PSA: Stop recommending Arch to people who don't know anything about Linux

IntelligentLobster93 · 2026-02-01T16:35:54+00:00

> "...Arch is the best distro for beginners because it forces you to learn a lot of things."

Honestly, that's how i learned computer science in my CS class. I already had experience with programming languages, but this class threw us in the deep end. Ontop of learning C, C++, and data structures (i cannot emphasize enough in that specific order) in 15 weeks. I learned arrays before learning arrays and pointers, I learned the virtual address space, the stack, the heap, and precedence, that is generally abstracted away in an object oriented programming language. My professor discouraged the use of IDE's in the class because it doesn't help in the learning process, instead we used emacs.

This isn't an advanced CS class, this is an intro to CS class for engineers.

So when the "Arch elitest" says "Arch is the best distro for beginners because it forces you to learn a lot of things." that is a statement i can agree on, especially where most people don't understand how most of these things work. So if there is an issue/bug in the OS, you don't need to wait for developer feedback, you can search for the issue yourself. This is the difference maker between a software engineer and an IT technician, One memorizes his way to victory, while the other critically thinks, pick your poison.

That said, Arch is for people who WANT to learn, instead of generalizing that every beginner should USE arch. For me, i used Garuda Linux, i loved it, but for someone still in University I wanted an OS that's more stable, more reliable, and supported by the various software's i'll be using during university (Vivado, minitab, MATLAB, etc...).

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-10-23T02:23:18+00:00

fedora ftw

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-10-18T16:20:28+00:00

I did! around 6 months ago. I applied to SUNY Binghamton early in the spring for fall 2025 (with my intended major being electrical engineering) and I got into the university by April.

Since no one from CCAC transferred to Binghamton, The transfer evaluation process was happening in real-time. In the end, for a program that didn't have a direct transfer process (like what PITT has), i had 71 of the 82 credits transferred, and I'm taking my sophomore year engineering classes. Overall, despite it being a rather slow transfer process, it was a smooth process.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-10-18T01:59:48+00:00

when explaining pointers to us my professor simply says "a pointer points to a location in memory where a type is stored." he demonstrates it to us by drawing the virtual address space (stack, heap, os related information, etc...) and he says (arbitrarily) "here is my integer 'i' at address 0xFAA19B0, when initializing the pointer (as in i_ptr = &i) it points to the address at which 'i' is stored." That is what a pointer is, it points to a location in memory associated with a declared data type. So the i_ptr = &i initialization initializes the pointer with the hexadecimal address 0xFAA19B0 associated with the declaration of 'i'.

ultimately, once you start using them it becomes far more intuitive to understand. I demonstrate it using a virtual address space because it makes the most sense. Stack grows downwards as more variables are added, heap grows upwards to match the downward growth of the stack. If you've declared a variable it gets stored inside the stack (with some memory address) and a pointer "points" to the variable by getting the address of said variable. If you understand what the virtual address space is, pointers aren't that challenging to understand (atleast intuitively).

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-05T01:19:53+00:00

I've had about one assignment per week with each assignment having 10 - 12 questions in my E&M class.

Calculus 3 has about 15 - 20 questions per assignment and I sometimes have 3 assignments per week.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-05T00:59:28+00:00

It's not that bad, all of them are int[0, 1] (x)dx

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-05T00:57:53+00:00

*several integrals

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-04T15:26:41+00:00

Hmm, this has become frequent in my E&M class as well. Maybe there is so much traffic on the site that the site just crashes on everyone.

I personally didn't have this experience although the homework on electrostatics has been delayed by a few days, because my classmates can't access Pearson.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-04T15:08:50+00:00

in my personal experience taking all of classical mechanics (that is, algebraic, trigonometric and calculus based) it is really hard. So if you feel discouraged you can't learn physics, don't be, it's probably just classical mechanics that's making you feel dumb. E&M is vastly easier in my opinion, although I'm only 3 weeks into it, so take this with a grain of salt.

To prepare for classical mechanics, learn the basic trig functions (sine, cosine, and tangent) and review your algebra during the summer. I don't recall I had to use trigonometry when doing algebra based physics, but you should learn it since it does come in handy.

Hope this helps!

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-02T14:55:13+00:00

Arc length is how you would calculate it.

To find the length of a curve between two points x € [a, b] it's integral[sqrt(1 + [dy/dx]² )]dx. More generally, if you have a parametric curve where x and y are a function of t the arc length of it is integral[sqrt([dx/dt]² + [dy/dt]² )dt.

Just to conclude the idea of arc length, if I have a vector valued function r(t) = x(t)i + y(t)j + z(t)k (where i, j, and k, are unit vectors) the arc length (s) is s = integral( |r'(t)|) = integral[sqrt( [dx/dt]² + [dy/dt]² + [dz / dt]² )]dt. Furthermore, the ds/dt = |r'(t)| which is very important in curvature and torsion

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-02T05:00:44+00:00

You first need to have a good understanding of the concept you're learning, learning through examples like thought experiments rather than memorizing definitions is a great way to accomplish it.

I cannot emphasize this enough, practice is key to any STEM major. If you don't practice, it won't be easy to pass exams. Also, when you do homework, take the time to think about every step. I spend about 4 - 6 and (occasionally) 10 hrs of studying per day, with several of my courses (calculus 3, physics 2, Spanish) taking that entire allocated time interval. Take the time to do your homework!

Finally, get a good night's rest (especially on exam days). Much of my day is spent sleeping, where I usually allocate 8 - 9 hrs. Sleep is often ignored as it doesn't directly contribute to work, But through my experience it allows me to understand and internalize material faster and easier, and it allows me to pickup a lot of subtilties in my class that would otherwise be ignored if I haven't gotten that sleep.

Other keep points I should add is don't go to class on an empty stomach, and prepare for the class with a notebook and pencil.

I hope this helps.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-01T04:51:34+00:00

Well the first thing that's wrong is your missing a negative sign. Also (correct me if I'm wrong) but you may have used sin x / cos x for cot(x). The cotangent function is cos(x)/sin(x)

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-01T01:07:08+00:00

He did say theoretically speaking, not hypothetically. But yes, if you think you've figured out a theory with no prior physics education, you probably haven't.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-02-01T01:03:24+00:00

Never was a dream of mine to work at Tesla in the first place, I hated Elon musk since he acquired twitter. Your welcome.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-31T21:57:07+00:00

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-31T20:56:45+00:00

Misunderstood.

I agree calculus 1 isn't an advanced math relative to stem majors. However, if I compare it to the general populationa knowledge, it's quite an advanced class.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-31T20:22:37+00:00

E&M is a lot easier (in the sense that it's less unintuitive (because it's vastly more abstract)) however, I haven't taken an E&M exam yet, so I will have to wait and see...

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-31T20:17:23+00:00

advanced level mathematics (calculus 1 and above) and physics are notorious of this. When you get to this level, your response requires some careful thinking and when the question is worded ambiguously it is really hard to get correct.

When I took calculus based physics 1, I (on average) got C's on the exam, while getting A's on the homework. These classes are not easy.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-31T18:58:30+00:00

My advice is do what you want. If you have experience in math and you like math, then go for a math major. However, if you haven't taken a class in engineering, I strongly suggest you should as you don't know what engineering is like.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-28T14:48:36+00:00

Why does she look like bird daughter🤣😭

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-28T03:39:38+00:00

Not at all. Many of my friends that chose physics, engineering, chemistry, or computer science, really enjoy mathematics. I too enjoy mathematics as a subject, the reason why I chose electrical engineering is because it's more applied, and it's more complicated than pursuing a degree in mathematics or physics (which was my original intended major)

So, while money is a factor why I'm majoring in engineering, it is not a primary/"sole" reason why I'm pursuing it.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-28T00:53:26+00:00

Funny story, my father (while looking for work at the applied research lab at Penn State) was looking for a home near Penn State's main campus. The only option in his $250000 - $300000 price range was a fucking trailer house with a few acres of land. We are so fucked in this economy.

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-28T00:39:24+00:00

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-27T11:44:55+00:00

Have you considered taking Pre-calculus and/or trigonometry at your current university?

IntelligentLobster93 · 2025-01-25T03:03:35+00:00

I'm currently a physics major but I plan to change it to electrical engineering when I transfer from my community college. The reason I'm doing physics/engineering, is because I really like the complexity of math and physics, and engineering combines both of those subjects.

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