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MajorRocki
7y

!rant
It's rather a question. I am thinking of changing my Linux distro from Lubuntu to Arch Linux or Gentoo.

My main reason is that I want to achieve customizability and the freedom that Linux offer and also build my distro from ground up.
Second reason is that I want to switch a little bit I am using Lubuntu for 2-3 years and is worked great for me. Especially because I have an older laptop (Asus K53E) and windows 7 worked really slow on it. But with this distro, everything works much faster and has all features and tools for programming that I need despite being minimalistic.

I have also used other distros before this one. These are some of them that I can remember Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Mint, Bodhi Linux.

I would say for myself that I am quite familiar with terminal and I also wrote some bash scripts on complexity level like these: https://github.com/RokKos/..., https://github.com/RokKos/...

But my main concern is that would fail to install any of this two distros or that I would damage my computer beyond repair...

So my main questions are:
What are you experience with this two distros?
Did you have any troubles installing and setting up distro?
What is overall experience with this two distros?
Was is worth to switch to any of these two?

And you could also share what distro you are using and maybe some rants that occur using them.

undefined

linux

distro choice

arch

gentoo
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Comments
  • 1
    7y
    Hey, hmm let's say Arch and Gentoo are both pretty nice vut not only that they are both similar in a way that you the user has more manual stuf to do to unstall and customize it. I never used gentoo befor but i know the difference from the gentoo's place. I think my answere to your question would be If you just want a linux where you customize frome ground up without losing time on other stuf but on the customisation you can go with Arch. They have a super filled wiki which give you solutions for any kind of possible problemes, they have forums where you can get answers. I'm saying this because if you never used Arche based distrod as your primary os and never did any kind of manual installation then those resources will be helpful. With arch you don't have to pass extra time with packages etc... I like challanges so i like to try different type of distros but when it comes to a time where i want a nice distro just to program and not passig time on other stuf, i go for Arch.
  • 1
    7y
    My experience with Linux(computers too) is just 3 years. I tried installing Arch Linux a week ago(in virtual box) and I succeeded. I tried it again and it ran fine. You seem way ahead of me, YOU CAN DO IT.
  • 2
    7y
    I have been using Arch at work for 10 months and i'm very happy.

    I came from Ubuntu/Mint: with Arch it's amazing that you can customize everything and you're not forced to use a desktop enviroment.

    With rolling update you have the last stable versions for every lib/framework/kernel

    I used Antergos that it's exactly Arch but with a Gui installer.
  • 2
    7y
    @snakebyte @sachin38 @sam0 Thanks for every advice. You really inspired me to try Arch Linux. I will definitely look on arch wiki before doing installation.

    And only because of safety reasons and practise I will first try it to install on Virtual box or on old machine.
  • 2
    7y
    @MajorRocki DO NOT TRY ARCH BEFORE CHECKING YOUR HARDWARE COMPATIBILITY
  • 0
    7y
    @Qchmqs Thanks will absolutely check before trying 😉
  • 1
    7y
    @snakebyte you can always change your desktop environment. It's just another program!

    I run Ubuntu for the package ecosystem and driver compatibility but i3wm for productivity.

    I do recommend going through the setup of arch/Gentoo. It's a great learning experience.
  • 2
    7y
    @jshwkxneiwbd yes you're right but what i hate of Cinnamon or Ubuntu is that they come with some DE as flavors. If you want to install for example Cinnamon on Ubuntu you must choose a starting flavor DE and uninstall it.

    With Arch it's another way: you have an empty OS with all base packages, then you decide the first DE to install.

    I know that the result is the same, but i like the Arch way.

    At the moment i have I3 as the main DE/Window manager with all my customization (Conky for the bars, rofi as menu launcher). I like it because it's minimal and keyboard friendly so i can use all the laptop resources for the IDE and the applications server.
  • 0
    7y
    @jshwkxneiwbd But changing desktop environment only changes look of distro but not functionality and usability. Its true that every desktop environment has its own benefits and maybe some useful functionalities but it still doesn't change core.

    I looked at i3wm and looks super cool I will definitely try 😉 Thanks for advice and I hope that it will be a great experience.
  • 3
    7y
    Gentoo should only be used by those with computers which can compile things really quickly.
  • 2
    7y
    If you *really* want to build your distro from the ground up - and have the time to dedicate to building packages from source, and maintaining the system - then go with Gentoo. If you can't spare the amount of time that Gentoo will require, then go with Arch. You'll be able to build the system you want (from binary files instead of source packages), and you *can* get a pretty stable system of you stick with the LTS kernels and packages you're familiar with.

    If neither of those will install, you can look into Manjaro (Arch-based), openSUSE (I recommend Tumbleweed), or even Solus (very exciting new built-from-scratch project with a *very* involved dev).

    Personally, I'm biased towards Arch, as in familiar with it, and know that - with a bit of tweaking - it's a great daily driver. I've only ever played around with Gentoo on a friend's machine, but I've never tried installing it myself.
  • 1
    7y
    @jjhiza Thanks for the answer. I didn't hear about this distros but I will check them out. Really useful information.

    By the comments I am judging that Arch would be the right distro to go with 😉
  • 1
    7y
    @MajorRocki I think so too. It should give you the flexibility you're looking for, without having to literally build all of your packages from source. With Pacaur, Pamac, or Octopi (GUI package managers), maintaining an Arch system is pretty easy. I definitely recommend keeping an LTS kernel installed though, just in case you run into problems and need to roll back from a non-LTS version. Nothing is more frustrating than having to reinstall because of a kernel update that doesn't play nice with your hardware.
  • 1
    7y
    I did it 😊 super happy 😎 now I am going to sleep 😁 its 2.30 am at my place..
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