Freepoorman
Active Member
Hi. I'm just curious; If I use Endeavor OS, can I unironically say "I use Arch btw"?
Dumb Question
- Thread starter Freepoorman
- Start date
If you want to run Arch or EndeavourOS for the meme you are wanting to use that distribution for the wrong reasons.
OP
Freepoorman
Active Member
That's why I titled the post "Dumb Question"... but honestly is there another reason to go for a rolling release distro and all the instability that brings except for the meme? I'm genuinely curious about the pros and cons of Arch VS Linux from scratch...
There's no reason for you to be using Linux from Scratch.
With Arch you get more updates since they are rolling so higher chance of something breaking your system that you have to fix yourself. Advantage is that you don't have do major upgrades and that you get the newest software available, you have the AUR available, you can use the Archwiki and you can use both the EndeavourOS and Archwiki forums to search for answers and advice.
OP
Freepoorman
Active Member
I guess for someone with severe trust issues. This is a viable option.. So the only benefit of Arch is latest software that will probably break something, and a Wiki to help resolve the problems?
It's not like you will read the source code yourself and it's not viable as a daily driver to maintain your own distribution.
No the AUR, the wide community that uses it and package availability and that if you need to configure something you will find an answer in the Arch wiki of how to configure something. If something breaks you will either have to downgrade a package(s) or fix it another way or look for forums posts or bug reports of how other people fix it. I haven't had my Arch installation break and I've used it on and off for quite some years now when having tried other distributions in between.
OP
Freepoorman
Active Member
Thank you for taking the time to explain. I am fascinated with the idea of having full control over my system. The waters still look a bit deep and dark for me to uninstall Xubuntu yet, but I'll probably try it out on another laptop if I get my hands on a 64bit second-hand one.
You have to decide what is more important for you stability or most current - if you want stability use a Debian based distro , for most current which can lead to stability issues use Arch based
Personally I use Debian based ditro I like stability
Personally I use Debian based ditro I like stability
I just spent the last two days creating two VirtualBox machines running Arch. One with the Mate DE and one with the Cinnamon DE. For no other reason than to prove to myself that I could do it. Quite the learning curve!
And just to make it harder on myself, I chose to do it the day after Veterans Day. I only consume alcohol two days a year anymore. Memorial Day to salute fallen comrades, and Veterans Day to celebrate the fact that I'm still among the living. So needless to say, being hung over probably didn't help.
While I now know that I could become acclimated to Arch with practice, I don't know that I would ever want to use it as my daily driver. My keyboard skills may increase with time, but the finger joint issues are only getting worse with time. I'll stick to using the mouse as much as possible thank you.
Oh, as an aside, someone should write a tutorial on how to navigate the Arch Wiki, it's not for the novice either!
Tip, if you install Arch with the Cinnamon DE, go ahead and install Thunar or another file manager during the install. Nemo crashes and dies as soon as you chose list view as there is no gtk support for Nemo in Arch. Or so I've read trying to get it working.
And just to make it harder on myself, I chose to do it the day after Veterans Day. I only consume alcohol two days a year anymore. Memorial Day to salute fallen comrades, and Veterans Day to celebrate the fact that I'm still among the living. So needless to say, being hung over probably didn't help.
While I now know that I could become acclimated to Arch with practice, I don't know that I would ever want to use it as my daily driver. My keyboard skills may increase with time, but the finger joint issues are only getting worse with time. I'll stick to using the mouse as much as possible thank you.
Oh, as an aside, someone should write a tutorial on how to navigate the Arch Wiki, it's not for the novice either!
Tip, if you install Arch with the Cinnamon DE, go ahead and install Thunar or another file manager during the install. Nemo crashes and dies as soon as you chose list view as there is no gtk support for Nemo in Arch. Or so I've read trying to get it working.
... or not.
Bear in mind that this is IME (in my experience) rather than actively disagreeing with my friend @f33dm3bits above.
In my stable of 50+ Linux distros, I have arch-based ones numbering maybe 10 - 12.
Here's a pic of the login screen of one of them
Top left you see I call it "MJRO17dot11-Cinn" - being the Cinnamon version of a Manjaro 17.11.
7 years on, still no glitches, other than those that affected Linux across the board. I have one (Xfce on it) older than that, likewise.
I also make extensive use of EndeavourOS and Arcolinux.
Endeavour OS since 2019 (formerly known as Antergos) is run by the people formerly on the Antergos project, being
- Bryan Poerwoatmodjo
- Johannes Kamprad
- and several others
Arcolinux was formerly known as ArchMerge until 2018 and is run by Erik Dubois. Erik uses a lot of videos to show how to resolve problems.
I was using Antergos before it became Endeavour, and have used Endeavour since.
I have used Arcolinux since it was rebranded to that name.
Again, no problems with either.
As for the Archwiki, it is an invaluable tool, and has application outside of Arch - you just have to know enough to change command syntax if you are using for a Distro other than Arch-based.
My somewhat more than two cents.
Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
Besides being here on a daily basis, most of the time I am on the EndeavourOS forums on a daily basis as well and there are plenty of recent topics there where something broke. Whether that be a result of a package upgrade or a lack of knowledge with the user about something or both, the common factor is that most users aren't able to fix it themselves or else the EndeavourOS forums wouldn't be so active.
You are different than most people jumping into Arch-based distributions as you like to figure out how stuff works and you have more Linux experience than new comers to Arch-based distributions, which I can't say to everyone on the EndeavourOS forums who are jumping into Arch-based distributions.
He's still around on the EndeavourOS forums because I see him post there.
Fair enough.
I could add that a lot of the breakages in distros can occur after regular updates, or from introducing software from outside the distro's repositories.
These can be remedied with one simple tool.
Timeshift.
Manjaro have been shipping Timeshift installed for maybe 2 years now.
...and you can have it easily on Arcolinux or Endeavour as simply as
I've used well over 100 distros over the years, and there is not one that Timeshift won't install to.
IMO prevention is better than cure, lol.
Cheers
Chris
I could add that a lot of the breakages in distros can occur after regular updates, or from introducing software from outside the distro's repositories.
These can be remedied with one simple tool.
Timeshift.
Manjaro have been shipping Timeshift installed for maybe 2 years now.
...and you can have it easily on Arcolinux or Endeavour as simply as
Code:
sudo pacman -S timeshiftI've used well over 100 distros over the years, and there is not one that Timeshift won't install to.
IMO prevention is better than cure, lol.
Cheers
Chris
I happen to have given Endeavour yet another try yesterday and this one still didn't stick around for some reason i quickly forgotten...
IMO Garuda could have been much more fun on a beefier machine. Here's how it advertises itself:
« Garuda Linux is a rolling release distro based on Arch Linux, which means the latest software updates for performance and features are just a click away without having to bother with re-installing. »
For a modest Dull NoteBook such as mine it turns out Manjaro proved being some suitable alternative. This is what the promise is about:
« Taking the raw power and flexibility of Arch Linux and making it more accessible for a greater audience. »
The later seems to have got its "greater audience" argument quite right. As a bonus i can testify those two are actually compatible with my external 'YUMi-exFAT' USB drive via « Boot in grub2 mode », which saves a lot of time & effort on the long run.
Yup, I concur; absolutely.
I know that in the Windows continuum, having the very latest of everything is kind of a standard requirement, for obvious reasons. But even here in the Linux eco-sphere, there are still many for whom running the very newest of everything at all times is an absolute MUST.
Like @GatorsFan , I too prefer stability. And age has nowt to do with it; it's perfectly possible to set any distro up to be secure - regardless of age - IF you know what you're doing.
My favourite Puppy is based around Ubuntu Trusty Tahr from 2014! I run current secure browsers, with updated kernels & glibc, along with up-to-date SSL, ca-certs, dbus, and various other necessary bits'n'bobs.....and with our Pup's runtime model, if you think you've caught summat nasty during the session you just let that session evaporate at shutdown, and start off the next session with a squeaky-clean system freshly loaded-in from read-only files. No harm, no foul.
No; the "rolling" model is not for me, but I WILL give the Arch community one big "thumbs-up"; regardless of your chosen distro, their Wiki is universally acknowledged to be the best online Linux resource bar none. I've used it many times to give me pointers toward fixing issues in Puppy...
As @wizardfromoz says, backups are your best friend. However you implement them, don't skimp on this one most-important step!
Mike.
OP
Freepoorman
Active Member
I heard good things about Manjaro. (I have a low-spec laptop that I try optimize for more demanding tasks)... For my use case I prioritize stability, but want to explore Arch or LFS for more flexible customization.I happen to have given Endeavour yet another try yesterday and this one still didn't stick around for some reason i quickly forgotten...
IMO Garuda could have been much more fun on a beefier machine. Here's how it advertises itself:
« Garuda Linux is a rolling release distro based on Arch Linux, which means the latest software updates for performance and features are just a click away without having to bother with re-installing. »
For a modest Dull NoteBook such as mine it turns out Manjaro proved being some suitable alternative. This is what the promise is about:
« Taking the raw power and flexibility of Arch Linux and making it more accessible for a greater audience. »
The later seems to have got its "greater audience" argument quite right. As a bonus i can testify those two are actually compatible with my external 'YUMi-exFAT' USB drive via « Boot in grub2 mode », which saves a lot of time & effort on the long run.
CataclysmicGentleman
Active Member
technically no. the whole "I use arch btw" meme is because arch users have been stereotyped as boasting in their technical prowess and ability to solve difficult issues that may arise while using more advanced operating systems. However if you dont take yourself too seriously, and add a silly disclaimer that goes something like "I use Arch* btw.......(Endeavor OS)" you will see some people laugh and others get annoyed. I personally just abanoned the whole pride aspect of it all and accepted I don't want a advanced OS, I just want an easy to use- no terminal knowledge needed privacy respecting OS- which is why I use Linux Mint (despite having recently realized chillingly X11 is quite the security vulnerability)
all that to say: the only people who can truly say "I use arch btw" are those who install it "the hard way"
but to be honest, the best people who work on these sorts of things, won't brag on the internet about how tech savy they are, they will just give helpful info to newbies and be kind.
One good side dealing with CLI enthousiasts is that they'll openly share their magical spells in forums, so when i couldn't get 'Hypnotix' installed the usual way i was pleased to observe that a quick Google search could still provide me with all one needs to have it done: a simple cut 'n paste task essentially, but not always...
