04:38:04

Give him a livecd/livedvd (sabayon is quite nice) and a usb thumbdrive for his documents.

kaddy · 2010-01-02 04:50:01

LOL this thread is funny

out of all the distros i've ever tried... pretty much every one you can think of..... The only one that I have never managed to break is OpenSuse.... its pretty stupid proof.
hahahahaha

goodluck

Last edited by kaddy (2010-01-02 04:50:35)

skottish · 2010-01-02 05:58:02

kaddy wrote:

LOL this thread is funny
out of all the distros i've ever tried... pretty much every one you can think of..... The only one that I have never managed to break is OpenSuse.... its pretty stupid proof.
hahahahaha
goodluck

But is OpenSuse nasty curse proof?

JuseBox · 2010-01-02 05:59:03

skottish wrote:

kaddy wrote:
LOL this thread is funny
out of all the distros i've ever tried... pretty much every one you can think of..... The only one that I have never managed to break is OpenSuse.... its pretty stupid proof.
hahahahaha
goodluck
But is OpenSuse nasty curse proof?

Nothing is!

lilsirecho · 2010-01-02 06:06:47

I suggest you give him Faunos which is an older kernel but is usb controlled and runs in ram as user guest. It is easily recovered should the user mutilate it and it has 600 arch packages.

Sets up best in a 2GB flash device and has wicd for internet access.

It cannot be upgraded because the system is not maintained by any authority.

It is STABLE.

If he can manage to defeat it I would say he is maniacal!!!!

Last edited by lilsirecho (2010-01-02 06:07:27)

tomk · 2010-01-02 09:21:20

Best idea of all:

get a new friend.

JohannesSM64 · 2010-01-02 09:49:53

Install Arch for him, don't give him root access and maintain his install over ssh

ngoonee · 2010-01-02 10:46:10

tomk wrote:

Best idea of all:

get a new friend.

QFT

Silverwing · 2010-01-02 19:02:42

Give him debian stable without root access.

If you don't want to solve his problems anymore, you shouldn't give him arch. When upgrading, something might break, this is less likely to happen on debian stable unless you are going for an upgrade.

Vegita · 2010-01-02 19:45:08

I agree, debian stable is the winner choice for him. That's unbreakable without root perms. And I think anyone who uses linux for more then a year, finishes at arch, debian or gentoo (and some insists on slackware). Reason is: full customizability, no company background (mp3 in fedora/suse add repos issue) basic configs didn't variated, gentoo+arch:stable rolling release (innovations 5 years later even with this install, imagine you installed an xp in 2001 and now that install is a win7), debian: stable till die (but out of date)

I killed my first 2 ubuntus one and a half a year ago, and I made panicing kernel half a year ago in gentoo, which even paniced other linux installers if that hard drive was plugged in

If the guy loves innovations, you can set him up arch (or maybe the chakra project) but I basically say, the perfect solution is debian lenny with stable kde3. Old but more stable then anything I've ever seen, and fast (even on an 800Mhz 128 mb ram laptop)

And another advise: don't install him sudo. He may know google too well to use it

Last edited by Vegita (2010-01-02 19:47:03)

ammon · 2010-01-02 20:24:51

Yeah, ubuntu/mint are easy to break.
I would give him arch with terminal in chinese or polish. And without sudo, with gnome, and without gnome control center.

toad · 2010-01-02 20:45:00

kaddy wrote:

The only one that I have never managed to break is OpenSuse.

I never got it to work!

And it is so totally beyond me how anyone can break a debian based distro for good s/he must have some serious talent. Ergo, sign that person up as a tester! Worth his weight in gold I'd say.

skottish · 2010-01-02 20:48:38

toad wrote:

kaddy wrote:
The only one that I have never managed to break is OpenSuse.
I never got it to work!

That my friend is why it's unbreakable.

Vegita · 2010-01-03 02:05:35

I could crash any distros, but debian and arch. I crashed even opensuse. KDE3 is the most stable and fastest. Tons of my friends killed kde4, it took 20 mins to restore the panel

With debian and arch I didn't even had unclean shutdown, only if my AC supply went off (kde4 on arch kde3 on debian). I had unclean shutdowns on gentoo, fedora, suse, 2 versions of ubuntu, and freebsd

Misfit138 · 2010-01-03 02:20:33

Give him something like tinycore or puppy...that way when he breaks it, it'll be no big loss.

JuseBox · 2010-01-03 02:23:41

How about one of these?

http://www.savingadvice.com/images/blog … er-new.jpg

Who in their right mind would wanna mess up a Hello Kitty laptop? I know I wouldn't.

davidm · 2010-01-03 02:25:39

Did you investigate how they managed to crash it and perhaps educate them if it involved their mistakes? I have for instance had experience with relatives who are quite computer illiterate always turning off the computer by holding down the power button as opposed to proper shutdown procedures. Of course that is like Russian Roulette and it was only a matter of time until a problem occured. I also find it a good idea to, if possible, check every six months on the health of their system and do some routine mantainence to prevent problems.

Another good idea is to make a copy of the entire drive image which includes their data and keep it reasonably up to date. This way you can merely restore the whole system in about 20 minutes.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-02 03:03:06

Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#2 2010-01-02 03:07:07

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#3 2010-01-02 03:16:45

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#4 2010-01-02 03:19:58

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#5 2010-01-02 03:24:53

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#6 2010-01-02 03:27:04

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#7 2010-01-02 03:27:40

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#8 2010-01-02 03:39:58

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#9 2010-01-02 04:38:04

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

#10 2010-01-02 04:50:01

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#11 2010-01-02 05:58:02

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#12 2010-01-02 05:59:03

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#13 2010-01-02 06:06:47

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#14 2010-01-02 09:21:20

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#15 2010-01-02 09:49:53

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#16 2010-01-02 10:46:10

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#17 2010-01-02 19:02:42

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#18 2010-01-02 19:45:08

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#19 2010-01-02 20:24:51

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#20 2010-01-02 20:45:00

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#21 2010-01-02 20:48:38

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#22 2010-01-03 02:05:35

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#23 2010-01-03 02:20:33

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#24 2010-01-03 02:23:41

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#25 2010-01-03 02:25:39

Re: Is Arch the best distro for a friend with a "computer curse?"

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