Arch Linux Take Your Linux Knowledge To Next Level [Review]

This review will be a bit unconventional, probably because Arch linux itself is a bit unconventional. Rather than having continued, numbered releases like most distros, Arch Linux follows the rolling-release model, meaning that you install Arch once and it updates forever (or at least, until you break something). There is no “Arch Linux 16.04 LTS”, there is simply Arch Linux. The philosophy of Arch, known as The Arch Way , focuses on simplicity and user centrality, rather than user friendliness.

Pragmatism is another central theme, where the user installs only what is needed or desired and bloatware is nonexistent. This, combined with an almost unparalleled availability of customization, makes Arch Linux the ideal choice for the enthusiast that wants to hone his/her machine down to a finely tuned instrument of precision; or for the somewhat experienced Linux user that wants to take his/her Linux knowledge to the next level.

The Arch Linux Documentation

The best thing about Arch Linux, in my opinion, is the documentation . The Arch Wiki contains just about every possible piece of information you might need to know about installing and maintaining your Arch Linux system. I’ve even found that when dealing with other distros, sometimes I had to find the answer in the Arch Wiki instead of my distro’s Wiki. Even if you don’t consider yourself a Linux guru and are not very familiar with the terminal beyond a few basic commands, as long as you can read thedocumentation and follow directions, installing and using Arch Linux should be no problem. Granted, you can make the occasional mistake during Arch Linux installation and have to start all over (which I had to do a few times), so I recommend trying Arch Linux in a virtual machine before making the switch over to it being your daily driver.

The Earliest Software Updates Hit The Arch Another key reason many people have made the switch to Arch Linux is that Arch allows for the most updated software available. With other distributions, you sometimes have to wait a while for new software packages to make into the official repositories before they can be easily downloaded and/or updated. Sometimes this process takes even longerbecause developers of certain distros need to modify these software packages to minimize bugs and ensure that the new package will work on the given distro. Because of this, you may notice that the software versions available from your sudoapt update &&sudoapt getupgrade

commands can sometimes be different than the most recently released version of that particular package. There is a trade-off herebecause you’re sacrificing living on the bleeding edge in favor of stability.

With Arch, the opposite is true, as you’ll be sacrificing a small amount of stability in favor of living on the bleeding edge and having the most updated software possible. This isn’t to say that Arch is inherently unstable, quite the opposite in fact. Software packages are tested thoroughly before making their way into the official Arch repositories, just like any other distro, but very minimal changes are made to the software from the original version released by the upstream developers. The Arch Wiki explains it best:

“Arch Linux defines simplicity as without unnecessary additions or modifications. It ships software as released by the original developers ( upstream

) with minimal distribution-specific (downstream) changes: patches not accepted by upstream are avoided, and Arch's downstream patches consist almost entirely of backported bug fixes that are obsoleted by the project's next release.

In a similar fashion, Arch ships the configuration files provided by upstream with changes limited to distribution-specific issues like adjusting the system file paths. It does not add automation features such as enabling a service simply because the package was installed. Packages are only split when compelling advantages exist, such as to save disk space in particularly bad cases of waste. GUI configuration utilities are not officially provided, encouraging users to perform most system configuration from the shell and a text editor.”

As you may have guessed, the implications of the above excerpt indicate that Arch Linux is what you might call a “build from scratch” system. It doesn’t go quite to the level of complication that Slack, Gentoo, or Linux From Scratch do, but it is definitely a barebones system that you build and configure to your liking.

For example, when choosing other distros, a primary concern is what Desktop Environment it uses. With Arch, there is no DE installed by default, you pick whichever one you want, or you could choose not to install one at all. You may wish to only install a Window Manager without a DE, or maybe not use a GUI at all and go for the pure terminal-only approach. It’s entirely up to you. Similarly, you may be wondering which bootloader Arch uses, and again, it doesn’t come with one installed by default, you choose whichever one you want. As long as you can follow the Beginner’s Guide and complete the base installation, the rest of your Arch system configuration is entirely up to you.

The downside to this is that there is absolutely no hand-holding. Just about everything needs to be configured manually, usually through a text file but occasionally through a GUI as well (if you installed one). Getting some practice with your preferred text editor would be highly beneficial in your endeavor to run Arch. The most help that you will get is that Arch’s package manager, aptly named pacman

, will automatically download necessary dependencies for you when installing new packages, but beyond that, you’re on your own. This may be daunting for some, yet exciting and even preferred for others.

Arch Linux System Requirements

It’s difficult to narrow down exact system requirements for Arch, because again, that depends entirely on what you choose to install. Obviously, a text-only system is going to havelessrequirements than a gaming system. The base installation, which results in only a command line terminal and the core Linux utilities upon completion, has a requirement of at least 256MB of RAM and uses about 800MB of hard drive space, making an ideal starting point for those who wish to keep a lightweight system, or who want to use Arch to run a server.

Arch Linux Installation The initialArch Linux installation must be done entirely in the terminal, there is no installation GUI. However, it’s not as daunting as it seems, because the Beginner’s Guide is an excellent step-by-step guide. Should you come across any questions or issues, always RTFM by searching the Arch Wiki, the man pages for the given software, or sometimes even Wikipedia. If you just cannot find a clear answer, try checking if anyone in the Arch Linux forums has had the same problem. If all else fails, you can ask for help in the Arch IRC channel . However, as previously stated, as long as yo