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Ask HN: Arch Linux vs. Ubuntu, Thoughts?

4 points by shivc 2y ago

I loved Arch, but the constant issues really got me to use Ubuntu for slightly more stable work since I was spending more time on working issues than actual work. How has your experience been? Also have you faced boot issues when dual booting with windows? as in a blank screen and pc not POSTing?

znpy 2y ago
Neither of those, frankly. Have used Ubuntu for years, got really fed up with they constantly changing their stuff and messing my setup. Snap was the last straw for me. I tried Arch briefly, was not impressed at all. It doesn't look like a reliable system at all. All of my friends using have had multiple major issues, almost routinely. I'm not a teenager anymore so I can't waste my time fixing other people's poor choices in systems development. I've switched to Fedora on the desktop (XFCE) a couple of years ago and it's been a dream so far. The system is rock solid, it's routinely updated, it's fast and light. On my home server I'm moved from RHEL 8 (developer subscription) to RockyLinux 9 (RHEL derivative). I've discovered RHEL for work and it's been a pleasure... Rock solid, reliable system. Try fedora, you won't regret it. > Also have you faced boot issues when dual booting with windows? as in a blank screen and pc not POSTing? Haven't used Windows in ~15 years, can't say.
- 1GZ0 2y ago
  As a long time user of Ubuntu, Arch & Fedora I agree with all of your points. Although, in my personal experience, the only time I had trouble with Arch was when I tried messing with things I wasn't ready for. If you're dead set on a rolling release distro and all you do is run Arch out of the box with the occasional AUR package mixed in, I'd say its stable enough for a working man. Fedora has a special place in my heart though.
  - shivc 2y ago
    I'm just on the edge about to take the leap with Fedora, 40 comes highly recommended for development, machine learning and gaming too in fact which fits my use case perfectly! Probably going to try going with it over this weekend, fingers crossed! Ideally I'd like to give at least 2-3 months of use to any OS before discarding it, so yea :)
- shivc 2y ago
  oh yea also, snap is weirdly slow - almost pulling my hair situation often with apps via snap
cranberryturkey 2y ago
i haven't had any big issues with arch, i use it on my laptop and i use ubuntu lts for servers.
- shivc 2y ago
  awesome, arch is way smoother and snappier, just that I was spending more time on playing around that I'd like I guess
stop50 2y ago
Desktop arch and servers debian stable. Works for me. dualboot was often broken by windows, so i have moved only signleboot linux. I only occasional use windows in a vm which i download when i need it.
- shivc 2y ago
  yea I'm noticing windows throwing crap over my dual boot setup as well, its a sad state! since also game time to time, I'm still using dual boot
  - stop50 2y ago
    Im not sure but does windows touch the bootorder and bootentries innthe nvram when it fucks with grub?
    - shivc 2y ago
      every single time lol - windows 11 in my laptop doesn't and things work well but windows 10 in my older pc does this shit every time.
Alifatisk 2y ago
I don't have any experience with Arch but I can tell you that I've had tiny servers run Ubuntu for a whole year straight with no issues (except one incident where apt couldn't pull updates from internet because some files got corrupted somehow, but the solution was easy and I didn't lose anything).
- shivc 2y ago
  this seems to be the experience of most people with Ubuntu, it works, doesn't break all of a sudden and you still get relatively latest updates
heartag 2y ago
I've been using Arch for over a decade at this point. It's broken on me a handful of times and needed a live USB to recover, but overall has been incredibly robust. My advice is to try everything out and then use what you like. Ubuntu is great and stable.
lordkrandel 2y ago
Arch, rolling release is just superior stuff for everyday use.
joe200 2y ago
Use Debian Testing. Packages up-to-date. Compare the latest Ubuntu and Debian Testing: https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?firstlist=debian&secondlist=ubuntu&firstversions=1&secondversions=1&resource=compare-packages&view=all&refresh=Refresh https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?firstlist=debian&secondlis... And I repeat what I said before: don't be fooled by the name of the release - "Testing". The name "Testing" exists due to an orthodox approach of Debian community that only the Debian stable can use "stable".