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Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

meribold.org

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Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#321

Post by andrewstuart2 »

codeflo wrote: post #262
andrewstuart2 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely had some rough edges with the pulseaudio, and then pipewire, upgrades, and a few cases where almost everything broke because in my infinite genius I had compiled my own (insert dependency) for a bleeding edge feature, forgot to revert when it made it to mainline, and then later down the road a major version bump meant some `.so` was missing, and I had to USB liveboot to fix it. I've also been on Arch for…

> Almost always, it's been surprisingly straightforward to un-screw the few screw-ups I've made. That's been my experience as well. With Arch, everything is exposed. There are usually no wrappers or layers of abstraction or weird modifications added to the upstream components it ships. That makes problems so much more straightforward to troubleshoot and fix.

Exactly. And having gone through the install process to the point of a usable desktop, I learned a ton about what I'd need later to fix the issues myself, quickly. And then when everything just worked, much better than Ubuntu, I installed Arch on a few other machines and got even more practice.

The learning curve may have been steep but it definitely paid off in my understanding of how to maintain and fix issues going forward. And just my understanding of Linux overall.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#322

Post by vlunkr »

fareesh wrote: post #255

I stuck with Ubuntu (eventually Kubuntu) for many years because I thought it was the best for a no-fuss distro for folks who wanted things to just work (TM). I was afraid of things randomly breaking and interrupting my daily work. One day I eventually bit the bullet and installed Arch instead. The experience has been phenomenal, and if anything it feels more stable than Ubuntu. I was underestimating my own Linux know…

For me the big difference with Arch is that you choose all the different pieces (networking, disk setup, desktop environment, login manager, etc.), so when something goes wrong, you know exactly where to look. If something goes wrong in Ubuntu, especially as a beginner all you can do is google "Ubuntu wifi disconnecting" or whatever. It's definitely more work to get installed, but you come away with something very personal, that you understand very well.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#323

Post by abrookewood »

meribold wrote: post #132
grimgrin wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So to recall the above, had you blogged about this, wrote in your journal, or just queried your damn memory??

I try to take a note whenever I fix some major issue with my system. Querying my memory doesn't yield much; definitely not specific dates :)

If only we could add some indexes ...

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#324

Post by jesse__ »

I had one of the worst debugging experiences of my life installing Arch (before I knew anything about linux, or programming), followed by probably the most delightful computing experience of my life using that installation for the next several years.

I don't use Arch anymore, but I think about going back to it all the time. Hopefully one of these days I actually pull up my socks and install it again.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#325

Post by chlorion »

bombcar wrote: post #241
number6 wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your distro is literally named after a penguin, so what's your point? :D

Quoted post unavailable.

Are they actually? Have you spent any time in the Gentoo community or talked to actual Gentoo users?

I see people parrot this around a lot but from my experience the insufferable thing is the constant complaining and sweeping accusations against a large and varied group of people who happen to use a certain distro.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#327

Post by yoyohello13 »

fareesh wrote: post #255

I stuck with Ubuntu (eventually Kubuntu) for many years because I thought it was the best for a no-fuss distro for folks who wanted things to just work (TM). I was afraid of things randomly breaking and interrupting my daily work. One day I eventually bit the bullet and installed Arch instead. The experience has been phenomenal, and if anything it feels more stable than Ubuntu. I was underestimating my own Linux know…

I think the old narrative that Ubuntu is the best “just works” distro is just plain wrong (and harmful). I’ve tried a huge variety of distros over the years and ironically I’ve always had the most problems with Ubuntu based distros. Fedora, and Arch have given me the least problems. Fedora in particular has been rock solid for me.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#328

Post by genewitch »

andrewstuart2 wrote: post #137
meribold wrote: post #35

I can provide some details regarding the times things did break that I mentioned in the article. * In September 2014, X broke, and I created an `/etc/X11/Xwrapper.config` file with the lines `allowed_users = anybody` and `needs_root_rights = yes` to get it to work again. I don't remember and don't have notes on why that helped. It sure does sound like a pretty terrible hack. I don't have that Xwrapper.config file any…

I definitely had some rough edges with the pulseaudio, and then pipewire, upgrades, and a few cases where almost everything broke because in my infinite genius I had compiled my own (insert dependency) for a bleeding edge feature, forgot to revert when it made it to mainline, and then later down the road a major version bump meant some `.so` was missing, and I had to USB liveboot to fix it. I've also been on Arch for…

the pipewire thing has been a debacle on gentoo as well, with it being a coin toss for at least this year whether a full software update will break audio and video or not. And i didn't write a note anywhere except on the gentoo matrix channel. And if you've ever tried to search a busy matrix channel on a single-instance matrix server...

If memory serves, deleting some file from /etc/ fixes the issue.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#329

Post by marcodiego »

You probably can't update as much as you can with Arch, but any reasonable modern linux distro these days allows the user to have a very stable core and very up to date user space with snaps, flatpaks and AppImages.

I was jealous of windows because of exactly this. No longer now. It could still be better, e.g.: .AppImages could automatically be opened by something that mimics an installation wizard with checks for signatures, permissions, installations, periodic updates... it would be much more user-friendly than expecting the user to give "executable rights/flags" to a file that was just downloaded. Nevertheless, it broke the "good enough" barrier for me.

Coming from a time that "just released" software required compilation from source and sometimes, compilation of its dependencies which sometimes could simply break the system or worse: add lots of repos that could suddenly disappear or break your package manager in a way that it was simpler to just reinstall your system from scratch than trying to fix it; current situation is much much better. It is good to have a mature and stable distro that one can expect will be maintained for years with software that was released just yesterday.

Re: Using the same Arch Linux installation for a decade

#330

Post by genewitch »

burntsushi wrote: post #304
TacticalCoder wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coming from the author of ripgrep, which is a tool I use daily, I've got to say it's an honor to see you answering my silly comment! Office at home certainly beats datacenter hosted but by 5x? Not sure... ; )

Hah. The only way it's possible where I live is with a UPS combined with a whole home standby generator. (I got the generator not just for uptimes haha. Got it because we get a lot of outages and we were losing a lot of spoiled goods from our fridge. About half our neighborhood has generators of some kind.)

refrigerators don't really use much power while running. As a joke-y test i ran my refrigerator off of my truck via an inverter connected to the battery terminals and 3 50' extension cords. I think a fridge draws less than a decent GPU while running. You do, however, need a decent inverter to start the compressor running in the fridge, though.

Also, a deep freeze that is the top loading style is best for preventing spoilage, especially if you keep all the available space full of bags or bottles of water.

I also have a makeshift "whole home" backup generator, 11.5kW/9.5kW peak on gas/propane, but only because i have a well, and the pump draws something like 4.5kW when running. The extra headroom allows me to run my 5 ton HVAC and have running water and lights and everything.

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