how easy is it to install arch? (no anarchy/archinstall)
Since nobody else said it: make sure you have backups of any data you don’t want to lose. It’s really easy to accidentally partition any connected drive and wipe your data on it. (Learned it the hard way, but at least I had backups.)
yeah, i figured.
As a very long time Arch user I wouldn’t say “easy” like everyone else seems to. I absolutely would not suggest it for a first distro for someone, which is what I would classify as the “easy” level.
But if you’re comfortable with using Linux, the terminal, and being able to follow written documentation you’ll be able to do it just fine maybe with a little frustration the first time. If you’re installing to a laptop, make sure to look up your model on the wiki first.
The reason to follow the archwiki install instructions is because it teaches you how to do a lot more than just install the OS. This will help you a lot down the line and not just with arch.
It’s easy if you can follow directions, hard if you don’t have directions, impossible if you don’t have directions and don’t know what you’re doing; archinstall is effortless.
If you have reading comprehension of, at least, an 8th-grader, you’ll do just fine. The instructions are all there
at most, an 8th-grader
Phew, looks like my 6th grade education is finally paying off!
I did it few times between 2008 and 2010 when I was way younger. Idk how I did it, but after two times I was used to it and learned also a lot. Today I don’t have the nerves to install arch without archinstall or anarchy. The wiki helped me a lot. The wiki gives an excellent guide to install arch and to set up everything you need. It is well written enough, that no deep Linux knowledge is needed
The archlinux wiki is great for everything. I used it when I had Fedora, Debian or sometimes if I used OpenBSD.
Pretty easy. It’s not so much using intuition as it is reading step-by-step instructions. If you can use a cook book, you can install arch.
Source: I
useonce installed arch, btwAdd a pinch of salt l, and a smidgen of sugar later
Practice in a VM and see for yourself! I did that, set everything up, and ultimately decided it was more system admin detail than I wanted to take on. But as far as ease goes, it’s not especially hard, there’s just not much in the way of hand-holding or preset configs, and you’ll likely find there’s a lot of preinstalled drivers and things you take for granted.
It’s not to bad as others are saying. Real question is to why you don’t want to use the installer?
They are quite good. I just used one for a Gentoo install because I have better things to do with my time. Can I do it for the millionth time sure by hand sure but what’s the point? End result is more consistent than me as a human doing it by hand
Exactly. archinstall is pretty nice, and if you want the frustration of dealing with random errors, it’s still there. But it’s straightforward (but keep the docs handy since you’ll likely need them).
I always manage to forget the locale or NetworkManager or set a password for root etc… Unless you have a hyper-specific partitioning scheme or system config these work great
You always forget to set a password for root?
Takes just over a minute… How hard can it be
It’s easy if you have a second computer or phone or something and can read and plan first.
It’s hard if you want to just click click click through.
The wiki holds your hand through it so it’s pretty easy.
It’s better than it used to be. It might still require some basic cli skills. Especially formatting disks and mount points. And file system types. Etc.
I know manjaro makes it even easier.
Why no arch install?
Cant do if you never try
