I use EOS a lot and can install it with BTRFS, zramswap, snapper, btrfs-assistant, grub-btrfs, etc in record time on a new install so I get cocky sometimes.
Today was one of those days. It’s too hot outside to do anything but play on the computer and/or drink. So I thought I’d try playing with Archlinux on real hardware to see if I could do it without major mistakes. Now that archinstall has gotten pretty good I start there for fun. So I installed similar to what I do on EOS by picking plasma, btrfs, etc.
I must have spent 2 hours trying to get dolphin to find my NAS and let me into it. I must have googles a hundred places to try to find it. I tried all the usually fixes like avahi, mdns_minimal, etc. I finally gave up and got a beer.
Setting up EOS and Plasma now is so easy. All the stuff that should work does and setting up snapper and btrfs-assistant along with grub-btrfs is almost trivial.
I really can’t imagine why you would want to start with Arch if your goal was a desktop.
Thanks to all the developers for a great distro. I can now install EOS faster than I can Linux MInt or Debian with the same features.
FYI, I used to also use EOS on Raspberry Pi 4 system for hobby work, but I recently bought a N100 NUC complete for $129. I can’t buy a RPI 5 for that if you include the nvme case and fansink. That’s what I was playing with today, first on Arch and finally back to EOS.
Thanks again to the devs and let’s not forget the support folks on this forum. It’s the best forum for linux anywhere.
your title made it sound like a (digital) tragedy happened, but it was all positive by the end.
pro tip: sometimes you can have a few before you give up. and then after if you are so inclined.
also: kde/dolphin/NAS is a recurring theme if you search-engine linux stuff. some distros do do it better for sure. viva endeavour.
I always bare-metal everything I want to try. I’m not well that way. I just tried a distro that destroyed my arch boot and the rescue disk has my boot/back. Again. I’ll be back in 3 days.
I’d tend to say it might only be a matter of installed packages. Installing the same packages as EOS should give you the same results: I don’t think EOS does heavy customizations in configurations.
I’m a die hard Archlinux user and have Arch installed on all my computers but two. The two other laptops are both Endeavouros, when I suggest a Linux OS for people who want to try Linux, I suggest Endeavouros. There is little difference between Arch and EOS, arch you must setup everything as EOS does most of it for you. Oh … and sometimes beer is the cure,
Keep is mind not to give the computer any beer. But they do have short term memory so just tempt them into working right by placing the beer real close to them with the label pointed toward their camera.
Well the frustration that made me write this post in the first place didn’t reoccur today. The big difference was the use of btrfs-assistant and snapper to give me a backup point. Plus and more important, I used Bourbon and not beer.
