You are not logged in.

#1 2010-07-18 22:36:46

Bruce Lee JR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-18
Posts: 8

I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Hey Archers, I have only begun my Linux journey about a few months ago after hearing about "Linux Mint" from a guy at Fry's Electronics. I installed Virtual Box and tried it out. It was very nice as everything worked out of the box.  I then began an adventure of "distro hopping". LOL

First I wanted to figure all of the Linux terminology like kernel,desktop envinronments,package managers,*-based,distro & because there were so many, it confused the hell out of me. I then googled all this stuff & realized alot of the content written about it was from years ago, I narrowed down the search to only search things from the past year & have found that "Ubuntu" was #1 at distrowatch.com.

Then I searched for Ubuntu (gaw I hate the name) & seen that EVERYONE was using it. I was like "dang, it must be good~!!"... tried it out... WHAT THE HEK~!! distro sucks LOL ... okay not that bad but I was a power user coming from Windows XP (skipping Vista/7 entirely) & I was expecting more. Everyone was hyped about "eye-candy"... who cares~??? I was looking for simpliciity, functionality, useability, producivity you know what I mean, not graphics, 3d icons, shadows and crap like that. I could care less about that stuff. I wanted to see applications like were ACTUALLY USEFUL & PRODUCTIVE.

Hopping around, I land on Debian because I was familiar with the Debian-based distros. It felt super obese & slow. I tried Fedora. Doesnt play(or they dont support) mp3's & did not want to familiarize myself with something other than "apt-get/deb". I tried MEPIS, was fine, nothing great, but while I was on MEPIS, I was searching more on Google, I found out about "rolling release". This intrigued me alot. Basically I do not have to install everytime an upgrade comes around. MEPIS was not a "rolling release" so I removed it. So from that point on, I was looking for "rolling release" distros only. I then found Sidux. I did not try out Sidux. Just looked at it. Meh.  I then narrowed it down more to Independent-based/rolling release only. The final were PCLinuxOS, Arch Linux & Gentoo. I was reading Gentoo about how great it is. But more about "how LONG it takes" & "how OFTEN something breaks" prevailed more than anything relating to Gentoo.

Then I checked out PCLinuxOS. I heard good things about it, nothing bad at all. The only thing I did not like was that it was "RPM-based". Dangit. Tried it out in VirtualBox. It was cool, reminded me of MEPIS. But I just don't know. I was looking for something~!!! Something.... like.... I can mess with.... but not too much... like Gentoo.... which is "overkill" as they say. I was very interested in Gentoo, but after reading ALOT OF UP-TO-DATE stories about how loooong it takes... I just don't got that much time on my hands. LOL. I wish, otherwise I would've dove in already. But I work full-time, school full-time, dance practice(bboy), football practice, got a honey, etc etc.... even though I am like one of the few in my family that is SUPER -I.T. oriented. They come to me when Windows XP messes up LOL. But I definitely chose to become a FOSS (yup, learned the terminology, I know what it means lol) person. Saved all my information on my external HD's & installed Mint. From there, to here now.

NOW.... ArchLinux on the other hand... was a totally different story...... I googled and googled and googled and googled (actually did that for EACH distribution I wanted to try out) about Arch Linux.... And no matter what the date was about the google search results, the answers in forums,blogs,comments etc from any party (debian people,gentoo people,fedora people etc) I NEVER heard anything negative about ArchLinux (at least in all of my million google search results. LOL. Okay I am probably super exagerrating right now, but seriously... the positive outweighs negative (if any) by a mile. reading about how unique the package manager is really got my attention & just cuz it says "pacman" LOL is just sick. Independent-based.Gentoo refugees jk, but Gentoo converts to Arch. ArchLinux is the true Linux experience. Not hard to install at all. I heard stories about "oh its hard to install ArchLinux" but then the answer always comes back "Documentation".  Look at the wiki and it blew my mind. It covers EVERYTHING IN THE DAMN WORLD, from how rocks were made to.... anyways, I feel overly-comfortable with Arch. I am going to make a shirt with "pacman -Syu".

Anyway, installed in VirtualBox & it was finally the OS/distro I was looking for. Simplicity with an abundance of apps, endless possiblities for tweaking, homebrewed package manager unqie to anything else,rc.conf (No other distros have this~???), just something that was mine~!! Like, other distros, idno... just doesn't feel like it's yours~!! But the way Arch does it, it's flawless. 3 thumbs up.



Ladies & Gents I believe the unfaithfulness is over.(ie. the distro-hopping has ended)

Some stuff to back me up which I agree %1000 percent~!!

Shazzam6999 wrote:

One thing I love about Arch is the simplicity, which at first sounds odd because of the installation process, but really makes sense when you think about it. You build your own system, install only the packages you want to install and set them up how  you want them set up. Config files can be intimidating and confusing at first but once you get used to editing them it actually becomes much simpler than editing something that requires  you to have to navigate through fifteen cryptic windows just to find the one setting you want, in fact I'm a little intimidated by changing settings without a config file, although you can take that route too in Arch. At least for me Arch is the perfect combination of simplicity, usability, and customization.

Acecero wrote:

By using Arch, you have the flexibility of installing whatever.  For example, instead of having to distro hop to different distros for different environments, you can DE/WM hop inside of Arch or have many.  You can build your own packages from source with makepkg via custom PKGBUILD, ABS, and the AUR.  It is rolling release, you never have to reformat again unless you want to.  The average community IQ is very high, you will get plenty of information here.

xenobrain wrote:

My requirements for a distro are

-rolling release, because I always want the latest packages
-binary packages, so I don't have to compile them
-lots of packages available since I like everything properly managed, not make installed
-a nice, working KDE

bananaoomarang wrote:

Arch is brilliant and one of a kind. It's perfectly stable, rolling release and has a GREAT community. I always love to have the latest packages and the pkg.tar.x forma t is brilliant. PAcman is brilliant because it's light and featurefull and manages my system perfect;y. AUR is also another great thing about arch. There is not much that isn't on the AUR.

jdarnold wrote:

To me, the best thing about Arch is that it is the perfect medium between putting too much in (like Ubuntu or OpenSuse) and not enough (like Damn Small or Linux From Scratch). It just installs the very basic, but yet is extremely easy to customize, unlike my forays with say Gentoo or Slackware. I run my main user machine with it, with full display and Openbox, while my file server also runs it, sans X and installed just what I need.

That, plus a vibrant user community and a great wiki make it the distro for me!

Inxsible wrote:

-- rolling release
-- great documentation in the form of the Wiki
-- Forces me to learn more about the Linux OS as compared to other distros, especially Ubuntu
-- Doesn't hinder me by making me compile everything even if I am going to use defaults .....a la Gentoo
-- Good community, which prides itself in being dedicated to helping themselves as well as newbies, as long as the newbies have demonstrated the fact that they actually are willing to solve problems rather than just spoon feeding everything.
-- ABS ( although, admittedly I don't use it much )
-- AUR


-- Hell I'll add this as well .............. I like the name better than any other.

frigaut wrote:

All of the above, but the "it puts you in control" is a big part of it for me.

Look, many of us came from Ubuntu. I used Ubuntu for almost 3 years. Initially I was happy with it, but near the end I kept distro-hoping, looking for something else. Somehow, somewhere, I was unsatisfied. I eventually gave a try to Arch, and was immediately seduced. It was all I was looking for. I've stick to it since then (over a year now).

Give it a try. It's gonna take some effort on your part during the first few days/weeks, but it's well worth it.

I was also immediately seduced~!! lol

archman-cro wrote:

The big plus for Arch Linux are exactly those low dependencies. I've been using Ubuntu for three years, and I know how hellish is "The Dependency Hell". If you want to install some app, you need to get something updated, but ubuntu is outdated by nature, so you have to use ppa or source, and then you lose control of everything (except if you're skilled about keeping things in order - in ubuntu). Here, all is up to date, and I have no problems at all. Pacman rules, AUR rules, and it's so simple! The best OS for good! smile

Cdh wrote:

What makes Arch stand out is the extremely good Rolling Release

Another thing is the init system. I never quite understood all these /etc/rc.* things and how they are configured correctly. There are some hacks like the rcconf program, but nothing compares to the simplicity and sanity of rc.conf + /etc/rc.d/

Anything that comes from the Archlinux project is simple and fun to use. Try building a sane package for debian - that's the opposite of fun.
Try building a package for Archlinux: Write a pkgbuild and it just works.

Gusar wrote:

Well, there's one thing that wasn't mentioned yet: netcfg. I love netcfg. A lot smaller than either NetworkManager or Wicd, but does the job perfectly. Especially when coupled with wifi-pipe.

Aprz wrote:

For me, Arch stands out from other distribution because it doesn't have a bunch of unnecessary crap, and it's quick to set up. Something like LFS takes many hours of no sleep or several days to set-up perfectly if everything goes smoothly while Gentoo stage3 has a bunch of unnecessary stuff (e.g. /boot linked to itself, which I assume is for anybody who messed up while editing menu.lst, or I believe they were using grub.conf or something like that now, I forget), compiling takes a long time, etc.. What I like to do is install arch really quick to update everything, install, download, and compile what I like, and I am done. Everything takes no more than three or four hours to get set up and working. Once everything is up and ready, I no longer never ever need to play with again, but occasionally I do anyhow because I think of projects like "Hm, I wonder how do I do this..." or whatever, but mostly usually little programming projects instead that I eventually never end up finsihing anyhow because I get caught up with real life situations...

pacmanarch.th.png

Last edited by Bruce Lee JR (2010-07-19 00:17:15)

Offline

#2 2010-07-18 22:41:07

Zariel
Member
Registered: 2008-10-07
Posts: 446

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Hi, there be awesome here. You are welcome to it.

Offline

#3 2010-07-18 23:14:34

Bruce Lee JR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-18
Posts: 8

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Woo hoo~!!

Offline

#4 2010-07-19 00:00:00

.:B:.
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2006-11-26
Posts: 5,819
Website

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Welcome Bruce Lee, but we like people to use thumbnails, not full images in their post smile.

Enjoy your stay here!

And thanks for putting in that thumbnail smile.

Last edited by .:B:. (2010-07-19 00:26:22)


Got Leenucks? :: Arch: Power in simplicity :: Get Counted! Registered Linux User #392717 :: Blog thingy

Offline

#5 2010-07-19 00:01:58

Bruce Lee JR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-18
Posts: 8

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

LOL sorry, I am editing it right now~!!

Offline

#6 2010-07-19 00:09:05

litemotiv
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2008-08-01
Posts: 5,026

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Nice entrance Bruce Lee JR, welcome!


ᶘ ᵒᴥᵒᶅ

Offline

#7 2010-07-19 00:12:35

cybertorture
Member
Registered: 2010-05-05
Posts: 339

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

wow man, u really enjoy this ? ... well u ll see here many ppl like yr self who feels @ home here after a looooooong distro hopping wink

well be welcome here and long live ARCH ! tongue


O' rly ? Ya rly Oo

Offline

#8 2010-07-19 00:27:44

Bruce Lee JR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-18
Posts: 8

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

litemotiv wrote:

Nice entrance Bruce Lee JR, welcome!

Thanks~!! I usually like my presence to be known and not just sit in the dark big_smile I wanna become apart of the community~!! Actually, every activity I do, I like to get involved~!!

cybertorture wrote:

wow man, u really enjoy this ? ... well u ll see here many ppl like yr self who feels @ home here after a looooooong distro hopping wink

well be welcome here and long live ARCH ! tongue

LONG LIVE ARCH~!!!!! Hek yeah I enjoy, especially since I was a major power user of XP & strictly XP. There was everything I ever needed. The only thing was that, if there was an Open-Source alternative, I would take it. I didn't know much about Linux other than that it ran EXTREMELY well as a server just as FreeBSD does. Once I finally took the time to google Linux, read about ditributions,open source and read blogs and read community comments etc.. I was like" I gotta be apart of this~!!" because XP was the shizz. But now Linux, more specifically, ARCH~!!!!!

Offline

#9 2010-07-19 03:26:45

Inxsible
Forum Fellow
From: Chicago
Registered: 2008-06-09
Posts: 9,183

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

woot !!

my quote wink

Atleast someone'e reading my quotes.....although most times I don't make sense to myself tongue


Forum Rules

There's no such thing as a stupid question, but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots !

Offline

#10 2010-07-19 07:18:24

stqn
Member
Registered: 2010-03-19
Posts: 1,191
Website

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Wow, you must be the most annoying guy in the world. Nice picture though smile.

Offline

#11 2010-07-19 08:33:24

baion baion
Member
From: Nicosia, Cyprus
Registered: 2009-06-13
Posts: 48

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Welcome mate.

Offline

#12 2010-07-19 09:57:08

sausageandeggs
Member
Registered: 2009-12-05
Posts: 66

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

What a entance! Enjoy and have fun. Beware though, Arch can be a fickle mistress, disrespect her and you'll find yourself out on the street without even a KISS goodbye. lol

Offline

#13 2010-07-19 22:31:24

bananaoomarang
Member
Registered: 2009-10-29
Posts: 180

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

That is basicaly my distro story (but mine's with sabayon as well). Arch is basicaly:

Gentoo, but actually possible for the human mind to comprehend.

Offline

#14 2010-07-19 22:50:18

Cyrusm
Member
From: Bozeman, MT
Registered: 2007-11-15
Posts: 1,053

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

I like your style Bruce Lee JR.  welcome to the community!  It sounds like Arch has finally found you, not the other way around smile


Hofstadter's Law:
           It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

Offline

#15 2010-07-20 03:14:16

655321
Member
From: Costa Rica
Registered: 2009-12-08
Posts: 412
Website

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

best success story I have heard in a while. specially cause almost the exact same thing happened to me, the arch way is the way and its true, ITS THE TRUE LINUX EXPERIENCE. Ubuntu is great for making the switch to linux, arch is great for everything else big_smile

And there isnt, and wont be, better documentation than Arch Linux wiki big_smile


Linux user #498977
With microsoft you get windows and gates, with linux you get the whole house!
My Blog about ArchLinux and other stuff

Offline

#16 2010-07-20 05:54:11

frigaut
Member
From: Canberra, Australia
Registered: 2009-05-10
Posts: 215
Website

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Wow, a looong post. but fun to read ! Cheers mate, and welcome.


Archer since 03/2009 - AUR packages

Offline

#17 2010-07-24 04:05:27

foss.linux
Member
Registered: 2010-07-20
Posts: 31
Website

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Archlinux stoping my journey to find distros...
[Fedora -> OpenSUSE -> Ubuntu -> PCLinuxOS -> Zenwalk ---> Arch smile ]


OS : Archlinux i686 » Kernel : 2.6.37-ARCH

Offline

#18 2010-07-24 04:12:31

anonymous_user
Member
Registered: 2009-08-28
Posts: 3,059

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

More people should write introductory posts like yours Bruce Lee JR. It was a joy to read.

Offline

#19 2010-07-24 07:05:35

Beelzebud
Member
From: Illinois, U.S.
Registered: 2010-07-16
Posts: 154

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

I've been enjoying Arch going on 3 weeks now.   Ubuntu was my distro of choice for a while, but the satisfaction of getting Arch set up with exactly what I want on it was quite potent, and I think I have also found my home. 

Your post mirrors the enthusiasm I've been feeling for a few weeks now.   I simply love Arch Linux!

Offline

#20 2010-07-24 13:01:21

Berticus
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 731

Re: I found my baby.. from XP to Linux

Hmm... sounds like my story, except sped up. I didn't research distros while hopping, and went through something like 30+ distros. I had a separate hard drive that I could experiment with, so I didn't have to worry about wiping out data.

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB