And people say that the Arch Forums are not friendly to nôôbs!
It’s all lies. The replies on that post are approaching EndeavourOS levels of friendliness. 
10 Likes
Hah, so true. Even the RTFM at the end is mild and friendly.
5 Likes
What have we done? The horror, the horror! 
7 Likes
Now that I clicked the proposed resource, I notice it even includes a “Let me duck duck go that for you” link. Such friendly, very help.
2 Likes
You know what happens when you follow a duck! You step in 
!
I disagree that you need some sort of mastery for Arch. You just need to RTFM and be willing to learn and make mistakes like any other distro.
That said an Ubuntu based distro is a good starter for newbies over Arch IMO simply due to far more users, tons of information, and good support from vendors that do support Linux. Arch is well documented but Ubuntu has the horde ATM.
Mint maybe, but not any of the 'Buntus.
Ubuntu is not as stable as it should be for a static release distro, they force snaps down user throats, and the whole PPA mess is a nightmare.
5 Likes
I don’t necessarily like the Ubuntu way, but there’s something to be said for safety in numbers.
1 Like
No, 'Buntu is pretty awful, because of all the snapcrap. Besides, using it you don’t learn anything about Linux (I’ve used it for almost a decade, I first heard about fstab when I installed Manjaro)…
For newbies who just want stuff to work I recommend Linux Mint or PopOS. For newbies who are curious, want to tweak their system and learn about it: EndeavourOS.
6 Likes
I do not agree with this at all. Arch is the absolute best distro to switch to from Windows. The reason users switch back is because their applications don’t exist on Linux. Learning basic use of an AUR helper is minimal effort and makes Linux far more bearable for someone new than switching to Debian would have.
The ArchWiki is the most substantial documentation on Linux and whilst it is a bit daunting, it is a lot easier to learn to understand that then spending your time Googling topics and entering random bits into the terminal hoping it’ll solve your problems.
I have not used Windows in a few years now, but when I did, I tried to switch to Linux at least 10 times before being able to settle. Why? Because people kept recommending me Debian based distributions where I ran into more trouble than I ever have on Arch.
I think advising newcomers to use Debian or Fedora or something else and label Arch as something which shouldn’t be touched until you have learnt the entire ArchWiki inside out is dreadful advise and reeks of elitism.
6 Likes
That’s basically my experience, too. I hated Windows too much to personaly go back, but the ones I recommended to try Linux share that experience.
Those that I told to start with Manjaro (haven’t done that in years though), Antergos (while it was there) or EndeavourOS still use Linux, those that I guided to start with Mint or Kubuntu switched back to Windows.
I never told anyone to start with Arch directly though, because I knew the installation process would drive them away before they even started.
The problems one encounters are mostly the same on all distributions, but for Arch you find the most solutions. And a problem that all non-Arch distributions have is lack of fast and stable updates, which are essential for gaming performance and compatibility (yes I have a lot of gamer friends …)
Could not agree more here. During my 3+ years with Mint before switching to EOS, I used the ArchWiki extensively.
I mentioned this before, seeing how most of my Linux searches returned an archwiki page, i said to myself, I can just go straight to the source and try Arch, there’s nothing better documented, so I’m covered. After discovering AUR there was no way I could hop again.
1 Like
I got turned off to Arch with too many aborted installs, both real and virtual, with Manjaro. I really liked Antergos, but never found anything like it until EOS.
I agree, I should have been clearer earlier. I would recommend Endeavour or something else Arch-based that uses Calamares and ships with a selection of ‘expected’ pkgs like a desktop environment and printer support to newcomers. I would also preface it with mentioning that it will be difficult and frustrating at times, but that is the case with all Linux distributions if you are used to Windows.
Yeah my first arch[based] endeavour was Manjaro. It didn’t work perfectly out of the box so I switched to Antergos right away. Which I loved and staid with it for almost two years until its funeral. Then just continued with EOS.
1 Like
my first arch a like experience was with manjaro in 2012 
begin hard time to adapt but after 3 reinstall never came back to debian based… after 2016 was going to antergos and never looked back only forward to Eos…
but as arch is a opensource project , also project leader get voted… also more arch based distributions x more feedback… some decission gona to be make in the better… depend mostly who lead the project as a whole… personal its only become better… new doesnt mean it must be beta software
1 Like
I don’t think the increase in popularity of Arch has had an adverse affect on it but quite the opposite. There is more awareness of Arch and a lot more Arch based distro’s & installers making it more accessible to the average Linux user which is a good thing for Linux period. My experience has been dabbling with Linux in the early years and really not doing much with it for over a decade. Then getting back into it and using Linux Mint, MX, Manjaro Antergos and then EndeavourOS from the beginning + Arch. I have also tried and used many other Linux distro’s out there. Too many to list! But once i got onto Arch and the AUR and have been on EndeavourOS from the start I never looked back. I wish i was more skilled & talented.
2 Likes
Is.not about skill is just learn your own way does not mean to be fancy
5 Likes
Broken will power. Maybe. Not all people do that.
I still haven’t mastered Linux. Shoot! I gotta leave Arch and Endeavour land ASAP. Lemme quickly tell the devs I won’t be here any longer. Also will have to drop a bye-bye email to the handful of projects I’m contributing to, since their software don’t run on Windows so I cannot contribute to them any longer 
/s
3 Likes