Too stupid and/or lazy for anything but Arch?

Question

Many times during the last 15 years, I made an effort to use GNU/Linux, mostly so-called "beginner-friendly" distributions, as my main operating system but never successfully. There were always some issues that I was too stupid or too lazy to understand and fix. So I kept using Windows and later on Mac OS X.
While still using Mac OS X, I inexplicably stumbled upon Arch some months ago and gave it a try. I followed the awesome Beginner's Guide to setup Arch on my notebook. For the first time there were no issues I could not resolve. Overall, it was beginner-friendly, transparent and fun. I have been using Arch as my sole operating system since then. Best computing experience ever.
Recently, I am becoming more and more interested in other GNU/Linux distributions and *BSDs. I tried to find a (desktop) system that:
1) followed KISS,
2) (easily) allowed a minimal installation,
3) was documented for the stupid and/or lazy.
I looked at Debian but its init system scared me. I looked at Gentoo but its compiling scared me. I looked at Slackware but its documentation scared me.
I am wondering: Am I unfoundedly scared by either of these? Have I overlooked a system? Or am I just too stupid and/or lazy for anything but Arch?

Answer 1

it sounds to me like Arch is just the best fit for you
...and i can share my own perspective on the matter...
I've used many many distro's; gentoo (and a few derivatives), Fedora (and a few remixes), Ubuntu (and many of it's derivatives), puppy (and...same goes..), slackware, FreeBSD, PClinuxOS, debian (various versions), etc, etc....
i haven't found any distribution that i like better than Arch....and i do not 'distro-hop' anymore at all. there is absolutely no point for me to do so...
So I don't think you're too stupid or lazy for anything but Arch, it's quite the opposite... Arch is simple/easy to use, but does require the user to be somewhat competent, right? - i say this because things can break (although not too often), and the end-user has to be able to do things a little more hands on than some of the so-called 'user-friendly distro's'. we also all tend to be aware of where all config files are, how to edit them, where they are located, etc...the average archer knows the underlying system fairly well, i tend to think.
Arch also tends to offer some of the advantages of both meta/binary distributions; ie: ubuntu, fedora, etc....while also offering the advantages of source-based distributions; ie: gentoo, yoper, etc.  because it covers both types, you also do away with some of the disadvantages of both types; ie: compiling from source is more often than not as simple as using tools like 'yum' or 'apt-get' (which i suppose could be taken as laziness, but i tend to think it is just a better design), while in say Fedora or Ubuntu, there is more to do, to accomplish the exact same end-result... another example, we also don't have to sit around and wait for the whole system to compile on system upgrades (unless you choose too, using pacbuilder), this to me is a significant advantage over source-based distro's too....
I feel as an Archer i reap the benefits of all distros, in other ways too. for example, if i want some patch from Ubuntu, or say some software that is found in a PPA - usually i can find it in AUR. i need not bother with adding software sources, or any of that stuff, all i have to do is use 'yaourt -S *pkgname*'... the whole thing is automated, it grabs the source, builds it, installs it and i am done. easy peasy
then, there is the part, where using the kernel (with the patches i want), is much easier than say Fedora or Ubuntu, etc. I used to have to download and patch everything myself for the most part. but same goes as the example above - now all that it requires it 'yaourt -S *pkgname*'... which is much better, you want to use your applications, not spend your evening patching and compiling everything manually, when you don't have too - right?  I am a tinkerer, but i still try to take the most sensible approach, ya know...?
then, as someone else pointed out. We have some of the best documentation available in ArchWiki - this is why i switched to Arch in the first place. i had been using ArchWiki with other distributions for a long time. it got to the point, that i started to realize that maybe Arch as a better fit for me...and the wiki showed me some of the other advantages of using Arch over other distros...
anyway, that's my 2 cents on the matter
cheerz