[alexarnesen]

Arch is the first system I have been able to support, fully. As in, 100% of the issues I run across with my distro, I can resolve. I used to run Ubuntu as my gnome desktop distribution, and when it worked (99% of the time), it was a superior experience to Arch. However when running Ubuntu I would inevitably run across some issue that seemed to require a level of sysadmin chops that I never have possessed. For the past year I've been running an Arch desktop, I have resolved every issue by using the Arch wiki and Google/ stack overflow. I suspect that partly, the Arch approach is appealing to those of us who prefer a simpler system, because those are easier to grapple with in a support context.

[Enginerrrd]

This has been exactly my experience as well. Ubuntu would have fewer issues initially, and almost no setup, but after setup it would break more often and always find ways to break in new and interesting ways that were very difficult to resolve, and I never could understand what was wrong.

With Arch, I was able to fix every issue that came up, full stop. But it required much more setup. It also breaks way less often. Prior to Arch, I never really felt that "full-empowered linux-user" feeling. It was always voodoo. Now I DO get that feeling and I really feel in charge and in control of my system. Interestingly, I still run ubuntu server for a couple servers, (I generally prefer debian for servers, but that's a separate discussion.) and I still find the occasional issues that come up to be difficult-to-resolve voodoo, despite having a much greater level of understanding of how linux works and does things.

[stonemetal12]

Would you recommend Arch to someone without a lot of Linux experience? Ubuntu has me thinking of switching to a different OS.

[bavell]

If you're interested, I'd recommend checking out the Arch wiki - imo it's one of the most comprehensive repositories of Linux info out there and pretty easy to follow. Even other distros use and link to it since it's very general and has a huge scope. Great reference for power users and starting point for beginners.

[trevcanhuman]

I’d recommend going for it, and as others have said, be prepared to read the Arch Wiki, a lot. I think what’s most important would be to simply have the guts and the inspiration to keep going, even if you think you’ve lost all hope. Personally, I started out my Linux journey with Ubuntu, then distro hopped and tried PopOS, and Ubuntu-based distro with extra things here and there. Then, I took a Linux course online (for free) and gave me general fundamentals, it advertises as the “The Start from scratch Linux course”. After that and spending tons of time on Reddit and seeing post after post and the memes about ‘I use arch btw’ I decided to try it out. It was definitely fun and a tad time consuming at first, but after that I’ve learned a ton more about Linux and how things work. I’ve only had a broken system a couple times. Again, the ArchWiki is your friend.

[pxc]

Unpopular opinion: the only people I'd recommend Arch to are people without a lot of Linux experience (who are interested in learning).

Once you learn the basics of what goes into a distro and you know how to set things up and troubleshoot, there's no reason to use a distro with a package management story as backwards as Arch's.

After you're done with Arch, learn to write packages for a couple distros (practice building them on something like OBS[1], which lets you build and distribute packages for almost any distro). Then choose your distro based on the quality of the tooling it is built on and package whatever you need that isn't already in it.

—

1: https://build.opensuse.org/

[nicta]

My personal experience with Linux has been Ubuntu ~1 week -> Debian 2 days -> Arch 11 years now.

It will require some time learning and reading through the wiki. I would definitely recommend trying it in a vm first.

[ativzzz]

I recommend checking out EndeavourOS. It's an Arch based OS that sets you up with a friendly installer and a desktop environment out of the box, then gets out of your way. You don't get the fun experience of installing arch from scratch but it's a gentler introduction to the ecosystem.

I switched from ubuntu to Endeavour as my first dive into Arch recently and have been happy with it.

[assbuttbuttass]

You can give it a try but be prepared to spend a lot of time reading the wiki

[pxc]

This is the best reason I've heard stated for preferring Arch. Thanks for sharing!