I didn’t really enjoy YaST, but I’ve got a freed up secondary SSD, maybe it’s worth giving a try again.

The biggest difference? Arch forces you to the terminal more. The easier distros come pre packaged with GUI tools for things like graphics driver selection, adding and removing repositories, installing and removing software, etc.

Vanilla arch doesn’t come with any of that. EndeavourOS, the more fleshed out Arch based distro I use doesn’t either. You could use Mint, Ubuntu, Pop, or Fedora, without ever needing to see the command line. You CAN use it, and should from time to time to start learning, but Arch throws you right into the deep end of the pool of using the command line for almost everything you do.

Some of these people will likely try to say “well actually there are GUI frontends for pacman” or whatever, it’s not the same as using Mint where graphical tools that are easy to use are baked into the system.

I’ve only used yay but afaik paru is very similar and well put together.

Op was asking for advice. You have different advice? Give it. I don’t care what you think of my advice.

I have a 70 year old father running Ubuntu on a laptop without issue for a couple years now. Everyone’s mileage may vary.

Poor OP probably has no idea what to do now.

Yes start over.

Ubuntu, Mint, Pop_OS, Fedora.

Save your important files on a separate drive, install your new beginner friendly OS of choice, and don’t be afraid to break it. A reinstall from a USB stick takes like 15 minutes, and with your important files stored separately you don’t have to think twice about wiping the system and starting over.

Honestly it sounds like you’ve mastered a completely new kind of operating system, based on Linux but evolving in its own direction, and there’s probably only a handful of people using it at that level. It’s pretty cool to learn more about, so I appreciate what you’ve had to say.

I already know and love traditional Linux and don’t see a compelling reason to change, and as I’ve repeated, I don’t think it’s the way to point a newcomer.

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Yeah, this is exactly the point I was trying to make. I want a system that is simple and straightforward, running primarily native packages and a small handful of flatpaks. I don’t want or need to emulate other distros because my own distro has its wings clipped.

Lemmy isn’t a courtroom sweaty, chill out.

I’ve been wanting to try Cachy, but my experience with Endeavour has been so good for so long that I’m not even feeling distro-hoppy. I admire Cachy from afar.

Huh. Well, today I learned.

You do sound obtuse, but thanks for the education.

I still think bazzite is the wrong suggestion for newcomers, and I don’t care if you like my opinion.

The specific set of baseline dot files I use as a template for my Hyprland setup don’t seem to play nicely with Fedora. I love Fedora, but some of my toys aren’t easily compatible with it.

I would say the greatest limitation would be repos and your ability to build whatever software you want from source. Having access to the AUR allows me access to much wider array of software. Can you run Hyprland and all of its companions like hyprlock, hyprpaper, etc on bazzite? That’s the setup I prefer, and I’m fairly certain it’s not possible in a Fedora based immutable system.

I don’t want or need guardrails to keep my system running correctly. If you do, or just enjoy the stability, cool. I’m just glad you’re not running windows. I don’t think bazzite is bad. I just don’t think it should be the go to for welcoming newcomers.

Increased flexibility and control, some things I like to do work better in an arch based system than a Fedora based system. One of my biggest reasons, is that the tiling window manager I use is better supported on Arch and makes use of many AUR packages. Using the AUR and building from source can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing.

That fact that you don’t know what any of this means is why you should start with a more beginner friendly distro. You’ll learn, and as your knowledge grows you’ll have a much clearer understanding of your needs in a distro.

Imagine it’s like racing. If you start in a GT3 car pushing 900 horsepower as a beginner you’ll probably die. Which is why most start with karting or racing Miatas. Keep it simple and build your skill set and knowledge as you go.

I almost always advise against atomic distros for noobs. They are extremely limiting, add multiple complications to otherwise simple tasks, and the padded cell of immutability means you can’t really fuck around and learn how traditional Linux systems work.

I’m usually distro agnostic and just happy to see people use whatever Linux they like, but immutables have issues.

Yeah, I stuck with Fedora Gnome for at least a year. It had its limitations for me, so I’m currently on EndeavourOS with Hyprland, but Fedora will always have a place in my heart.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a good place to start.

Try Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or Fedora. Any of these will be easier than Arch and offer point and click installation for steam, drivers, and just about anything else.

When you get some more experience, instead of arch you can try endeavourOS. it’s basically arch with good defaults and has a fantastic KDE implementation.

The AUR, key words “user repository” is a specific weak point. It doesn’t have the same level of oversight that the main arch repo has. Stick to main repos and verified flatpaks and it’s very unlikely that you’d ever be compromised.

Linux isn’t perfect, but it’s certainly better than windows where you just download executables willy nilly to install your software.

Some of the best you can get in terms of durability. You might pay for it a little in weight and thickness though compared to some ultra thin models.