this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I realized Arch was overrated when I got a brand new 7900 XT and it didn't work on Arch at all because their LLVM was a version behind. It was up-to-date on Fedora and even Ubuntu, but not Arch. Then there was the whole broken grub thing. Bleeding edge and unstable I get, but you can't be unstable and also behind. You can run Arch in any distro with distrobox, I don't see why you wouldn't just do that.

Ubuntu has ads in the terminal when you update. Runs a highly modified GNOME that doesn't play well with some extensions. Snaps by default (although maybe not that bad now that they seem to launch a bit quicker). Unfortunately so many things only have Ubuntu support if they have Linux support at all, it's such a shame.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

LLVM was held back for a good reason, it was breaking things left and right. Even so, if you really needed it there were always AUR packages for it, or lcarlier's mesa-git repo if you prefer prebuilt packages, so it's not as if you were just SOL. I got my 7900XT in december, and instructions on how to get it running were already all over the forums and subreddit at the time and it was working on the same day that I got it.

I don't know when you got your 7900XT, but it was broken on Ubuntu too for a good while, I'm not even sure that it currently works on 22.04 without using external PPAs. In the mean time, it now works with Arch out of the box.

As for the grub thing, I'm not sure how that could have been handled differently. Upstream introduced a change that created a compatibility issue, so Arch could either not update to a newer version of grub ever, or update anyway and tell its users how to handle the compatibility issue. The latter is what they did.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I got it the day it came out so it was the wild west. I think to get it to work on Arch I figured out you needed to compile the new llvm or something, and I just gave up at that point. Fedora Silverblue on the rawhide branch had everything for it, and as soon as 37 was caught up I just re-based on that branch and have been good ever since. Ubuntu did have some other issue I don't remember, not a new enough kernel maybe.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah but I think you're unfairly blaming Arch for not being ready for a new GPU on release day, especially when there are still known issues with the upstream packages that are required for it.

I think you may also misunderstand what Arch is. It isn't meant to be absolute bleeding edge. It's meant to be a distro that's as up-to-date as possible yet stable enough for everyday use. So the Arch team does curate upgrades and does QA before they release it to the stable repos.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If you want something similar, without ads, no snaps, LTS, but with periodic kernel updates, then Pop!_OS might be up your alley.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love System 76 but I hate modified GNOME anything. That's why I always use Fedora. When Cosmic DE comes out I'll give it a shot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Ditto, really respect what System76 has done but I need a long break from Ubuntu and GNOME. Looking forward to Cosmic DE but until it’s mature it is difficult to see how far they’d get.