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| layout | title |
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| post | Arch Linux is Cool |
For most my computer life I have either used Windows 7 or Linux. Windows was great but once I finally decided to try Ubuntu I never went back. I tried out all sorts of Linux distros (ie. Elementary OS, Crunchbang, Linux Mint) but none of them seemed right for me. After doing some searching around and I came to the conclusion that I had to attempt the unthinkable, Arch Linux.
About My Computer
Hardware: The PC I mainly use is a desktop that I built a few years back with a Intel Core i5, Nvidia GTX 650ti, and 8 GB of RAM.
Usage: On my computer I mainly write code using a basic text-editor (i.e. atom and sublime text) and browse the web. I sometime play video games on Steam, which include Civ5 and Besiege.
The Dreaded Installation
Getting Arch Linux really isn't that bad. Arch has great documentation and the beginner's guide makes everything very straight forward. It still took me a couple of tries to get a stable desktop environment (graphic drivers were tricky) but once I got all the basic stuff taken care of I was finally able to begin making the operating system I really wanted.
So Why use Arch?
I'd be lying if I said I didn't use Arch because it makes me feel like a hacker elitist. Also seeing all the beautiful desktops on /r/unixporn also influenced my decision in using Arch. But, there are some legitimate reasons on why I prefer Arch over other Linux distros or any operating system for that matter:
- The best performance
- I choose what's installed
- Always the latest software
- Installing software is easy with pacman
- Very intelligent community
- Teaches you about how Linux works
Conclusion
I really do see myself sticking with Arch for quite some time. With its rolling releases there will be no need to ever have to install any major updates and I have everything I really need in a computer. Though some things aren't perfect (ie. Steam isn't great yet) it's worth it for the gains in performance
What's on my PC
Here's a short list of things I have installed on my main Arch Linux computer.
- Gnome 3 with arc-theme and the Paper icons
- bspwm (if I'm feeling extra hackerish)
- mpv for all forms of media (ie. music and movies)
- Google's open source browser chromium
- atom-editor for coding (should probably learn vim better)
Update: I changed some of the "What's on my PC" entries due to the input on reddit. Thanks!