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ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

standardsandfreedom.net

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Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#31

Post by chimeracoder »

adestefan wrote: post #24
Nic0 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Command line tool use much more often -x or --foo arguments that a word. Also -S is still faster to type than install, personally I won't switch for 'install'. Nevertheless, you may add some alias to change the behavior if it's annoying you.

I never liked CLI tools that have a "mode" switch that then overloads command arguments. Pacman is especially confusing since -S actually means the sync mode. Which doesn't really fit with the idea of installing a package. Also, why do you use sync mode to install a package, but have a special remove (-R) mode to remove a package? Shouldn't there be a -I to install? To take it further, standard use cases for a packag…

> Pacman is especially confusing since -S actually means the sync mode. Which doesn't really fit with the idea of installing a package.

The idea is that you are synchronizing your copy of the local package (which is currently empty/nonexistant) with the remote copy. It's also the same command you use to update that package. So,

pacman -S foo

will upgrade foo if it exists locally, and find and install the most recent version of foo if it does not.

Once you get used to it, the command-line switches in pacman actually address your second concern (the one with apt/yum). In pacman, everything is built on top of a very simple database model - it just so happens that that simple database model is also powerful enough to serve a range of complex functions.

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#35

Post by lftl »

sirclueless wrote: post #16
taudelta wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would say it has a bit of both kinds.

Anecdotally, ArchLinux has bitten me before with its rolling releases. They moved the hostname utility to a new package, but pacman (their package manager) didn't prompt or download the new package. This promptly broke my laptop's network stack right before I left for a weekend trip. Now I didn't have internet, and I didn't have internet to find out how to fix my internet. It all worked out fine by writing a bash scr…

I ran Debian unstable on my desktop for a number of years and the experience sounds pretty comparable. For the most part I just got working bleeding edge packages with minor quality control. Occasionally you would get some breakage (which was usually mentioned in apt-listbugs before upgrade anyway), and the nice thing about debian was I could either pin the package to the current more stable version, or if I had already upgraded I could just grab the previous package off of the debian snapshot mirrors.

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#36

Post by thorstadt »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #32

Am I right in thinking that Arch is the new Gentoo?

Hmm, I don't really think so. Arch packages are distributed as pre-compiled binaries (not counting AUR), and the emphasis is on simplicity (not customization or performance). I've found I can get Arch up and running satisfactorily in about an hour.

The intersection of Gentoo and Arch is that they both require more configuration than your average Debian-based distro, and they both have rolling release models, but in my opinion that's about it.

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#37

Post by Nic0 »

Tichy wrote: post #33

"almost as easy than Ubuntu or any other distribution" But if Ubuntu is easier, why not use Ubuntu?

nano is easier than vim to use, so why everyone bother to learn vim then ?

Ease to use is not the only thing mater for everyone, and having something powerful, more customizable, more understandable, those kind of things mater to some persons.

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#38

Post by Tichy »

Nic0 wrote: post #37
Tichy wrote: post #33

"almost as easy than Ubuntu or any other distribution" But if Ubuntu is easier, why not use Ubuntu?

nano is easier than vim to use, so why everyone bother to learn vim then ? Ease to use is not the only thing mater for everyone, and having something powerful, more customizable, more understandable, those kind of things mater to some persons.

You know, my question was serious. There are several reasons for using vim, like maybe you can edit faster if you know the commands, there are more plugins and so on. So if my question had been "why use vim instead of nano", there would have been possible reasonable answers.

But what is the advantage of Arch over Ubuntu? They are both Linux... My question was serious, I really don't know why I should prefer Arch.

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#39

Post by jgn »

jcurbo wrote: post #21

I don't use Arch personally, but I have found that every time I've looked for documentation on something lately (like setting up xmonad), I would be directed to the Arch wiki and forums quite a bit. They seem to have a good community going on over there.

The community is amazing. The forums are a wealth of information, and I've tracked down almost every single bug just by searching. The wiki is updated regularly and is just as rich.

In my experience Arch users are very happy and proud to be running such a powerful, flexible system, and they give back by helping others. I ran Slackware for a year, then messed around with Mint before trying Arch. I can't see myself trying anything else -- except maybe LFS ;).

Re: ArchLinux, Not Just For The Elite

#40

Post by CrystalBlood »

[..] Arch Linux is a very fun and stable distribution that successfully blends the bleeding edge, stability and hackability of Linux. Don’t be fooled by the rumours saying it’s for the elite. [..]

Agree! I have been using it for almost a year and the most atractive thing is the rolling release update. I don't have to worry about upgrading the whole system like others distros.

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