I’ve installed arch several times from scratch. Now if I need to I use archinstall. No shame
hardmode: I did a fresh install on a HDD that is on verge of being dead. Every-time this thing boots it’s a miracle. Somehow
ddblanking the disk, plenty ofsmartctloffline disk surface scans and finally putting btrfs with data in DUP profile resurrected the HDD. I have run btrfs scrub daily or else the os install may bitrot and well… expire. :DEdit: Todays catch, I was too late and now I have fix 3 files:
Error summary: read=112 Corrected: 109 Uncorrectable: 3 Unverified: 0I’ve been using arch since archinstall came out. I never installed it reading the wiki.
I sleep like a baby and everything works.
People copy and pasting from the wiki or gpt “pathetic”
People copying gpt commands into terminal is bound to be fked by the troll commands, right? Please.
Now I kind of want to see just how broken my install gets if I just have ChatGPT guide me through the whole installation.
It gets real messy, lol. I tried to have GPT guide me through figuring out a Node and nvm error in my Arch WSL and it made nightmare spaghetti out of my npm prefix.
It eventually got stuck in a loop of trying to make me do the same two things over and over again and expected different results each time.
I installed Arch exactly once by hand. Since then I just copy the install with
ddfrom one medium to the next.I once installed Gentoo from scratch.
I then didn’t use Linux for about 15 years, so take from that what you will.
We all carry trauma in our lives
When you’ve already reached the peak, why keep climbing?
Installing Arch manually is not hard, and there are plenty of step-by-step guides.
Figuring out what you need next and then managing this mess is more complicated.
Source: I installed Arch manually btw
Years ago I installed it manually, too. For learning, yes. But regularly, no. The archinstall package is easy but a newbie would struggle there, too. It’s just a faster way for skilled Linux Users.
Newbie Linux users shouldn’t go with Arch to begin with, even Endeavour or Garuda, unless they’re seeing it as a learning experience and have an IT background behind their back.
It’s not worth it for the average user, and honestly - even for most veteran users for that matter.
The great power of Arch comes with great responsibility to manage your system properly.
Installing it from scratch manually? Maybe no, not for an inexperienced user who’s goal isn’t to learn Linux.
But I would argue Arch itself is great for a casual user to have. All the software in one place, installed with the same command, and you only install what you want, so no fiddling with bullshit you didn’t ask for.For a casual experienced user - maybe, if bloat is a super big concern and ricing is an absolute priority.
For a casual newbie - please, no. Arch will immediately force the user to go through a lot of hoops, learn a million terminal commands to make basic changes, and overall it will be a very frustrating and non-intuitive experience. Also, rolling updates will inevitably lead to bugs here and there, and without the experience managing Linux systems, there’s only so much one can do to fix it.
Arch will immediately force the user to go through a lot of hoops, learn a million terminal commands
I don’t know if it was ever true, but it’s definitely not true now. You don’t need to know more scary terrifying terminal commands than you need on any other distribs. And if you need to install any software, you will on average have to use less scary terminal commands on Arch than on, for example, Ubuntu that is usually recommended to a newbie. Most of the software you will ever need is in (from user’s perspective) one place. You don’t need to connect any additional repositories and don’t need to install separate versions of libraries and stuff (and that’s done with horror inducing terminal, might I remind you). And don’t even get me started on snap and all the headache it brings.
If you’re using your computer as a glorified browser, you don’t care about rolling releases. If you use various software, rolling release is better for compatibility.
I am speaking from lots of experience helping various levels of newbies get into Linux. As much as you might think Ubuntu is “more intuitive” whatever the fuck that might mean, I can assure you, it’s not, it’s very much the opposite of that.Oh, I should make it very, very clear: Ubuntu is a mess that newbies shouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. Comparing to Ubuntu, even Arch can look appealing for lack of confusion. Nothing that I say goes to support this abomination, and I did not mention it positively.
Generally though, most distros featuring KDE/GNOME will already have everything in one place - but, ironically, not Arch, which actually features three places to look for apps: the official repos for precompiled packages, Flatpaks, or AUR. And without something like pamac - a tool made by Manjaro team available through AUR - you can’t have all three in one interface or through same commands.
If I would choose distro by how easy it is to have everything in one place, this would likely be Fedora/OpenSUSE/Debian with Discover app store from KDE suite. Everything, be it native packages or Flatpaks, is in there, and you can easily select the source for any given app.
As per compatibility, I’m a strong proponent of Flatpaks. They are not significantly harder to manage than any other apps (in most cases, they don’t require any extra configuration), but they will help you avoid dependency issues and they also won’t get full access to your entire system, which is to me a disaster waiting to happen.
Was newbie, can confirm. Distrohopped til I found Endeavor, never leaving because AUR
I’m not sure about this. My journey through Linux was Ubuntu > Arch > Debian > Fedora + Arch. Even just Ubuntu gave me enough knowledge to try Arch. Even Windows Powerusers could know shit about partitioning, installing etc.
I started with Manjaro, and found myself in quite a predicament once I figured out what it means to have Arch under the hood. It was…a rude awakening.
Then I moved on to Debian and Fedora, and from there I gained enough knowledge to manage Arch systems. Now, I have Endeavour on my main computer and OpenSUSE Slowroll on my laptop.
Noted use Archinstall for sanity
Super valid!
My point is: there’s little to brag about. But hey, I got that badge anyway.
Artix:
any arch based distro:
(and most linux distros in general)
What is this magic? You are telling me that a single command would have spared me an entire day of suffering?
Gentoo stage 3 here.
They discouraged earlier stages in the wiki :(
I’m sorry, sir, but the tests indicate you have Stage 3 Gentoo.
I wish I could hug you.
Bravo.
and from what we’ve gathered about your case, it’s terminal
Don’t mean to bash your distro choice OP, but they say the best jokes contain a kernel of truth.
Oof. What’s the prognosis?
Install Gentoo.
Oh, you use
pacstrapandarch-chroot, do you? Back in my day all we had wascpandinstalland we liked it that way! Kids these days wouldn’t know how to install SLS without their Yays and Pac-men.Imagine installing Arch without having to bindmount dev, proc and sys smh my head
This is “I use arch, btw” - Beast-Mode
PS. There was always the normal chroot, or not?
chrootwas introduced in 1979 for Unix.arch-chrootis a wrapper aroundchrootthat provides additional functionality and a tighter integration between the system and the new root.
I’ve installed Arch manually exactly once. (Just for the bragging rights, lol) My go to way is just installing EndeavourOS. It’s basically Arch, but with a nicer installer and reasonable defaults.
I did it once, wrote down all the commands I used in order and then made my own install script. It was a great learning experience
i did that once… watched a video of some guy installing it, wrote down every single command, did it myself, it worked! then the clock system broke and i tried to fix it, couldn’t do it because dumb, and reinstalled it. exact same commands as before, but it didn’t work, no clue why
then i did the same with some other youtube video, until i just decided to use an arch based distro with an installer
now i just see people talking about archinstall and i’m like… i could’ve done it with one command? why did nobody tell me??? or did i just ignore everyone who told me? am i stupid???
Tbf you couldn’t always. Archinstall didn’t come until a few years ago
hmmm how many years ago? i started using linux (with fedora, then arch a couple of months later) around the end of 2022 or mid 2023
I got to where it expected me to partition the drive manually and noped out. I was doing that in the 90’s when I compiled my own kernel. Ain’t nobody got time for that today.
I use Endeavour, btw. Nah, I don’t think it’ll catch one.
I’m super stoked to be on an Arch-based system, but things have been so easy I have earned no bragging rights what-so-ever with it.
Go ahead, install Arch on a VM (it’s not hard at all, actually!) and get your medal.
Then keep with Endeavour and enjoy your ride :D
Btw, I’m on an arch endeavour
Removed by mod
I use arch btw, have been for 5 or so years, I open the gates to those who want to use arch install
You are not any lesser for not wanting to install arch manually
And now you’re lost
If this was accurate, the ropes would have snapped and Homer would go hurddling to the base of the mountain.
That’s what pacman -Syyu is for. The occasional life support failure and forced bug hunting is part of the experience.
command ‘pacman’ not found
aggressively re-pacstraps
