[Jnr]

I don't think it is because they can't do it or that they want to be a base for other distros. They simply let the user choose what the user wants. And if you don't know what you want then you learn it.

I switched to arch 15 years ago to learn Linux. And it is by far the best way to understand it.

Having used Arch I can easily maintain almost any distro out there, but it doesn't work the other way around.

[godelski]

  > Having used Arch I can easily maintain almost any distro out there, but it doesn't work the other way around.

I think this is an important thing to recognize. It's exactly why I tell people that want to learn Linux to do it (but not people who want to use Linux). The struggle is real, but the struggle is part of the learning process. The truth is that distros are not that different from one another. The main difference is in the package manager and the release schedule of their package databases.

I'd also like to tell any Linux newbies, the Arch Wiki is your best friend. It doesn't matter if you're using Ubuntu, Mint, or whatever. The Arch Wiki is still usually the second place I go to for when I need help. The first is the man pages (while there's some bad documentation out there it is quite surprising how well most man pages are written. Linux really has shown me the power and importance of writing good documentation)