Been using Manjaro for a year now, but I really wanted to install Antergos, but they went understandably defunct.
I was chuffed that, like Antergos, the lucky user selects the DE they want during installation, eliminating the need for separate flavors to each be based around the DE (Ubuntu and Manjaro, I’m looking at you).
I discovered an exceptionally barebones release, which required the installation of Pacman and Pamac, which was something I did not expect.
I have discovered the joys of vanilla Arch, and I’m having big fun, and I can say, “btw, I use Arch.” Obviouly, just because it’s easy (very easy) to install, it’s still Arch, dammit.
You got me beat by a couple of years, I’m 69.
I started using UNIX in 1974 or 75 when I worked for AT&T.
My first linux was Mandrake. They advertised Mandrake as Red Hat linux only better. The only DE offered was Gnome. There wasn’t any broadband internet, only 56K phone line NICs, so I bought Mandrake in a retail box with a CD at a store. Updates took forever. Start the update, then go to bed.
In 6 may 2002, Red Hat Linux 7.3 came out. I got it a couple of months after that. The first Linux that I found to be useful. The code name was Valhalla. I have had numerous computers whose hostname was Valhalla, including my current daily driver.
Since then to now, it’s been nothing but Red Hat/Fedora or Arch linux (or Arch derivative).
I started with Ubuntu 8.04, and stayed with Debian-based systems, until apps I had grown to depend on kept being removed from the repositories was something with which I had become fed up.
Knowing, from looking it up, that Aqualung, an essential music player for me, is in the AUR, I installed Manjaro. What a difference! As soon as I installed Aqualung from the AUR, I said goodbye to apt forever.
As much as I love Manjaro, EndeavourOS is my dream system, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a new user, the way Manjaro, which is as user-friendly as Ubuntu (high praise from me) is. What I learned from 6 months with Manjaro prepared me for EndeavourOS perfectly.
I have been using Manjaro for about as long as you before switching to Endeavour Thanks to it I felt right at home on EOS. People may say whatever negative things they want (and some of them are justified) about Manjaro, but it’s certainly a great introduction to Arch and Arch-based systems.
Welcome to the EndeavourOS forums. I hope you enjoy your time here.
For some reason, your name sounds awful familiar, and I’m not talking about your avatar.
I love being 65+ You just keep getting more
More forehead.
More belly.
More social time within the medical field.
More forms to fill out.
Etc.
It’s good to hear that there are other old timers around. I’m just a young whippersnapper at 65. Spending most of my career with SunOS and Redhat, I am just now poking my nose into Arch and EOS. I’m hoping the water is not too cold.
Sure are a lot of ‘experienced’ people here - must be the quality of the destination! As for me, just 66 - but I figure I can’t be old because you have to grow up first…
First Linux was TAMU (Texas A&M uni), hand loaded from multiple stacks of floppies on my big, fast 386 tower (!) Lotsa fun getting the ATI card to behave so I could run Motif!
Since then Ubuntu, starting off with 6.06 (it was late) and multi-booting even then with 6.10 and 7.04… Happy until UbuntuOne was killed off, Unity ended with 16.04 etc.
Some people I ‘hang’ with are on Arch, and tried to persuade me to try it - but cruising the Arch forums put me off! Spotted ArcoLinux, and found it be fun to use, and good at teaching what Arch could be - which got me onto ‘real’ Arch. Arch with an installer, though, definitely feels right. Once you’ve done it the Arch way a few times, it seems rather needless!
I also find that EndeavourOS has some nice setups/configurations that I hadn’t arrived at myself (specifically on XFCE), so I’m slowly migrating those onto my Arch as well. As for the forums, much more like the earlier days at Ubuntu (where I ‘fixed’ a lot of ATI video issues, and grub issues ) and much appreciated for the improvement in default attitudes.
Anyway - happy to be here, and to see more coming in - especially the fine vintages I see here!
Thanks to it I felt right at home on EOS. People may say whatever negative things they want (and some of them are justified) about Manjaro, but it’s certainly a great introduction to Arch and Arch-based systems.
