Unashamed Arch plug

[Abarbarian]

KISS simplicity: Arch Linux by Guillermo Garron

I'm a committed Arch user now so I'm making no excuses for plugging my favourite operating system.

 

[Abarbarian]

http://claudecat.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/arch-linux-not-just-for-geeks/

Another good Arch article.

 

[Abarbarian]

Build A Serious Multimedia Production Workstation With Arch Linux

Yet another Arch article

 

[Abarbarian]

XX SINFO - Allan Mcrae - Arch Linux: Succeeding on the Bleeding Edge

Published on Mar 9, 2013
Arch Linux is a community based Linux distribution that is known for its simplicity, extremely up-to-date software and strong documentation. Allan will talk about how the development of Arch Linux is organised and his role in maintaining the distribution. He will also discuss the role Arch Linux plays in the Linux ecosystem.

A most excellent talk.

 

[Abarbarian]

http://www.muktware.com/5451/how-install-arch-linux

How to install Arch Linux, while keeping it simple


"Arch is more or less like building your own house on your own land. You own it, but you are also responsible for it. That makes things a bit tricky, you don't just move in, you have to build it first. As I said I always wanted to use Arch, but the only thing that was coming between me and Arch was installation.
If you are trying to install Arch on your system the Beginner’s Guide is an awesome resource, but there is so much information that it can be intimidating at times. If you are someone like me who wants to use Arch but is afraid of its official wiki, this article will help you. It's more or less a documentation of the steps I took to install Arch on my systems."


"Before you follow this tutorial, I would suggest that you also open the Beginner’s Guide and compare the steps I mentioned in this article with those in the wiki. The goal of this article is to make you comfortable with the Arch Wiki. Use my tutorial to understand the official guide.
So, let’s take a dive in the warm waters of Arch"

Coupled with some reading of the Arch Beginners Guide this is a great guide for anyone thinking of trying out the Arch 2013 .iso.


Shame he shows how to install " sudo " which I would not recommend installing.KDE whilst being pretty and slick is another choice I would swerve due to bloat and it is still buggy with crashyitis.An I also find alsa better for sound than pulse.



Still it is a great guide.

 

[Abarbarian]

Bluestar Linux: A Beautiful Take on KDE and a User-Friendly Arch-Based Distribution

The installation of Bluestar Linux is a breath of fresh air for those who have wanted to give Arch Linux a try but had no desire to struggle through the challenge of setting up the system manually. Installing Bluestar is about as standard as installing any modern Linux distribution.

Have not tried this offering but it sounds intriguing.

 

[bootneck02]

Looks very good Abarbarian but I think I will leave until I am a bit more experienced with Linux.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've just installed Bluestar Linux, burnt the DVD, installed the Live Distro then installed to a spare 240Gb HDD (actually an SSD) letting Bluestar have the disk all to itself. No other HDD's present on install, the SSD was loaded into an internal caddy which defaults to C drive position.

Summary: Not as user friendly as Mint but if I managed to install it and find my way around then it's likely anybody can.

It took me a while to figure out quite a few things, most notably how to install the distro to hard disk from the Live setup. In the end right-clicked desktop, selected something like 'Search', typed in 'install' and that gave me a link to the installer.

Then once it was installed I was presented with a setup asking me to unlock Bluestar and no matter what I tried - several passwords were given on the Bluestar download page plus I'd given my own password on install - nothing worked. So I hit the reset button then Bluestar booted right into user mode, which is what I'd selected on install (no password required).

Google Chrome and Firefox are installed by default and I could access online immediately. VLC and Amarock media players are installed by default and Bluestar recognised my soundcard ok (though I had to configure it to work) and I played audio files (FLAC) OK.

And that's about as far as I've got. The distro is quick, seems stable and is looking good so far. It's fairly late now but I shall mess about with this some more over the next few days.

 

[bootneck02]

Great stuff Mr Flops will be interested on your findings.

 

[Abarbarian]

@floppybootstomp way to go matey your a braver soul than me. I just post about distros

 

[floppybootstomp]

@floppybootstomp way to go matey your a braver soul than me. I just post about distros

Now don't you come the false modesty with me sonny Jim, you're the one who's installed and are using Arch, not something I'd undertake lightly.

This distro piqued my curiosity as it was labelled user-friendly, so I just had to try it. Haven't revisited yet, will probably have another look this evening.

 

[Abarbarian]

@floppybootstomp Well you managed to make a successful install and surf the net and so on so it must be a user-friendly os.

 

[bootneck02]

I am a coward at this moment of time I will stick with Mint. Oh hang on I have a spare drive I could put it on and have a play. Could I put it onto a external drive??

 

[floppybootstomp]

The distro is less than 3Gb so assuming your computer will boot from a USB stick you could load it onto one and try it out as a Live distro rather than a permanent install. Or burn the ISO to a DVD and boot from that to try the Live version.

But to be quite honest if you're comfortable with Mint and by now have found your way round V.18 then I'd stay with it.

 

[bootneck02]

Thanks for that Mr Flops yes very happy with Mint, I shall follow your advice .

 

[Abarbarian]

Arch Linux & GNOME 3 – A bit of a review / experience report (2016)

After over 7 years of using Linux Mint (first with GNOME 2 and then with MATE), today I installed Arch Linux and GNOME 3.

I decided to make the jump for a couple of reasons. Firstly, my laptop has been struggling performance-wise, so I thought a leaner and more customisable distro would help with that. Secondly, Arch Linux due to it’s ‘rolling release’ system is bleeding edge and always has the very latest software packages. With Linux Mint, it’s very hard to upgrade software packages to the latest version.

Video drivers were a piece of cake to install. I just followed the Arch wiki page and I think there was only about 3 steps involved. Last time I installed Mint, installing drivers was an absolute pain!

Having a pop , who me , wouldn't think of such a thing

A pretty decent honest review I thought. The guy must have a fair amount of linux expertise to have fiddled his way around his hicups, I would have given up and tried a fresh install as it would have been quicker than trouble shooting.

 

[floppybootstomp]

'With Linux Mint it's very hard to upgrade software packages to the latest version'

What's he on about? If you want latest version of an app/software and it won't upgrade just uninstall the bugger and install the new version. Sorted.

And he's using a laptop. And he expects a trouble free ride?

Oh yes, I've had no trouble installing drivers in Mint.

Methinks this fellow may be an Arch fanboy

 

[Abarbarian]

'With Linux Mint it's very hard to upgrade software packages to the latest version'

What's he on about? If you want latest version of an app/software and it won't upgrade just uninstall the bugger and install the new version. Sorted.

His comment is true. As to "just uninstall and install the latest" I'd like to have a seat and watch whilst you try.
Mint is based I believe on Ubuntu and Debian stable releases which do not contain the latest releases of software. Even Debian Testing does not have the very latest release of all software though it does come close.
Here is a link to a thread on the Mint forums concerning this matter. It was started in 2009 and the last post was in 2017. The first post is more eloquent than I could be and is very informative as is the rest off the thread.
Interestingly enough several folk there admit that if you want the latest software running in linux then Arch is probably your best bet.

Why are my applications not the latest possible version?

This seems to be a very common question here (moved from newbie questions). Frequently users new to linux cannot understand why the newer versions of their favourite program are available from the program's website, but the update never comes. If you are one of those people, this post is for you. There are two kinds of possible updates to an app, one which adds new features, and one that simply fixes a few problems with the app. Both are treated the same under windows, but completely different in Linux so I'll detail the methods below. This post assumes you know about repos, which are simply trusted online storage areas for all the apps you may wish to install: Mint has its own, but also uses Ubuntu's.

Page four of the thread is a good read, here is an extract, it may be a few years old but the sentiment is still relevant today.

Take for example Gnome Commander. The version of Gnome Commander in the repositories of Linux Mint 16 is version 1.2.8.15 while the latest version of this program is 1.4.x. At https://git.gnome.org/browse/gnome-commander/plain/NEWS you see that there are a lot of improvements since the 1.2.8.15 version had been released. At https://download.gnome.org/sources/gnome-commander/1.4/gnome-commander-1.4.0.tar.xz you can download the latest version of Gnome Commander, but installing manually is rather tedious. You have to make sure that the needed additional modules and libraries have been installed, otherwise the ./configure command will report errors.

Why are the apps in Mint's repositories not updated to the latest versions and do they lag some versions behind?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, fair do's, in light of the honourable gentleman's trustworthy evidence I shall reappraise the situation

 

[bootneck02]

From my point of view I chose Mint because I wanted stability and reliability as a ex Microsoft user. I am a amateur user of little knowledge of Linux and the differences of Distro's, I went for that I had the ability to use easily came complete and not knowing anything about command line code and Mint fits that bill as I have only had to use command code twice in the last two years. Most ex Microsoft users only want something that works out of the box and Mint fits that bill. I am old and lazy and the challenge of coming away something I had been using since 1998/9 to 2015 and sort have grown up with and understood and knew people in the trade professional IT trade who had no knowledge of Linux because all they knew was Microsoft and were certified MS engineers was quite daunting and a very big step for me. Mint makes the change from Microsoft to Linux a soft landing and quite easy and it allows a novice a easy ride for the transfer to a Linux distro.
The way I looked at it Linux was a geeks operating system but now there many distro's that are welcoming ex Microsoft users to the Linux fold and you have a choice where as with Microsoft you do not and with Linux distros you can choose one that suits you, with Microsoft no choice only one on the shelf and that is it, and with all the controversy of privacy, forced adverts and big brother attitude and expense is forcing users away from Microsoft to an easy alternative. LONG LIVE LINUX MINT CINNAMON