Moobie wants to get into Arch

vande198 · 2003-09-12 20:57:44

I'd like to switch over to Arch, but I'm rather intimidated by the installation procedure. I run a Celeron 2.0 GHZ with one hard drive dedicated to Windows (which came with the box) and a larger one dedicated to Linux (currently SuSE 8.2). First of all, is there some other installation procedure/a comparable distrobution that uses a more simplified installer (a la Libranet). I'm very interested in the i686 optimization and the centralized repository setup with packman that comes with Arch, and, if possible, I'd like to keep that set up.

contrasutra · 2003-09-12 21:38:57

Well, i'll be the honest one.

The installation (and running the system) is not for the noob. You should have some experience with manual linux configuration (like kernel compilation, module selection, sound config, etc).

I also say its not for the beginner, because the installation (and setup) is far from perfect. There are always some kinks in it, and you want to be able to solve the problems yourself some of the time, instead of having to pop into IRC or the forums.

But if you read the docs carefully before installing, and are willing to learn, you'll get the best system out there.

dp · 2003-09-12 21:59:22

... and some more tips from me:

forget YaST2 ... you are going to learn some great things about using the power of linux (maybe you know some of them already )

bring /etc/X11/XF86Config and /etc/modules.conf with you (= SaX2 has a great X11 detection ... your graphics-card is by good chance properly configured ... just copy the file to a save place and then cp it to /etc/X11/ after installing arch ... voilà your X will run as it did in SuSE
= your sound-card is also well configured, just copy the sound card part from modules.conf and put it in the modules.conf in your arch ... sound is no problem any more)

... and dont be afraid of console-menus ... they dont look as nice as YaST2 do, but they work great (just read first everything before clicking ... and dont create filesystems on partitions that have already data on them you want to use )

I know that there are some people that would say: "What? You should write your X-config by your own, and writing modules.conf too you learn something with it." --- i agree: you can learn searching for info in your /proc, the internet, manuals... but it is not that funny as it sounds --- i, personally, like much more working on a running system than installing it (again and again) --- thats why i'm using arch: it's the best i found and there is no reason to switch to another distro --- no installing of other distros any more (= i commit mandrake has nice graphics in installation, and slackware has a great experience and is a great solution ... but is not that flexible like arch)

vande198 · 2003-09-13 03:41:05

Maybe if I ever get a lot of spare time (and my old roomate to help me), I'll give it a try. I'm still a little intimidated.

contrasutra · 2003-09-13 03:43:30

Oh, and for an "easier version of Arch", there is a LiveCD by the AMLUG that's suppose to be easy to install.

But if you have the time, its fun to learn linux, and we're always helpful in IRC.

Arch Linux

#1 2003-09-12 20:57:44

Moobie wants to get into Arch

#2 2003-09-12 21:38:57

Re: Moobie wants to get into Arch

#3 2003-09-12 21:59:22

Re: Moobie wants to get into Arch

#4 2003-09-13 03:41:05

Re: Moobie wants to get into Arch

#5 2003-09-13 03:43:30

Re: Moobie wants to get into Arch

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