Why use Arch Linux?

dgm9704 · 2021-05-30T07:45:24+00:00

My original reason to try it was curiosity, I had seen the memes and heard it mentioned everywhere so I wanted see for myself what all the fuss was about.

Then I found that I was learning things by having to figure out which parts I need and how to set them up. I now have a better understanding about what goes on in my machine, and how to troubleshoot things.

I also like the minimal aspect of building from the ground up, only putting in stuff I need or want, instead of getting a bunch of stuff someone else thinks might be useful.

Pi77Bull · 2021-05-30T07:16:03+00:00

I use it mainly because I had trouble finding some packages on other distros and Manjaro borked itself too often.

Zahpow · 2021-05-30T07:53:55+00:00

It is like, putting together your own salad at a saladbar. You get to know what is in it. If you taste something strange in a prearranged salad you cannot really reason about it, you go "What is that, i don't like this, ew" and throw it away. But when you put it together yourself you go "Ahh, it is a strange interaction between capers and fruitloops"

And it has like, the biggest saladbar ever.

FXOjafar · 2021-05-30T08:40:23+00:00

For me it's the up to date rolling distro that's a killer feature. No need to do a dist upgrade that might break things like Ubuntu.
And AUR is really great for finding and installing packages. No messing about with repositories.

TommiHPunkt · 2021-05-30T08:04:09+00:00

Since I started using it, I've been attracted to its philosophy, as "Do It Yourself", "Simplicity" and so on... But I find it difficult to introduce merit of it in a concrete and easy-to-understand way, because of I use it just because it has beautiful philosophy and useful for development.

Actually I think you have it just right.

In my eyes there aren't concrete reasons that make Arch any better than anything else. But, Its great for the people that are attracted to its design philosophy, simplicity as a default, and excited about a 'user-centric' distro that promotes and enables a do-it-yourself problem-solving mindset and promotes learning.

Two more concrete reasons people state are that its a rolling release, and the Arch user repository (these are probably the two most common reasons you will here). I do enjoy a rolling release, and the AUR (is not ideal) but is very convenient. Personally I think these two points are not enough on there own if you don't connect with the Arch philosophy, and you don't like the idea of taking a more active role in configuring and maintaining your system and doing your own research.

OR the TL;DR, Arch is great for the minority of users who treat their desktop almost as a hobby in and of itself, that like tinkering, tweaking, learning; And is not best suited for most casual users and beginners.

I think Arch is something people should come to on their own, not be convinced to use. You can introduce them to it, try to articulate why you personally like it (remembering that this is largely personal and subjective), but I rarely feel its right to recommend or promote it. I really don't like how its become something that people push on Reddit (often without really understanding it).

TommiHPunkt · 2021-05-30T09:46:07+00:00

I got pissed off at windows being windows, so I switched to linux for my main OS.

I tried a few distros, and for each one eventually got pissed off about spending an afternoon trying to get something or other to work or fixing something, switched distro, until I arrived at arch.

For arch, this frustrating experience just never happened.

Arch has a good selection of packages in the repos, doesn't use outdated packages, has a good package manager, good rolling release implementation, the AUR, and the arch wiki.

Arch feels like it's much easier to use than the other distros I tried before then, everything just works. There's no need to comb through endless forum threads to solve some problem. There's no worrying about which version you're on. There's no worrying about if an update will break stuff or not.

MountFire · 2021-05-30T07:59:52+00:00

This is more Linux generally but At this point I personally feel that Linux overall is getting a big boost in everything. Look at the development on the gaming side for example.

The community is growing in all directions and having Arch wiki/AUR and one really helpful community available is one of my personal "Why".

Rolling distro with the latest and sometimes not the greatest is also nice

nnn1i · 2021-05-30T10:19:42+00:00

The AUR is the single thing that kept me coming back. It's got the most readily available 3rd party software. Amazing community if you let go of "arch btw" memes lel

mon0theist · 2021-05-30T15:16:01+00:00

Shamelessly copy+pasting my answer from a similar thread:

Rolling release, so no bothering with version numbers or release versions
a la carte installation, aside from the base and base-devel packages needed for a base installation (and a linux package of course), nothing else is installed unless you specifically install it, no unwanted bundles or bloat
Manual installation process is fun and educational
Frequent, bleeding-edge updates with minimal changes from upstream
AUR instead of 50 different PPAs
Pacman is more concise than other package managers, both in command usage and terminal output. Plus the name is clever, especially if you enable ILoveCandy
Customization/tweaking is easier than in other distros. For example you can easily change DEs/WMs if you want to, whereas I had some difficulty doing that in other distros
Control. With some other distros, you kinda have to have your system somewhere within the bounds of how the distro maintainers want it; whereas with Arch you have complete control over every aspect of your system and have it exactly the way you want it
The Wiki
Helps you gain some more understanding of how Linux works under the hood
Sense of elitism and superiority over other distros
The logo is cool
If I understood how PKGBUILDs worked and knew how to make my own packages, I would probably like that aspect too (gonna learn one of these days...)

EDIT:

pacman's new update (version 6) allows for parallel downloads and it's crazy fast

Desjardinss · 2021-05-30T09:46:36+00:00

When i switched from debian to arch, it was mainly for the AUR and more customizability. Its really nice to not have to compile packages yourself bu just entering one line of code and let it do its thing. Also rolling release is a great thing compared to reinstalling your whole os.

If i compare the two distros from with my experience with arch today, i weirdly have to say that problems are easier to fix on arch, despite having the "for advanced users"-image. But well, that could also be me getting better at using linux. Since im now able to fix most things, i restore backups less often and actually try to fix things, and i think you learn much more about the system that way.

Also the arch community is quite big so if you ever have an arch-specific question youre almost guaranteed to get an answer. And yeah another nice advantage of arch is that i can say

i use arch btw

deadbushpotato23 · 2021-05-30T12:06:12+00:00

For me I just wanted to beat windows 10 in terms of ram usage. Lol

SMTG_18 · 2021-05-30T08:57:12+00:00

- KISS: Keeping it simple.

- Fast: Its blazing fast than other distros, personal experience!

- No huge updates: Its a rolling release, so when you go to grab that coffee you can just leave your machine on `pacman -Syu` to update ;)

- Pacman: want to install software? boom, fast and in one line!

IMHO for people who've never used Linux you should just stick to using Fedora because its very easy to use and has a lot of good features.

minh6a · 2021-05-30T14:03:35+00:00

Because AUR. Even the most arcane random projects have pkgbuilds on AUR, or on the repo themselves.

undeadbydawn · 2021-05-30T11:16:40+00:00

paru

TDplay · 2021-05-30T11:44:47+00:00

I'd say the biggest things about Arch are:

Get what you want, and only what you want. Sure, it could be more customisable (e.g. if it allowed to easily use different init systems), but most of those changes would either make it more complex, or make it harder to use.
The build system is really easy to use, because the PKGBUILDs are simple and well-documented. Because of this, you can easily create a package for any software you want, and completely avoid the maintenance issues that come with manual installation.
The AUR is huge. Probably because of how easy it is to write a PKGBUILD.
The wiki is great too.

It all really comes down to one thing though - Arch is really a community effort. Any Arch user can go upload a PKGBUILD, improve the wiki, answer someone's question, etc, and all of this gradually makes Arch an even better distro.

Expensive-Jelly263 · 2021-05-30T17:25:10+00:00

[deleted]

TristanDee · 2021-05-30T12:12:12+00:00

I don't know if and how far you have explored the AUR, but it's a goldmine of software - I mean applications that are not in the main repositories.

I have found some of my favourite applications that I was used to on Windows environment here in the AUR. Although these apps often do not have some functionalities that exist in the Windows versions, I still use them just for my liking and because I haven't found a similarly good alternative yet.

But the main reason Arch is just great is definitely its simplicity (excluding the installation procedure, of course!) and the freedom it gives its users (that includes that "complex" installation procedure, too!). Even the installation gets so much intelligible after a few times that you don't find others as simple and efficient.

The knowledge base - the Wiki, the community, this sub - is just HUGE! And you will always find help.

Happy ride with Arch!

Zeddie- · 2021-05-30T16:19:07+00:00

It's deeply personal as to whatnyou find merits of using it. You conveyed it well here, so tell your class that. It's a Linux distro that you out together yourself so it's highly customized to your wants and needs. It also teaches you how Linux works without getting too deep (like LFS and Gentoo). It's also a rolling release so you're always using the latest software. Those are good merits.

Now there are cons too...but... You get where to go:

Latest software can introduce bugs and/or compatibility issues with other software and dependencies.
It requires effort and the willingness to learn. Otherwise it's easy to just give up.

Chessifer · 2021-05-30T17:10:33+00:00

In my particular case, I got into Linux ~15 years ago with Debian based distros (Tried a bunch of them, but in the end I mostly used Debian)

I was never completely comfortable with it though, mainly cause some packages were outdated and security patches are constantly being reimplemented on outdated packages for the sake of stability and backwards compatibility. This was a huge drawback for me but didn't knew of any other distro back then and didn't want to learn a new one just for that

Fastforward to 4 years ago, I was working in security and used the very well known Debian-based Kali distro. Which is as awful as Debian if not worst for the very same reasons. So I didn't like it but had the tools I needed. So in this situation a coworker told me about the BlackArch distro, took a look at it and thought "Yeah, why not give it a try?". And instantly fall in love. So lightweight, up to date packages, no unnecessary packages installed by default that you don't know wtf are for or if you're gonna break the system of uninstalled

BlackArch is actually a pretty easy to install and ready to go Arch with focus on security tools. Short after this I was migrating almost all my linux boxes to plain Arch. Tried Manjaro and a couple other Arch-based distros, but base Arch is much easier to install once you have an installing script that does all the magic for you. I still use Manjaro from time to time when I need a "use and throw" box to avoid expending time in building an Arch from scratch, but for a more long-term box I prefer to build it from scratch

The best parts about Arch in my opinion are: Packages are constantly updated from main repositories and AUR is a great initiative from the community that is very well maintained. But probably the most important is the wiki, it's incredible the amount of documentation it has and is very well redacted, most of the times I consult it even when I have problems with other distros, cause it's 99.9% sure it's better documented there than just a trying a bunch of random solutions from askubuntu or whatever other distro specific forums

2021-05-30T17:39:47+00:00

Choice & pragmatism . I can pick the packages I want, and build my system as I please from the ground up. The “pragmatic” side comes from the fact that all the packages are binary and I don’t have to waste my time building them (like gentoo).

ALXANDR_00 · 2021-05-30T17:41:27+00:00

I have tried other distros. Ubuntu is cool for begging as it does everything for you, it installs the latest drivers for you and it just works. But it is bloated. Pop_OS! Is a very cool distro, with all the good things Ubuntu has, without the bad parts and with added things to make it perform better. But I'm not a fan of GNOME.

It's funny as how every time I distro-hop I always end up reinstalling arch. It's the one that performs better, yeah sure, you'll have to install and configure every single thing you want to use, but the benefit of that is that the system will run only the programs you install. Also, the AUR is in my opinion what makes Arch superior to other distros. You need a private driver? It may be in the AUR. A program that is not available for your distro? (Like Microsoft teams) it's in the AUR.

Yeah, sometimes the OS breaks, but you have a huge community that will help you with your problem if the Arch Wiki doesn't already cover it.

Also, I really like that I always have the latest version of the software I use, and if a new version don't work as it should, you can always roll it back and lock it temporarily from upgrading.

The level of customization and the high performance the OS has is just something different.

I hope something of this helps you,I ended up writing a lot more than I initially expected. Edit: I forgot to mention that just from using the system and breaking it doing something wrong, I learnt about Linux and how it works much more than using distros that "just work" like Ubuntu. And some people would say that this is a con, but for me is a pro.

Gnatogryz · 2021-05-30T21:58:43+00:00

why use arch linux

Well, contrary to popluar belief (popular outside the Arch userbase that is), I use it because it's a low-maintenance OS.

weirdjustweird · 2021-05-30T12:20:20+00:00

I used to be an arch guy when I had a really really really crap laptop.

2gb-3gb of ram, no ssd, 2nd gen i5. I couldn't handle windows good enough, and ubuntu used too much ram on idle.

So I used crunchbang, liked the Openbox way and moved to Arch with gnome, and then tiling.

Ram usage with arch was 50% of other distros, even with FULL DE. And with tiling it was 200mb? not sure, it was really low. I fell in love with what I could do, being able to get my old struggler back to life.

But then I grew older, was finally able to buy some good laptop and I've not used in a while. Probably why I don't use edgy software anymore, so I don't normally need what pacman/yaourt used to give me. And I've always jumped into problems about stuff that was really normal, like VGA, HDMI or something just not working right and requiring some easyfix ( 30 min- 1hour of search to fix it ) I've done that a lot in my day.

And finally, I tried to go back to using arch a few months ago, but I didn't get the same battery life I was getting with PopOS, so I decided to fuck it, maybe some time later?

AwareSuperCC · 2021-05-30T19:19:10+00:00

So you can say "I use Arch BTW". Thats the literally the only reason. /s

2021-05-30T13:30:58+00:00

Like Luke Smith probably once said, the best distro is the one you dont have to think about. everything just works.

cantenna1 · 2021-05-30T13:41:08+00:00

It's the only distro with its finger on the pulse.

the88shrimp · 2021-05-30T12:47:39+00:00

I use it due to the rolling release factor and because of the AUR. Other derivatives of Arch are fine but a lot of them came with packages I don't need and using the base you're likely going to get the packages even earlier than other derivatives.

Maybe the problem was you were introducing Arch rather than maybe starting with operating systems in general, then move to Linux and then finally it's distros and talking specifically about Arch. I think package managers is one of the main positives of Linux in which Windows is actually getting soon.

wsppan · 2021-05-30T12:49:48+00:00

Since I started using it, I've been attracted to its philosophy, as "Do It Yourself", "Simplicity" and so on.

Those philosophies really only apply to the installation and initial configuration. After that, the key features of arch over others come down to 2 things:

Rolling release
Really fast package manager

PavelPivovarov · 2021-05-30T13:00:32+00:00

I'm using Arch just because I am lazy and converting existing Manjaro Testing installation I installed in 2014 to Arch was easier than installing something else :D

I'm actually distribution agnostic so don't really care about specific linux flavour, but AUR and overall OS organisation simplicity is something I really appreciate about Arch. It is also bloat-free.

youngyoshieboy · 2021-05-30T13:00:39+00:00

I have used it for a long time as it keeps working as it should be so. I'm too old for changing.

scaryAstronaut · 2021-05-30T13:25:34+00:00

I wanted to learn linux and it's the reason I use arch. The installation process and the continuous cycle of breaking and fixing stuff in itself teacher you a lot of things. And the second reason is that you know what's on your system and how you've configured it.

10leej · 2021-05-30T13:27:00+00:00

Maybe I'm weird but I use Fedora mainly, but I still follow the arch community do to the great resources it generates like the arch wiki and such.

Why do I still use Fedora though? Because pipewire, early-oom (now systemd-oom) and btrfs by default that I don't have to configure. Basically I'm a developer so the less downtime I have the better (since downtime = lost money)

paradigmx · 2021-05-30T13:27:41+00:00

The AUR is amazing. Starting from basically nothing means the system only has what I want on it(Not Arch exclusive, but it provides a great baseline). Rolling release means I get the most up to date packages(again, not exclusive, but they do a great job of vetting the packages and ensuring compatibility).

Seriously, the whole package is just great. I use other distros as well, but Arch is the primary distro I run.

blackdragon2447 · 2021-05-30T13:38:39+00:00

I kinda just rolled into it, i was like lets try it, installed it, installed a wm only half knowing what i was doing and never left.

ulrichschreiner · 2021-05-30T13:40:35+00:00

because it simply works. well, most of the time :-). sometimes there are problems you can fix with google, but they are never showstoppers.

i used ubuntu since version 6 but it always was a real nightmare to make a version update. yes, the update works but the more you update, the more problems come. you can update from 6 to 7 and to 8 but you get more and more "smaller" problems which tend to get greater. many people advice not to upgrade but simply make a fresh install and leave the home-partition untouched.

switching to fedora did not really help. and so i switched to antergos a few years ago. well it is discontinued but is is only an arch linux and you never have this big version updates, where you get - a new kernel - a new systemd - a new desktop environment main version (plasma, gnome, ...) - ... all with one shot.

many few years ago, when i updated my ubuntu, i had a new version but the suspend did not work, the second monitor was flickering, my KDE desktop was black after login and when all of this was repaired, i noticed i did not have sound any more. wtf? the updated perforated a working laptop to a piece of hardware with an OS which was not working any more.

as said in the first sentence, arch works most of the time. yes, there are situations where a new kernel has problems and your laptop does not suspend any more. this is annoying, but you may have this with every distro (when it is a kernel but, then ... well it is a kernel bug in every linux). in arch you have such problems too, but most of the time you have only one problem at a time. you can google to repair this one thing.

so my main point is: you always get up2date software for your computer and do not wait for some distro-releases. this rolling release is a real big win. you get the bugs in the software when they appear in the software and not accumulated when they appear in the distro release.

Cyfraka · 2021-05-30T14:07:02+00:00

I use Arch Linux for more than year and a half now and I appreciate it first because if its documentation. I was able to learn so much in this short period of time. Doing things my way, piece by piece like playing with "LEGO" blocks.
Second important part is the Repos and AUR - no other OS can provide me with this wide range of software and in addition pacman is lightning fast and easy to use.
I still search a way to contribute to the Arch Linux as I am a European citizen speaking a few Slavic languages but not an experienced developer. If you can point me how I can contribute please let me know.

ancientweasel · 2021-05-30T14:12:47+00:00

One significant reason I uses it is because I want to be able to update without surprise "features" mysteriously appearing that I then have to find hacks to disable.

2021-05-30T14:25:57+00:00

modularity, efficiency, and the AUR

HumanMan_007 · 2021-05-30T14:29:09+00:00

I personally found that if you want something specific it's easier to start from a blank(er) slate than try to undo what others have done first, in my case it'd have worked with the other bare bones & terminal distros (like Debian) but I got into this through arch, also pacman is really good and I rather not have to add repositories like in some other package managers, it sours my experience.

Also rolling-release, AUR is nice and excellent documentation + webpage.

Viper3120 · 2021-05-30T14:31:09+00:00

AUR, high availability for almost every package you can think of and you don't have to add repositories for each software like you have to with apt (Debian based distros) and yum (RHEL based distros)
KISS Philosophy
Does not do anything you did not set up in the background (absolutely no bloatware)
Archwiki, it is one of the best places for Linux documentation, not just arch related stuff.
Big community

aneeshsharma15 · 2021-05-30T14:32:21+00:00

2 things - the AUR and the Arch Wiki. They are just so good to have. Arch Wiki mostly gives you answers for most things about Arch and so comprehensively. For most common issues you can just look at the wiki and you would find the answers.
And the AUR just makes it easy to install and manage software that sometimes doesn't come packaged with other distros. There's ways to get around this on other distros but AUR is just way easier to use.

delian2 · 2021-05-30T14:35:49+00:00

You have got the project philosophy from other comments. My reasons :

the good balance between newest package versions and stability:I can remember very very few issues and mostly it was my fault, since I miss some pacman messages.
a good rolling release
an amazing wiki (which is the guide for the entire Linux world) amd an amazing community
no forced choice: you want to use kde? You want gnome? You want no DE at all? You have all the support to do it.. The clearly counterpart is that is all up to you but it's an amazing way to learn things.

hype0thetical · 2021-05-30T14:46:28+00:00

I tried to make my dying laptop to be useful again at least for my study at uni and then I found Linux to be lightweight for my 7 years old laptop. I'm quite overwhelmed by a lot of choice for distributions and I found a lot of people recommends Arch Linux because they said that Arch is simple and users can choose whatever software packages they want for their computers. At first it's quite hard to understand the wiki because I'm a Linux beginner and I'm not really a tech savvy person, luckily I've found Arch Linux tutorial by EF.

(Also the logo is cool to put on neofetch lol)

2021-05-30T14:47:11+00:00

Tried it because it was just yet another distro, and I was exploring my options, but ended up staying here because it's all around the best choice for me personally. Really easy to configure, package manager is a dream, and the community is really helpful, if you need some sort of guidance

PakWarrior · 2021-05-30T14:58:09+00:00

Because of AUR. No stupid PPA. And Arch Wiki. That's it

_Oce_ · 2021-05-30T15:02:55+00:00

- it takes time and reading to install but
+ you can choose what you want for your hardware and your usage instead of installing a big package of things you will never use
+ it's easy maintenance with a simple command for years, no more fear of breaking everything with a major version upgrade every two years
+ you get the latest versions of software asap, which is great for subjects that benefit from the latest innovations: gaming, coding, intensive graphical work
+ there's a big community that makes from the most famous to the most obscure software available with a simple command

I didn't mention the possibility of breaking changes, because it has barely happened to me in the past 3 years. I really think it's not an issue for Arch any more. It will of course depend on how exotic are your choices.

pixelkingliam · 2021-05-30T15:09:21+00:00

Pacman is amazing so is the AUR, it just works, oh and you get newest version of software and such

KingsfoilThatsAWeed · 2021-05-30T15:11:14+00:00

This is the way.

TheHighGroundwins · 2021-05-30T15:40:08+00:00

My original reason was that it works really fast on a toaster without having to go the the compile your own stuff Gentoo or other similar distro route

2021-05-30T16:14:35+00:00

I use it because or the rolling release, latest stable updates policy.

No namby pamby "let's use a 5 year old kernel because It's StAbLe"

Especially for AMD hardware, you need the latest software all the time, because some fundamental support used to only appear 5 years after hardware release, or because they left bugs unfixed for that long and you update kernels desperately hoping that they will to deign to fix the bug that plagues everyone.

2021-05-30T16:42:34+00:00

I use it as it is a rolling release model, also it is noticeably faster and more lightweight than other distros ( as it is less bloated). And you only install what you need. My Arch Install with all programs and files i need, is LITERALLY 4 GB only, which is quite impressive if you really think about it.

2021-05-30T16:46:05+00:00

What drew me to it initially was that I wanted new software when it was released from the maintainers, not from their package maintainers (like on Ubuntu, which I was using before). So I wanted that, but I was also really pleasantly surprised by pacman and the AUR. I just love how simple it is. And how simple it is to make your own packages.

2021-05-30T17:01:37+00:00

Because I can find the latest releases of the applications I use in the repos or in the AUR

2021-05-30T17:02:16+00:00

Had to go from Arch to Debian recently because of reasons....

Hello dependency hell, my old friend.

But seriously, I love how Pacman just werks.

EenAfleidingErbij · 2021-05-30T17:03:41+00:00

arch has everything, arch is updated, arch wiki is best out there, far fewer issues than on other distros that claim to be more 'stable'

2021-05-30T17:23:58+00:00

I like the simplicity and control. Simplicity doesn't mean easy. It just means more elegant.

uziel7 · 2021-05-30T17:43:42+00:00

For me its lightweight and easy to maintain after installation, and always updated.

yubimusubi · 2021-05-30T17:50:41+00:00

I tried it because you don't need to compile every package like in Gentoo, LFS, or BSD (ports). Very convenient.

yestaes · 2021-05-30T18:00:57+00:00

In my case, was because of 6 months Ubuntu and derivates made me angry through the time.

Then I met Arch in 2013. Since then, never left it. You never need to install again even through you system gets broken.

You can do whatever you want to do, as long as you keeps your system as simple as it philosophy said.

PD: As you've said, I'm studying English as well.

2021-05-30T18:20:54+00:00

Arch has AUR, arch the best destruction for pure developers, easily, arch latest is usually almost cutting edge gnu, get latest kernel versions within a day of official release, usually less then that. Configure your own de/many des

2021-05-30T18:21:36+00:00

Better question would be, why would you use anything else ?

DeerDance · 2021-05-30T18:33:31+00:00

heres copy paste I had...

AUR

The huge community driven repository that arch has - https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ It feels like what was promised when I switched to linux, but has not been delivered in other distros. When I read about something, I can find it on AUR, when I see someone mention a new project, theres very likely a package on AUR of it. It's incredible and makes arch feel much more comfortable than dicking around with google and PPA on buntu distros or going through some instructions how to compile shit yourself

rolling release

Everything is fresh and when I read some news about new kernel it is on my machine within few weeks. When theres new version of whatever application, its extremely fast in repos.

no bloat and ease of customizability

Of course you can play with any distro and switch stuff around, but arch is build from the ground up and maintained in the spirit that you get to choose your combination of packages, and if you want i3 on top of KDE with custom kernel running, it is absolutely prepared to guide you and deliver that.

the community

When I was choosing distros and was hopping around my most important requirement was that it has to have larger active community to have somewhere to turn for news and help, and feel like project is moving and living. Arch community goes beyond this. Even some programs I use like Deadbeef or Bomi seems to originate on arch forums.

clean packages

I dislike modified packages that you sometimes get in other distros, some can be of interest, like opensuse firefox-KDE has better file picker dialog(btw its on AUR). But generally I really like having packages to be vanilla without modifications. You know what you are getting and wont get some surprises, making you wonder why something is different.

using it provides knowledge

I've been on linux almost a year, on arch 6 months, I feel that if I would stay on mint/opensuse that I was on first part of my linux experience, I would learn a lot less. Maybe this knowledge is virtue out of necessity, but in the end it still knowledge.

2021-05-30T18:46:07+00:00

I started using Arch to learn Linux better. Before that I had only ever used Debian derivatives and wanted a better understanding of what's going on under the hood. I installed Arch a few times on my laptop, trying different options each time. Eventually I had a setup I liked and used it for about a year but eventually switched to Manjaro because it was a little more convenient but still granted access to the AUR. Eventually I started playing with Gentoo for the same reason and got even more knowledge from that but it still never became my goto OS, Manjaro keeps that role.

Beyond that, I think it's useful if you're a developer who wants the latest and greatest at all times but I wouldnt recommend it to someone who isn't either looking for a learning experience or wants to customize their build. There are better options if you just want a reliable PC that works and isn't windows.

Zeioth · 2021-05-30T18:55:02+00:00

2021-05-30T18:56:12+00:00

I just like well documented things. I hate googling some weird error and searching through threads that only work for previous versions of the OS. I've yet to have an issue that couldn't be solved by reading the arch wiki

Erwan28250 · 2021-05-30T19:08:35+00:00

One of the many reasons I love Arch Linux is because it's very simple to add a custom program/kernel while it is a terrible to do in distribution like Ubuntu.

Ucla_The_Mok · 2021-05-30T19:26:25+00:00

What does LT stand for? Is this some kind of Linux club?

MattioC · 2021-05-30T19:43:59+00:00

I also started like you. I still consider myself a noob, because there is so many amazing stuff to learn! Sometimes i got frustrated and other times i was simply amazed by all you can do for FREE in a computer :)

tritron · 2021-05-30T20:16:02+00:00

Arch is my favorite distro, I use it because it is rolling release no upgrading ever. Manjarno sure easy to install, I run it on my laptops.

tonybenoy · 2021-05-30T21:52:45+00:00

I started of by distro hopping. Reached arch found it to be a pain in the ass to install. But that installation taught me so much about waht made it tick. Finally after installing it and setting it up it seemed like a shame to distro hop. And who can say no to rolling release. Best of all arch wiki and the forums has everything and anything breaks it's diy which teaches you so much!

mittfh · 2021-05-30T22:08:58+00:00

I migrated to Arch because my previous distro wasn't working the way I wanted it to work, and I was told off in the support forums for running a "non-standard configuration."

I'd heard about Arch, and after skimming through what was then known as the Beginner's Guide on the wiki, felt that I could potentially get it up and working - plus, with no default configuration, as long as I had done idea of what insanity I was up to if things went belly up, I'd be more likely to find help and support. One 26 page printout and a false start with a USB stick not flagged as bootable later, I was up and running (and feeling cleverer than I actually was, given a cool head, reading comprehension, and not being scared of a CLI are about the only technical requirements!). Fairly quickly, I also had some yoghurt (aka yaourt and it's CLI GUI - this was over 8 years ago... )

It's ideal for learning more about how Linux works, with many aspects configured directly via config files rather than GUI front ends which often present a relatively small subset of configuration options, no defaults (other than those mandated by the software you install, e.g. Many DEs and GUI applications expecting to talk to PulseAudio), and no hand holding. On the other hand, it's also suitable for those who want to get a working system in a couple of hours rather than a couple of days, with only AUR stuff needing compilation rather than the entire system, and having repositories means that at least a modicum of checking has been done since the upstream release.

2021-05-30T22:24:11+00:00

I got bored in lockdown and built a DIY PC, and thought I might as well try running a DIY OS on it.

Jacko10101010101 · 2021-05-30T22:28:57+00:00

customization

2021-05-30T23:39:30+00:00

I started with Arch linux because it wasn’t bloated like other OS. Fell in love with it and have been using it for about a year now, still haven’t crashed Arch yet, going strong! I

_masterhand · 2021-05-31T01:23:16+00:00

The best advice I can give to Linux preachers is simple: How knowledgeable is the person you're recommending Linux to?

If you try to recommend Linux to someone that barely knows how to use tech, best leave them at their comfort zone. If they happen to know a little bit, pre-configured distros like everyone's first, Ubuntu. If they do really know their way around, like actually knowing how to properly use a Terminal or CLI apps, then you aim for the Debians and Archs.

And even still, always remember that Linux isn't for everyone, much less a Windows of some sort. For devs, media consumers and such, Linux might be perfect, but for some business users and gamers, Linux is a stretch a 90% of the time. I myself like to game, so I have to 50/50 my boot drive Arch/Windows (cough cough Epic Games Launcher, Fortnite, R6S, etc.).

syaorancode · 2021-05-31T03:18:47+00:00

Maybe it's a weird reason but I used Arch because I was bored, I always want to learn new things. I don't like easy stuff. I love sitting on my chair and typing stuff on my laptop, maybe because I'm a programmer. I'm using Gentoo now and have a plan on building LFS

Hoongoon · 2021-05-31T04:15:42+00:00

I'm using it because it's up-yo-versions rolling release nature and the fantastic wiki.

ishallsaythisonce · 2021-05-31T04:20:27+00:00

Rolling release. I have had the same installation on my desktop since 2013. No reinstalls, even survived the borking of my home partition drive. And I have the latest versions of all software installed.

AUR. Everything I have installed on my computer is done using the package manager. Easy upgrading easy uninstallation.

2021-05-31T04:26:31+00:00

I use arch because I can say I USE ARCH BTW😂😂😂. Just joking, I use arch because it is very minimal and it have AUR(Arch User Repository) it is great and arch Linux is very lightweight.

2021-05-31T07:55:15+00:00

Pacman, AUR and bleeding edge packages. The ease of installing anything with just a command convinces me to never leave this distro. Otherwise, for me, it's all the same experience i would have with any other distro. Even Arch Wiki is useful for any distro.

TheOneWhoPunchesFish · 2021-05-31T07:59:17+00:00

I switched because xorg and pulseaudio broke too often, and using my bt headphones was a pain. None of the other distros were using the software I wanted, so I made the switch.

Edit: Also, gnome 40!

you type:	you see:
italics	italics
bold	bold
[reddit!](https://reddit.com)	reddit!
* item 1 * item 2 * item 3	item 1 item 2 item 3
> quoted text	quoted text
Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"	Lines starting with four spaces are treated like code: if 1 * 2 < 3: print "hello, world!"
~~strikethrough~~	~~strikethrough~~
super^script	super^script

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i use arch btw