Back to Arch

My discovery (or rediscovery) that my laptop's hardware is 64-bit and my subsequent switch to 64-bit software meant reinstalling the OS, and this spurred me to challenge my recent decision to stick it out with Ubuntu.

Six years ago Ubuntu was the cool Linux distro. It was the first Linux you would dare take home to show your parents. And I did just that: after getting snagged by Windows security problems, my parents ran Ubuntu for a year or two before spending their big retirement bucks and switching to Mac. But I digress—

Ubuntu was the first distro that was easy to use. After installation, everything just worked: wireless cards with proprietary drivers, laptops with complicated power options, graphics hardware acceleration—if there was a way to do it at all in Linux, Ubuntu probably made it work without fuss.

I, like many other Linux users accustomed to hardship, switched to Ubuntu early on. It began a Golden Era of Ubuntu, when things were still new and uncomplicated but also sophisticated enough so that things usually worked. This was also around the time when the web began taking over and locally installed apps became less relevant, and that made Ubuntu (or any other free OS) make more sense. For a few years, during the Golden Era, I didn't know what was going on within the system, like what kernel version I was using or how to set up encrypted wireless manually—and it was all due to Ubuntu.

But every golden era must end. A few years ago, I switched to Arch because Ubuntu had become too fat (This—becoming fat—is the evolutionary pattern for most sophisticated software.) Whereas Ubuntu aims to be easy to use, Arch makes no attempt to have things just work. Even in 2012, upon first starting your computer after a fresh Arch installation, you get only a Bash prompt; anything extra you must set up manually. This discourages most Linux users, and we're accustomed to command lines and to figuring things out.

Arch's objective is to be as simple as possible—but not simple as in easy to use. Rather, Arch is simple in the same way a bicycle is simple: it has few parts and complications, and little is hidden. The result is Arch is elegant. Also, Arch teaches you a lot about how a Linux system works, if only in the course of keeping up with the rolling updates.

These last few years, I've flip-flopped between Arch and Ubuntu several times, but this may be my last switch for a while. I may have entered the Golden Era of Arch.