I use Fedora 38, it’s stable, things just work, and the software is up-to-date.
I use Arch. I use the command-line to update, I am very glad that I can do the updates when I do want them. Of course, going over the update list is my responsibility, but such is the power my OS grants me—I can make or break things.
Otherwise, yeah, it’s the customization it offers me. I can make it as janky as I want it to be, or rice it to my heart’s content.
I use arch too. Mainly because of rolling releases. I love the install once last forever philosophy. i also like that arch ships vanilla upstream packages, quickly.
That said arch makes very few choices for you. It aends you to the excellent wiki to make your own choice. So the first install may take a bit of time if you’re new.
To be fair, the fact that Arch makes very few choices for us users is one reason, perhaps the biggest reason, I was hesitant jumping in at the start. A well-meaning friend pushed me off the ledge of hesitation and into the thick of things. Did I feel nervous? Hell yes! But was it worth the frayed nerves? I guess it is.
So many nice things about Arch. I got into Linux with Ubuntu, switched to Debian for many years, and now use Arch.
Why Arch?
- AUR provides a huge library of software that natively integrates into your system, including git versions of major components like kernel/mesa so you can test the latest features.
- Rolling release means it’s always up-to-date and you don’t have to worry about version-hopping to the next version every release cycle.
- Follows upstream projects closely
I installed all my Arch installations with the Calam Arch installer ISO. The one big complaint I see with Arch is the complicated install process, but with Calam installer it’s no different than most other distros.