Sharing Arch Linux
Some stuff I posted on NTUOSS forum.
Just want to share Arch Linux. I have recently installed Archlinux. Before that, I have tired Gentoo, Ubuntu, Redhat, Fedora, Open Suse, Debian, …. I choose Arch because of its focus on simplicity.
Distros like Ubuntu/Fedora/OpenSuse are extremely user(newbie) friendly (sometime friendlier than M$ Vista). The ease of use is (partially)achieved by close integration among applications. Usually a default installation comes with a default KDE/Gnome desktop environment. Usually these desktops comes with panel applets, system utilities, network manager, editors, …. The questions is, do you use all of them?
Take the Ubuntu+Gnome combo for example. The Evolution suite is installed by default. I don’t need and don’t want a mail/calendar application. I tried to remove the Evolution suite, and I have some bad experience with that. Removal is easy (both using console/GUI), but problems start appearing during you next system update (I am not going into discussion on why it breaks). This is just an example. My point is, tight integration makes removal/substitution of applications, especially those pre-installed, troublesome.
HDDs are cheap, many people don’t care, but I am particularly concerned with the things that stay on my HDD. I felt as if my freedom is restricted. Ironically one of the reasons why I chose Linux over Window is because I want more freedom on my control over the software in my machine.
Arch vs Other and What is Arch Linux can give you a good idea on what Arch is. Arch has a focus on simplicity and minimalistic, which happened to suit me. The installation gives you a very basic system. Usable but not productive. The real fun comes in the post-installation. You get(need) to choose software for your system. There is no “default”. If you want, you can install KDE or Gnome, which bring in a very large dependencies. I prefer lightweight stuffs, so I chose XFCE. Then I go on to install other stuffs (e.g. iwconfig, sudo, apache, php, python, java, mysql, …). Desktops like LXDE and XFCE are very light, they don’t come with tons of applications you don’t want. You are free to choose what you want.
IMHO,
Arch is not for newbie, whom has just decided to leave the Dark Side. (I recommends Fedora/Ubuntu/OpenSuse for newbies, these distros are really cool, smart, and friendly) Arch is for people whom are comfortable with console and config files (of cos you can install a GUI frontend, it has one). It is for people whom want freedom to make any choice about the system.
Gentoo, Slackware, and LFS are also very minimalistic, but they are for experienced Tuxes. I am not that good enough, and I do not want to spend too much time reading documentations and compiling.
Alright these are my personal experience with Linux. Arch is not the best distro on earth, I think there is no single best distro. One of the nicest things of Linux is there exists millions of distro, to suit users of different preference. The GPL licenses give you the freedom to try out different distros. Go ahead and try a different distro, sooner or later you will find one that suit you.