The Arch Family

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The Arch Family

There's more to Linux than Ubuntu variants. Arch Linux for instead is our captain's favo(u)rite.

The Arch Linux family

Flavor https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/arch.png https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/archbang.png https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/archlabs.png https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/antergos.png https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/manjaro.png https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/parabola.png

Description Arch Linux is a Linux distribution for computers based on x86-64 architectures. It is composed predominantly of free and open-source software, and supports community involvement. The design approach of the development team follows the KISS principle ("keep it simple, stupid") as the general guideline, and focuses on elegance, code correctness, minimalism and simplicity, and expects the user to be willing to make some effort to understand the system's operation. ArchBang Linux is a lightweight distribution based on Arch Linux. Using the Openbox window manager, it is fast, up-to-date and suitable for both desktop and portable systems. ArchLabs is a distribution based on Arch Linux and featuring the Openbox window manager as the primary desktop interface. ArchLabs is a 64-bit, rolling release distribution which provides a live DVD. The distribution can be installed using the AL-Installer system installer. Antergos is a modern, elegant and powerful operating system based on Arch Linux. It started life under the name of Cinnarch, combining the Cinnamon desktop with the Arch Linux distribution, but the project has moved on from its original goals and now offers a choice of several desktops, including GNOME 3 (default), Cinnamon, Razor-qt and Xfce. Antergos also provides its own graphical installation program, Cnchi. Manjaro Linux is a fast, user-friendly, desktop-oriented operating system based on Arch Linux. Key features include intuitive installation process, automatic hardware detection, stable rolling-release model, ability to install multiple kernels, special Bash scripts for managing graphics drivers and extensive desktop configurability. Manjaro Linux offers Xfce as the core desktop options, as well as KDE, GNOME and a minimalist Net edition for more advanced users. Community-supported desktop flavours are also available. Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is an unofficial "libre" variant of Arch Linux. It aims to provide a fully free (as in freedom) distribution based on the packages of the Arch Linux project, with packages optimised for i686 and x86_64 processors. The goal is to give the users complete control over their systems with 100% "libre" software. Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is listed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as a fully free software distribution. Besides a standard installation CD image, the project also provides a live/rescue DVD image with MATE as the default desktop environment.

Architecture x86_64, i386, ARM x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64, i386, ARMv7

Status Active Active Active Active Active Active

Desktop Cinnamon, Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, LXDE, Mate, Xfce i3, Openbox (Default) bspwm, Cinnamon, i3-gaps, dwm, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Openbox (Default), Xfce Cinnamon, GNOME3 (Default), KDE, MATE, Openbox, Xfce Awesome, bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Openbox, Xfce (Default) Blackbox, Fluxbox, GNOME, IceWM, KDE, LXDE, MATE (Default), Openbox, WMaker, Xfce

CPU Req x86_64 CPU x86_64 CPU
(1 GHz or better recommended) x86_64 CPU
(1.4 GHz or better recommended) x86_64 CPU
(1 GHz or better recommended) x86_64 CPU
(1 GHz or better recommended) i686 CPU
(better recommended)

Ram Req 512 MB
(2 GB or more recommended) 512 MB
(1 GB or more recommended) 512 MB
(1 GB or more recommended) 512 MB
(2 GB or more recommended) 1 GB
(more recommended) 256 MB
(more recommended)

Disk Space 10-20 GB 5-15 GB 10-15 GB 6-15 GB 30 GB 800 MB
(more recommended)

04-15-2019, 02:59 AM
NeoGen

That's a neat post Dirk, I sometimes wonder why so many Linux(es?) but each must have their own specialty and target audience.

I've been meaning to try Linux for real as an alternative to Windows for ages but never stepped up to it. Every time Microsoft messes up Windows it rings a bell in my mind, but I've never done it :icon_rolleyes:
04-16-2019, 11:39 AM
AMDave

I have got myself into a couple of really good messes with Arch which were educational and it really did impress me when it was running well.
It does require some deeper learning, which is worthwhile in its own right - at least once.
However, I keep running into hardware support issues - or maybe my own poor hardware choices :P

I spent quite a few months using Antergos, for fun on my main workstation.
It kinda belongs in this list, if Manjaro is being included given that they have preset installers.
I even installed and enjoyed quite a few GUI games on it which was a departure for me.
Ultimately the Antergos team got a few batch updates tangled in succession which required some digging for the resolutions and more and more user intervention as they were not able to generate the fix through normal updates and that just irritated me enough to go back to Ubuntu - yet again. I can fix things myself but I just don't have the time to mess around with it.

Previous experiences with Manjaro went spectacularly badly, although that was in it's early days.
However, among the CDs on my desk today I have a DVD with "Manjaro" and a date on it waiting for install and a good tyre kicking - among several others.
04-17-2019, 02:22 AM
vaughan

ArchLinux no GUI on my machines. Just added 8 of the new Odroid N2 from Hardkernel yesterday, running ArchLinux for Universe.
04-17-2019, 08:33 AM
Dirk Broer

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughan

ArchLinux no GUI on my machines. Just added 8 of the new Odroid N2 from Hardkernel yesterday, running ArchLinux for Universe.

Good Archlinux support too, for the N2.
04-17-2019, 11:45 PM
Dirk Broer

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMDave

I spent quite a few months using Antergos, for fun on my main workstation. It kinda belongs in this list, if Manjaro is being included given that they have preset installers. I even installed and enjoyed quite a few GUI games on it which was a departure for me. Ultimately the Antergos team got a few batch updates tangled in succession which required some digging for the resolutions and more and more user intervention as they were not able to generate the fix through normal updates and that just irritated me enough to go back to Ubuntu - yet again.

Antergos added.
04-17-2019, 11:48 PM
Dirk Broer

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaughan

ArchLinux no GUI on my machines. Just added 8 of the new Odroid N2 from Hardkernel yesterday, running ArchLinux for Universe.

I've never been a fan of the 'Knights of the prompts' (I have three left feet), I'm a real GUI-man.
I started out on the Atari-TOS GEM GUI, and thanks to that was able to work with OS/2 2.0 when that came pre-installed with the IBM PS/2 PC I was given to work with.
From then on the the MS-DOS 5.0 DOS-Shell and Windows 3.1, etc.
04-21-2019, 02:08 AM
NeoGen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirk Broer

I've never been a fan of the 'Knights of the prompts' (I have three left feet), I'm a real GUI-man.
I started out on the Atari-TOS GEM GUI, and thanks to that was able to work with OS/2 2.0 when that came pre-installed with the IBM PS/2 PC I was given to work with.
From then on the the MS-DOS 5.0 DOS-Shell and Windows 3.1, etc.

I used to be good at a lot of batch scripting in DOS, and then Windows spoiled me. Nowadays as a Network Administrator I need to know how to hack my way through plenty of different GUI-less devices and its a pain. :icon_lol:
07-27-2019, 09:19 AM
Dirk Broer

Hoping to restore the GPU crunching abilities of my A10-5700, I tried to install Manjaro-Gnome 18.0.4 yesterday, but never got beyond this screen
(slightly different settings for me, I used Europe/Amsterdam, US keyboard, nl_NL language and tried both free and non-free drivers):
https://www.happycoders.eu/wp-conten...1-1024x768.png
Either the install looped back to this screen, or I was greeted with a black screen -and it stayed black.
The so-called Manjaro guru's advise GPT and UEFI instead of MBR and BIOS (why on heaven's sake? It's a 385 GB disk, not 2TB+),
and when I changed the settings in the freshly downloaded Rufus 3.6 for GPT and UEFI (previously I had MBR and UEFI) and pushed 'Start' was left with a useless 64 GB USB stick that is not recognized in any system.
Rufus' developer isn't all too happy about the Manjaro-supplied ISO either...and no, I never saw a choice for 'DD' presented, or if I did, it was at a time that I had not read about it and choose 'ISO' as I was installing an ISO. But: One of the new features of Rufus 3.6 is even 'Disable ISO mode when Manjaro ISOHybrids are being used', so that can't be the problem. And it is not that I am the only one with the problem.

This was all because the system in question is a A55 FM2 mobo, with a A10-5700 APU that has its IGP unsupported in the last versions of the Ubuntu family.
Even the AM1 mobos -with their GCN1 IGPs- can't get GPU jobs on the open source AMD GPU driver.
Using the compute-only part of the proprietary AMD GPU PRO leaves one with an unstable system on the AM1 mobos.
AM1 mobos work -almost- flawlessly in Windows 10 BTW, the 'almost' being Microsoft's ****ing up the Radeon settings with each update of the Windows 10 Insider version.

Guess I'll stick to my plan of exchanging disks and let the FM2 board run windows.
This leaves the A12-9800E to try the open source again, perhaps with an added RX550 to get a supported AMD GPU PRO setup.

Flavor	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/arch.png	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/archbang.png	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/archlabs.png	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/antergos.png	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/manjaro.png	https://distrowatch.com/images/yvzhuwbpy/parabola.png
Description	Arch Linux is a Linux distribution for computers based on x86-64 architectures. It is composed predominantly of free and open-source software, and supports community involvement. The design approach of the development team follows the KISS principle ("keep it simple, stupid") as the general guideline, and focuses on elegance, code correctness, minimalism and simplicity, and expects the user to be willing to make some effort to understand the system's operation.	ArchBang Linux is a lightweight distribution based on Arch Linux. Using the Openbox window manager, it is fast, up-to-date and suitable for both desktop and portable systems.	ArchLabs is a distribution based on Arch Linux and featuring the Openbox window manager as the primary desktop interface. ArchLabs is a 64-bit, rolling release distribution which provides a live DVD. The distribution can be installed using the AL-Installer system installer.	Antergos is a modern, elegant and powerful operating system based on Arch Linux. It started life under the name of Cinnarch, combining the Cinnamon desktop with the Arch Linux distribution, but the project has moved on from its original goals and now offers a choice of several desktops, including GNOME 3 (default), Cinnamon, Razor-qt and Xfce. Antergos also provides its own graphical installation program, Cnchi.	Manjaro Linux is a fast, user-friendly, desktop-oriented operating system based on Arch Linux. Key features include intuitive installation process, automatic hardware detection, stable rolling-release model, ability to install multiple kernels, special Bash scripts for managing graphics drivers and extensive desktop configurability. Manjaro Linux offers Xfce as the core desktop options, as well as KDE, GNOME and a minimalist Net edition for more advanced users. Community-supported desktop flavours are also available.	Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is an unofficial "libre" variant of Arch Linux. It aims to provide a fully free (as in freedom) distribution based on the packages of the Arch Linux project, with packages optimised for i686 and x86_64 processors. The goal is to give the users complete control over their systems with 100% "libre" software. Parabola GNU/Linux-libre is listed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as a fully free software distribution. Besides a standard installation CD image, the project also provides a live/rescue DVD image with MATE as the default desktop environment.
Architecture	x86_64, i386, ARM	x86_64	x86_64	x86_64	x86_64	x86_64, i386, ARMv7
Status	Active	Active	Active	Active	Active	Active
Desktop	Cinnamon, Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, LXDE, Mate, Xfce	i3, Openbox (Default)	bspwm, Cinnamon, i3-gaps, dwm, GNOME, KDE Plasma, Openbox (Default), Xfce	Cinnamon, GNOME3 (Default), KDE, MATE, Openbox, Xfce	Awesome, bspwm, Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Openbox, Xfce (Default)	Blackbox, Fluxbox, GNOME, IceWM, KDE, LXDE, MATE (Default), Openbox, WMaker, Xfce
CPU Req	x86_64 CPU	x86_64 CPU (1 GHz or better recommended)	x86_64 CPU (1.4 GHz or better recommended)	x86_64 CPU (1 GHz or better recommended)	x86_64 CPU (1 GHz or better recommended)	i686 CPU (better recommended)
Ram Req	512 MB (2 GB or more recommended)	512 MB (1 GB or more recommended)	512 MB (1 GB or more recommended)	512 MB (2 GB or more recommended)	1 GB (more recommended)	256 MB (more recommended)
Disk Space	10-20 GB	5-15 GB	10-15 GB	6-15 GB	30 GB	800 MB (more recommended)