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> why are you opting for Arch? Because it has fast, rolling-release updates, little changes from upstream, and any package you will ever need (either in the re

> why are you opting for Arch? Because it has fast, rolling-release updates, little changes from upstream, and any package you will ever need (either in the repos or the AUR). There are many things nice to arch apart from the basic install. You can install very minimal debian systems, very minimal centos systems, very minimal gentoo systems. All with this and that bootloader and partition layout. It's not what people usually pick a distro for.

boomboomsubban 7y ago
>Because it has fast, rolling-release updates, little changes from upstream, and any package you will ever need (either in the repos or the AUR). Which of these is missing from say Solus, Debian Rawhide, or OpenSuse Tumbleweed, not to mention the various Antergos like distros. The differences between distros past the base install really is smaller than people realize, and often people pick distros based on misguided assumptions.
- cosarara 7y ago
  I think you meant Debian sid and Fedora Rawhide there. I know Debian fails on "little changes from upstream". Antergos obviously fails nothing because it is arch beneath. But it is dead now. Manjaro, the only other popular arch-based distro, has its own problems: https://web.archive.org/web/20150409040851/https://manjaro.github.io/expired_SSL_certificate/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150409040851/https://manjaro.g... With the rest, lets make a little test. Lately I've been using a program called syncplay: https://syncplay.pl/ https://syncplay.pl/ On Arch, you can find 3 different versions of it in the AUR: syncplay (latest stable, 1.6.3 at the time of writing), syncplay-git and syncplay-server-git https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=syncplay https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=syncplay I haven't found an online form to search packages on Solus, but after booting an ISO I can see it is there! https://u.teknik.io/EQOck.png https://u.teknik.io/EQOck.png (although a bit outdated, 1.5.2 from a year ago) Debian, nothing: https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=syncplay&searchon=names&suite=all&section=all https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=syncplay&searcho... Fedora, no luck: https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/s/syncplay https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/s/syncplay Tumbleweed, nothing: https://software.opensuse.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&baseproject=openSUSE%3AFactory&q=syncplay https://software.opensuse.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&baseproj... Of course, this is a stupid small test. But it is so easy to create and share arch packages, and the user base is so large, that it is almost never the case that what I need doesn't have a build script already, or that the packaged version is too old. And when it does happen, and there is no build script, it is very easy to make one and share it with the world. Or when I really need the bleeding edge for a certain application, I can look for -git packages. I know that on debian checkinstall can help you avoid an /usr/local unpackaged mess, but I have no idea how I'd share that with others. In short, yes, the ideas between all of these distros are pretty similar, but as far as package availability goes Arch tends to win due to low barrier of entry for packages, and user base size. Its install process is shit, but thankfully I've only needed to do it a couple times. Oh, and it probably wins on documentation as well. The Arch wiki is just huge.

boomboomsubban 7y ago

>Because it has fast, rolling-release updates, little changes from upstream, and any package you will ever need (either in the repos or the AUR). Which of these is missing from say Solus, Debian Rawhide, or OpenSuse Tumbleweed, not to mention the various Antergos like distros. The differences between distros past the base install really is smaller than people realize, and often people pick distros based on misguided assumptions.

cosarara 7y ago
I think you meant Debian sid and Fedora Rawhide there. I know Debian fails on "little changes from upstream". Antergos obviously fails nothing because it is arch beneath. But it is dead now. Manjaro, the only other popular arch-based distro, has its own problems: https://web.archive.org/web/20150409040851/https://manjaro.github.io/expired_SSL_certificate/ https://web.archive.org/web/20150409040851/https://manjaro.g... With the rest, lets make a little test. Lately I've been using a program called syncplay: https://syncplay.pl/ https://syncplay.pl/ On Arch, you can find 3 different versions of it in the AUR: syncplay (latest stable, 1.6.3 at the time of writing), syncplay-git and syncplay-server-git https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=syncplay https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=syncplay I haven't found an online form to search packages on Solus, but after booting an ISO I can see it is there! https://u.teknik.io/EQOck.png https://u.teknik.io/EQOck.png (although a bit outdated, 1.5.2 from a year ago) Debian, nothing: https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=syncplay&searchon=names&suite=all&section=all https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=syncplay&searcho... Fedora, no luck: https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/s/syncplay https://apps.fedoraproject.org/packages/s/syncplay Tumbleweed, nothing: https://software.opensuse.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&baseproject=openSUSE%3AFactory&q=syncplay https://software.opensuse.org/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&baseproj... Of course, this is a stupid small test. But it is so easy to create and share arch packages, and the user base is so large, that it is almost never the case that what I need doesn't have a build script already, or that the packaged version is too old. And when it does happen, and there is no build script, it is very easy to make one and share it with the world. Or when I really need the bleeding edge for a certain application, I can look for -git packages. I know that on debian checkinstall can help you avoid an /usr/local unpackaged mess, but I have no idea how I'd share that with others. In short, yes, the ideas between all of these distros are pretty similar, but as far as package availability goes Arch tends to win due to low barrier of entry for packages, and user base size. Its install process is shit, but thankfully I've only needed to do it a couple times. Oh, and it probably wins on documentation as well. The Arch wiki is just huge.