Yeah exactly. If you want to learn much and fast, try Arch, if not use Ubuntu or something similar
Hi everyone! my opinion goes to my custom build which i gave a nice name as DevuanOS Safe Shellā¦
i realize with 32 and 64 bit, systemback images and refracta snapshot which im uploading now.
runs perfectly on lower computers and extremely fast on mid & top.
if you are curious check here
https://www.opendesktop.org/p/2199427
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This is a really nice setup. Thanks for sharing! Not systemd eh? At first, I was also skeptical about systemd but over the years Iāve grown to prefer it. Its great to have options though. Got to love Linux for that.
Funny enough, when updating this article I was going to add Hyperbola Linux. I remember glancing at it years ago. But never tried it. Itās based on Arch Linux and Debian. But after refreshing myself on it yesterday, it seems they are moving away from Linux to BSD. 
I read somewhere Arch Linux goes very well in 2024 with Proton and Valve continuing support it.
Sorry for the obvious thing, but I think Arch is one of the best distros out there, and Iām sure in 2025 it will continue on this line and it will go better and better.
Update march 2025:
Arch Linux is still a great disto, very supported by the community, but from my pov is a bit risky using it for those points:
- Itās a bleeding edge disto, itās too often updated, you might get something broken
- Itās a bit a mess distro: I mean thereās not a centralized point where this distro comes from, every user in the world can contribuite by mantain a software package. That is creating very unstable situation. I have some personal experience to tell about.
So as Linux user I prefer some Ubuntu based distro. For now, as I already said different times, Linux Lite for me is the best distro that fits to my daily usage.
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In fact Steam deck (SteamOS) is powered by a modified version Arch Linux.
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My first dive into Linux, was Linux Mint. Stuck with them for a few years before moving back into Windows.
My second dive was Zorin OS. After gaining some knowledge, I tried Arch based Distros, like Manjaro and Garauda. And after some more knowledge, I went into vanilla Arch and thatās where I love it.
Opensuse tumbleweed isnāt bad, but I find the documentation for troubleshooting a bit hard to follow. Could be me. Fedora is pretty solid as well for first time installation. When my children were about 10, I put them on Linux Mint and Ubuntu they caught on pretty well. The one thing I love about Linux, is that they couldnāt download the latest game and then have me scrambling looking for a virus.
Therefore, for a beginner I would say, not just anything Debian based, but anything Ubuntu based is a good start. After that then Arch based distros, Fedora and Opensuse Tumbleweed.
For the expert, one thing I would recommend is: get to know a tiling window manager. After that, your desktop experience will never be the same.
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I am agree with you, I started my Linux journey with Debian 9 stretch back in 2019, I never tried vanilla Ubuntu, but many times I was with Ubuntu derivates (Mint, POP, Linux Lite). I quite loved them, but packages sometimes very old.
As you and many other users after some tries I felt in love Arch Linux.
I never tried to install a tiling window manager, I often heard about them, but Iām stuck with XFCE or some simple desktop environment. Iām worried I will broke something if I install some tiling manager, I mean, I feel so confortable using XFCE, Iām not so sure about trying a tiling manager.
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@ricky89 I am actually thinking of moving from Ubuntu to Arch with XFCE or Budgie for my wifeās work computer. Now that Budgie is going to Wayland, I will look at XFCE.
The setup for a tiling window manager can seem daunting. I remember my first install I was presented with a blank screen, and my heart did skip a couple of beats.
But there are few things I keep in mind for starting a tiling window manager.
- Find out the default key bindings, especially the one for the terminal. Usually Super+Enter, or Super+T.
- Know where your config file is located, and then start reading that to get accustomed to the language.
- Follow the Wiki.
I am on Qtile now. I have i3 on my work laptop. I have also played with Hyprland, Sway and Awesome. i3 is the simplest one to start with. Documentation is great. Manjaro i3 has a nice initial startup.
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Blank screens can be scary! 
Iām using i3 myself. Iāve been tempted to try Hyprland with all the Wayland hype. Budgie moving to Wayland has me curious too, but XFCE is such a reliable fallback if you just want something that works.
Let us know what you go for!
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I did install Hyprland again to see how it works, and then I quickly moved on for one specific reason.
Hyprland allows many plugins, however after each update, and these do come frequently, ALL plugins have to be updated and reinitialized.
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@shybry747 @hydn
uhm, Iām so unexperienced on this because I never tried, I might try a windows tiling in a virtual machine environment, Iām still not sure about using it in my daily workflow.
Let you know what I feel and what I think about.
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So here I am again. I did tried a couple of Window Tiling manager such dwm, i3, Awesome, Hyprwm in a Linux virtual machine, and I want to share with you whatās my impressions as user using those tools for first time.
- I did not feel much comfortable using them because they put the user in a complete different environment respect one we are habit to use everyday. I feel they are very uncomfortable for everyday usage.
- I did not like them because systray or status bars are minimals and I even canāt see by quick screen looking which apps are running in background and what they are doing
- I did not like them because I have a gaming PC, sometimes I use to play some Lutris + Proton Linux games and on these screen refresh rate was freezed at 60hz. I did non tried with xrandr because I remember I followed a guide months ago that specify how to run videogames at full monitor native refresh rate on a double monitors setup on Nvidia cards. I donāt think this is even working under a tiling manager since I was not able to open Nvidia driver settings from terminal.
- I had even some difficulties to start a simple script at user login
- I feel uncomfortable with no resizable neither minify at computer task bar windows
- The only reason I liked them because they are so minimal and computer resources friendly, but with a Ryzen 5800x and 32gb ddr4 ram I think thatās even too minimalist setup.
So at the end I ended up I did not like using all of them. My final verdict is Iām stuck with XFCE desktop with my little riced config, with a ālittle bloatedā systray bar, Whysker menu and some customization on themes and with a custom windows composition.
I know my system can run without problems Gnome or Cosmic desktops, but as I said many times I donāt like at least Gnome because I feel itās a dumb desktop. I never tried Cosmic but for what I heard it will run only on Hyperland, so for now for me thatās a big NO.
Guys letās say Iām stuck on XFCE, itās so rock stable, polished and with itās 90is old looking style, the one I like so much and Iām so habit to use, where I started my first footsteps in IT (Windows 95 <3 ).
So yes, thatās my green garden in a Linux desktop forest for at last 2-3 years now, I feel so comfortable using it, I would be very difficult change my POV.
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Yeah Window Tiling managersā¦i like to see how others work fast with them, but it doesnāt feel like home to me.
I donāt want to learn 100 key combinations although it is certainly much more efficient.
Iām currently one of the moderators on the antiX forum - note the correct capitalization - the āaā is a āsmall aā and the āXā is capitalized.
" antiX is a fast, lightweight and easy to install systemd-free and elogind-free linux live CD distribution based on Debian Stable for Intel-AMD x86 compatible systems. antiX offers users the āantiX Magicā in an environment suitable for old and new computers." Itās often referred to by @anticapitalista as ālean and meanā. I have more copies of antiX installed and stored on removable media than any other distribution, but Slackware was actually my first installed distribution in 1995; Iād been reading extensively about Linux software for three years prior to purchasing my first computer and trying it out for myself; been an active user ever since.
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Noted. Iām making that correction now. Thank you.
What would be a good argument for choosing antiX Linux over Void Linux?
Lean effective system capable of working on REALLY OLD systems, yet with a modern kernel, flexible to work on newer systems too. Itās leaner than Void and more solid than Puppy if that helps.
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I think your choice of desktop environment is fine. When I use a DE itās often Xfce.
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I have been trying to use this on an arm device(HP Tablet) runs windows 10 fine, runs Lubuntu fine however chrome wont play vids on youtube or other sites. Tried Sparky, loved that but was a bit slow, i guess cos only 2GB ram although it states only 1GB required!
Thanks, Iām gonna give that a little look 