Hey fellas friends. Sorry to create yet another post on this topic (maybe we should have a sticky for this?).
About 2 weeks ago I decided it was time to move on from Windows and installed Manjaro. I would consider myself a newbie-intermediate level linux user.
Though I’ve used Windows most my life, we use Linux servers (no GUI) at work, managing them is part of job description. I also own a late 2011 Macbook Pro with vanilla Arch Linux. I barely ever use it but boy, Arch really brought it back to life!
I’ve been reasonably happy with Manjaro so far, feels easy and intuitive to use but the community has made me aware that Manjaro is maybe a questionable choice. Since I don´t plan on distro-hopping a lot I want to get it right sooner rather than later.
Here’s what I’m looking for:
- Rolling distribution, preferably. Though this machine is also used for work, our environment depends mostly on remote servers anyway. I’d rather have a distribution that provides the most recent packages for whatever I want
- I don´t mind running a distribution that forces me learn new things or do things in a different way, I kinda embrace it. I just don´t enjoy complexity for complexity’s sake.
- KDE is my preferred Desktop Environment so far, though I guess that’s not very relevant. I’d love to run Hyprland, but you know… Nvidia :(
- I play games on Steam but from my understanding this doesn´t matter either. Everything I tried worked great, I don´t think I want a ¨gaming focused" distro or anything like that
- No Ubuntu, please.
My hardware, in case you feel is relevant!
OS: Manjaro Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.5.5-1-MANJARO
Shell: bash 5.1.16
Resolution: 2560x1440, 2560x1440
WM: KWin
Terminal: konsole
Terminal Font: MesloLGS NF 10
CPU: 12th Gen Intel i7-12700K (20) @ 4.900GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate
Memory: 23313MiB / 64087MiB
Anything but Manjaro. I won’t get into the reasons why because it’s easy to find, but suffice it to say that it’s an amateur distro that makes dumb mistakes.
If you want rolling, Arch, Tumbleweed and Endeavour are the first places to look. Maybe even Fedora because it updates very fast, although it’s not rolling.
I’ve been using Manjaro for years without issue. I fully understand the arguments against using it, but it’s never been a problem for me and I’m too lazy to distro hop for no good reason.
Are there problems with Manjaro? Yes, of course.
Are they bad enough that “anything but Manjaro” is good advice to give to someone? IMO, no.
Yet another “Time to reccomend EndeavourOS” reply.
Seriously tho, EndeavourOS is a pretty solid distro, and not that different from what you’re currently rocking (Manjaro is based on Arch) except well…it actually works as an Arch based distro should, unlike Manjaro. EndeavourOS’s a bit on the light side tho, and it comes with no GUI Add/Remove Software outta the box, but if you don’t like using the Konsole for that, nothing a “yay pamac-all” (or “yay pamac-all-no-snap”) and a bit of installing the packages you want/need can’t fix.
I always use
pacmanoryayto install stuff anyway, I won´t miss the Add/Remove GUI!I also do this, partly outta habit and partly to hear the sounds my mechanical keyboard makes when typing lol
Anyways, I’d say you’re golden if you wanna give Endeavour a shot then
I too have been in the Mechanical Keyboard rabbit hole. I ended up with the Happy Hacking Keyboard 2. Such a joy to type! :D
I’ve looked into EndeavourOS now, and I’m very confused. Normally I’d download a .iso and burn it onto a USB using Balena Etcher (or Rufus), but the official page for EndeavourOS doesn’t have a .iso. I tried following “method three” on that article, but I don’t understand the dialog asking me to choose between Raspberry Pi, Odroid, and Pinebook. I don’t have any of those. I just have my own desktop PC with its Intel CPU. Also I see “ARM” everywhere and I think that also implies incompatibility because ARM is RISC whereas my 6th-gen Intel is CISC.
How do I get started?
Install ventoy to a flash drive, download iso from the landing page, drag it to the flash, boot
I realized it’s the literal homepage that has the .iso. I’m gonna try it out in a VM when I get the chance :)
They seem to be doing UI changes to the website.
Currently the non-ARM version of the ISO is in the main page (https://endeavouros.com/) just scroll down and you’ll find the mirror list of the most recent ISO by country. Dunno why it’s there NGL shrug
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed
Just be careful with Packman repos. Docs advise to run
zupper dupwith--allow-vendor-changebut this has broken KDE a few times for me and I was forced to revert to a previous snapshot.That said, openSUSE Tumbleweed with snapshots is the ideal rolling release distro and works great for gaming.
If you are tired of Arch, why not give Tumbleweed a chance.
In short: Manjaro sucks. No one should ever use it.
For rolling distro you should look at:
-
Opensuse Tumbleweed: latest packages, well tested, bullet proof reliability and built in system rollback. RPM based.
-
Garuda Linux: full flavoured ARCH. Very fast, has all the latest packages. Reliable. Built in rollback. Cool theming.
In short: Manjaro sucks. No one should ever use it.
I’ve seen their certificates fail to renew multiple times. I feel like I don’t know anything, but I could at least certbot.
They are notorious for breaking your system because they mix old packages with new which causes dependency issues and driver issues.
If you’re using a rolling distro both the system packages and library’s, as well as the apps packages must both be up to date.
Manjaro doesn’t follow this
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Debian testing
This is the closest to a rolling Debian release, and I really like it. It’s basically the next major release for Debian, Updates are plenty and the packages much newer than in the stable, though not bleeding edge.
Best of both worlds IMHO
I’m going to also recommend EndeavourOS. Or, if you’re game, just go for Arch. Sure the first time you install will be painful, but you’ll learn a lot about how everything works together. Then you will be more proficient at fixing it if and when you break it.
I’d usually recommend Linux Mint, but since you seems to be up for a challenge, how about Gentoo?
Otherwise for something more mild, you can go for OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
I feel like I’d break Gentoo really fast, to be honest
Just follow the handbook. You’ll be fine.
If you want to be a little adventurous, just install vanilla arch and it will be great, but if you want a little bit of a easier install with all the same benefits, use endeavor os.
If you want something not arch based the only thing I can recommend is OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, I’ve heard great things about it.
Also about Hyprland and Nvidia, I’ve been using Hyprland for some months now with Nvidia and it’s been working great. I do have a significantly older card then you, but it could be worth a try to see if it works. You just have to follow the Hyprland wiki very carefully and you should be fine.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, one of the default DE’s they offer is KDE.
OpenSUSE was also known for their amazing KDE implementation in the past. Not sure if that’s still the case but it’s worth mentioning.
I’d say either OpenSUSE Tumbleweed or either (depending on if you want a graphical installer) EndeavourOS or Arch.
I’ve already mentioned this a couple of time this week, so I hope no one get bothered. But I can’t recommend Xerolinux enough (page). I think it’s what you may like. Rolling release, gorgeous KDE, a ready to use as is system. I’ve been distro hopping for a while but this made me settled.
Do they use Arch official repositories or is it like manjaro where they have their own repo?
It uses the Arch official repositories so it’s as rolling as pure Arch, i used it before it’s great. It uses KDE Plasma and has different theming options to pick from that all look really nice.
You can always try it in a live environment before installing it to see if you like it.
Just “man up” and do a minimal install of (any distro you want), and (manually) install the things you want via the package manager.
…no really. All it takes is two commands (one to search for the package you want, and the another one to install it).
“b-buh its my first ti–”
This, op.
You clearly know enough about what you want already. A minimal install of Debian with just a handful of apt commands will get you exactly what you want in just a handful of minutes.
$ man up man: No entry for up in the manual.Another idea ?
I switched to fedora some months ago and I’ve been really enjoying it. Maybe worth a shot.
OpenSuse Tumbleweed is an excellent choice, if you want the most stable rolling release distro.
High quality OS.
