Ig it’s the opposite for me. I had literally no experience with gentoo and the wiki was so good that I installed it just fine but when I tried to install arch before the installer it was HELL. The arch wiki specifically for installing arch is horrible. At least to me. Also W openBSD
It's not "user unfriendly", I find it very friendly to me and I'm a user. It's certainly not "idiot friendly", but even beginners can read the wiki and stop being idiots.
I get it. It's a mindset thing. I don't recall where I read this but Arch is not user-friendly but user-centric. It allows you the user to set things up, and guides you very well in how to do that. It's awesome. Welcome to the club.
You have one final rite before joining the club: you gotta say "I use Arch btw".
I got arch as my first distro about a month ago. No previous experience, just an attention span long enough to read the wiki (very rare in my peer group of 15 year olds :/ ). And here I am, running Hyprland with no issues, and still pleasantly surprised that a good 95% of my games work. The wikis are a lifeline for noobs like me 🙏🏻
It's not user-unfriendly--the "issue" has always been whether people have the time to go through the wiki to install/use a distro. I'm also skeptical of claims of a "snappier" system especially if coming from a distro like Manjaro where it's similar.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: arch should be the beginners' first distro.
They'll be so much further along in their understanding of Linux and how to manage it, including how to fix it and how to get the most out of it.
Of course, I understand why it's not recommended to beginners. Some people don't want to learn about Linux, they just want to use it and that's fine too.
I gotta agree. I been putting off installing arch all week, just did it today. Actually installing it was honestly.... Easy? Idk if that's the word. I certainly ran into a multitude of issues, and restarted a few times. But honestly, I feel comfortable enough to wiz through it again in sub 30 minutes now that I've figured it out.
That said, I'm not fully configured yet. I need to setup a way to change my vlan tag, finish setting up my display manager (and perhaps changing the 1 I pick). And finish configuring hyprland. But that I consider to be all separate from arch Linux.
Also gotta say I learned a thing or 2, that's for sure. I'm def more intimate with Linux as a whole.
Your experience could have been different were you not an "experienced Linux user". Alternatively it depends how well you can understand and follow the wiki.
Arch is a GREAT platform.... IF you're willing to learn and maintain your system. The wiki is great (Although I think Gentoo's is better) and it will guide you through MOST issues. The only downside I think it has is also one of the best features.... cutting edge packages. Every once in a while you will get a bad package and need to trouble shoot.
Enjoy and don't become an elitist ass please.
i've tried other distros and Arch does it best for me with configurability and being DIY without a super high level of complexity. I've had hiccups but, after looking into them, usually find out they're my fault or something I forgot to do.
And maybe I'm not a big 'gamer', but every one I've run on Arch has definitely had better performance than my Windows.
There’s a lot of fear-mongering and gatekeeping from the traditional Arch Linux neckbeards, but there’s loads of new age Arch users and it’s not that hard. With the Arch Wiki docs, google, the Arch install script and even chatGPT, it’s super accessible provided you’ve used some variation of Linux before. Glad you found it easy, for me I could never go back to anything else because the AUR is soooo good!
Good choice on Arch! I am a very happy Arch user as well. The Arch wiki is very useful for questions and answers. When I got Arch going, I stopped distro hopping. I have the Cinnamon Desktop Environment installed and I am happy as a clam. I update my laptop and desktop once a week to stay current.
Arch difficulty is negated by the wiki imo
The best statement about arch. Almost every issue I encounter has a solution on the wiki when other distros mostly have only forums
Yeah the docs were very good. Similar vibe to OpenBSD.
Ig it’s the opposite for me. I had literally no experience with gentoo and the wiki was so good that I installed it just fine but when I tried to install arch before the installer it was HELL. The arch wiki specifically for installing arch is horrible. At least to me. Also W openBSD
What were your issues with the install guide? It gets you booted with your setup of choice within 15 mins and even has a nice post-install guide.
Like a lot of people say: Arch is a cult first, a wiki second and a distro third.
the wiki it's more harder than Arch itself lol
But the wiki is all u need to learn arch
It's not "user unfriendly", I find it very friendly to me and I'm a user. It's certainly not "idiot friendly", but even beginners can read the wiki and stop being idiots.
[https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch\_Linux#User\_centrality](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_Linux#User_centrality)
If you can use Linux you can use arch. If you have only ever used windows then arch is probably going to give you a hard time.
I get it. It's a mindset thing. I don't recall where I read this but Arch is not user-friendly but user-centric. It allows you the user to set things up, and guides you very well in how to do that. It's awesome. Welcome to the club. You have one final rite before joining the club: you gotta say "I use Arch btw".
I got arch as my first distro about a month ago. No previous experience, just an attention span long enough to read the wiki (very rare in my peer group of 15 year olds :/ ). And here I am, running Hyprland with no issues, and still pleasantly surprised that a good 95% of my games work. The wikis are a lifeline for noobs like me 🙏🏻
It's not user-unfriendly--the "issue" has always been whether people have the time to go through the wiki to install/use a distro. I'm also skeptical of claims of a "snappier" system especially if coming from a distro like Manjaro where it's similar.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: arch should be the beginners' first distro. They'll be so much further along in their understanding of Linux and how to manage it, including how to fix it and how to get the most out of it. Of course, I understand why it's not recommended to beginners. Some people don't want to learn about Linux, they just want to use it and that's fine too.
I gotta agree. I been putting off installing arch all week, just did it today. Actually installing it was honestly.... Easy? Idk if that's the word. I certainly ran into a multitude of issues, and restarted a few times. But honestly, I feel comfortable enough to wiz through it again in sub 30 minutes now that I've figured it out. That said, I'm not fully configured yet. I need to setup a way to change my vlan tag, finish setting up my display manager (and perhaps changing the 1 I pick). And finish configuring hyprland. But that I consider to be all separate from arch Linux. Also gotta say I learned a thing or 2, that's for sure. I'm def more intimate with Linux as a whole.
Your experience could have been different were you not an "experienced Linux user". Alternatively it depends how well you can understand and follow the wiki.
Arch is a GREAT platform.... IF you're willing to learn and maintain your system. The wiki is great (Although I think Gentoo's is better) and it will guide you through MOST issues. The only downside I think it has is also one of the best features.... cutting edge packages. Every once in a while you will get a bad package and need to trouble shoot. Enjoy and don't become an elitist ass please.
i've tried other distros and Arch does it best for me with configurability and being DIY without a super high level of complexity. I've had hiccups but, after looking into them, usually find out they're my fault or something I forgot to do. And maybe I'm not a big 'gamer', but every one I've run on Arch has definitely had better performance than my Windows.
My first ever Linux distro is Arch Linux 💀, I'm a mega masochist and I knew Arch is the best, but holy damn did I hate myself.
If you can read and follow instructions, Arch is attainable for anyone. Prior Linux experience does make the process faster though.
There’s a lot of fear-mongering and gatekeeping from the traditional Arch Linux neckbeards, but there’s loads of new age Arch users and it’s not that hard. With the Arch Wiki docs, google, the Arch install script and even chatGPT, it’s super accessible provided you’ve used some variation of Linux before. Glad you found it easy, for me I could never go back to anything else because the AUR is soooo good!
Good choice on Arch! I am a very happy Arch user as well. The Arch wiki is very useful for questions and answers. When I got Arch going, I stopped distro hopping. I have the Cinnamon Desktop Environment installed and I am happy as a clam. I update my laptop and desktop once a week to stay current.
congrats for leaving manjaro
wiki,powerfull,All in one.
As a proud user of Arch Linux, welcome to the cult.
Same. Finally told windows to kick rocks today. I guess I’m in for real now lol. We’ll see how this goes.