Arch Linux
Hello Internet, its been a while but I’m back with my favorite linux distro which has been so for quite some time.
I first heard about Arch Linux when Chess Griphon of the Linux reality podcast talked about it and I gave it a spin. While it isn’t knock-me-down-wow there isn’t another distrobution that has enough attraction to make me switch again. One of the big things about Arch Linux is the “rolling release cycle” which, in laymans terms means that, while they update the install CD every now and then, there aren’t big releases as with Ubuntu. Instead the online update handles everything so you always have the latest of everything; Latest kernel, latest drivers, etc.. which also means you don’t have to do the big system upgrade every six months and I haven’t had any memorable problems due to upgrading with Arch.
One of the things that makes Arch preferable over Ubuntu is the range of software which is owed in part to the Arch User Repository is a clever automation of the whole “$ make install” process as instead you download a script which goes through all the commands needed to install something which is exelent for someone like me who flounders whenever someone says “./configure”. Add to this the program “Aurbuild” which does the whole thing for me and I have all the software I could want within easy acsess.
Now I come to one of the points which could put you off if you don’t know that much about the various components of a Linux desktop. If you were to try to install Arch and get to a working desktop winging it you are probably going to fail pretty badly. That said, there are a number of good guides available (Link to the one I used at the bottom.) and all it really comes down to is knowing what to install and copying a few lines into config files, if you’re confident with this kind of configuring then you should have no problem. You also will learn how to fix a lot of problems when you install for the first time.
The next thing you come on to is both a problem and one of Arch’s biggest draws for me. When you first log in all you get is a command line, which for me was great. Before trying Arch I had a look around the screenshot section of the forums and it really brought home just how versatile linux can be, some people had very slick, minimalist installation, I liked the ones with the little widgets that kept track of system resources but knew that such things were not meant for my 17″ screen so I ended up settling for a minimal Gnome/Openbox setup and had everything painted in a stylish grey colour.
From begining to end the whole process was comparatively short and rather painless. If you have the skill and want the customization without to much hastle then Arch all the way.
