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4.7 star rating
0
What is the best alternative to Zen Installer?
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Archcraft
All
9
Experiences
Pros
8
Specs
Top
Pro
Minimal & beautiful
One of the prettiest distros out there IMHO.
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Top
Pro
User friendly install guides on site
Easy to follow guides for newbies or those who want a little guidance.
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Top
Pro
Pacman more stable
In my opinion, Pacman is a better choice than apt. Perhaps Linux Distros should consider migrating.
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Top
Pro
Active & responsive dev
The dev is very active & is constantly improving the distro. New ISOs released regularly.
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Top
Pro
Well organized
The dev made this one of the best Distros and easy to add/remove deesktops or wm without breaking the system.
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Top
Pro
Worth the Donation
The effort and work put in is evident, doesn't look finished half way
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Top
Pro
Lovely UI Design with an Attractive menu
The developers made sure this distro was crafted well. Really nothing I would change, and the default ensure you won't be installing malware.
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Top
Pro
Not just a Website with some Ghostfiles
The Site is informative and gives a nice insight into what you can expect from this beautiful distro. For the first time ever for me no customization needed everything is perfect.
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux (Rolling)
Price:
FREE
Package Manager:
yay, pacman
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Experiences
Free
46
1
Salient OS
All
7
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Con
Dead Distro
There have been no updates since 2021.
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Top
Pro
Customized and great performance
Its really good customized, and the performance was the best of my laptop 2 gb ram 50 Gb ROM.
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Top
Con
No torrent downloads
The download from Soundforge takes too long. If there was a torrent, like other Arch based distros, this wouldn't be a problem.
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Top
Pro
Fast, Nvidia versions
No need to install Nvidia, detected out of the box, blazingly fast.
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Top
Con
No sound with spdif output
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Top
Pro
Higly customizable to tiny details via KDE settings and preinstalled Kvantum engine
Super fast and stable. Dolphin root restrictions can be solved with yust few clicks. Easy installation via Calamares , and preinstalled packages are awesome. Salient OS is a huge competitor to Manjaro both KDE & XFCE.
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Specs
Default Desktop Environment:
Xfce
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Experiences
free
42
2
BlackArch
All
6
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
1
Top
Pro
Large repository
As of Feb. 26th, 2020 there are 2460 tools in the repository.
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Top
Con
Not beginner-friendly
Not great for newbies.
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Top
Pro
Live session
You can run the OS from a LiveUSB.
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Top
Pro
Better than ArchStrike
Contains many more tools than ArchStrike and far easier installation than ArchStrike
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Top
Pro
Arch-based
BlackArch is just normal Arch with tons of tools preinstalled
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Top
Pro
Suitable for professionals
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218
27
ArcoLinux
All
16
Experiences
Pros
10
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
Easy to install
Unbelievably fast for ArcoLinux with XFCE, Openbox, I3.
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Top
Con
Small development team
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Top
Pro
Community support is great
Need to install Discord on cell phone and computer. Fastest way to receive help. Community is mostly European on Discord so getting help at midnight may be a challenge.
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Top
Con
Multiple types makes new user confused
Due to multiple types, new user might get confused and leave this all along.
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Top
Pro
Helps you to become a Arch Linux user
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Top
Con
A bit bloated
It is a bit bloated to many web browsers, text editors out the box. A simple customize menu's for all 3 desktops would have been nice.
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Top
Pro
Blazingly fast!
Startup time, shutdown time, everything in between.
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Top
Con
No single ISO
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Top
Pro
Easy to isntall desktop environments
Thanks to the manuals provided by the developers it is really easy to install more than 10 different desktop environments that'll work at the same time!
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Top
Con
Forums are not very friendly or helpful
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Top
Pro
Easy to install, handles system memory well, and a great way to learn Arch Linux
Incredibly fast, easy to install, tons of software pre-installed and easily installs more.
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Top
Pro
XFCE, Openbox and I3
Finished Product with almost every tool a experienced user will use.
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Top
Pro
Easy to install NVIDIA Drivers
Has option to install NVIDIA proprietary drivers. Runs great.
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Top
Pro
Learning bash script
The fastest way to reload any Linux desktop is a script that will install all your favorite apps. Keep this file on a USB stick Update for any distro from Ubuntu, Fedora, or even Arch Linux back to your favorite apps in minutes.
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Top
Pro
Efficient use of Memory, Easy to Install, Amazingly Fast
OpenBox on Arco Linux is AWESOME!
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux (Rolling)
Price:
FREE
Default Desktop Environment:
Openbox + Xfce + i3
Package Manager:
pacman
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Experiences
free
300
39
RebornOS
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Con
Crashes
Crashes every time when trying to install. Doesn't even install it in virtualbox or VMWare. AVOID.
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Top
Pro
Antergos with more desktops
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Top
Pro
Highly and Easily Configurable
You can easily choose from a list of browsers, desktops, office suites, etc, all from the installer.
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Top
Pro
Good Repo
Reborn's dedicated repo has some extra packages that are difficult to find elsewhere, in addition to the official Arch repos, community repos, and the AUR.
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Specs
Based On:
Arch
Default Desktop Environment:
KDE, GNOME, Deepin, Budgie, Cinnamon, Apricity, OpenBox, i3, Xfce, Pantheon
Release Schedule:
Rolling
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167
26
Garuda Linux
All
8
Experiences
Pros
5
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
Super-fast
Uses vram, and a zen kernel.
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Top
Con
Needs a lot of RAM
Minimum is 4GB, for most Linux distributions it's 2GB or less.
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Top
Pro
Themes
The dr460nized KDE theme is awesome.
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Top
Con
Super
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Top
Pro
Easy entrance to Arch Linux
Filled to the brim with lots of quality-of-life changes and optimizations that are simple enough for long-time Windows, long-time Mac users, and Arch newbies to understand. Though, it also leads to bloat or not necessarily helpful extra software. If you're not into the "bloat" added in, try checking out the barebones version, you'll need to know a lot of things bout Arch to fully use barebones.
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Top
Pro
Highly customized interface
You already have most of the customization done for you out of the box.
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Top
Pro
Unused RAM is wasted RAM
It takes just a bit more RAM than Manjaro. Edit: This statement is only true if it helps the user and since this could be running on a low end machine this will not.
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Specs
Desktop Environments:
x11
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252
43
Anarchy Linux
All
19
Experiences
Pros
12
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Pro
LVM on LUKS encryption of whole disk possible
It works! Whereas neither the calamares installer used by arcolinux or manjaro nor the archlabs installer produces a working result.
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Top
Con
Nothing new
It's just Arch with a graphical installer.
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Top
Pro
The end result is a well configured standard Archlinux system
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Top
Con
Anarchy Repo is completely unsigned
Ridiculous security risk.
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Top
Pro
Saves a lot of time to set up an Archlinux system
Once you had your experience to set up an Archlinux system manually from scratch this distro saves a lot of setup time.
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Top
Con
TUI can be confusing for the uninitiated
The TUI is as good as can be expected, but if you're not comfortable with the command line, this isn't where you want to be.
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Top
Pro
Full access to Arch repositories as well as Aur
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Top
Con
Just an Installer
Anarchy isn't its own distro, it's just an installer for Arch. That's great if it's what you're after, but don't expect bells and whistles.
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Top
Pro
Many preconfigured Desktop environments supported
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Top
Con
Redundant
It's just Arch with a graphical installer and ArchLabs already has this.
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Top
Pro
Fully developed in Bash
Being programmed entirely in Bash, it is relatively easy to find and solve errors or propose improvements.
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Top
Con
The installer has many bugs
Especially during the manually partitioning and the additional software installing procedure. If you do the automatic partitioning and you don't install additional softwares it's ok.
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Top
Pro
Everything you need in a small and fast Arch distro
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Top
Pro
Low setup time
Even a person without prior knowledge will figure out how to set it up quite quickly.
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Top
Pro
Looks good by default
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Top
Pro
Supports 32-bit architecture
Use ArchLinux32 instead of the traditional Arch Linux to support 32-bit architectures.
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Top
Pro
Friendly community
The community and developers are willing to solve any kind of inconvenience.
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Top
Pro
Good for gaming
Smooth and cool. Easy to get going.
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:
Budgie, Cinnamon, Gnome, OpenBox, Xfce
Actual Download Link:
https://gitlab.com/anarchyinstaller/installer/-/releases
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63
ArchLabs Linux
All
8
Experiences
Pros
6
Cons
2
Top
Pro
All the benefits of Arch Linux
Since this is an Arch-based distribution, it has all the same benefits.
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Top
Con
The installer has been broken for most of this year
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Top
Pro
Powerful AL-installer
The ArchLabs installer is very simple and gives users so many choices such as kernels, bootloaders, which extra programs to install, whether you want LVM, etc.
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Top
Con
Systemd
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Pro
Lightning Fast
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Pro
Retains the minimalism of Arch
ArchLabs provides an easy-to-use installer without including unnecessary packages by default, unlike Manjaro.
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Top
Pro
Inspired by BunsenLabs, Powered by Arch
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Top
Pro
Highly technical and helpful forums
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Experiences
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60
15
Endeavour OS
All
23
Experiences
Pros
17
Cons
5
Specs
Top
Pro
Good overall system quality and performance
Lean, fast and surprisingly stable.
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Top
Con
NET installer on the way
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Top
Pro
Great hardware support
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Top
Con
Not for everyone
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Top
Pro
No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything
The user can do whatever he wishes because the distro IS Arch - with and easy installer and great themes.
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Top
Con
Kalu needs a little refinement
I applaud the developers to carry on the legacy of Antergos, the only niggling thing that I would appreciate is, while it's nice to see news about updates; my opinion is that once you dismiss the notifications they STAY dismissed. And just clicking on the icon brings kalu brings it to the foreground. Or have the functionality of turning off the news altogether would be well received. Good distro.
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Top
Pro
Fast and simple package management
There can only be one Package Manager (pacman) ;)
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Top
Con
Same Cons that apply for Arch Linux
Since it is based on Arch, it is harder to install and can easily break.
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Top
Pro
Easy installer
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Top
Con
Uses systemd
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Top
Pro
Great for low performance hardware
Easy on the specs and still blazingly fast.
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Top
Pro
Lightweight
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Top
Pro
Arch Linux Wiki
Being an "easy to install version of Arch" means it is exactly easy to use the famous Arch Wiki!
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Top
Pro
As slim as you want it
Based on Arch, Endevour OS keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. The distro comes with no bloatware, only the necessary packages. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date.
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Top
Pro
AUR support
One of the best reasons to use an Arch based distro. You can find almost every package there is in the Linux world!
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Top
Pro
Stripped down to the bone
Since its stripped down, it is fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware.
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Top
Pro
Great XFCE implementation
Their use of themes and configuration look great!
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Top
Pro
Not based on Ubuntu
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Pro
Cutting edge rolling release
Exactly as Arch - allows users to stay on the most up-to-date versions of the software they are using.
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Top
Pro
Support for a large variety of new hardware
Rolling release means newer, up to date, mesa and kernel versions able to handle newer hardware with better performance!
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Top
Pro
Helpful community
Great team of developers and excellent forum support on their official website.
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Top
Pro
Great community
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:
Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, GNOME, i3, KDE Plasma, LXQt, MATE, Xfce
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
pacman
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Experiences
0
676
107
Obarun
All
4
Experiences
Pros
1
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
No telemetry
Freedom for the users.
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Top
Con
Installer
The instasller is abysmal. Is there really no way to install this distro without using it ?
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Top
Con
Complex for newbies
Because freedom in the world today is not simple
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
Package Manager:
pacman
OS Family:
GNU/Linux
Release Schedule:
Rolling
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164
38
Artix Linux
All
11
Experiences
Pros
7
Cons
3
Specs
Top
Pro
No systemd
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Con
No systemd
Some packages flat out won't work because systemd is non existent, sadly pipewire needs systemd to run. Hopefully Pipewire becomes usable soon. Edit: Pipewire does work but you will have to make a startup script.
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Top
Pro
Runit
Artix actively supports the runit init system known from Void Linux. (Equally besides the OpenRC init system known from Gentoo).
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Top
Con
Few Arch packages might not be available yet
Developers are working migrating all packages into their own repositories while ensuring there's no systemd malware.
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Top
Pro
Close to bare Arch Linux
No learning curve if you're coming from Arch or any of its derivatives.
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Top
Con
No tiling WM (i3/sway) out of the box
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Top
Pro
Lightweight
Only the software you would need like Terminal emulator, file manager, media player and a browser.
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Top
Pro
Compatible with Arch Repositories
It is fully compatible with almost all packages from community, extra, multilib and AUR.
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Top
Pro
Rolling distro
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Top
Pro
Flexibility
You can have a functional system in less than 10 mins using GUI installer OR you can do it "the Arch way".
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:
Bash (Unix shell), Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE and XFCE
Package Manager:
Pacman
OS Family:
GNU/Linux
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Arch Linux
All
68
Experiences
Pros
45
Cons
22
Specs
Top
Pro
Excellent documentation
Arch's goal of simplicity means there's usually one preferred way to get things done - through organized and well documented configuration files. This focus, combined with the community's recognition that configuration files can be intimidating, has resulted in excellent documentation that's accessible to newcomers, and very instructive about how Linux actually works. The documentation is often so thorough that, when searching for solutions to problems while using other distributions, such as with video card drivers, oftentimes you'll find the most effective solution in the Arch Linux wiki or on the forums.
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Top
Con
Not for the faint of heart
You need to be very carefully with updates.
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Top
Pro
A package for almost everything
If you need to install something, chances are someone in the Arch community has already made a package for it. This makes it incredibly easy for you to install and maintain all of the non-media content on your computer.
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Top
Con
Manual install process
The installation requires a lot of manual intervention/decisions.
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Top
Pro
Arch Linux Wiki
The Arch Linux Wiki is very useful not just for Arch Linux users, but for anyone who uses Linux.
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Top
Con
Works only on AMD64
It is the only official supported instruction set of CPUs.
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Pro
Cutting edge rolling release
Arch Linux follows a rolling release model, which allows users to stay on the most up-to-date versions of the software they are using.
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Top
Con
Highly egotistical community
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Top
Pro
No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything
Arch is mainly aimed at experienced Linux users, there is no hand-holding and not much in a way of UI elements when trying to install or tweak settings.
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Top
Con
Instability can be an issue
Sometimes you can have a surprise, but in most cases it can be fixed quickly.
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Top
Pro
Huge Repositories
Although Arch Linux only comes with around 10,000 packages, you can use the Arch User Repositories (AUR) which will add over 50,000 more packages.
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Top
Con
No graphical installer
Although some derivatives such as Manjaro and ArcoLinux exist.
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Pro
Fast and simple package management
Pacman has performance advantages over apt-get and yum in both database operations (thanks to being written for speed) and download times (by virtue of using better mirrors than other distributions tend to select by default). There are also fewer default repositories to download from, and all package management is combined into one tool instead of being split into dpkg, apt-get, and apt-cache like on Debian distros.
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Con
Fragile packages
Updating an Arch system is always a gamble. The problem could be as simple as a package having a bug causing a program to crash on start or it may be something bigger like the WiFi or Bluetooth no longer working. There is also the slight chance the system may not even boot at all after a large update. If the user does not plan to read the forums weekly/daily or update fairly often, things can go wrong very fast.
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Pro
As slim or copious as you want it
Arch keeps its core repositories slim and free of unnecessary dependencies. At first installation only a bare system is set up. You can easily get the other applications through the package manager. The repositories are nearly as full as those of Ubuntu, while they are often more up to date. That way you don't have to waste time with software you don't need or want.
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Con
Occasional upstream package bugs
Most package maintainers look for issues that the packages might have ispecifically for arch. Which means if a package has a bug that applies to all Linux distros regardless of the flavor, the maintainer may not be able to: A) catch it before pushing a update or B) have to wait for the packages developers to fix it. This is a minor issue because most issues are often patched before the end of the day if many users rely on it, or if its a less used package there will be specific troubleshooting instructions on the arch site.
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Pro
Excellent package management with the AUR
The AUR is a repository with a very extensive catalogue of build/install scripts that are contributed by users. While these scripts are inherently less secure than conventional packages maintained by a distro's authors, it's still way easier to verify the security of install scripts than it would be to write them yourself. It's very usefull.
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Con
Rolling release requires bandwidth
Arch uses a rolling release model for updates. Unlike, for example Ubuntu where a new version is released every six months, packages are updated when they are ready. The advantage is a very up to date system and that the work of upgrading can be spread over a longer span of time to a point where it is hardly noticeably effort. However it can be difficult for people without a high bandwidth connection, or with limits on how many GB can be downloaded imposed by their internet service providers. A GB a month of downloads is quite possible. This can be somewhat offset by Arch being lightweight, besides the relatively small core, the user selects what is installed (and has to be updated).
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Pro
Highly customizable
You can tailor the system to your needs.
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Con
Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention
Every year or so there is a update to ArchLinux that will break your system unless you first read the front page of archlinux.org. This happened with SystemD and with a few other updates that require you to do prior steps befor pacman -Syu.
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Pro
Support for a large variety of hardware
From latest wacom pads to obscure wireless cards in laptops Arch's hw support has been and continues to be good. It has worked on laptops where other leading distro's like debian/ mint/ ubuntu failed to detect and work with all hardware.
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Con
Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup
Going in with zero Linux knowledge is not really recommended when wanting to install Arch, though it can be a good learning experience for those that are dedicated to trial and error as well as reading many faqs.
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Pro
Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development
The design approach of the development team 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.
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Con
Not really for desktop
More like for posting screenshots on Reddit.
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Pro
Good overall system quality
QoL of Arch is generally good. You get something more consistent and doable in Arch then you would get with most other OSes.
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Con
Lost its way
It aimed to be KISS but it has lost its way and is getting more and more complex, for example, it uses systemd which is anything but KISS. It also has now some kind of package post configuration included.
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Pro
It is Linux at the core
This distro is barebones enough to make a new distro from.
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Con
Some updates might need extra attention
for example, new grub packages, and new postgresql packages, etc.
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Pro
An opportunity to improve
The process of learning to setup and use Arch will improve your skills with Linux and computers in general.
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Con
Uses systemd
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Pro
Stripped down to the bone
Since its stripped down, it is fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware.
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Con
Not so great overall
Apart from the ArchBuildSystem/AUR, which brings you very quickly newer package versions, there is not really much where Arch Linux shines. You get better package managers with other systems. The most Linux distributions are far more stable than Arch. You learn more about Linux by using LFS or a source based distribution. You can customize the system much more in LFS or Gentoo.
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Pro
Helpful community
If searching through the wiki or the forums for any problems turns nothing, any question on the official forums, Arch subreddit or the IRC channel will be answered within minutes. There will probably be no hand-holding however, Arch users prefer to point anyone to a resource that may help them instead of trying to outright solve their problem in a forum thread. This is quite helpful for people who want to really learn how their system works but also for other people who may stumble in that thread considering how most problems don’t have a universal solution.
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Con
Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it
While the documentation is a very valuable reference for experts, the recipes often don't actually work on your own computer. Some articles are outdated, incomplete, contradictory or duplicated. Only if you are expert enough to know which steps to skip, to adjust or which other documentation parts to plug in, you can make it work.
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Pro
Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed
Arch does not come with an automatic installation process. The user is expected to walk through the installation steps published on the Arch wiki. This is very useful if, later, something happens to the installation as the user will be more familiar with the foundational steps required to get a full blown Arch installation working.
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Con
You have to install everything by hand on a command line
This may be a CON for a lot of people that are new to Linux but a PRO to those who actually want to learn something new.
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Pro
No need for external repos
The default and community repo of Arch Linux are so vast, that there is barely any need for additional software sources. And if there is, the additional software can be added to AUR, which results in the need actually growing the Arch repos.
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Con
Systemd is bloat
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Pro
Vanilla
Learn about Arch, learn about Linux. What works for Arch, works for many other distros too.
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Con
Worst OS for beginners in Linux
Very bad OS for beginners as there is no graphical installation and it is a manual installaton process. So, either you have to follow the documentation (that half of the beginners don't understand) or a video (gets outdated on every release). When I was a beginner, I thought that Arch is better and it had graphical installation. I downloaded the iso flashed it in pendrive. After that when I booted I saw ther is a "$Install--". I was so suprised because I moved from windows to linux. It looked like a console. Bugs -- With every release there are bugs. AUR -- Pacman is fully dependant on aur and installing from aur for beginnera is a painful process.
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Pro
Simple by design
Arch Linux is actually incredibly simple. It's really just a partition scheme, package manager, Linux kernel, file system, systemd and the bare minimum of utilities needed to easily set up your hardware. This makes it super simple to build your desired system using binary packages because there no bloat getting in your way when installing or configuring packages.
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Con
Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency
Arch has no proper desktop support, you must craft your system together. Things may work for the first but generally it takes days to configure a stable and working system. This is NOT ideal for a desktop user.
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Pro
Incredible educational value
Arch gives great insight in the inner workings of operating systems, computers and data manipulation.
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Con
Package manager is so naive
For example, it doesn't allow you to purge (remove package and its configuration files).
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Pro
Great for low performance hardware
Arch Linux works quite well with low performance hardware like netbooks.
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Pro
Flexible upgrades
Upgrade once a day, once a week, once a month,... three times a day... automate it, upgrade manually, add packages to the ignore list.
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Pro
Ultimate mid-range OS for Tinkering
If you like to tinker with things and see how they work you don't get much better than arch linux unless you commit to building your own kernel and using flags manually when installing your packages.
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Pro
Supports various desktop environments and window managers
Doesn't limit you in terms of desktop environments or graphical servers (X, Wayland).
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Pro
Low maintenance
To basically keep your Arch setup up and running, it takes very little to barely any maintenance.
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Pro
Incredibly easy to manage
Arch is very simple to maintain, backup and in rare cases repair and recover. For example, the manual to recover your boot manager is already in the install guide!
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Pro
Helpful 3rd-party installers
There are extremely helpful 3rd-party installers such as Anarchy Linux (Formerly Arch Anywhere).
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Pro
Minimal
If you need something, you should install it. It has nothing as default and you can build your system from zero.
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Pro
Great hardware support
Out of the box Arch comes with great hardware support.
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Pro
Highly reliable and stable build
See experts working on the packages and upgrades. Given Arch splits the load among people who care and have the experience, the overall setup is very stable and reliable, even though very broad too.
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Top
Pro
On average only 1 manual intervention needed a year now
The comments about issues with upgrades are over-exaggerated. Those comments assume that : A) They happen often, B) you are using a specific package with an issue, C) that package maintainers can't release a patch to the package that will work around the issue for you, and that D) Manual intervention or system recovery from such issues is hard to fix. On average once or twice a year a user may have to cut and paste some commands in the terminal to fix an issue, but that's about it. Additionally any system recovery required from such missed interventions is easy, just follow the wiki and make a live USB if your using a desktop or laptop.
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Pro
Highly reliable upgrades
Always works. No matter if you upgrade 7 or 700 packages.
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Pro
Experts working on the packages
Providers only provide the basic system and do a great job doing so. While with AUR people who actually use the packages, provide and maintain them. They CARE about making them work.
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Pro
Easier to review the distributions packages
Unlike other some distributions, it's super simple to review the packages you download on the official arch repos or arch user repository.
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Pro
Great security out of the box
Even a default Arch setup offers great security with the minimum number of open ports and very little information on the system for outsiders.
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Pro
Good for ricing for r/unixporn
Arch Linux provides a minimal user experience and tons of packages, which means that ‘ricing’ (customising your desktop to it’s limits) will be unrestrictive and you won’t have to worry about bloating your system.
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Pro
Vast variety of use and purpose
With its vast repos, Arch offers tons of applications for all kinds of use.
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Pro
Multilib support is just around the corner
Just uncomment the according entries in the pacman.conf.
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Pro
You actually learn a LOT of the inner workings of your OS.
Since you do everything by hand and a LOT of it, you actually learn very useful things even for other distros.
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Pro
Completely signed repos by default
Arch-based distros, or even Arch installers, often use unsigned repositories.
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Pro
Highly customizable
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Pro
Arch Linux Archive lets you choose your own update schedule
Despite being rolling release Arch Linux lets you be flexible about your update policy. If distro repos moved forward, but you don't want to update, you can temporarily switch to Arch Linux Archive, which stores repo snapshots across time. Later, when you're ready to update, you switch back to bleeding edge.
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Pro
Lets you choose what is pre-installed before installation
The official install script has the "Additional packages" option, which lets you choose additional packages that won't be installed from the terminal. This is helpful for custom configurations (e.g. if you wanted to take advantage of web development) because it is compatible with most packages from the AUR. This also diminishes the need for manual installation with Pacman.
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Specs
Based On:
NONE
Default Desktop Environment:
N/A
Init-System:
Systemd
Package Manager:
Pacman
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Manjaro Linux
All
39
Experiences
Pros
19
Cons
19
Specs
Top
Pro
Arch User Repository access
Manjaro allows the user to access of the Arch User Repository, a very large user-maintained repository of packages for Arch Linux and derivatives.
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Top
Con
Slightly bloated
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Pro
Support for multiple kernels
Manjaro has built-in support for multiple kernels as well as a way to easily install them. Using LTS kernel makes this distro stable and less buggy.
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Top
Con
Can still be unstable
Here are the details of it.
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Pro
Based on Arch and user friendly
Manjaro is an Arch-based distribution with all the benefits of the Arch ecosystem and community but with the added benefit of being much more user-friendly than Arch.The overall features it provides is hard to beat. Arguably be the best desktop distro with lts kernel. Consumes very less ram.
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Con
Bad dependencies
This is similar to the mac0S experience in that you're not allowed to remove plank.
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Top
Pro
Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)
Features include: providing notifications of available updates; mirror management; Snap support, Flatpak support and AUR support (with the option to suppress unnecessary confirmations during the install process); update settings (frequency, whether to check for updates from the AUR, packages to ignore updates for); and a history of packages installed, updated, or removed (from the official repositories - AUR packages are not currently tracked).
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Con
All the small community editions are gone
No architect edition anymore, no edition with a tiny stacking WM like openbox or fluxbox that could be used as install base.
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Pro
Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages
Packages from Arch's repositories are tested (about two weeks) longer for stability and compatibility issues. Patches are applied, when necessary, before being made available in the stable repositories.
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Con
No real installer
It just boots the livecd and copies the livecd to the disk which gives you no choices in software selection.
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Pro
Friendly community
If you ask questions of users in their forums or on other platforms, they are willing to help you. Also according to the developers, they are open to new ideas in order to make the distro better.
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Con
Installation is extremely buggy
There's no easy way to switch from local keyboard layout if non-Latin installer language is selected.
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Pro
Very good looking desktops
All desktops look good by default.
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Con
Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares
ArchLinux-32 community maintain their forums every day. They upload new ISO's every month. But Manjaro-32 community upload new ISO's in every 6 month. And provide only a DE-mate.
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Pro
Stable and consistently up to date
Manjaro receives regular updates, but more importantly these updates are stable. The updates are rolled out, which means you can easily update the software without needing to re-install.
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Top
Con
Weekly manual updates
Since it is rolling release, it needs updates nearly every week, which (though are checked for automatically) must be manually downloaded, confirmed and installed. That may annoy or scare off many new users.
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Pro
Installation is a breeze
Calamares installer and MHWD is the reason why this distribution is good for desktop user- friendliness! Audio codecs, latest packages,latest kernel and easy upgrade to the latest build makes it the best choice for new users.
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Con
The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository
The Manjaro unstable repository syncs with the Arch stable repository and if any package has moved, it gets moved to stable. Manjaro gets package updates a bit than Arch.
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Pro
Good documentation and forum
The Manjaro community is very helpful, and there are lots of tutorials.
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Con
Imcompatible with Arch User Repository and archlinuxcn
Because Manjaro packages are not synced with Arch, using AUR or archlinuxcn could break dependencies.
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Pro
A rolling-release distribution
Manjaro uses a rolling release method for all updates, so once a system is installed, as long as the user regularly updates there is no need to re-install.
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Con
You can't change the default theme in certain applications
Although it is possible to change the default dark theme, this has no effect on Firefox, which appears to have the dark theme "hard coded". Hardened Linux pros may find a way to change this, but for the rest, it renders an otherwise nice distro a no-go.
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Pro
All major desktops and even less common ones like Budgie, Lumina, LXQT, Deepin, Enlightenment, etc. can be directly installed from official repositories
Also available as independent variants.
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Top
Con
Deepin desktop environment is not a worthy attraction, there is a problem with changing Multi language layout
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Pro
Uses low memory
By using Xfce or Plasma (or LXDE, Fluxbox, supported by community) as default desktop environments, Manjaro is able to have a low memory footprint.
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Con
Nothing new
There is nothing new in Manjaro compared to any other Arch based distribution.
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Pro
Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm)
Run automatically during the installation process, it allows for Manjaro to work fully on your system 'straight out of the box', without the need to manually identify and install the necessary drivers or to manually edit the appropriate configuration files. Also usable via the terminal after installation, the features of the mhwd command include: The choice of free (i.e. open-source) or non-free (i.e. proprietary) drivers Identification and listing (general or detailed) of your system's hardware Identification and listing (general or detailed) of installed drivers Listing of available drivers for installation (free and proprietary) Support of hybrid graphics cards (e.g. Nvidia Optimus) Easy removal and installation of drivers (selected automatically, or you can identify and choose your own)
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Top
Con
Redundant
It's just Arch Linux with an easier installer so there is no reason to use it.
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Top
Pro
Different editions to select from + Manjaro community
You can choose between different Manjaro editions which have their own change in features, and there is also Manjaro community editions where the community can make their own changes.
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Top
Con
Same cons that apply to Arch Linux
Since it is based on Arch Linux.
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Top
Pro
Steam installed by default
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Top
Con
It's Archbuntu
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Top
Pro
Deepin desktop environment is worthy attraction
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Top
Con
Black screen after boot, no login possibility
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Top
Pro
Full access to AUR
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Top
Con
No gfvs pre-installed
So no Trash (and possibly smartphone file system access via USB) support.
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Top
Pro
an Nvidia ISO version with drivers pre-installed.
Works perfectly.
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Top
Con
Bad way of handling dependencies
Manjaro is based on Arch Linux. Arch Linux and its derivatives have a bad way of handling dependencies. To handle dependencies, it installs a whole another program which contains the required dependencies.
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
RAM:
64
Default Desktop Environment:
XFCE, KDE Plasma, GNOME
Init-System:
systemd
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4157
806
Kali Linux
All
5
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
2
Top
Pro
Better than ParrotOS, BackBox for hacking purpose
Contains too many tools for hacking. Those tools are not already included in BackBox or ParrotOS.
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Top
Con
Not intended to be a daily driver
This distro was written for pen testing and security work. It is not meant to be a day-to-day OS (unless that's your job).
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Top
Pro
Standard pentest tool set
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Con
Very old packages
E.G. Firefox's current version is 61 but Kali linux consists of its 52th version. Though kernel is not that old.
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Top
Pro
Live session distro used for forensics
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Free
271
99
Archbang
All
4
Experiences
Pros
3
Specs
Top
Pro
The best features of Arch without the hassle
ArchBang is minimal but completely functional out of the box. It's still up to you to set up to your liking. You still get Arch's unmatched documentation, insanely vast number of packages (in AUR) and extreme customizability. And a small but friendly and approachable community.
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Pro
Rolling release
Being based on Arch, Archbang follows a rolling release schedule, ensuring that the software will always be on the bleeding edge.
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Pro
Lightweight
Archbang is a pretty lightweight distro. It uses Openbox as a Window Manager by default, without having the need to use a desktop environment which would only bloat the OS further.
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Specs
Type:
Live Distribution
Based On:
Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:
Openbox
Package Manager:
Pacman
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25
14
Chakra
All
14
Experiences
Pros
3
Cons
10
Specs
Top
Con
Weak base
Sometimes updates will not execute hooks(full update always misses to run mkinitcpio) so you get an unbootable system.
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Top
Pro
Focuses on KDE/Qt Apps
comes with none GTK apps per default
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Top
Con
Small development team
The team is very small
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Top
Pro
Independent from Arch
its not just another Arch Spin-off
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Top
Con
No real installer
Has no installer just a big bloated LiveCD that gets unpacked to your disk.
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Top
Pro
Keeps Gnome apps tidier even than Gnome distros
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Con
Pacman
Compared to deb or rpm it takes ages to update the system, it's also very dumb in dependency tracking.
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Con
Unreliable Servers
The CCR or the community forums are often down or unreachable.
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Top
Con
Overwrites your default EFI config
It overwrites your default EFI config wich can make you PC unbootable if something goes wrong.
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Top
Con
Uses systemd
Which is very hard to debug and not a *nix standard.
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Con
Only available for x86-based CPUs
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Con
Wont let you install the system to USB drives
Chakras weak installer Calamares does not allow you to install it to a USB drive.
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Top
Con
Weak update process to a recent release
For example, you can install the Goedel Release and update it to the current release which then fails to boot due to some systemd-errors.
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Specs
Based On:
Arch Linux
Default Desktop Environment:
KDE Plasma
Init-System:
Systemd
Release Schedule:
N/A
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