Hey there - A non typical "hello", bare with my paranoia if possible

Lounge Hello
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Hey there everyone
I’ve been a Linux user for quite a while now(years) but using other distros not based on Arch. Over these last few months I’ve been wondering the pros and cons of changing not only the distro but the model(fixed to rolling release) duo to many applications that I use and actually improve(cuz sometimes they get worse, let’s be honest) over the time. So in this ridiculous year, to say the least, I decided to take on a new adventure and get to Arch/Arch based distros and rolling release for the first time. This sounds too dramatic but I’m a very paranoid and anxious person and I need everything to work when I’m on my computer. Now, I know what’s said, it’s usually the user’s fault when something brakes and I agree.

I understand the “risks” a rolling release can bring to the user but the benefits seem to outweigh those said risks. That said, I would like to keep my future EnOS as stable as possible while having the newest software releases and not relying on flatpaks or snaps(I’m not a fan of them, nothing personal against the projects just it’s not for me).

So my idea would be to stick with a LTS kernel, daily backups and restore points and only use the AUR for something I absolutely have/like to use(for instance Timeshift, which I believe isn’t in the arch official repos, at least not yet).

Also, it seems sometimes new config files(.pacnew?) will appear when you update and you have to decide if you want to overwrite or keep the old config file, is this correct?

I’d also use a DE that doesn’t change much(Xfce for example) and that I can customize to my liking.

Please, any idea of what I can do to make my new “adventure” as safe as possible, shout it out. These were just on top of my head.

Sorry for the rant, and thanks

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actually in every distro you can have a failed update anyway :slight_smile: there is not much a waterproof concept.

But patience with updating just make plans when you update is ok. if you do like kernel updates systemd file system or bash bit longer not directly it will do opionion, just wait 2 a 3 days; just update when you got time…

pacnew are just configs you can do with pacdiff & meld look for the differences and eventually merge manually. also arch news can be your friend also.

i think arch before was more to do on updating but last years is not to much. just updating with care can do. some gui update fail can always do on some point offcourse. always dificult to tell

patience is a friend =:-) i have linux and linux-lts have always a fallback on that

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At some point in your experience, an update will fail.
This is part of the learning process of Arch-based distros.
But, the good news is that you have great support here in the forums and possibly also on Telegram.

Yes, that happens from time to time. Especially with new major versions. It is something even more experienced users including myself often forget to check, so yeah you have a valid point there. Normally nothing gets overwritten, but current configs might sometimes be backupped as a pacsave file.

I can only recommend it. I’ve been using KDE primarily since 20 years, but I’ve now settled for Xfce because it doesn’t get it in the way and rarely has major changes.

Have fun!

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:+1: for time shift snap shots and xfce. For kernels I haven’t had any issues going to the latest quickly, but I don’t have a ton of experience and it’s all on newer hardware. If the LTS works for you, stick with it. The kernel manager in EOS is great and offers a lot of flexibility. Welcome to the community :beers:

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I have always been surprised with how stable Arch (and EnOS) are in practice - two ‘manual interventions’ in the last year - and I knew about both of them before they were updated onto my machine (the eos-update notifier will show you ‘Arch News’ if something new comes up that you need to know). It sounds like you have done your ‘homework’ and have a realistic plan of attack. Even so far as to -lan on XFCE :grin: (It is more customizable than most realize).

The only thing I can suggest is to keep your data separate from your ‘install’ (and backed up) - then it would take something major to keep you from recovering from just about anything you could do to your system.

Welcome aboard!

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My “old” Manjaro advice would be to switch from LTS-old to LTS-new once a year if your hardware is supported. I think it’s still perfectly valid for EndeavourOS.

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yeah, the LTS kernel would be the logical choice, after reading your post. Backups are always a good idea, if you like timeshift, then you can install it from the AUR (as you already guessed). Works with ext4 (-> using rsync then) or with btrfs snapshots. So i also think it’s a good choice. .pacnews? Right, those come from time to time - but not often. I use meld to compare them with my current config. Update when you have time - once a week is totally ok. Have a short look at the forum and the arch news before.

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Welcome to the forum.

Arch is not designed to be a user-friendly distro, but a user-centric one. It’s designed to be simple to understand and easy to tweak and fix when something goes wrong. This is great, troubleshooting on Arch is a million times easier than on a more complicated distro, like 'Buntu. However, the price a newbie has to pay for this is lack of convenience that comes with a more automated, walled system like 'Buntu.

Arch has this reputation that it is only for nerds and advanced users. This is very far from truth, but it does require the user to have a DIY mindset and to be willing to tinker with his or her OS.

The bleeding edge is really not as sharp as some would have you believe. Arch stable is now well tested and breakages rarely occur, and when they do, it is typically the user’s fault and, the best of all, a user who is not completely oblivious is aware od that. Knowing that you did something to cause a breakage is not only empowering, putting you in control of your system, but it gives you a great starting point for troubleshooting.

When something breaks on a more complex system like 'Buntu (and do not confuse complexity of the system with the ease of use, it is typically true that more complex systems are more “user friendly”) you often don’t know what caused that breakage, because there are so many components of the system working behind your back and any of them could be responsible for the breakage. On an Arch system, you almost always know what you did to break it, if you are at all observant.

So, for a personal computer, I think Arch (and EndeavourOS) is a fantastic distro. It does require a bit more maintenance, but this maintenance is rather easy. The reward is that you get the freshest software that exists, which is also great for security of the system.

Regarding LTS vs Arch mainline kernel, why not install both? You can use the latest kernel, and always have the LTS as a fallback. Unless your hardware dictates that you use a specific version of the kernel, in which case you can find pretty much any version in the AUR.

Speaking of AUR, it is probably the greatest software collection in existence. You should not be afraid of using it (in fact, access to the AUR is one of the biggest reasons why anyone would use an Arch-based distro). Yes, AUR is a user repository to which anyone can upload packages, so you have to be careful of what you’re installing (check out my post about AUR security), but the Arch build system, which is behind the AUR, is fully transparent and you can know exactly what goes into which package (no trust is required, you can check everything yourself). This is much safer than PPAs or custom repos, or even downloading binary files from the net.

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Welcome to EndeavourOS and it’s friendly forum :balloon::tada:

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Welcome to EndeavourOS! :rocket:

I think you’re pretty on point already, that’s good starting mindset you have and also some good advices in here too :wink:

Please don’t forget to have fun on your journey :partying_face:

P.S. Oh here’s your Tux :penguin: don’t loose it again! :laughing:

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nobody likes a loose tux.

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and for backup anyone can choose what they want also :slight_smile:

like borg backup is in te repo, is maybe command line, but like vorta is a gui frondend from aur…
:slight_smile:

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Damn, that’s a lot of feedback in such short time
Thanks a lot everyone, you just did the final push for me to install it

@anon31687413
Yeah, something will eventually break, but I’m ok with that as long as there’s documentation and help for such cases which is what I’m seeing here and on the arch wiki too. Getting a problem fixed in minutes is not a big deal to me, I just need to know What caused what and after that it’s easier to troubleshoot than a system full of bloat and things pre-installed(I used to purge tons of them for that reason)

@keybreak
Thanks for the Tux

@Kresimir
There’s always a first time for everything, even liking a loose tux.

@ringo
Yeah I actually use borg for my data/work backups and timeshift for restore points.

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with some pacman hook skills you can make also snapshots

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@Kresimir
Well spoken, Sir. All true and very comprehensive. :+1:t2:

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@Losttux
I agree with @Kresimir. I would install both Ltd and current kernel. Desktop depends on you. There are a number of choices. Cinnamon is very stable, xfce also or Plasma. Unless you are tinkering I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble. There is also Mate which I wouldn’t have a problem with either and then there’s the rest. Not sure what you are familiar with.

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good advice is for sure… use a virtualbox , break a update go to testing in virtual environment if its broken, then try to chroot and fix as training purpose… just to train the senses :slight_smile: just help in some experience offcourse…

while keeping own system stable…

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