Story time.
I learned Debian-based distros back in high school from a college tech class. After leaving school and getting my first job, I built my first computer (after two DOA boards and much gnashing of teeth). I sat happily in my Windows bubble for a long time.
Years later I had a catastrophic failure when trying to get clever and unlocking my system32 folder to do some tinkering. I'd had enough of Windows. Thought Pop! OS looked really nice.
But we sometimes have that one friend. Arch. Every time I talked about my OS or showed him my clean setup, Arch. If I had a problem with packages. Pacman. AUR. Arch.
I was going nuts. Did he care I was running Pop! OS with KDE Plasma using Kubuntu backports to jury rig a later version? No. Arch.
After a long and grueling battle, after slogging through mountains of unsolicited Arch memes in my DMs, after vehemently defending Debian, I will only say this:
I use Arch, btw.
Wait a bit more and you'll go back to Debian when you get tired of failing to boot after an update.
Source: personal experience
Wait, you mean after a simple kernel update? Not a release upgrade obviously because arch uses a rolling release cycle?
No way to live.
Yup. There was that bad GRUB update as well.
You can usually just rollback, but it's annoying to weigh whether -Syu or -S is more likely to break your system.
I use Arch, btw.
Serious posting: I got tired of making backports for Debian and Ubuntu. I use Arch BTW.
Rolling distros are just great 😍 arch for nerds, endeavourOS for nerds without too much time and Tumbleweed for the latest and greatest but stable and OpenSuse slow roll for even more stability, I guess
I think we're years past the point where the frequency of memes about people saying "I use arch btw" has exceeded people actually saying "I use arch btw" by a wide margin. At this point I'm just waiting for this one to die.
I use Arch btw was always a meme , literally no one ever said it unironically.
I use Arch btw
I use Arch btw was always a meme , literally no one ever said it unironically.
There was definitely a time when many folks regularly mentioned using Arch. It did have some novelty when it was new to newish. I was probably one of them.
literally no one ever said it unironically.
Tell me you don't know the origin of the meme without telling me you don't know the origin of the meme.
how do you know if someone is a vegan...
it's literally a meme template for insufferable people to say "I'm x btw" and those same people don't actually say it, it's a fucking jab at them.
maybe do a google search before attacking people on the internet ... or don't, I'm not your manager.
carnivore btw
maybe do a google search before attacking people on the internet … or don’t, I’m not your manager.
On November 16th, Redditor[4] SusuKacangSoya commented a possible explanation of the meme's origin, writing, "Someone gave the following narrative: That when Arch was new, it was distrusted by the rest of the community because of some stability, etc. issues. However, as it got more and more usable, Arch users began telling everyone else that they were using Arch, to bring more awareness about Arch and prove that it's usable (they were using it just fine, after all). With this strategy released onto the wild, rolling across the community, Arch's usage share quickly went from laughable to that of major distribution. Of course, with the end goal completed, the meme is supposed to be obsolete, but… it stuck, its original purpose lost to time."
Maybe better to use cross-post next time. Sometimes people do not cross-post and then the same link will appear five times in the time line for the five identical posts they made. With cross-posting it appears only once. I use Arch, btw
Controversial opinion: you become a senior, when you let arch behind and use distros like debian.
I don't dislike arch, going step by step through the install process is the best way learning and no matter which distro someone use, the arch wiki should be the first place to visit for instructions or help.
I don’t know, I have had to fix more problems with supposedly “stable” distributions like Debian and co than I ever did with arch.
I disagree (a bit at least).
Debian is just as prone to breaking due to the lack of fallbacks (e.g. Snapper), it just doesn't break as often because it doesn't change as much as Arch.
If you use a minimal/ default install, this won't happen as easily, but as soon as you customise anything, you get problems.
Arch can be reliable too, there are many people who have had the same install for years without breaking.
I would actually recommend Fedora Atomic or other image based distros, e.g. VanillaOS.
They can be more modern, while being way more reliable thanks to atomic updates/ transactions, complete image rollbacks and the reproducibility.
They are a dream to use imo!
This is the way. Everyone can use what satisfies them. My arch experience was good, too. But after tinkering confs and setups, I lost my spirit to become a Unixporn user.
Nowadays I want easy to use setups. That's why I use debian for servers and fedora for clients. Last week I saved an old laptop from a friend before being e-waste. Fedora atomic was the chosen one and he is really happy with it so far.
It is, if your priorities are to tinker even more with your computer. (nix configs, etc.) :)
Using non-tech analogy, it is like having a "project car" to tinker with and a "daily driver" to get to and from work, if you are a car enthusiast.
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Yes, but for example I find the steam deck actually buggier than NixOS
Just look at all the posts about the "discover" app crashing
I said I lt elsewhere already. The maturing "I use arch btw" crowd is steadily migrating to NixOS. In a few years at most .the meme will be "I use nixOS btw".
NixOS is build on a really cool and impressive concept imho. Did you know an OpenBSD developer did like NixOS a lot ? https://dataswamp.org/~solene/
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Not in real life but I have yet to not find one in the comments of anything Linux related.
My current theory on the whole meme:
- Someone in high school debate class is tasked with arguing in favor of Flat Earth theory or moon landings were faked.
- Intrigued by the ease with which they manipulate people into believing outlandish concepts, they try talking people into believing more untenable ideas like "grip tape is much better at holding reaper pepper hot sauce on the surface of a dildo than barbed wire."
- Person finds that limits exist and tries to come up with something more reasonable -- becomes champion for Arch Linux.
- People take them seriously and it takes off..
DISCLAIMER: I have tried neither grip tape and hot sauce covered dildos nor Arch Linux but you get the concept I'm trying to convey I hope.
Reading between the lines here, does that mean you HAVE tried barbed wire hot sauce dildos?
Birds Aren't Real, Flying Spaghetti Monster, and probably a few other things started out as jokes and people started taking it seriously. But Arch probably didn't start as joke given how gate-keeperish the linux community was at the time.
They're kinda the same, in that people joke about them constantly talking about it when they really don't, and if you try to push back against the stereotype, you only feed into it
And also in that most people don't care either way unless you're preachy and arrogant about it 🤷
The crow is people making fun of using arch. Becaus the phrase "I use arch btw" is said orders of magnitude more by those people.
I'm a vegan and I'm pissed by all the people asking the same questions and making the same jokes all the time