Arch Linux deemed "best" distro of 2014 by Linux Voice

Congrats everyone! http://www.linuxvoice.com/linux-distros/.
We were looking for a distro that performs well in every area, and excellently in many, making it a good all-round distro. However this alone isn’t enough. It needs to have something that pushes it ahead of the competition – and the competition is getting better every year. It needs that certain X factor to make it stand out. It should be a distro people want to install; a distro that people get passionate about; a distro that makes you remember why you love Linux.
Arch Linux does all this and more. The two things that make it stand out aren’t fancy bits of software, or slick user interfaces, but its philosophy and its community.
Last edited by link (2014-10-09 05:31:52)

From the same DistroWatch page karol quoted from:
Before one can answer what is the best distro, they have to answer for what purpose! While Arch is a great linux distribution, it isn't the one I would want to install and support on a 100 workstations in a business or classroom environment, or even my mother's computer. I probably wouldn't use it for a mission critical server role and it's also not one I would use for embed systems work.
There's a saying that learn Ubuntu and you learn Ubuntu, learn Arch and you learn Linux. Well, most users don't want or need to learn Linux (or Ubuntu).
"Best Distro" declarations are worthless. Instead they need to be "Best Distro For..." declarations. Arch is an excellent distribution, but as most people will tell you, it's not for the feint of heart. For general use, particularly in a business setting, openSuse would seem to be a better choice. For general use as a home desktop, one might look at one of the *buntus. For development work, particularly in the US, fedora, RHEL or CENTOS seems a good choice.
The reality is that from the user perspective, one can make any distro look and act like any other. The question as to what is best really comes down to how much work is involved to make it actually do that.
Again, Arch is an excellent distro. But depending on your use case, it might not be the best distro.
Fair points all (except for the "development work" bit), but since the whole article was a comparison of rolling-release operating systems, why single out Arch? Why bother even commenting? Using a rolling-release OS when you want a static setup is foolish, no matter what the distribution is.

Similar Messages

Arch Linux based live gaming distro 'lg-live 0.9.5' released

Hey all,
first of all, sorry if this is the wrong subforum to post this in but this one seemed most appropriate.
I would like to announce the release of live.linuX-gamers 0.9.5, an Arch Linux based live gaming distro. It was made using Archiso and of course a big investment of time. It is going to be officially released on LinuxTag 2009 in Berlin (in three days) but I thought I'd give it to you guys now.
It is a very specialized distro: It contains lots of popular games, installs proprietary graphics card drivers out-of-the-box and provides you with a nice, clean interface for launching games and a few basic applications.
I don't want to over-advertise this so I'll just say: Please go ahead and test it if you feel like it, maybe mirror it or seed the torrents a bit, post feedback or thoughts, insult me or threaten me, etc.
If you want to give it a spin or see which games are on it, go over to http://live.linux-gamers.net and grab yourself an ISO/USB image.
Thank you, Arch Linux, for making this possible.

karol wrote:
capoeira wrote:is there a way to install other games when using a USB-Device?
This thread is rather old, but yeah, it's possible to remaster this "meta-distro" and add/remove games you like: http://github.com/svenstaro/lglive
BTW, there's a new release http://live.linux-gamers.net/
Ohh what a positive surprise to have a girl here,
yea, i downloaded the DVD this week. I'm no gamer, I gamed in the 90ies on a Amiga 500 last time. But sometimes I get a wich to play a bit, so I found this DVD (I don't want to instal games to my production-distro and don't want to instal Catalyst either for my card)
I want to play 3d first-person games but those ego-shooters i don't enjoy. Its running around shooting on everything and diying a hundred times. I want something more realistic, so I found penumbra and amnesia and would like to install it with this DVD. (if anyone has tips for realistic 3d-games, action-adventures, etc. I would apreciate tips)
I will have a look at your link, thanks a lot

Keyboard and mouse not working when installing arch linux 2014.01.05

trying to install arch linux 2014.01.05 dual iso but when I boot the live cd my keyboard and mouse (both wired) arent detected.
please help

I am from australia > melbourne victoria and usually type in english us or english australian (which keymap do I use in the arch linux install process?) arch linux still does not detect my kb and mouse when on desktop (usb keyboard)...stumped.
Last edited by yoshiserry (2014-01-27 07:44:05)

Rubix - yet another distro based on Slackware and Arch Linux

Today I was reading DistroWatch and saw info about Rubix.
This distro is based on Slackware and Arch Linux.
What do you think about this?

I tried it.
I really liked the install. Very simple and straightforward.
I didn't like fact that the rubix installer installs only one package at a time (and pulls in the deps of course), so the install is rather slow.
I also didn't like the repo structure. Seems cumbersome.
bonuses:
e17 installed easy, and just worked.
packages available are pretty reasonable
I really like the modifications rubix has made to rc.conf and some of the inits
There is some type of community repository
The distro seems to have a clear focus, and I like many of the security aspects.
bummers:
extra rc<int>.d directories
No gdm. boo-hiss.
No gnome (I get it. this is slackware. boo-hiss).
My fonts looked ugly. This one is such a huge deal for me, that I consider it a showstopper. Might be the fact that I installed it in vmware, but most distros have little issue with this. <caveat. I think arch fonts suck too. I have never had good looking fonts in arch...which is why I have only really used it as a server.>
Did I mention I didn't like the repo structure? It made the simple act of updating pacman repos (pacman -Sy) slow and painful.

TidOS Public Alpha release (New Arch Linux based distro)

I'm a regular lurker on the 4chan technology board (AKA /g/) and I've been following a project known as TidOS by the user "King Neckbeard". Think of it as a preconfigured/prericed Arch Linux installation for those that want a quick and dirty setup, something like Archbang with xmonad instead.
King Neckbeard wrote:
xmonad + conky + trayer + nm-applet make up the DE of sorts
applications started via dmenu (firefox has a shortcut key)
mpd, preconfigured
Just Works
POSSIBLE BUGS:
>networkmanager applet not visible, to fix press win + r and type netfix or run netfix in a console
>music not playing, to fix restart mpd and run mpc play
Screenshots:
Github:
http://github.com/TidOS/TidOS
ISO image download (i686 only, x86_64 users can compile an image themselves from the github sources):
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PJLRZ5I4
Last edited by zowki (2010-05-13 16:24:34)

jordanmthomas wrote:TidOS is dead by the way. /g/ did not seem to care much about it so I haven't done anything to it since I made the first image.
aww.
well you are all welcome to poke your nose in at #witchlinux on irc.freenode.net , it's still alive, n welcomes everyone else's input.
there's the arch rowan witch release, a half made archiso, which is basically to be pretty much the same as where the debian rowan witch.iso left off, and then later once it's built to some reasonably satasfactory standard, a larger fuller witch called jamella is planned to feature loads of tiling window managers, xmonad of course included, as well as awesome, and others, as well as a raft of programmer tools n toys, and then later a refined sleak but complete witch after that. so goes my plan anyways, but of course, anyone can run off n make their own witch, and are encouraged to do so. so if u want a preconfigured arch with xmonad, once we get rowan out of the stalls, jamella will soon follow after. (i been distracted with other interests this past month or so tho, so my contributions dropping off have slowed things, but it's still alive, i assure you.)
or....
to stop me going on about witch... tidos could be revived! XD
and i wish you all the best with that.

Bootstrap a base Arch Linux on another distro

Hi!
I needed to install an Arch Linux environment on a Debian server, so I searched the wiki and found this page:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archbootstrap
Unfortunately, the script is outdated. So I wrote a new one:
http://tokland.googlecode.com/svn/trunk … otstrap.sh
(tested only on Debian Lenny)
$ sudo bash arch-bootstrap.sh myarch i686
Now, my questions:
1) is there another script that performs this task better?
2) if not, can you please give some feedback so as to update the wiki with (a -hopefully- more polished version of) this script?
Last edited by tokland (2010-02-09 21:27:31)

Hi,
I'm working on a script.
It's working with pacman-static.
pacman, in version 3.3.0, introduce xz archive format support and now, some packages use this format (mkinitcpio-0.6.3-1-any.pkg.tar.xz)
So, my script is endding with pacman-static error (unrecognized archive format) !
Where can I find the 3.3.0 (or more) pacman-static ?
Here's the script (it's a first step...) :
#!/bin/bash
# install an Arch in the specified location (debbootstrap like)
# work over pacman-static
# must run on GNU/Linux systems
# http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Install_from_Existing_Linux
# http://wiki.archlinux.fr/install/chroot?DokuWiki=153b0c6847435682de50a6061e6f75a4
[ "${1}" ] || { echo "usage: $( basename $0 ) chrootdir [packages]" >/dev/stderr && exit 1; }
B='\033[29;1m'
b='\033[0m'
# load variables defined in configuration file
echo -e "${B}load configuration file...${b}"
. /usr/local/etc/$( basename $0 ).conf || exit $?
# test packages cache
echo -e "${B}test packages cache...${b}"
[ "${abs_cache}" ] || abs_cache=/var/cache/pacman/pkg
[ -d "${abs_cache}" ] || { mkdir -vp ${abs_cache} || exit $?; }
touch ${abs_cache}/$( basename $0 ) && rm ${abs_cache}/$( basename $0 ) || exit $?
# make minimal chroot for pacman
echo -e "${B}make minimal chroot...${b}"
abs_chroot=${1}
mkdir -v ${abs_chroot} || exit $?
mkdir -vp ${abs_chroot}/etc/pacman.d
mkdir -vm 1777 ${abs_chroot}/tmp
mkdir -vp ${abs_chroot}/usr/bin
mkdir -vp ${abs_chroot}/var/lib/pacman
# install pacman.static in chroot
abs_static_package=$( find ${abs_cache} | grep pacman-static )
if [ ! "${abs_static_package}" ]
then
# download it
echo -e "${B}download pacman...${b}"
[ "${abs_static_host}" ] || abs_static_host="http://repo.archlinux.fr/i686"
abs_static_package=$( curl -sSL ${abs_static_host} | egrep -io 'href="pacman-static[^"]+\.pkg\.tar\.gz"' | awk -F '"' '{print $2}' )
[ "${abs_static_package}" ] && abs_static_package=${abs_cache}/${abs_static_package} || exit $?
curl --progress-bar ${abs_static_host}/${abs_static_package} > ${abs_static_package} || exit $?
fi
echo -e "${B}install pacman...${b}"
mkdir -p ${abs_chroot}/tmp/pacman
tar vxzf ${abs_static_package} -C ${abs_chroot}/tmp/pacman || exit $?
cp -v ${abs_chroot}/tmp/pacman/usr/bin/pacman.static ${abs_chroot}/usr/bin/
rm -vrf ${abs_chroot}/tmp/pacman
# install pacman configuration in chroot
echo -e "${B}configure pacman...${b}"
[ "${abs_repository}" ] || abs_repository='http://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/i686'
abs_pacman_conf=${abs_chroot}/tmp/pacman.conf
echo "
[core]
Server = ${abs_repository}
[extra]
Server = ${abs_repository}
[community]
Server = ${abs_repository}
" > ${abs_pacman_conf}
# install the core
echo -e "${B}install the core...${b}"
${abs_chroot}/usr/bin/pacman.static \
--sync \
--refresh \
--root ${abs_chroot} \
--cachedir ${abs_cache} \
--config ${abs_pacman_conf} \
--logfile /dev/null \
--verbose \
--noprogressbar \
base || exit $?

[SOLVED] (U)EFI dualboot Win7 Arch Linux - partitions gone - recovery?

Hi everybody,
I have a slight problem with my (U)EFI dualboot system (Windows 7 and Arch Linux) which used to be configured using rEFInd like it is described in my previous post:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 6#p1300356
<EFI PARTITION> is /dev/sda1 and I used to boot via <EFI PARTITION>\EFI\Boot\Bootx64.efi which then successfully either loaded Windows or Linux kernel.
Thanks to my own stupidity and a recent update of refind I decided to copy the new driver, font and icon folders to the <EFI PARTITION> in order to be up-to-date.
After doing so, the rEFInd boot menu had a third icon which said "Boot via \EFI\Boot\Bootx64.efi" and if I clicked on it a second rEFInd boot menu appeared with only the two icons for Windows 7 and Arch.
So I figured I could delete Bootx64.efi and ultimately did so, unfortunately. Afterwards I couldn't boot neither Windows nor Linux anymore.
Following this I went through my noumerous USB boot sticks in order to be able to recover the Bootx64.efi. Unfortunately the first USB stick was a Windows XP one which has the plop bootloader alongside:
http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/thebootmanager.html
Out of couriousity I entered this bootloader and found HDA and HDB (I assume resembling my SSD and my USB stick).
To my knowledge I didn't change anything but after entering the bootloader again I just found HDA left, HDB seemed to be gone. But I didn't think of anything bad happening yet.
Then I found a working Archiso which I booted and using blkid I couldn't find the partitions of my earlier system anymore, only its device and the USB stick:
/dev/sda: PTUUID="..." PTTYPE="gpt"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="..." LABEL="ARCH_201312" TYPE="..." and so on
/dev/sdb2: SEC_TYPE="msdos" and so on
Even within the EFI shell I could not detect any internal drive anymore (only fs0: which is the USB stick)
Using Archiso onboard tool testdisk I could find the old partitions. The correct result of the GPT from testdisk is:
Fri Jul 4 08:45:25 2014
Command line: TestDisk
TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
Christophe GRENIER <[email protected]>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
OS: Linux, kernel 3.12.1-3-ARCH (#1 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 26 11:17:02 CET 2013) x86_64
Compiler: GCC 4.8
Compilation date: 2013-08-06T08:42:31
ext2fs lib: 1.42.8, ntfs lib: libntfs-3g, reiserfs lib: 0.3.0.5, ewf lib: none
/dev/sda: LBA, HPA, LBA48, DCO support
/dev/sda: size 500118192 sectors
/dev/sda: user_max 500118192 sectors
/dev/sda: native_max 500118192 sectors
/dev/sda: dco 500118192 sectors
Warning: can't get size for Disk /dev/mapper/control - 0 B - 1 sectors, sector size=512
Hard disk list
Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63, sector size=512 - Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series, S/N:S12RNEAD322171L, FW:DXM04B0Q
Disk /dev/sdb - 2013 MB / 1920 MiB - CHS 1022 62 62, sector size=512 - SMI USB DISK, FW:1100
Disk /dev/sdc - 4210 MB / 4015 MiB - CHS 1020 130 62, sector size=512 - Generic Flash Disk, FW:8.07
Disk /dev/mapper/arch_root-image - 1478 MB / 1410 MiB - 2887680 sectors, sector size=512
Disk /dev/dm-0 - 1478 MB / 1410 MiB - 2887680 sectors, sector size=512
Partition table type (auto): Intel
Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series
Partition table type: EFI GPT
New options :
Dump : No
Align partition: Yes
Expert mode : Yes
Analyse Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63
hdr_size=92
hdr_lba_self=1
hdr_lba_alt=500118191 (expected 500118191)
hdr_lba_start=34
hdr_lba_end=500118158
hdr_lba_table=2
hdr_entries=128
hdr_entsz=128
hdr_size=92
hdr_lba_self=500118191
hdr_lba_alt=1 (expected 1)
hdr_lba_start=34
hdr_lba_end=500118158
hdr_lba_table=500118159
hdr_entries=128
hdr_entsz=128
Trying alternate GPT
Current partition structure:
Trying alternate GPT
search_part()
Disk /dev/sda - 256 GB / 238 GiB - CHS 31130 255 63
FAT32 at 0/32/33
FAT1 : 4110-6150
FAT2 : 6151-8191
start_rootdir : 8192 root cluster : 2
Data : 8192-2097151
sectors : 2097152
cluster_size : 8
no_of_cluster : 261120 (2 - 261121)
fat_length 2041 calculated 2041
set_FAT_info: name from BS used
FAT32 at 0/32/33
MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
FAT32, blocksize=4096, 1073 MB / 1024 MiB
NTFS at 146/251/42
filesystem size 249593856
sectors_per_cluster 8
mft_lcn 786432
mftmirr_lcn 2
clusters_per_mft_record -10
clusters_per_index_record 1
NTFS part_offset=1209008128, part_size=127792054272, sector_size=512
NTFS partition cannot be added (part_offset<part_size).
NTFS at 146/251/42
filesystem size 249593856
sectors_per_cluster 8
mft_lcn 786432
mftmirr_lcn 2
clusters_per_mft_record -10
clusters_per_index_record 1
MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
NTFS, blocksize=4096, 127 GB / 119 GiB
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/160, s_mnt_count=1318/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 5242880
recover_EXT2: part_size 41943040
MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 21 GB / 20 GiB
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/80, s_mnt_count=1317/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 2621440
recover_EXT2: part_size 20971520
MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 10 GB / 10 GiB
recover_EXT2: s_block_group_nr=0/706, s_mnt_count=1317/4294967295, s_blocks_per_group=32768, s_inodes_per_group=8192
recover_EXT2: s_blocksize=4096
recover_EXT2: s_blocks_count 23156049
recover_EXT2: part_size 185248392
MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
Results
P MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
FAT32, blocksize=4096, 1073 MB / 1024 MiB
P MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
NTFS, blocksize=4096, 127 GB / 119 GiB
P MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 21 GB / 20 GiB
P MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 10 GB / 10 GiB
P MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
interface_write()
1 P MS Data 2048 2099199 2097152 [NO NAME]
2 P MS Data 2361344 251955199 249593856
3 P MS Data 251955200 293898239 41943040
4 P MS Data 293898240 314869759 20971520
5 P MS Data 314869760 500118151 185248392
simulate write!
TestDisk exited normally.
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 94 GB / 88 GiB
Now the question is: Can I - using testdisk or any other tool - recover those partitions successfully so I will be able to boot again afterwards? I tested and I could mark them as:
P Primary
Any help will be greately appreciated.
Best regards
Last edited by blablubb1234 (2014-07-08 09:20:08)

Issue resolved If you care to know how, read on:
Looking at the disk using gdisk was doing no good. Neither of the recovery options in gdisk did the trick.
I then returned to testdisk and restored the partitions (successfully). However, afterwards I was greeted by shell telling me the root device was not found (seems like UUIDs get changed when one restores them using testdisk). Adjusting the PARTUUID for root in <EFI SYSTEM PARTIITION>/boot/refind_linux.conf did the trick and I could boot up Archlinux again.
Windows 7 still didn't boot telling me the required device was inaccessible (probably wrong UUID, too). I could however not restore/edit Windows' BCD using bcdedit, see my post Status: 0xc0000225 boot selection failed; required device inaccessible:
To make a long story short: Removing bcd and running autorecovery from withing Windows RE successfully created a new bcd. Unfortunately, Windows writes its backup bootloader at <EFI SYSTEM PARTITION>/boot/EFI/Boot/bootx64.efi. This file originally was a copy of refind_x64.efi which I need to put at that location to be able to dualboot. After chrooting to my Arch system I could restore bootx64.efi, create a new fstab and everything is running fine now again.
Best regards and thanks for the help.

Is Arch Linux right for me?

Arch seems like a pretty awesome distro, and I think I would like it a lot. But is it right for me?
I was first introduced to Linux and Unix-based systems last summer when I took a course at my local community college. Since then, I have installed Ubuntu on my HP laptop. In the past months, I have learned and taught myself a lot about the way linux works: downloading and installing software, Unix command line prompt, etc.
Ubuntu is a fantastic distro for linux beginners, but I feel like I'm ready to take the next step and I'm always itching to see a little more of what goes on behind the scenes. I read a guide on Arch over at LifeHacker and skimmed the "Getting Started" guide on Arch Wiki and I generally understood everything that was going on; nothing seemed way over my head. So I think I could handle Arch. What do you guys think?
If you think I should take Arch for a spin, is it practical to install it as my main OS on my main machine? Should I dual-boot it next to Ubuntu or similar? I am planning on building a PC this summer and am currently debating over which OS to use; Arch is a main candidate. My main uses for this computer will be surfing the net, listening to music (integration with my iPod would be great), a little video editing, some casual gaming, and general programming/tinkering with my computer.
I know y'all probably get a lot of these but I appreciate your feedback.

Check out the Beginner's Guide and The Arch Way in the wiki. It's important to note that what really distinguishes Arch from most other distros is that it isn't a distro in the most common sense of the term. Ubuntu, Fedora, SuSE, Sabayon, Mandriva, PCLOS, etc. have graphical installers that pre-configure everything for you; the choices are made for you, and you'll have to work around anything you don't find to your liking. You can easily add and remove programs, but always limited by what they've provided: packages that are patched in order to work in the way they've deemed appropriate, and an init system that's opaque to users (remember the fuss over certain graphics drivers not rendering Plymouth splashes correctly? I've never had that issue in Arch). Arch, on the other hand, is essentially a set of tools--the Arch Installation Framework, a couple init scripts, about six config files (give or take), repos, the ABS tree, the kernel and a package manager--that allow a user to craft their own operating system to their liking. A couple of the things I just mentioned are even optional as it is; at least three of those config files have never been touched by me, as I don't need them. Combine this sense of freedom and control with the DIY philosophy (which I find empowering as well, but hell--I enjoy research, learning and problem solving) and the close-knit community, and you've got my favorite distro. Ultimately, it's the choices of the developers that make a distro what it is; the software--at least in principle--rarely changes. In the case of Arch, most everything comes straight from upstream, goes in the testing repo briefly, then ends up in the standard repo, only altered if deemed necessary for security or basic functionality.
I left Ubuntu after switching to KDE and finding Kubuntu not to my liking; I also found that many of the "conveniences" of Ubuntu (and the 9-12 other distros I tried afterward) just got in the way. For example, why use the Ubuntu USB Startup Disk Creator or Unetbootin when "dd" is faster and easier? How much frustration could I have avoided installing the Catalyst driver in Ubuntu or SuSE if I'd done so manually (with a number of console commands I can count on one hand) rather than mess around with a GUI, thus knowing exactly what I did wrong? To me, it just seems better to start with what I absolutely need and build up piecemeal, rather than add a bunch of crap I don't need/want/even know is there in the first place and hide it all behind extra GUI's, then try and pick it apart. Ultimately, you make Arch what you want it to be. No one can tell you if it's right for you, or if you should install it (there are rare cases where folks here would flat-out say "No," but yours doesn't seem to be one of 'em ). Check out those wiki articles I mentioned; if it seems like something that interests you, give it a whirl!

Arch Linux

I've been a linux user for about 7 years and I must say this is the best distro i've used thus far. I decided to switch from gentoo after getting tired of compiling everything and their nasty layout of /etc. I had arch up and running in about 10 minutes. The package management is awesome. Keep up the good works guys!

I decided to switch from gentoo after getting tired of compiling everything
That's what finally happened to me too. Arch is pretty cool.
Take a look at ABS when you feel the need to tweak something (if you haven't already).
Just curious, how did you here about Arch? I read about it in a Magazine myself.

Arch Linux Rocks! A Follow Up

A week and a half ago, I took the plunge and installed Arch 0.7.1 (Noodle). I posted a thread here on that day called "And the Odyssey Begins - First Impressions of Arch Linux".
It is a week and a half later, and I am a confirmed believer. I have retired my previous distro (SuSE 9.3) and use Arch exclusively. Noodle is amazing. It is the FASTEST linux distribution I have ever used: fast in terms of boot time from grub prompt to full desktop and fast in terms of the speed with which applications launch and run. Everything is significantly, noticably faster than it was under SuSE on the same hardware. Truly amazing.
But that is not all. By and large, everything I have tried on Noodle JUST WORKS! All my physical devices JUST WORK, including the usually troublesome ones like my webcam. I have had almost no issues getting everything up and running. I had a brief issue with sound (my fault - didn't add my non root user to group "audio"), but that was it.
...and multimedia - it all JUST WORKS. I can't tell you how much trouble I had to go to in order to get other distros to do basic stuff like play MP3s or MPGs. In Noodle, I installed XMMS, MPlayer and gxine, and all my media JUST WORKS. Again, amazing.
...and then there is package management. Why can't everyone have a package manager that is as simple, fast and effective as pacman? pacman is a real winner! ...not to mention the impressive selection of packages that are available. I have been able to find almost everything I normally use in the repository. The few I haven't been able to find I have been able to build from source easily, without all the usual fussing about.
Arch is the linux I have been looking for. It is fast, stable, capable and supported by a great bunch of folks here in the forums. My hat is off to those who created and maintain this great distro, and to everyone here in the forums. I have found a new home.

Can you expand on that? What does qpkg do?
I had one bad experience with AUR and haven't gotten back to it yet. I followed the instructions I found somewhere (Wiki, forum, somewhere - don't remember any more), dowloaded the package, and attempted to build. My screen flooded with compile errors and I just gave up - I figured that if I had to fight with compile errors, I might as well do it with the good 'ol
./configure, make, make install
route, rather than adding the complexity of a (to me) unknown build system on top of it. So far, I haven't needed to go back. Arch is *so* good (i.e. follows normal standards, everything is where it should be) that pretty much everything I have tried to build from source the usual way has worked like a champ.
I think it was qamix that I was trying to build this way, by the way. Eventually I built it myself from source via the ./configure, make, make install route. There were *lots* of compile errors this way too, but I fixed them all and got it to build. Perhaps the version in AUR was suffering from the same problems.
If qpkg is in AUR, and it sounds interesting, perhaps I will give this a whirl again.
Meantime, to get back on topic for a moment, it is a few weeks later now since my Arch install, and I remain incredibly impressed with it. The best part is the speed. I feel like I've gotten a new CPU that is twice as fast. Arch not only ROCKS, it RACES!

Arch Linux 0.7.1 - my feedback

please read the post before vote
Well, I've used Arch linux for many months in late 2004 / early 2005 and then I've switched to Ubuntu...
some days ago I've installed version 0.7.1 and updated it with pacman -Syu
I've seen a lot of improvement since the last time I used it and I was near to think "ok let's switch back to Arch" until I found I that thing I really hate :!: is still here..
You can't install old versions of some packages. For example, kernel.. or.. php (ok there is one in Aur that is maybe "too" old) and mysql..
in the php/mysql example it's true that version 5 is the latest one but they (at least php) still develope the 4.x version for security and many server still have it and also many scripts supports only php4 and 5.
also, as I am a php developer, I need to test scripts with old versions.
but as I said this is just an example. I think that while you can't think to have a big repository of binaries it would be great to be able to install old versions via source.
and recompiling software by hand using old PKGBUILDS is a problem case you don't have a tool that tells you wich packaged were "aligned" with wich.. I mean.. the new php works only with the mysql5 extension so even if you build mysql by yourself it won't work with php.. and so on for apache..
anyway.. if a user is able to block a package and prevent the automatic update he should also be able to use the non-latest version of it.
I know that arch is a bleeding edge distro but this shouldn't mean that you have only the bleeding things. (see gentoo for example)
Another thing that will help a lot in my opinion is to have in the wiki 2 lists:
- one very detailed with available daemons and their use.. for example.. ok.. fam is the file alteration monitor.. but why you need it and wich are the main programs that takes advantage from it and what happens if you doesn't run it? and so on for hal, etc. ..
- one list with all available standard groups that tells user to wich group subscribe in order to be able to performe a specific action
imho this 2 lists will help the (new) user understand better what is doing and why The arch philosophy of "do it yourself and learn doing it" is great but have to be encouraged, and in fact there already is a very good documentation.
Just my 2 cents. And sorry if some one else already said this before; in this case take my post as an underline mark btw.. I'll attach a poll to it.
bye,
Giovanni.

iphitus wrote:To me this thread looks more like "i dont want to make a second package for myself, so let's get the devs to do it".
hmm.. this sounds a bit offenisve to me. Cause I don't actually need that packages as I'm not using Arch as main distro. This post was meant to give a feedback..
iphitus wrote:Especially as there isnt a huge demand for such a package, and you are most likely to be one of a very small minority to use that duplicate package.
ok I agree with this. but from my point of view it is because users that needed it too already switched to another distro..
and this leads us to this:
tomk wrote:I voted "No, there is no need", because I think this is simply an indication that Arch is not the right distro for you - it doesn't meet your requirements.
Imho, the point is that Arch have a lot of great features. The one I'd like to have is a feature that I think will just increase the number of great features Arch already have and will make Arch the right distro for more users. So users that switch to another distro will lose a lot of features that they like to get one or two that they need..
tomk wrote:This "thing that you really hate" is still there because firstly the Arch devs, and secondly Arch users, have not needed to change it. If you want to work "from within" to change that, with polls like this, feature requests, etc, I wish you the best of luck, but I think your poll result so far should tell you something about the support you can expect.
the poll was mainly for myself to get an idea of the users opinion not to change the things. And as I said it is not a change from my point of view, but just a new feature. About Arch devs I agree but about users I don't.. how you can say it if you say to me that I should change distro? In this way people that thinks like me will always remain a minority in arch community. And I don't think that having a old version of a "core" package would be against the Arch philosophy.
tomk wrote:Finally a general point, and this applies to wiki entries as well - you will get a better response if you do something, and then ask "what do you think?" instead of asking "Why doesn't Arch do this?"
I did it for the software thing with the poll and anyway also for the wiki I didn't wrote it but I thought it was clear.. For the wiki I posted my idea and there was no need for the question "what do you think" cause is a discussion forum Also please keep in mind that I wrote the original post in late night and that I'm italian so my english isn't so good :oops:
anyway.. thanks for the tip about subit a feature request and for your answers.
bye,
Giovanni.

Arch Linux Handbook 2.0

Hey all,
I'd like to announce the freshly minted Arch Linux Handbook 2.0, available from the estore here:
https://www.createspace.com/3482247
It should be showing up in Amazon stores within a few weeks, and you'll be able to order it from your favourite brick and mortar store after a month or two.
Nearly 400 copies of the first handbook were sold. This one is more up to date with a fancy cover, more pages, and prettier interior. The Arch Linux Handbook is simply a print edition of the Beginners' Guide, which has seen a few hundred revisions since the first edition went to print. So it was time for an update, and here it is!
I would like to extend a huge thank you to both Jules Pitsker (Misfit) and Branko Vukelic (foxbunny). Jules is the motivating force and primary maintainer behind the online Beginners' Guide. His tireless and thankless contributions have turned it into the exceptionally well-written and comprehensive document that it is. Branko is the best designer I know, both for print and web based materials. He did a terrific job on this handbook cover.

Thank you Dusty. I appreciate your handbook, it played a role in converting me to ArchLinux.
It was important to me to see that there is printed documentation for any linux distro I use.
ArchLinux passed the test because of you.
I bought a copy of your first edition and reviewed it on Amazon. As soon as the second edition
shows up on Amazon I'll buy a copy and give it another review. I'm sure that I'll be able to say
that it is greatly enhanced and everyone should certainly own a copy.
Every Archer **should** own a copy
In fact I have my copy [rummages through closet] right HERE and I did get it out recently when I
repartitioned my SSD and did a re-install with Arch-only. It's __handy__

Arch Linux running on Asus Transformer T100/T100TA... sort of.

I'm not really asking for help here (can't find an appropriate place to put this post), but more to show off my accomplishment with this tablet.
As the thread title says, I've gotten Arch Linux to run on the Asus T100TA which is a quite annoying little thing. I haven't documented the steps myself, however, I remember exactly what I have done, and in order to get the live image to at least run on this tablet, here are the steps I did:
(you'll maybe need 2 USB drives, seems to be the easiest way)
1. Create an ISO using the archiso set as you normally would (except you won't really need the ISO itself) OR if you can figure it out yourself, install the base image to the USB drive (either architecture will do, but I recommend i686 since the processor is 32 bit as well)
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Archiso
This step will be unnecessary as of May, as the live images onwards on the main download site will already contain the 3.14 or newer kernels.
2. After the image building successfully finishes, copy all the contents from (PROFILE)/work/iso/ (except root-image squashfs files) to a FAT32 formatted USB drive (1). This is to simply create a bootloader drive that will allow us for later swapping the USB drives.
3. Download an ia32 version of grub. Any will do as long as it can boot up on the tablet.
http://www.supergrubdisk.org/category/download/supergrub2diskdownload/
This one works, download the standalone IA-32/i386 EFI and paste it in (USB Drive (1))/EFI/boot/bootia32.efi .
(use latest versions, no matter if it's unstable)
4. Now you need to make a grub.cfg. The one I made looks like this
menuentry 'Arch Linux i686'{
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /arch/boot/i686/vmlinuz noefi nomodeset archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201404
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /arch/boot/i686/archiso.img
menuentry 'Arch Linux x86_64'{
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /arch/boot/x86_64/vmlinuz noefi nomodeset archisobasedir=arch archisolabel=ARCH_201404
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /arch/boot/x86_64/archiso.img
NOTE: If you're using a later live image build, I advise to change the date accordingly. It's not necessary to do so, since the mount by label doesn't work, however, I like to keep everything intact.
noefi flag seems unnecessary as well, though I have added it to prevent some kernel panics from happening, for just in case. It works without it, still, however you need the nomodeset flag or else you'll get a black screen!
I'm not entirely sure where the grub.cfg goes, but I've put it in USB Drive(1)/boot/grub/ , /EFI/grub/ and in /EFI/boot/grub/ just to make it sure that it works.
5. Create an ext2/3/4 (recommended ext2 for flash drives, not to wear it out) USB drive (2) and copy the arch folder to the root of the USB drive (2)
---- BOOT PROCESS ----
Before this step, ensure that Secure Boot is set to OFF in the Aptio setup. Otherwise it will throw up an error in a red box crying it's not signed.
6. Plug in the USB drive (1) into a USB port and while powering on the tablet, tilt the escape key to pop up a boot menu.
7. Select UEFI: (your USB drive (1))
8. GRUB 2 will pop up. If you're running the SuperGrubDisk version, you're gonna have to go to Everything and then scroll down until it says something like
(hd0, msdos1)/boot/grub/grub.cfg
and click on it to open the configuration data manually created.
9. Simply select your desired version of Arch Linux live distro to boot.
10. VOILAaa, not really... It'll pop up with a mount error saying it's a wrong FS to mount. This is where you plug in your USB drive (2) in place of the first one.
11. Type in:
# mount /dev/sda1 /run/archiso/bootmnt
# exit
12. Congratulations, you're running Arch Linux on your ASUS Transformer T100TA tablet!
This is as far as I have went into running it. Installing it on a HDD would require mounting the mmcblk partitions, which I haven't looked into yet. For a start, I'd just recommend installing it on a USB drive, though you'd have to own one of the USB OTG converters or a USB hub. The screen is spammed with the mmcblk0rpmb timeout errors though and that is annoying. It stops after a while when it stops trying. Reboot doesn't work either, seems like acpi is broken.
You could do it with a single usb drive, though it requires some knowledge of this tablet's EFI because it disallowed me from running a kernel on another partition other than FAT32. Grub pops up with an error:
can't unload EFI services
or something like that.
I've also tried putting the USB Drive (2) in during grub and it pops up with an error with invalid sector sizes. That was to be expected.
btw I know it's my first post, I'm just here to share this with you. I never had the need to ask for help but when absolutely necessary.
PICS OF IT RUNNING
Some USB devices aren't visible, like the camera.
A custom partition layout without the recovery partitions. Yours may differ.
Last edited by xan1242 (2014-04-13 22:54:46)

I haven't tried much other than getting this live image to run on this machine. I'll attempt to install the base image using my desktop computer with the appropriate drivers and see how that goes. (or just install the wifi driver)
That guy really made it to work much better than I imagined it to work at all! I'll see what can be done using the same drivers, though running Ubuntu seems tempting as well. He even got the touchscreen to work, which is really awesome. It seems that he also merged the drivers into the kernel image, which is going to be a challenge in Arch.
Since he's using the 64 bit build of Ubuntu, I'll try it with x86_64 Arch as well to try and use his guide to make the drivers to work.
EDIT: I have successully installed the base to an external drive and booted it on the tablet, however since the base was installed externally on another machine, I need to regenerate initrd. It boots on the fallback ramdisk, but still no wifi and the screen is spammed even more with the timeout errors. I've seen topics on Raspberry Pi having a similar issue and that it was repaired using some kernel flags, but I am not sure if those will work with the tablet. Also, using the bootflags jfwells used on Ubuntu work here as well, and gives full resolution output now. Wifi doesn't work. ip link doesn't give any signs of a wifi card present.
EDIT2: Got Arch up and running relatively nicely on the tablet now. Though it is in the same state as the last edit in terms of functionality, it works I'd say well enough to be considered usable. I couldn't make the wireless card to work, for some strange reason, so I got a RT73 USB card (Edimax EW-7318USg to be precise, had to use 2 USB ports) and installed stuff on to the tablet. I ran X without a desktop manager, and the X apps worked fine, even with the touch screen (emulating a mouse, no right click) and I ran XFCE4 on it without a problem (with compositing).
It simply needs more developed drivers on it, that's mostly it. The state is exactly the same as Ubuntu 14.04 that jfwells made to work (minus the wifi). I haven't played with the sound, either, due to the warning he posted, but I believe it works as it does in Ubuntu.
The steps I made are as follows:
1. Simply made another live ISO with the archiso set
2. dd'd the image to a USB drive
3. On the second USB drive I created two GPT partitions (200 - 300 MB for ESP, everything else ext2)
4. Booted the live archiso USB drive
5. Installed the base to the second USB drive while being mounted like this: ext2 partition -> /mnt and ESP -> /mnt/boot
6. Installed GRUB x86_64-efi to simply generate a configuration
7. Installed wireless utilities as well as everything else needed to make it to work
8. To ensure bootability on the tablet, again, I put the IA32 GRUB to the ESP in /EFI/boot/bootia32.efi
9. I have edited the grub.cfg, can't exactly remember with what, but this is what it looks like
### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-true-(hd0,gpt2)' {
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt1'
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2 video=VGA-1:1368x768e reboot=pci,force sdhci.debug_quirks=0x8000 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /initramfs-linux.img
menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux core repo kernel (Fallback initramfs)' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-core repo kernel-fallback-(hd0,gpt2)' {
set gfxpayload=keep
insmod gzio
insmod part_msdos
insmod ext2
set root='hd0,gpt1'
echo 'Loading Linux core repo kernel ...'
linux /vmlinuz-linux root=/dev/sda2 video=VGA-1:1368x768e reboot=pci,force sdhci.debug_quirks=0x8000 rw quiet
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
I simply added the kernel flags jfwells added. It needs that root flag, or else it will not boot. I can't figure out the UUIDs though. It will reboot, but it will not shut down.
10. Boot up your second USB drive on the tablet and... IMPORTANT - Boot with the fallback ramdisk - or else you're going to experience non functional input
11. After booting it, you'll get the annoying mmcblk timeout spamming the screen. I haven't figured out how to fix it, but to hide it, type in
# dmesg -n 1
12. Generate another ramdisk (forgot the command, but search function should serve you)
13. Reboot with the normal ramdisk now.
14. After setting up the wireless connection, rock on with the pacman!
At this point I installed a bunch of stuff, like Intel GPU drivers, xorg, xfce4, ntfs-3g, gparted, and among other stuff I personally test stuff with.
I couldn't mount the mmcblk partitions to at least somehow be able to edit data on the Windows partitions or the disk as a whole.
Anybody willing to help getting Arch to run on this tablet is welcome.
EDIT3: Internal WiFi working! Simply added "sdhci.debug_quirks=0x8000" flag.
Last edited by xan1242 (2014-04-13 23:35:26)

[SOLVED] New to Arch Linux, Need help in Installation.

Hi,
I am Ubuntu user for sometime, but I want to migrate to Arch Linux. I need some help. Please note that I am not Linux Expert but I have been using Ubuntu and OpenSUSE for quite sometime now. The reason for deciding to migrate to Arch Linux is with I need speed.
My laptop configuration is
Dell Vostro 1015 - Intel Dual Core 1.8 GHz with 2 GB RAM.
I was using Ubuntu 64 bit version.
Here in Arch Linux, I find there are 3 options to download i686 CPU, x86-64 CPU, Dual Architecture
Now which one should I download among x86-64 and Dual Architecture?
Thanks.
Last edited by sanjaydelhi (2011-11-16 15:11:14)

Thank you all for welcoming me at Arch Linux!
I was bit worried at the beginning because I tried Fedora before but it has one bug because of which it does not get installed on my laptop.
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=255943
I was bit disappointed being not able to use Fedora (both 14 and 15 ) because of this bug.
The reason I got worried because I am new to Arch, as I mentioned I am not Linux expert and Arch is not for beginners( though I consider myself intermediate in Linux but certainly not expert). So I thought if I do not get community support probably I will not be able to use Arch Linux. The reason I got interest in Arch Linux is http://lifehacker.com/5680453/build-a-k … he-process this article. I am not thinking of upgrading my laptop for speed anytime sooner. So I thought of trying Arch Linux.
The reason to post the topic was in most of Linux distros we see two options (x86, AMD_64). I found 3 options at Arch. I just wanted to make sure I am downloading right download.
So I hope I clarified it.
ANOKNUSA wrote:However, just for future reference: When engaging in any discussion with anyone anywhere on the internet at any time, it's often best to just leave experience and credentials out of the discussion. I don't mean any offense myself, but claiming to be "in software development" while appearing unfamiliar with hardware architecture comes of as a bit odd.
You are right. I should not have have brought experience and credentials in discussion. I used to follow hardware architectures but now I have so many other things to follow, so I can not keep up with hardware architectures. I still do not know exact architecture of i3,i5 or i7 processor or any of AMD processors. Thats how it is.
I thank you all for support.
Looking forward to trying Arch Linux.
Thanks

New Arch Linux Logo for HP?

Hi i released 3D Arch Logos and the reaction was... that 2 peoples asked me to this:
Brutal !!! fresh
by code933k on: 05/03/2007, 15:16
code933k code933k
Home
It is amazing the effect that you've achieved with arch's logo. I was thinking some days ago if it would be possible to change the unpolished perspective of the official logo at arch's home page.
I wonder if you hadn't proposed this well proportioned, clear, and good angled image as the new official logo.
Arch is one of the best distros so you deserve double grats.
I hope to see more of your artwork soon. I drink to make other people interesting.
goood fresh
by spookykid on: 05/04/2007, 3:24
spookykid spookykid
Home
i agree you defenetely should post it in arch forums and see where it goes from there. would you mind posting the source? (original files)spookykidisthinking!
Here the thread:
http://gnome-look.org/usermanager/searc … n=contents
Here the logo:
http://www.2blabla.ch/stuff/Linux/Wallp … -color.png
Question: have the Arch Logo Designer intrest for my 3D logo?

root_tux_linux wrote:
I created that pic with cinema 4D on wine...
and now i change to blender or alias maya 7.0 ^^
Btw. Im a noobie in 3D world ^^
Well, I'm in a similiar situation atm. I used cinema4D a few years ago but stopped mainly because of my switch to linux.
I didn't want to use c4d under wine (and was unable to start it with recent wine version anyway..) and was kind of scared by blenders UI.
After reading a few tutorials my fear is gone and I start to enjoy using blender
Try it out! You'll like it...

Arch Linux deemed "best" distro of 2014 by Linux Voice

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