Not for a newbie who wants to learn. Arch is actually not difficult at all, just time consuming. If you do a manual install, you have to read about every step and make choices.
Thats how you learn your system. After install, you know exactly what files you modified and where they are if you want to make further changes.
I think it’s a beautiful system. Its not for people who just want a windows replacement though. It’s for people who wants to know their system.
People don’t realize the power that comes from actually knowing how your system works. It’s the same as learning any skill. It gives a feeling of confidence and comfort.
Yes it’s worth it many times over. I learned Linux on arch like 15 years ago. :) Its been paying off enormously during my career and private hobby life. Last windows I ran at home was windows 7.
Depends on the newbie, if the person has some terminal experience it’s ok. If it’s an ipad kid, it’s going to be tough, there’s a lot of new abstraction to understand at every step.
It’s not just ipad kids. Those who just want to work and not mess with the system are better off with Mint or Zorin. If you have to google how to install VLC then an OS has already lost for productivity.
And ironically, AI fixes almost all these problems. Just pull up Deep Seek, drop in whatever the console throws at you and you can get back the answer free of charge. These days the hardest part of bash is remembering that Ctrl+V should be Shift+Ctrl+V.
Nah. Arch is not noob friendly per se but with CachyOS installing and getting most of what you need to run is very easy. Experience with Steam and Proton is painless. Things can get harder when you are starting to dig deeper.
Installing Mint on my laptop actually fixed a longstanding issue with the speakers. They were working fine for ages on Wibdows, then some reason they just stopped working. Windows could not detect any speakers. It was to a point that I assumed hardware failure, and opened the laptop and traced the audio output to identify a blown sm cap or something, then gave up. It wasn’t until I installed Mint and it made a startup noise that I was like “wtf” because I thought it would never speak again. Turns out windows was just borked.
Installing Zorin on an old thinkcentre desktop just worked perfectly, despite my deep suspicion. I got it set up to meet my workflow perfectly in less time than I would have spent reinstalling windows and getting it dialed in just the way I like.
Is Arch “better”? Maybe, to some people. Could I make it work? It’s possible? Instead of tweaking arch to meet my requirements, could I rather spend my free time gardening or patting the cat? Absolutely.
I know this is satire but Arch is like the worst distro for a newbie…
Not for a newbie who wants to learn. Arch is actually not difficult at all, just time consuming. If you do a manual install, you have to read about every step and make choices.
Thats how you learn your system. After install, you know exactly what files you modified and where they are if you want to make further changes.
I think it’s a beautiful system. Its not for people who just want a windows replacement though. It’s for people who wants to know their system.
People don’t realize the power that comes from actually knowing how your system works. It’s the same as learning any skill. It gives a feeling of confidence and comfort.
Literally 1984 (sorry, had to)
I’ve gotten this comment 10 times over the last year or so. :)
It depends.
in-VM test drive? By all means, yes. Have fun
as main OS? Detecting multiple leviathan class lifeforms in the region. Are you certain whatever you’re doing is worth it?
Yes it’s worth it many times over. I learned Linux on arch like 15 years ago. :) Its been paying off enormously during my career and private hobby life. Last windows I ran at home was windows 7.
Glad to know. Still, it’s not something I’d recommend to someone who hasn’t tried Linux before.
No I agree, unless they are interested in learning.
Depends on the newbie, if the person has some terminal experience it’s ok. If it’s an ipad kid, it’s going to be tough, there’s a lot of new abstraction to understand at every step.
It’s not just ipad kids. Those who just want to work and not mess with the system are better off with Mint or Zorin. If you have to google how to install VLC then an OS has already lost for productivity.
But that’s how you learn though, and the ability to know how to type shit in a box is a good skill to have if you have a computer.
And ironically, AI fixes almost all these problems. Just pull up Deep Seek, drop in whatever the console throws at you and you can get back the answer free of charge. These days the hardest part of bash is remembering that Ctrl+V should be Shift+Ctrl+V.
Don’t, under any circumstances, do that. This is an anti-advice.
Worse than NixOS?
Nah. Arch is not noob friendly per se but with CachyOS installing and getting most of what you need to run is very easy. Experience with Steam and Proton is painless. Things can get harder when you are starting to dig deeper.
My experience with Nixos was 90% editing config files, 10% trying to play any game and failing.
Mint and Zorin have been flawless for me.
Installing Mint on my laptop actually fixed a longstanding issue with the speakers. They were working fine for ages on Wibdows, then some reason they just stopped working. Windows could not detect any speakers. It was to a point that I assumed hardware failure, and opened the laptop and traced the audio output to identify a blown sm cap or something, then gave up. It wasn’t until I installed Mint and it made a startup noise that I was like “wtf” because I thought it would never speak again. Turns out windows was just borked.
Installing Zorin on an old thinkcentre desktop just worked perfectly, despite my deep suspicion. I got it set up to meet my workflow perfectly in less time than I would have spent reinstalling windows and getting it dialed in just the way I like.
Is Arch “better”? Maybe, to some people. Could I make it work? It’s possible? Instead of tweaking arch to meet my requirements, could I rather spend my free time gardening or patting the cat? Absolutely.
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