Home » After using Gentoo, I silently switched back to Arch Linux —— remember the idea of ​​using a rolling distribution – Ivon Huang (@qj985n2)

After using Gentoo, I silently switched back to Arch Linux —— remember the idea of ​​using a rolling distribution – Ivon Huang (@qj985n2)

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After using Gentoo, I silently switched back to Arch Linux —— remember the idea of ​​using a rolling distribution – Ivon Huang (@qj985n2)

Where can I find a desktop Linux distribution that is highly customizable, has the latest software versions, and is solid to use. These three conditions can never be satisfied at once.

In search of the ultimate in custom Linux systems, I switched from openSUSE Tumbleweed to Arch Linux four months ago, and then switched PCs and laptops to Gentoo Linux.

During this period, I have a preliminary understanding of the underlying system compilation principles provided by Gentoo and LFS (installed with dual boot), how to migrate from OpenRC to Systemd, and the pain of manually installing some software. Since the core of the system uses the official pre-compiled binary file (based on Fedora), it has not been troubled in this regard.

Gentoo has no problem playing large games like War Thunder, and Steam (Flatpak) + Proton can handle them well.

Plasma Overdose theme

However, after using Gentoo Linux for two months to taste the pros and cons, I decided to switch back to Arch Linux. It used to be a habit to update Gentoo once a week. This time, because there were more than 50 KDE kit slot conflicts at one time during Gentoo emerge, I thought I could no longer spend these hours on the bottom-level debugging, so I took out the Arch Linux USB and reinstalled the system.

This reason for leaving is not as stupid as the previous Ubuntu. In the past, I thought Ubuntu/Devian was too boring and left. OpenSUSE/Fedora gave people too many pre-installed things. I don’t like it. Although it is not as exaggerated as the Windows 11 advertising machine, A heavyweight collection of proprietary software, a monster that can only be locked inside a virtual machine.

There are so many advertising apps in the newly installed system of Windows 11

Push yourself into hell with Tumbleweed, Arch, Gentoo? Which is heaven? Anyway, if you use a rolling release close to the upstream, you don’t want to use a stable release.

Due to the habit of distro-hopping, important data are placed on another hard disk and cloud (Nextcloud + private MEGA of the Software Freedom Association), so it didn’t take long to prepare the program. After backing up the virtual machines of Windows and MacOS, refill them up.

The ultimate in customization, the test of stability

After much deliberation, in order to respond to the idea at the beginning of the article, Arch is currently the best solution, and it is pure Arch, not the Arch-based Manjaro, EndeavorOS, Garuda, and Artix.

Gentoo and LFS are the ultimate in customization, and the software is also very new. The system is installed almost from scratch, and the options for compiling the package must be set. Waiting for the package to compile can be tolerated, but it is disgusting to manually handle the package conflict. PC can still handle it slowly, but if it is installed on a laptop that emphasizes mobility… I tried Gentoo for a short time on the laptop, and then switched back to Arch. I haven’t encountered upgrade conflicts yet, and I’m about to be delayed by compiling. Long fucked up. Gentoo may be stable enough, but friends who like to chase updates will be very painful.

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When the system went wrong and debugged, not only the beard, but also the hair almost fell out

Maybe Gentoo’s USE can refuse to compile some system functions, but it feels like writing a program, you have to consider dependencies, and you have to worry about whether the configuration file will be overwritten when upgrading. Arch is just like a general Linux distribution, just upgrade directly. Although there have been problems with file conflicts during upgrades in the past, they are not as exaggerated as Gentoo. Compared with Gentoo, which needs to set USE and wait for compilation, when Arch uses the image in Taiwan, it can be installed quickly with one command.

As for how to guarantee the stability of Arch, there is no conclusion. Wayland may be gank by Nvidia’s driver in the next update, GRUB may be missing (the probability is very small), or Fcitx cannot type Chinese in a specific program. And so on, but wait a few days for pacman -Syu, the problem may be solved after 10 minutes of downloading and updating, Gentoo has to wait for two hours to compile and then see the result.

Experience the thrill of the Arch customization system

Someone criticized me that Linux is an assembled vehicle. Yes, it is an assembled vehicle, and those who try to unify such as Systemd will be accused of being too broad, and the desktop environment is also an issue that has been fought for thousands of years. Who cares, at present I can’t compromise on using free and open source software for work, and cutting-edge new technologies should be tried.

Of course, it’s about how to install your system. The main thing is to follow the popular trend and make small adjustments when necessary.

Gentoo uses USE to define software functions, while Arch disassembles the software package, so that you can choose which package combination you want when downloading, so as to avoid swelling. For example, QEMU has a minimum version and a version that installs all of them. The Fcitx5 input method can also choose to only install the new cool sound, but not the pinyin input.

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When reinstalling the desktop environment this time, I still choose KDE. Gentoo uses USE to tailor the KDE functions to be compiled, while Arch provides two large packages `plasma_meta` and `plasma-desktop`. After a little experience, I don’t like to install `plasma_meta` family bucket, the application is too complicated, so I choose `plasma-desktop`. The consequence is to fill the hole yourself.

For example: How can KDE not even support WEBP and AVIF?

Because I installed the smallest package of plasma_desktop, the image support (qt5-imageformats, kimageformats) package has to be grasped by myself. Commonly used are Bluetooth (bluedevil), network administrator (plasma-nm), Pipewire sound panel (plasma-pa), power management (power-profiles-daemon), etc., according to your own needs to combine the KDE desktop, No need to clean out the family bucket afterward.

If it is the first time to install Arch, it is still difficult for people to know what they want for the first time. I didn’t even know that Ubuntu used GNOME.

By the way, for the sake of freshness, and for the convenience of touchpad + experience Wayland, the Arch desktop environment of the laptop is installed with GNOME Family Bucket, although the interface customization of GNOME is very poor.

Continue to fully Flatpakize

Flatpak is the installation method inherited to ignore any differences in Linux distributions, followed by AppImage + AppImage Launcher. Gentoo deeply understands this. For some uncommon software, Gentoo sometimes doesn’t even have an Overlay. It has to rely on AppImage and statically linked executable files. In the worst case, it needs to run docker and virtual machines.

Except for file manager (Dolphin), text editor (Kate), image viewer (Gwenview), media player (VLC) and other system programs that require fast response, the rest of the desktop software should try to use Flatpak, including Firefox, VS Code OSS, Android Studio, Steam, LibreOffice, Kdenlive, GIMP.

Flatpak’s permission design can improve security and privacy, a bit like Android APP, the only disadvantage is that it is very fat.

In addition, the use of Snap is often regarded as politically incorrect by the Linux community, but I think there is nothing wrong with it, but the only software with dynamic installation is the static website generator Hugo, which is used to make up for Flatpak’s lack of only desktop programs.

Finally, I want the software update to be automatic. Flatapk under GNOME will automatically schedule updates, so Discover is also installed as the front-end of KDE updates, to prevent the idea of ​​​​playing pacman -Syu every day. After KDE sets the update rules, Arch will be updated silently like Google Play’s APP at regular intervals.

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Beautify Arch Linux

Practicality and beauty are the primary goals, and we should not force it for the sake of showing off guns and personalization.

Arch Linux is the same as Gentoo Linux, it will output GRUB and Systemd information when booting, refer to the Arch wiki to disable the core information, and then install a simple Plymouth with the Arch logo for boot animation.

After reading some opinions, I think that beautifying the desktop in detail like the people on the r/unixporn board will only make the obsessive-compulsive disorder worse. For example, I once unplugged all KDE components and only used Latte Dock, which turned out to be very difficult to use.

Regardless of the KDE or GNOME desktop, it is more important for the desktop to be productive. Therefore, the beautification of the desktop is the following principles:

“Practical” Don’t put a tablecloth that you don’t want to see after posing once

“Low-key” colorful lines without RGB lighting effects

“Only use the components of the desktop itself” does not rely on third-party packages

“Don’t put any icon on the desktop” GNOME’s habit of infecting KDE

Therefore, KDE can only adjust the position of the status bar and use the built-in autumn wallpaper. Breeze’s window decoration is too frivolous, adjusted to Oxygen’s skeuomorphic style.

There is nothing to say about GNOME. The Adwaita theme is used, and the desktop layout follows the operation logic of GNOME. Dash is not made into a fixed Dock. However, GNOME’s APP classification is too difficult to use, so the APP classification launcher in the upper left corner will be opened in GNOME Tweaks, and the desktop uses OpenSUSE’s cute lizard (NTR? It is more like inheriting the spirit of Tumbleweed).

after that

Let’s see how long we can last this time, and start distro-hopping again.

Although Freebsd is not Linux, it has always been considered as an option for long-term desktop systems. I played it before and found that it is really good as a server. I just bought a $30 T-shirt + stickers from their official website as support.

Linux is still relatively popular, and it is convenient to share with others how to set up a certain software, which proves that Linux is not just a machine that works silently and is only used by developers, but can be used as a daily operating system. And the way to understand and improve all of this is to put your whole body into the system and practice from the bottom to the surface.

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