n01getsout

Arch Linux is optimized for i686 computers. Arch is a distribution for experienced Linux users and does not attempt to hide you from the command line or common Linux utilities. For example, it does not ask you to set up users and passwords during or after the install. You will log on as root with no password after installing. You can change the password by typing the command "passwd" and add users by typing "adduser".

Arch usually has the latest stable builds of software and is much more up-to-date than many distributions. Arch uses the Pacman package manager, which is much like Debian's apt-get. Arch also has one of the best wiki's I have seen for a Linux distro. It is clean and simple and the how-to's are right to the point.

I like Arch but I think it still needs many improvements before I recommend it. The installer is simple but seems to have some bugs in it (I had to install three times before it loaded the config files onto my hard drive correctly). WDM will not show Xfce4 automatically (but it does in Debian), Gnome does not load my programs into the Gnome menu until after I reboot, and some programs such as XMMS were not shown in my menus at all.

I run the unstable branch of Debian so my software remains up-to-date and I didn't notice enough of a speed boost to justify the switch to Arch. Arch does not configure much of anything for you, and while I like that it forces me to learn, I don't like spending that much time trying to get things to work. I also do not see any sort of philosophy or driving values that drive the work behind Arch. This interview at OSNews gave me the feeling that the developers were facing some serious problems with the scalability and longevity of Arch. The also discuss the possibility of the commercialization of Arch, and while the developers all deserve respect for not wanting to go commercial, I don't like the fact that it is even a possibility in the future.

Despite some problems, Arch is very promising and I do not doubt that it will become a major contender in the Linux world as it combines some of the qualities that make Debian, Slackware, and Gentoo great. Good luck to the devs!