I'm looking to transition away from Debian and Ubuntu-based distributions and would like to explore something more challenging like Arch Linux. However, I haven't had the chance to read the Arch Wiki yet, so I'm unsure if I'm ready to jump straight in. I want to enhance my Linux knowledge, but I'm contemplating whether to start with Arch or one of its derivatives first. I've previously used Xubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, and Fedora. If a derivative is a better starting point, I'm considering options like Endeavor Linux, Manjaro, Big Linux, Cachy OS, or the Arch Install Script. I'd really appreciate your thoughts on which approach would be best for someone looking to learn more about Linux.
5 Answers
Why not give Arch a go? If it feels overwhelming, you can always revert to something you're more comfortable with.
You can definitely learn Linux from any of the distros you've tried before. But why not start off with an Arch derivative to get accustomed to the ecosystem? Just a heads-up though: using the Arch Install Script might make your learning experience a bit too easy since it does a lot for you! Also, I've never heard of Big Linux, but I would recommend checking out the Arch Wiki if you do decide to go full vanilla Arch. It's an amazing resource!
I'm curious, what’s the hype around Arch? You've gone through a bunch of other distros—what makes you lean towards Arch?
I think it's because Arch isn’t Debian-based, and people rave about how it deepens your understanding of Linux.
The manual installation of Arch isn’t really that scary once you get the hang of it. If you’re looking for a real challenge, maybe consider Gentoo. But if you prefer something that works out of the box, stick with a derivative for now.
Experimentation is key! I'd suggest trying it out for a while. Just be careful not to store any critical data on it until you're more settled. I've played around with Cachy and found it good, though it didn't play nice with my hardware, so I switched to Ubuntu Studio instead.
That's my plan too! I want to use an Arch-based distro for a month to familiarize myself with the package manager commands before diving into vanilla Arch. And yeah, Big Linux is like Arch for beginners, but I've heard it has some update quirks.