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Topic: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ? (Read 4209 times) previous topic - next topic
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You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Which was your previous Linux distro before using Artix and why did you move to Artix ? I was using gentoo-openrc , but i compiled the whole distro from source which uses quite a lot of electricity($$$). Now i install on Artix all binary packages , and only compile a few AUR from source. I learned Artix by googling non-systemd distro's.
[Although i first tried Antix(debian), which has many  communalities with Artix] Which distro do you use , when you don't use Artix  ?

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #1 –
I used Arch on my desktops for a long time. When I got tired of systemd getting in my way and breaking things every other update Artix seemed like the obvious choice.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #2 –
I used antiX for many years before switching to Artix around a couple of years ago. I have never used a systemd distro on a regular basis having being against the whole concept from the start.

My main reason for switching from antiX was the desire to try a rolling release and free myself from having to reinstall every couple of years. So far, I am very happy with Artix, and impressed with how there are so many more knowledgable people on this forum ready to help out if necessary.

A big thank you also to the devs who keep this distro a pleasure to use!

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #3 –
I started on Mandrake, Fedora, Mepis. Then I used Debian.
I also used Xubuntu for five years, and Manjaro for a few months.
But this kind of mess called systemd ended up exasperating me.  :(

In 2018, I searched and tested some rare rolling distros without systemd.
Artix Linux after a year of testing has proven to be exemplary: surprisingly stable and fluid!
In 2019, many applications from Arch Linux had already been packaged for Artix.
I found a very active distribution and gratified by a great forum.

For beginners, who don't want to get too involved, I recommend MX Linux (systemd is present, but not used by default).

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #4 –
I am a former Arch user who easily migrated to Artix from dinit. I have used it on many computers and servers when I wanted to feel like a system administrator. The reason I abandoned Arch was because systemD was bloated to the level of the operating system...

Right now I only have one computer, but when I will buy a Thinkpad, Artix will be there too.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #5 –
I used a couple distros on the side for a while. I finally made the switch to Linux on my daily driver desktop when Windows 11 came out. I installed Manjaro. At the time I didn't realize it has its own release cadence instead of simply using Arch's mirrors. Turns out EndeavourOS is closer to what I was looking for.

Anyway, the thing that really pissed me off was systemd-resolved. It needs to be manually configured to use DHCP to obtain a DNS server. And it's not a simple on/off toggle either. The whole thing reeks of heavily opinionated design, which frustrates me to no end. I will never understand how this has become the norm.

Sure, I could use a different resolver. But I don't want to have to do that every time I set up a new machine. Much easier to use Artix and kiss that garbage goodbye.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #6 –
@corysanin We share a very similar story :) But I moved slightly earlier in around ~2019, where some annoyances were already creeping in to W10Enterprise and they didn't longer allow editing of many GUI components, which were rather crucial to me as a Windows power user, and since I was already "plotting" moving to *Nix ever since 10 years ago since fiddling with CentOS and FreeBSD servers back then, and of course being a lot in the early XDA Android modding scene around the same time (before that was ruined as well), it kinda marked the turning point of my refuge from MS.

I also used Manjaro at first after figuring out that deb distros were not my thing and specialized ones like Alpine (which I now paradoxically daily drive on my mobile telephone thanks to PMOS) were not exactly for general desktop use where maximum compatibility is needed, and of course AUR is very attractive as it brings software from basically everywhere.
After issues in Manjaro's maintenance and security came to light I installed vanilla Arch (first time manually installing an OS, hehe, I was so proud), since this kind of distro was already in my learning curve for about a year.

So I used Arch for a while, liked everything about it, but at one point... problems. Services would crash, re-add themselves very stubbornly with updates, complain if I were to remove seemingly unrelated dependencies of them, replace dns+hostnames without asking, even meddle with the desktop sockets (dbus) etc. Then the system would (and this is still a problem with systemd) refuse to shut down with those annoying never ending countdowns, like I knew something was amiss, sort of like a mocking play almost, with that particular popular "boot menu" as I was calling back then the tty messages of init :). I felt something was off, and then I discovered the problem. Systemd will never work fine, cause it's designed to only work a specific way, mocking you if you actually want to use a PC properly. Like identical to what MS was doing, and now since that guy who made it literally began working for MS it confirmed my doubts.

A while later I discovered Artix. This distro is such a well fitting compromise for the current times and at this current maintream-ish crossroads that Arch/AUR provides, that I'm willing to call it a miracle of my computing use! :) At least on the desktop.

I really cannot thank you guys enough and appreciate you for the battles you've endured, especially in the earlier days from what I found out, where even trying to point out that systemd was wrong would land you in troubles and making a system without it was an ordeal, and still isn't easy to this very day.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #7 –
I am an old Arch user, used it because of its KISS principle, to me it was a slackware with better integration, a good package manager and a huge set of packages, not even counting aur that I started to use after years.

When systemd has been chosen to follow what other distros did, I wanted to change but never got the strength to do it. Then I have discovered Artix. I tried during a long time (2-3 years) the different init systems, how Artix could work like my Arch before the change to systemd (aka with the same base, the same amount of packages, etc..).

I moved to Artix last year, using dinit for my init and services system, because it's the one corresponding the most to me.

I'm happy with Artix, except the annoying multi repositories for one package (because I have enabled Arch repos). I know it's a pacman limitation, but it's still annoying :)

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #8 –
I was using Windows 10 not long ago. I tried a few distros without systemd and this is the one that is the closest to what I want. Still trying to iron out a few things but most of frustration is in the past.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #9 –
I moved from Arch Linux. I just wanted an encrypted installation and, since my Arch installation was unencrypted, I made a partition and installed Artix on it. Then I found out Artix is more Arch Linux than Arch Linux and now I'm about to wipe Arch.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #10 –
I'm brand new, havent been tainted with the poor practices of other distributions, and havent liked windows since 98se.  Intel mac and the new M1 has been great and all but its a very "curated" (to say it nicely) experience.  

So I hopped on Distrochooser and opened the top 20 results.   I closed everything that looked low effort, inactive, beige, or generally gave the impression that if their devs had mustaches they were subpar and without substantial volume and luster.  That left about 5 distros to choose from at which point I further researched and took up the advice given in the FAQ to search for systemd CVE...
 Saw the results, read a few and thought:
 "Yeah, Fuck that."  
Bringing us down to 2 maybe 3 options.

The installation environments and processes are much better in Artix .iso choices than Devuan.  This was so easy to get up and running doing everything I have wanted to do  so far I'm kinda wondering why Distrochooser says Artix isnt for beginers.  When I build my next system after I finish the wife's itx build I had planned to run Linux as the primary OS with everything else (macOS and fucking windows if I absolutely have to) in virtual machines.  Artix with KDE is setting a high bar right now even on a 4th gen i5 thinkpad.  Love it.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #11 –
Back when Windows 8 and 8.1 came around, I made the switch to Manjaro KDE. I was tired of the way Windows was turning into more and more of a nanny OS, with cryptic and belittling messages. Being satisfied with Manjaro for a while, I eventually learned that the devs are a bunch of idiots who tell their users to change their system clocks to get around SSL certificate issues. No thanks.

Moving over to Arch, things were fine for a while. Systemd was getting on my nerves, though. Slightly less belittling but still cryptic and useless messages. Learning more about Unix systems and the philosophy, I realised Systemd loves reinventing the wheel. Despite being open source, it's the same opaque box full of scope creep and other retarded decisions, just like Windows.

Around 2020 I finally caved in and migrated to Artix with s6. It was oddly satisfying watching it gut Soystemd from my machine. S6 is very easy to manage and it boots faster and quieter than ever. Huge thanks to @Dudemanguy and the others for making it such a breeze.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #12 –
A stop job is running....[3 minutes +]
Every single time, every systemd distro I used.

I also noticed that I interact less with services in general while using runit, whereas everytime something goes wrong you have to deal with systemd in addition to the problem.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #13 –
I moved from Archlinux for systemd-free. Now I want to move to Voidlinux for logind-free further.

Re: You moved from distro X to Artix, why ?

Reply #14 –
I have used several distros noticing very few differences between them. They all work mostly well, but the ram usage started becoming an issue for me. I then learned about Void Linux and have used that for a while, and while it was good and taught me a lot, I found myself not wanting to have to setup everything myself. I am not extremely knowledgeable in package names and what I have to install to make things work, and I always found something was missing. Then I found Artix, which has runit as the init system which is light and easy to manage by nature, but comes setup with everything I would need. No systemd, ready out of the box for usage, access to the AUR, doesn't break all the time, no need for manually installing like Arch. What more could I need?

I started on KDE, eventually moving to Cinnamon and am now setting up and learning i3 alongside it. It is great.