More of the software I use is in the repos/aur compared to debian. Which makes everything easier.
this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2023
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Different strokes for different folks mostly.
Arch is a rolling release, meaning everytime something changes in a package or dependency, there's an update.
Mint is a stable release, and gets major updates every few months, with much more frequent security updates, but yeah, it's not an everyday thing like with Arch
While I don't like saying "this is better than that", since Arch is a rolling release, it's always up to date, and so you're not going to end up in a situation like "my built-in laptop sound card isn't getting picked up" (i mean, you might, but it's rare. After all, Arch can break sometimes times, just like everything, really) like you sometimes can with Mint and other stable distros. Also, Arch--well, vanilla Arch and something like Endeavour--comes with just the basics and everything else, you gotta add. I personally like this because I like knowing exactly what I'm installing and having only what I'm going to use...and also not deal with messing with PPA's. This isn't a point against non-Arch distros or anything, it's all just personal preference--but really, everything from "Should I do Arch with Cinnamon or something like Mint or Fedora's Cinnamon Spin?" is all up to personal preference
I don't like other distros that include lots of programs out of the box. I might need an office program, a music player, etc. But I want to choose it all myself.
I like KDE, but I also like some gnome applications, and it's difficult to find a distro that only installs one or the other.
I find it easier to start from scratch: Give me a basic desktop environment, a terminal, and I know how to take it from there.
The rolling packages are a nice touch. As a linux gamer, any bit of free performance I can get from simply installing an update is appreciated.
Arch and Gentoo have IMO the best documentation ever and you learn a lot when you try using either of those distributions as you have to do everything from scratch starting from a minimal system. Since you're saying you're new to Linux though, I'd say you should start with something more user-friendly like Mint or Ubuntu (or even Manjaro if you want a rolling release distro) and stay away from Arch and Gentoo in the beginning.
I use Crystal Linux, which is Arch based.
I've tried Mint along with 10 other distros. What I liked about Arch is:
- Latest Kernel, always. This means new drivers, better support for your current devices and support for more devices. Security & performance patches.
- AUR. Massive repo of user submitted apps & libs most not found elsewhere.
- Arch WiKi. Everything you will need or want to do somebody else already did and documented it so everyone else can have a guide to do it. Best documentation site ever.
- Arch Repo. Always the latest Software. Officially maintained apps and libs land first on Arch, Debian & Ubuntu derivatives take ages to catch up in comparison.
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Just to chime in, I first tried arch because some youtuber I followed recommended it, but after 5 years I would say I've stayed with it for the AUR and the community. The AUR has almost every app I've ever needed, and whenever I have a problem there's always a solution on one forum or another, to the point where I can usually just copy and paste it into the terminal and it's solved!
AUR is kind of the worst feature Arch offers and I am not actively using Arch right now anyway. Because its used for the wrong purpose: "install any app you need/want". Thats dangerous and creates problems by itself. I'd rather rely on flatpak/appimages, but open for counter arguments.
So much this! As a user of both Arch and Gentoo I say, don't use Arch as Gentoo! It's not Gentoo! AUR is not a standard repository and there's a reason they make you jump through hoops just to use the thing.
Also, it's a total pain when normal package management is quick and easy. The building alone is weird in Arch and somehow like 60% of the crap I try to build from AUR fails hard and I just can't be bothered to spend more than like twenty minutes tweaking on it. Gr. 😅
(Aaalllsooo, apparently lots of people break their Arch installs using the AUR like it's a normal repo and then wonder why Arch is so crap and leave.)
What do you mean by 'normal' package management?
What problems does the AUR create? I just install using yay, and it mostly works fine
Users not being aware of what kind of package they install on their system and how AUR packages can conflict with normal repo packages. Additionally its a big security risk if you cannot/don't read the code.
AUR is basically like installing software from some kind of online source which is not supervised by anyone.
Customization, lots of apps (via aur), no bloat
@jackpot For me personally, I've found that XFCE on Arch runs faster & uses less resources compared to XFCE running on mint, Debian, or Ubuntu. Debian will always be my No.1 fav Linux distro, but for now I'm on Arch, even if I'm not really using the aur for anything other than nvidia drivers. Arch probably won't be permanent, but for now I'm loving it, & switching back to Debian will eventually happen. Just not yet....
pacman.