5 ms·

Of all the Linux distributions, Arch is my current favorite. I especially like its init system and Pacman. It also has an incredible wiki.

jcmhn 15y ago
Even when pacman gets confused the steps required to fix it are very simple - because the developers don't believe in allowing magic anywhere in the system. It's as minimalist and elegant as freebsd and slackware were 15 years ago, but it's as feature complete and very nearly as easy to use as Ubuntu.
beej71 15y ago
+1 on the wiki. It seems that when I'm searching for general Linux problems the Arch wiki comes up as a top hit with greater-than-average frequency. +1 on Arch for that matter. :-)
prg318 15y ago
Pacman is beautiful IMHO. The ABS (Arch Build System) is also an elegantly simply way to create package build scripts for packages. Package build scripts are in a single file (a "PKGBUILD") that is extremely easy to edit or create for new packages. Here's an example that demonstrates the beauty of simplicity: http://www.archlinux.org/pacman/PKGBUILD.5.html#_example http://www.archlinux.org/pacman/PKGBUILD.5.html#_example I've found it to be a magnitude simpler than creating DEB packages. With ABS, it really brings the best features of the from-source based distros to the table without having to compile your ENTIRE system from source and having recompile stuff for every new software install or upgrade. The power of Arch Linux really lies within its simplicity.
steve-howard 15y ago
I love using Arch. The rolling release means there's no eventual super-painful process for updating; you just update everything and your system is up to date. It does break sometimes, but in recent years developments in both the installers and pacman have made it a lot easier to get a system that Just Works (for many things). I was pleasantly surprised to learn about KMS, which lets graphics drivers deal with the console/X resolution (so I don't have to remember which vga=0xsomething I need).
- cliang 15y ago
  I'd like to hear more about the degree to which things do sometimes break and the steps that users generally take to fix them. Thanks.
  - koenigdavidmj 15y ago
    Extent: every month or so. Workaround: breaking changes usually show up on the news section of the site, along with the workaround.
  - lucasjung 15y ago
    I recently tried to set up an HTPC with XBMC on top of Arch. I had never used Arch before, but I was attracted by the idea of being able to install just the very minimum stuff I needed (to keep boot times short), as well as the rolling-release system (to avoid the headache of "upgrading" to a new release). Unfortunately, I never made it very far because of KMS (which gp mentioned). I'm using intel graphics (Core i3-2100T), and the drivers didn't play nice with KMS: my screen would go blank at a certain point during boot. The system would still boot up: I could log in and execute shutdown commands, all in the blind. It turns out this is a known bug[1], and the only solution is to turn KMS off. Unfortunately, when I turned KMS off (either explicitly in the conf files or by downgrading to an older kernel that doesn't support it), X wouldn't start, citing lack of KMS as the reason! So, I was stuck with a situation where my screen broke if I used KMS, but X wouldn't work if I didn't. After failing to find help on the Arch forums, I ditched Arch for my HTPC and went with xubuntu. At first I was afraid that the same kernel bug would affect me regardless of distro, but apparently ubuntu builds their kernel differently in some key way that lets it work. All that being said, I enjoyed playing with Arch so much that I'm probably going to install it on my laptop after I finish setting up the HTPC (the laptop has nvidia graphics, so I shouldn't have the same problem). I've been using Linux since the late '90s, starting with slackware and changing distros every few years, but I've become a bit of a GUI-cripple in the last few years. Installing and configuring Arch knocked a lot of rust off. It felt good to once again really understand all of the various settings and the config files that held them. 1: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel#KMS_.28Kernel_Mode_Setting.29 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel#KMS_.28Kernel_Mod... (scroll down to the note just above "See Also")
dorian-graph 15y ago
One of the best, most useful wikis I've come across.

jcmhn 15y ago

Even when pacman gets confused the steps required to fix it are very simple - because the developers don't believe in allowing magic anywhere in the system. It's as minimalist and elegant as freebsd and slackware were 15 years ago, but it's as feature complete and very nearly as easy to use as Ubuntu.

beej71 15y ago

+1 on the wiki. It seems that when I'm searching for general Linux problems the Arch wiki comes up as a top hit with greater-than-average frequency. +1 on Arch for that matter. :-)

prg318 15y ago

Pacman is beautiful IMHO. The ABS (Arch Build System) is also an elegantly simply way to create package build scripts for packages. Package build scripts are in a single file (a "PKGBUILD") that is extremely easy to edit or create for new packages. Here's an example that demonstrates the beauty of simplicity: http://www.archlinux.org/pacman/PKGBUILD.5.html#_example http://www.archlinux.org/pacman/PKGBUILD.5.html#_example I've found it to be a magnitude simpler than creating DEB packages. With ABS, it really brings the best features of the from-source based distros to the table without having to compile your ENTIRE system from source and having recompile stuff for every new software install or upgrade. The power of Arch Linux really lies within its simplicity.

steve-howard 15y ago

I love using Arch. The rolling release means there's no eventual super-painful process for updating; you just update everything and your system is up to date. It does break sometimes, but in recent years developments in both the installers and pacman have made it a lot easier to get a system that Just Works (for many things). I was pleasantly surprised to learn about KMS, which lets graphics drivers deal with the console/X resolution (so I don't have to remember which vga=0xsomething I need).

cliang 15y ago
I'd like to hear more about the degree to which things do sometimes break and the steps that users generally take to fix them. Thanks.
- koenigdavidmj 15y ago
  Extent: every month or so. Workaround: breaking changes usually show up on the news section of the site, along with the workaround.
- lucasjung 15y ago
  I recently tried to set up an HTPC with XBMC on top of Arch. I had never used Arch before, but I was attracted by the idea of being able to install just the very minimum stuff I needed (to keep boot times short), as well as the rolling-release system (to avoid the headache of "upgrading" to a new release). Unfortunately, I never made it very far because of KMS (which gp mentioned). I'm using intel graphics (Core i3-2100T), and the drivers didn't play nice with KMS: my screen would go blank at a certain point during boot. The system would still boot up: I could log in and execute shutdown commands, all in the blind. It turns out this is a known bug[1], and the only solution is to turn KMS off. Unfortunately, when I turned KMS off (either explicitly in the conf files or by downgrading to an older kernel that doesn't support it), X wouldn't start, citing lack of KMS as the reason! So, I was stuck with a situation where my screen broke if I used KMS, but X wouldn't work if I didn't. After failing to find help on the Arch forums, I ditched Arch for my HTPC and went with xubuntu. At first I was afraid that the same kernel bug would affect me regardless of distro, but apparently ubuntu builds their kernel differently in some key way that lets it work. All that being said, I enjoyed playing with Arch so much that I'm probably going to install it on my laptop after I finish setting up the HTPC (the laptop has nvidia graphics, so I shouldn't have the same problem). I've been using Linux since the late '90s, starting with slackware and changing distros every few years, but I've become a bit of a GUI-cripple in the last few years. Installing and configuring Arch knocked a lot of rust off. It felt good to once again really understand all of the various settings and the config files that held them. 1: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel#KMS_.28Kernel_Mode_Setting.29 https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel#KMS_.28Kernel_Mod... (scroll down to the note just above "See Also")

dorian-graph 15y ago

One of the best, most useful wikis I've come across.