how easy is it to install arch? (no anarchy/archinstall)
Why no arch install?
If you have reading comprehension of, at least, an 8th-grader, you’ll do just fine. The instructions are all there
at most, an 8th-grader
Phew, looks like my 6th grade education is finally paying off!
Endeavour os done.
what?
I had done a few easier Linux installs on Raspberry Pis and VMs in the past, but when I decided I wanted to try using Linux as my daily driver on my desktop (dual-booted with Windows at the time) I decided to go with a manual Arch install using a guide and I would 100% recommend it if you’re trying to pick up Linux knowledge. It’s really not a difficult process to just follow step-by-step, but I looked up each command as they came up in the guide so I could try to understand what I was doing and why.
I don’t know what packages archinstall includes because I’ve never used it, but really the biggest thing for me learning was booting into a barebones Arch install. Looking into the different options for components and getting everything I needed setup and configured how I wanted was invaluable.
That being said, now that I know how, is that how I would choose to install it? Nah, I use the CachyOS installer now, but if I wanted stock Arch I’d probably use archinstall.
archinstall is easy. The hard part about arch is maintaining it and keeping up to date with linux innovation. As long as you keep reading forum posts and news about linux and browse the arch wiki, there’s nothing wrong with it. If you do not ever read about advances on linux, then don’t use arch.
It’s better than it used to be. It might still require some basic cli skills. Especially formatting disks and mount points. And file system types. Etc.
I know manjaro makes it even easier.
I’ll respond when I’m done doing it. I plan on firing up my 15+ year laptop and install it the Arch way for the hell of it.
Cant do if you never try
Just follow the wiki and you’ll be fine. I did it when I was in highschool. My friend showed me Ubuntu and I used it for about a month then jumped straight to arch
well damn, im currently in highschool, so it’ll probably be fine.
Easy if you go step by step and don’t accidentally skip anything. Archinstall will get you to the same result with lower risk of failure, in a tenth of the amount of time spent. And unless you install operating systems for a living, it doesn’t matter how you get there. Source: Installed Arch on about a dozen different devices, twice without Archinstall.
If you’re looking to learn something, do Linux from Scratch instead. The process is way more granular, way more documented, and way more educational than parroting the steps of installing Arch from the wiki.
A lot easier than Gentoo
Now I’m kind of wanting to go mess with Gentoo again…
Since nobody else said it: make sure you have backups of any data you don’t want to lose. It’s really easy to accidentally partition any connected drive and wipe your data on it. (Learned it the hard way, but at least I had backups.)
yeah, i figured.
It’s easy if you can follow directions, hard if you don’t have directions, impossible if you don’t have directions and don’t know what you’re doing; archinstall is effortless.
It’s not to bad as others are saying. Real question is to why you don’t want to use the installer?
They are quite good. I just used one for a Gentoo install because I have better things to do with my time. Can I do it for the millionth time sure by hand sure but what’s the point? End result is more consistent than me as a human doing it by hand
Exactly. archinstall is pretty nice, and if you want the frustration of dealing with random errors, it’s still there. But it’s straightforward (but keep the docs handy since you’ll likely need them).
I always manage to forget the locale or NetworkManager or set a password for root etc… Unless you have a hyper-specific partitioning scheme or system config these work great
You always forget to set a password for root?
