Why do vanilla Arch users say....?

“vanilla” or default debian is possible though. I can download the debian gnome iso and it’s the same calamares offline install as the other debian gnome installs.

I think the point about not doing it very often is a very good one. In these three or four years of using EndeavourOS, I’ve installed it about five times, pretty much once per computer. I did the “vanilla” Arch installation even fewer times than that. I’ve never done it in a VM.

I like Arch because I don’t have to debloat it. EndeavourOS is pretty good in that regard, but there are still things to remove, in my opinion. When it comes to installing the OS, the time and effort I save with Calamares on EndeavourOS, compared to manually doing everything from the Arch ISO, is about equal to the time and effort I spend removing stuff like the update notifier, yad, and useless hooks. If it were my job to install the OS every day, I’d be fine with either, Arch or EndeavourOS.

I quite like the fact that EndeavourOS has a GUI session on the ISO. Don’t get me wrong, I love the terminal and use it all the time, but when it comes to terminals, TTY is pretty much the worst one. It’s much more comfortable to do a manual Arch install while typing into a GUI terminal emulator, where you can select text and use the clipboard, and have multiple tabs open (not to mention, have Arch wiki open in the browser at the same time). When you chroot into your new system for the first time, it’s much more comfortable to so from an X session, than in the TTY. Even if it is just Xfce…

When it comes to just using the OS, there is no difference between EndeavourOS and the real Arch, it’s the same OS, for all practical purposes.

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Fixed. :grinning:

OMG! How could you, you effing traitor!
(Fedora–yuck! What a mess. :wink: )

Have you ever heard…
5. I like knowing that every package I install on my machine, every config file I create, alter, and put where and why, of the bit-closer-to-the-bone system that puts the simple in simplistic, and the knowing I’ve also got the responsibility of maintaining the whole shebang:grey_exclamation: (It’s my effing machine.)

Or reasons that, on alternating Tuesdays, weekends, and holidays I like running a hip, slick, and cool distribution like Endeavour. Sometimes it’s nice to sit back and let a trusted driver take the wheel. :racing_car:
The drawback being I then have to keep up with one more additional forum daily. :wink:

Every dog has its day. Sometimes they have fleas.

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With vanilla Arch I meant installing Arch the Arch way. I wanted to use a different word for it but English isn’t my first language so that’s the best I could come up with. Sorry if my word choice drove you up the wall, I do my best writing out English even though I don’t speak or use English every day.

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I already came to a realization early on in the topic and that is EndeavourOS and Arch have different philosophies, that being the reason why some people prefer one over the other and some people use both for different use cases.

That’s exactly my opinion but whenever you come across forum topics or Reddit topics about an Arch-based distribution all the Arch users constantly have a thing for saying those aren’t really Arch even EndeavourOS. Which I disagree with when it comes to EndeavourOS, but I can understand why they wouldn’t want people asking for help in r/archlinux or the Arch Linux forums if they are using an Arch-based distribution.

After all this Arch talk I got an itch to install Arch again, but this time with a different setup than I had several years go. This time like how I had my EndeavourOS setup, using an encrypted btrfs seup with sub-volumes and systemd-boot just to see if I could figure out how to manually setup btrfs and system-boot. I got a working setup and it didn’t take that long after figuring out the btrfs and the systemd-boot part.

Looking back at these after having installed Arch the Arch way again with a different setup, I do have to agree with point 1 and as @Kresimir mentioned about point 2 I can see it being valid now that I found out even after not having running Arch for several years that it doesn’t take that long to setup. About point 3, I did learn something new because last time I was running Arch I used an encrypted setup with lvm and ext4 with grub. However I disagree with the fact that you learning something new every single time. About point 4 I can see it being valid because of point 1, so in short topic actually got me into a realization that different people want different things when it comes to a distribution and there are different situation where people use different distributions for different use cases. I already knew that but I sometimes forgot that :grin:

P.S My laptop is still running EndeavourOS and I’m staying here because I really enjoy the community here! Thanks a lot for your responses in this discussion because it made me view the whole topic differently :slight_smile:

You would just say you installed Arch. If not installed the “Arch Way,” it’s not actually Arch, so the proper way isn’t “more” Arch. . . if that makes sense.

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So that would mean when using the archinstall script it’s not actually Arch either?

It’s also called pistachio Arch :grin:

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Spot on!

Started with distro hopping and now its ping pong between EOS and Arch. But I do agree that the OS is a tool and nothing more. The terminal is the place to learn Linux the rest is just whistles and bells.

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Why wouldn’t it be?

It’s still not the recommended way - but if you use it, they will help you as far as I can recall.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Archinstall

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Because you said.

I didn’t say that at all. Archinstall is their approved install script. It should entitle you to help from their forum. They consider it an official install, same as following their guide. Although the guide is still recommended.

I only tried it once, and if I’m wrong about it being approved by them, then no it wouldn’t. I’m almost positive it is though.

Simply put, if you can get help from their forum, it is Arch.

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I understood you wrong then, makes sense now :slight_smile:

“Vanilla”, “plain”, just adjectives. Take your pick. That said, this thread has sparked my desire to do a plain vanilla Arch install. I have a 3rd desktop, an older Asrock X79 ext4 | Intel Xeon E2650 | EVGA GTX 2070 | 16GB DDR3 1600 which is crying out for attention. This will be fun. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I would define “vanilla” Arch as being Arch Linux. Not just another Arch-based distribution. No repositories other than Arch’s own, the AUR excepted. No Endeavour, no Garuda, no Manjaro, no chaotic-aur. That kinda stuff. :slight_smile:

Arch Linux is one of the few primary distributions like Fedora, Debian, Slackware and very few others. They are what all other Linux distributions are based upon and created from.

Have you noticed how many “Arch-based” distributions have sprouted up the past couple of years? They’re comin’ outta the woodwork!

:wink:

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Says the Garuda guy. hahahaha

It’s terrible in every way. I’ve been told I’m using it wrong by their staff because I added 10 simultaneous downloads to dnf and only use fastest mirrors. . . I was booted from their telegram because I told them I disagree with their stance that Secureboot is a must have requirement. . .

But dammit. . . it just works and I do pretty much nothing anymore. I’m admittedly getting very lazy. . . So . . . I guess that’s where I’m at currently.

I love testing and finding bugs here though. It keeps me in the Arch-esque loop without needing to do anything on my main machine day in and out. I’m having fun here, I love the time I spend on it and here, so I think even more than anything else about this Linux stuff - if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right.

I hate myself for it. It’s like how I will never publicly admit I like several Camilla Cabello songs and deny it at all odds, but I’ll sing that at like top decible down the highway by myself. . . .

Ooops.

We’ve been doing this too long I think buddy. hahahahaha

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I also really appreciate this aspect of Arch. The only things installed are the things that I chose to install. There is something satisfying about the system being as minimal as possible. I’ll bring in a little bloat, but I like that it is hand-selected bloat that I have carefully chosen myself, not someone else’s bloat that I’ll never use.

Some systems are really hard to debloat, also. Have you ever tried removing Grub from Fedora? It is really complicated to do without breaking everything. Some bloat is just so baked in, it’s not even worth it.

This is kind of corny, but I have also learned a lot more from running Arch than from other distros. Not from installing it, I think that is an extremely overrated challenge (just follow the very clear instructions). I have learned a lot because there is so much setup after the installation that kind of forces you to read, and learn more. You want to use your printer? You have to learn how to set up a printer. You want to use a Bluetooth device? You have to learn how to set up Bluetooth. If you stick with it, you end up learning a lot just by getting your normal stuff set up.

I was in the Boston subway (they call it the “T”) listening to a busker play the violin while we were waiting for the train. At some point she started playing “Havana”. I didn’t actually recognize the tune at first, until she got to the hook. Something about that melody, on the violin, down there in the dark tunnels with the echo and everything…it gave me chills, it was just so beautiful and haunting all at the same time.

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Shun the Non-believer!