LinuxQuestions.org - The obvious..

- Arch (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/arch-29/)

- - The obvious.. (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/arch-29/the-obvious-82204/)

Ok, so there will probably be a few of the obvious questions when learning about a new distro, one that will probably appear repeatedly for quite a while:

Quote:

How does this compare to Gentoo/Slackware/Debian?

And sometimes be followed by:

Quote:

Yeah, but it's no Gentoo/Slackware/Debian

By those who choose to give that kind of response.

I actually found a thread at the Gentoo Forums:
http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.p...ight=archlinux
That sort of give you a blow by blow discussion on how some of the users feel over there ;) The whole point being best summarized by this:

Quote:

Originally posted by aja on the Gentoo Forums
Welcome to the trials of success, folks. Over the last few months, Gentoo has gained a lot of prominence and is easily the top 'source' distro and is even giving slackware and debian a run for their money as the top 'geek' distro.

When we were the new kid on the block, we trash-talked the 'successful' distros (Red Hat is near-universally the whipping boy in other forums). Now that we are one of the 'successful' distros, time for the new kids to trash us.

I think that taking the moral high road of offering choice, advice, and help rather than trash is our best response.

And by...

Well, I can't find it right now... However it summarized as follows:

Quote:

Originally summarized by Me
As distro's mature, part of their adolescents is to attack distros it resembles. This is an attempt to not only gain over more users, but also to seperate it out as it's very own distro. To see your distro mentioned as a rival on forums/newsgroups of larger more prominant distros is flattery. Each distro that is successful has to obtain this sort of flattery to pass through to an accepted distro.

Or something like that. :D

Basically:
ArchLinux is not Gentoo. ArchLinux is not Slackware. ArchLinux is not Debian. However, some of the features of each of these distros can be found within ArchLinux, and if you are interested you should download the iso and check it out. It's definitely an 'up and coming' that should be up and staying.

:)

Cool

well i would agree with some of what you have said with regards to trash talking about distros. except i have a problem with many gentoo users STILL trash talking about almost any other distro big or small that is not gentoo. i trash talk gentoo simply to be a voice out there that has used it and is not afraid to say that gentoo is not THE alternative to <insert distro here>. the zealots love to spread a large amount o0f FUD about why gentoo is better than <insert distro here>. in the case of arch i have even had people trash talk it without using it! simply because it was a prebuilt binary distro. i have even stopped my membership at certain boards because you simply cannot promote your distro of choice over gentoo. all i do, except at one mandrake forum, is put a link to arch linux in my sig. it is not worth it otherwise.

i dispise distro zealotry and OS zealotry.

Excellent post, MasterC. Thank you.

The concept of "distro bashing" isn't new, it's been around as long as we've had a multitude of linux distributions. As you grow, you pick on the bigger guys. It not only sets you apart, makes you stand out, but it also gives you a drive, sense of "I know I'm right, even if they don't". You want to convert (or "save") people from other distros, gently and not-so-gently imparting your "wisdom".

Been there, done that. ;)

The last decade has shown the software world how beneficial choice can be. Let's not try to wreck that by condemning subjectively inferior models. Your garbage is another person's gold. Different people need and want different things, and there's no "right" answer. Live and let live.

I realize that the above paragraph, at first glance, looks like I'm really, really picking on Gentoo. But not at all. This has nothing to do with Gentoo specificially. I've never used Gentoo before, and I the only judgements I can honestly infer is that:

- It makes a great hobby/geek distro to use. Very active, very current, very hands-on, and many people to share your experiences with.
- It fills a niche that was growing before it even came along. Their growth alone proves that.
- They're good at what they do. Incompetence is not tolerated in this industry.

I don't mean to sound preachy at all, and I'm sorry if I do. But I wanted to formally state that Arch Linux doesn't and shouldn't threaten or oppose Gentoo (or any other distribution).

My (and hopefully the other devs') goal has been to provide a solid product that is tailored to the tastes that we have. We trust (and know) that other linux users share these tastes, and that's been shown by the growth of our user base.

Long live Gentoo. Long live Arch. Long live choice.

It's all in good fun right? :p

Well I'll be able to give my humble opinion after I install Arch. I just finished downloading 0.5base.

From what I've read it looks kickbutt.

Well I've recently installed ArchLinux 0.5 and I must say that it is one smooth operator. Very good package management system (Pacman)! Nice, sleek and fast.

O yeah, and glad to see LQ gave AL it's own forum space.