Looks like you are overthinking >_<
I also used to type long posts, then discard it. Lets just run this distro. What could go wrong!!??
Yea, I had some trouble with wifi (Realtek), but it was easily fixed by installing a package.
Also, Arch is absolutely not what it looks like in memes. Its easy to use, and has been more reliable to me than other distros.
If you like Cinnamon, stick with it. But no harm in experimenting with new DE xD
This is always picking me back up when I do stupid things on my PC.
I once deleted /usr/bin.
I did not mean to scare you. I was only talking from encounters I have had with people who used to go nuts with AUR packages. What @dalto wrote was correct and the AUR can be a safe way to get packages not found in the official repositories. However, what others have wrote is true as well. Specifically, it is safe when you know what you are doing and carefully review the package, its pkgbuild file, and do some research. Look for longevity of the package in the AUR, its rating, the history of changes and the regularity of updates to the package. Some people install loads out of the AUR with no problem, some people have just the opposite experience. Personally, I have two packages from the AUR: downgrade and trizen. I can’t remember the last time I used either. I have no need for anything from the AUR and can live without it just fine. The offical Arch repositories have all I require, so for me, the Arch repositories are large enough.
On the other hand, if you don’t know what you are doing you can still install what you need from AUR. If something breaks you can fix it or ask for help on this forum and learn something in the process. I’ve used this approach for the last years and I gain all the benefits minus the anxiety. And didn’t need to resurrect my system not even once. I have 66 packages installed from AUR. It’s true about 10 or 15 of them I didn’t bother to remove when I stopped using them, still I can say nothing bad happened to me because of installing them. Mind you this is my work computer, so stability is very important.
I see no reason to be extra tip-toe when installing a package. If I have problems with a package I google “arch package [package name]” and this usually gets me the page of the package in the arch repository where I check for comments to see if others experience issues with that package. I could probably search for that package on the arch site, but it’s faster my way
I mean AUR is the main reason for me to choose an Arch-based distro. It simply provides the most complete repository compared to any other distro. It wouldn’t make much sense to me to not use AUR to its full extent, given it’s the main selling point for me
@SimplyTadpole
I’m not sure what nvidia card you currently have? But I’m quite confident you won’t have any issues with amd. I run it myself as i said i also run Xfce, Cinnamon and KDE along with others. I also run an nvidia GTX1060 on another Intel System. Any help you need when you want to install it just ask. We have some very capable linux users here. This is EOS …we Endeavour!
EndeavourOS is easy to install - much easier then Arch - but at the end of the day it is Arch Linux. But Arch has a very good wiki where you can read and learn and this forum is also not too bad when it comes to support
I suggest you install Virtualbox on your Windows machine and install EndeavourOS in a Virtualbox. This will allow you to test it without sacrificing anything.
Thank you for all your advice, everyone! I feel much more confident about switching to EndeavourOS now. I was able to finally purchase the AMD GPU I wanted to get for so long for a reasonable price (an RX 580 close to MSRP), and it should hopefully be delivered in a couple of days. Once I get that installed, and the December update for EOS releases, I will definitely make the switch. c:
(Additionally, I finagled around in Distrotest.net, and concluded that XFCE seems to be a better bet for me than Plasma as I liked the former more, so I will be going with that DE when I switch. ^^)
True, but there are certain distro-specific issues/quality features that you can’t really get without a lot of configuration. For example, I don’t think I can replace Mint’s outdated repos with Arch’s up-to-date repos, or at least not without so much work that I’d be better off just installing Arch or EOS. ^^’
Thank you, I’m very glad to hear that! I wasn’t sure whether the driver was built into the Linux kernel, or if it was built into Ubuntu and would require manual configuration to get it to work in Endeavour.
Yeah, I will definitely be checking and double-checking the safety of several AUR packages that I get interested in installing. I’m a very paranoid person that hates taking risks, so it’s only natural for me to be careful about stuff like this. ^^’
Thank you for all these resources by the way, they’re very useful!
I absolutely agree 100%. I tend to take the path of least resistance quite often, so I knew that, if I didn’t fully switch to Linux cold-turkey and force myself to only use it, I’d never adapt to how it works and would forever just boot into Windows to do things I found difficult or overwhelming to do on Linux up until the point I’d just straight-up never boot into Linux at all because I’d consistently stay on Windows since it’d be quicker to just take the easier route when necessary. As frustrating and scary as the first week of using Linux Mint was, I would not have gained as much knowledge as I did if I didn’t dedicate myself entirely to it.
This one actually hits hard to me, because I cannot adapt to GIMP and Krita at all and really miss Paint(dot)NET, to the point I always do my image editing in the buggy and unreliable Pinta just because it’s closer to PDN. I really need to push myself to actually learn GIMP, because using Pinta is often really annoying…
I actually haven’t had too many issues gaming on Linux thanks to Proton and Lutris ^^’ I did run into multiple issues, but I was thankfully able to resolve them (especially due to Lutris’ developers being cool and helping me out, including one of them patching a broken installer that wasn’t working when I tried to install that game!) and have been a happy gamer since. c:
I do remember you, hey!
Yeah, I am very paranoid I always make as many extensive questions as I possibly can to understand something before actually doing it, because I get terrified I’ll break it ^^’ I’m just glad that people here don’t mind it…
Heck yes we do! Also, I can’t believe I completely forgot to say my current GPU ^^’ It’s an Nvidia GTX 750 Ti, which is really old by this point and has horrible Vulkan performance. It didn’t run games great on Windows, but they’ve ran consistently worse on Linux, and I frankly really need a better GPU that won’t cause me any headaches with drivers or being EOL’ed while still using them (because I can’t exactly afford the newest, hippest GPUs, y’know?)…
Pretty much the only thing I still need to know, is if there are any equivalents on XFCE or Arch/EOS for a few Cinnamon tools - namely, the Archive Mounter/ISO Mounter that lets you very easily mount a .zip or .iso file as a virtual drive with the context menu (I find it quicker than using the terminal for it, plus I'm not sure if cmount works on .zip files), and the Disks app that lets me easily check the health and partitions of my mounted drives.
The RX580 is a good choice and hopefully you were able to get it for a reasonable price. I have the RX590 and it is a great card. Xfce is a good choice for desktop also. Just make sure when you install and i assume your motherboard is UEFI bios that you have secure boot disabled and you are installing in UEFI mode. That’s kind of why i asked for your hardware info.
I also agree with that. On a daily basis, I use less and less Windows 10, but even more so EOS, Linux Mint, Kubuntu, MX Linux, and possibly Debian for testing purposes.
I am glad that I bought my Sapphire RX 580 Pulse for 189 € back then (about 3 years ago). Now that would be impossible for me. I hope that it lasts a very long time …
You would be fine with EOS. It even has that user friendly intro Menu that helps newcomers (which one can say - never show this intro menu again). Debian 'Testing is another good option (newer software, stable, keeps rolling). It seems that you are experienced enough to use EOS. your experience with Mint will carry over to any version of Linux. you are fine trying EOS. anyway there is nothing elite about pure Vanilla Arch as they have an installer as well - not rocket science !
Well, I have bad news. The website I bought the RX 580 from completely neglected to tell me that it was an international shipment (and in fact deceived me saying it was from a “local vendor” and that it was from a neighbouring state), which means the GPU has been swallowed by my country’s horrible customs system and I’d be lucky if I manage to get my hands on it before April 2022. (And that’s on top of being slapped with tariffs I wasn’t planning on getting)
I was planning on installing EndeavourOS after I got my AMD GPU so I wouldn’t have to deal with Nvidia quackery and annoying setups (which I imagine are even more difficult on Arch), plus less disk space used from storing Nvidia’s drivers in addition to AMD’s, but this revelation has been a big disappointment. So I have to choose between waiting for like half a year before switching to EndeavourOS (if I get the GPU at all instead of Customs just yoinking my GPU and never letting it see the light of day), or bite the bullet and install it with Nvidia drivers and deal with the complicated driver setup that surely is much harder on Arch than it was on Mint. (And then figure out a way to switch to AMD’s drivers and remove the Nvidia ones when I finally get my hands on my RX 580.)
In my past experience, I found that a Nvidia driver install isn’t all that bad, unless you are on certain type of laptops with switchable graphics (between discrete Nvidia and integrated Intel).
If you are on a system where you can actually install a graphics card, you shouldn’t have any issues.
EOS was the second distro I actually tried to use and it ended my distro hopping. My knowledge was close to 0. Honestly, it was a relatively easy transition from Windows(daily drive usage). My system is Optimus laptop which means switchable graphics and to this day I have had 0 issues. There is no need to install Nvidia drivers on EOS, as long as you select a first option during booting from USB (and have a supported GPU with latest drivers). Only package i additionally installed was prime-run. More info: PRIME - ArchWiki (archlinux.org)
Even without that, drivers are easy to install.
I was reading this thread from beginning, only conclusion is that you are overthinking about simple things. It’s not like your PC will nuke from installing operating system, whatever it is. If you are not sure, you can always dual boot.
TLDR. 
. sink or swim ( simple ) or in words of cleaver+ wise person 
For example, I don’t think I can replace Mint’s outdated repos with Arch’s up-to-date repos, or at least not without so much work that I’d be better off just installing Arch or EOS. ^^’
I really need to push myself to actually learn GIMP, because using Pinta is often really annoying…