ArchLinux - An educational experience

I have been trying to install and run ArchLinux on my ageing laptop. The two reasons being

1. My laptop has become sluggish and non-responsive. This is mostly because of age and my existing Mint Cinnamon installation was taking way too much resources. I had tried other distros (Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE) and DEs (Gnome, KDE) in the past but most were very heavy on the system. Arch gives you a barebones stripped down OS. You install only what you really need. Couple this up with a lightweight DE, such as XFCE or LXDE, or even lighter WM, such as OpenBox and you have got yourself a snappy little setup that works great on an old system.

2. Learning curve of Linux system is steep. But that curve gradually flattens out after a few months (or years). Using various flavors of Linux off and on for the past couple of years, I felt the curve has flattened out for me. I wanted to experiment. I wanted to learn more.

Building up the entire system, configuring each and every component, right from the touchpad to internet to bluetooth speakers, has been truly a learning experience. The curve has again gained slope. This is the true advantage of ArchLinux. And because of the amazing community and legendary wiki pages, you would not be lost. And even if you are lost, you will come out more knowledgeable and experienced.

Over the past week, I have learnt a great deal about Linux systems, and I am thankful to ArchLinux for that. I will try to share the things I have learnt in subsequent posts.

Cheers