this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2024

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Arch Linux is suddenly the butt of a lot of memes? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen a lot of content that's ripping on Arch Linux, from pictures of stickers being removed from laptops, to comments about it having a lot of bloat or frustrating package management. Was there a change to their policies, strategies, or distro that has turned this once proud vessel into a floating psycho ward?

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[–] [email protected] 90 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Arch Linux has always been the butt of a lot of jokes and memes. Anything that becomes popular and has lots of cheerleaders will become a target for jokes. You're just noticing now because it's peaking on attention on the places you look at. It's the natural ebb and flow of memes. It has no rhyme or reason. Trying to predict or explain it is a fool's errand.

Remember, "I use Arch, btw" was born almost the same year Arch was invented. And the first time, it was uttered without a single lick of sarcasm or irony

[–] [email protected] 45 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I consider it the Linux version of "How can you tell someone is vegan? They'll tell you."

(I use arch, btw)

[–] [email protected] 16 points 7 months ago (1 children)

As an Arch-using vegan, ...I have no retort.

(I use arch, btw (also I'm vegan btw))

[–] darreninthenet 2 points 7 months ago

Are you also an airline pilot by any chance?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I thought that was just all Linux users…

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

How long since you last compiled the kernel?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I installed arch back in the day when I was at university. It was neat, but I had classes and needed to be able to get work done and use wifi, so I installed Ubuntu.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

Blocked most Linux communities on lemmy, as most of them are low hanging dumb image memes that lost their relevancy about 10 years ago. Haven't ran that much into this since.

That said, I use arch, and I'm very happy with it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I don't know, but I am here for it. I feel the same way, but also it seems unlikely anything will compete with package availability without introducing some other issues. I tried Tumbleweed and didn't like package management there either, specifically because of patterns. Some of my issues might be fixed in a newer install or could be done manually with help via the wiki, like auto-updating mirrors so there never is an issue, but honestly I just haven't bothered.

Well, some of my issue is probably just having DSL internet (6-8Mbps, also up to 3 other people using it) making updating more of a pain than it needs to be (including update frequency, trying other distros). Package sharing might be easier if my house had ethernet hookups, too (I'm using a not-very-good method now, a more official method that may be better was probably bugged when I tried it).

EDIT: I also wouldn't say I can feel the bloat on my system, but I do have some dread about lots of dependencies it seems I can't do much about (seeing a ton of python or KDE packages on update). The bigger issue is that I never have much luck updating the AUR stuff, also no-longer-available stuff (it got a bit better once with a re-install, but now it's back to where it was). I tried flatpaks at one point but I got tired of updating those separately (I don't know if hooks were added later or available manually, though I do wish I could choose major-versions only or some other way for less frequent updates of certain software).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I tried Tumbleweed and didn't like package management there either, specifically because of patterns.

I thought patterns are just meta/group packages. Do they do anything else differently?

The bigger issue is that I never have much luck updating the AUR stuff, also no-longer-available stuff (it got a bit better once with a re-install,

what issues do you have updating them? are the no-longer-available packages orphans?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

I thought patterns are just meta/group packages. Do they do anything else differently?

It's been a while, but I remember patterns trying to re-install things that I removed and I didn't like the work-arounds listed. I can't remember what exactly it was, but I don't think it was anything I really needed even with whatever other thing it was grouped with.

Doing a search and it seems other people have been annoyed by patterns because of "recommended" packages, I don't know if it changed though.

what issues do you have updating them?

Some of it is the internet again (especially pulling down things from git that are quite large), some of it is stuff that just fails during building. Basically I can do a system update just fine, but I can't really expect the AUR update to go smoothly. I just pick-and-choose what of the AUR I try to update most of the time, luckily things often just continue working.

are the no-longer-available packages orphans?

That's an issue too, but no in this case I mean packages that have most likely changed names (or maybe removed) so replacements must be manually found. Unless there's some tool I'm unaware of. Otherwise, they will just never be updated, which is often fine. A lot of them are libraries that I'm not even sure about.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

I don't know if it changed though.

No, I think that's the default behavior but I believe I read somewhere that there's a way to stop zypp from reinstalling these packages.

Some of it is the internet again (especially pulling down things from git that are quite large), some of it is stuff that just fails during building

Do you know about chaotic-aur? It should solve most of your aur issues. There's no pulling or compiling. When a dependency is removed from the extra repo you wouldn't be able to install the chaotic-aur package until it's manually fixed but I don't think you'll have any issues updating already installed packages.

[–] 0x4E4F 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

No, people just realized Void exists.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I fail to see any reason to prefer Void over Arch. Few people really care about using systemd or glibc.

[–] 0x4E4F 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Ummm... it's faster and more reliable maybe...

And Void also has a glibc version, not just musl. In fact, most users use the glibc version. More advanced users use musl with a glibc chroot.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Uh huh.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Thank you all for your responses! Seems like I'm just having some bias based on changes in my Fediverse viewing habits!