 Arch Linux has a reputation for being hard to install. Traditionally Arch has been installed through the TTY or the command line. It is a very tedious process that requires quite a bit of knowledge and know-how when it comes to how Linux actually functions. You have to partition your drives, you have to mount those drives, you have to install the file system, you have to do the pacman command where it downloads all the Arch stuff, you have to do the packstrap, you have to do all this stuff one step right after another and if you don't do it in the proper order or you do something wrong or you miss a step whatever it happens to be, your system is not going to post and you're left restarting the process from the beginning. There is a reason why Arch has that reputation. It is a situation where it's definitely not for new users and it's definitely not for people who aren't able to easily follow instructions and not even in the traditional sense of not following instructions but not being able to follow technical instructions. If you can't follow a technically written manual which is what the Arch Wiki is, you're going to have a hard time installing Arch the traditional way. It's just kind of the way it is and there's a reason why Arch Linux has become a meme over the last 10 years or so. I use Arch Linux by the way, it has become a meme and that's because the difficulty of installing it has given the people who install Arch Linux successfully a sense of superiority over the people who haven't even tried or people who have tried and failed. The whole idea behind that superiority is just simply because they've done something difficult therefore they have a badge on their heart that says they install Arch Linux and they can be proud of that. Whether that's anything to be proud of is up for debate really but the whole thing of Arch Linux is that it has that reputation of being hard to install. The thing is is that it's no longer true. With the introduction of Arch install which is an Arch install script that comes on every Arch ISO, Arch Linux is no longer hard to install. It really is not. You run Arch install, you fill out the form that pops up after you do so, choosing all of your settings and then hit enter and it's going to completely install your system. It'll even install a desktop environment and Xorg and all the stuff that you traditionally have to do by yourself. So Arch is no longer hard to install. It's actually really easy so that leads me to the question of the day. Do we still need Arch based distros and really what I'm saying is not do we need things like Manjaro or Arco or even things like Endeavor or Garuda really what I'm asking is do we need the distributions out there that only exist to make Arch easy to install. So distributions that simply install Arch Linux and do so with the Calamari's installer and do nothing else that's special so they don't have their own tools they don't use their own repositories they don't do any of this extra stuff which would then make them a little bit different than what you'd get if you just installed Arch using Arch install. So I don't want to come across as bashing any of those distributions that do that extra work things like Xero Linux and Arco and Manjaro and Garuda and Endeavor. All those distributions do extra things on top of Arch Linux that make them maybe not special but at least something that is worthwhile actually doing but there are a ton of distributions out there that are Arch based distros but are simply Arch with a Calamari's installer. They proclaim that their only reason for being is to make Arch Linux easy to install. The thing is that Arch is now easy to install so do those distributions need to exist that's my question for today and I'm not sure I really know the answer so I'm never going to be the kind of guy that says we have too many Linux distributions although I think I've made that argument in the past so I guess I have been that guy but really when I when I make that argument it's not because I think that there are too many Linux distributions I think that it's more that there are too many Linux distributions out there that don't have a proper purpose. If you make a distribution that has tools that have that has a you know cool theme that has a different desktop environment or a whole bunch of desktop environments or the ability to install something in a certain way whatever happens to be as long as you put some effort into making your distribution somewhat different than the distribution it's based on I'm okay for you to exist even things like Rebecca Black Linux and Hannah Montana Linux those things despite how silly and memified they've become they have a reason to exist you know they are fan service to actresses singers I don't know who Rebecca Black is do I look like I know who it doesn't matter you know but you know you get the idea right as long as your distribution has made some kind of effort into differentiating itself from the thing that it's based on I think it's perfectly fine for many of those things to exist it's when they haven't made a effort to do those things that I start to question it so you guys have probably watched one of my videos before where I have taken a first look at a rare Linux distribution something I found on distro watch or something and one of the questions that I always ask is why does this exist what is its purpose and the reason why I always harp on that question is because I honestly believe that a distribution has to have something that differentiates itself from everything else or not even everything else just something that makes it different than what it's based on and if it doesn't then why does it exist what is the purpose of it when it comes to ArchBaseSistros whose only claim to fame is making Arch Linux easier to install it becomes hard to answer that question because technically they're still doing something different than Arch Linux does and that is my qualification for being okay to exist right there they are taking the Arch ISO and putting calamaries on it and making it easy to install Arch Linux in a gooey fashion that in itself is a reasonable thing to do and it has been for quite a long time it's been something that pretty much since calamaries has existed basically since manjaro was created it's been something that many people have done to try to make Arch Linux something that is more easily accessible to the masses and even now when arch is much easier to install there is a benefit to having a gooey installer for Arch Linux which is basically what a lot of these distributions are so i guess the real answer to the question is yes those things are still okay to exist i'm not sure if the answer to the question do they need to exist is also yes because i know that there are a lot of people out there that prefer the gooey way of doing things they don't want to use a terminal at all ever preferably ever in their entire lives and that's okay that's an okay to live your life if all you want to do is use linux to you know use your browser or manage your photos whatever happens to be you'd probably don't want to use a terminal to do anything and that's okay i think however that a lot of people get attached to the gooey the same way a lot of people get attached to the terminal and it makes them inflexible it makes them unable to do things that really are perfectly fine to do in one or the other so people who are so attached to the gooey installers probably would never look at the traditional arch installer and think you know this is okay this is something that i could do and like i said it's an okay thing to say it just feels like there's not as much of a differentiation between the traditional terminal based arch install now and the gooey calamari's installers that also exist there used to be a a really big gulf between them in terms of ease of use now there's not that gulf anymore they're pretty much neck and neck and that means that there's no longer any real excuse for you not to do just a vanilla arch install unless you have a reason beyond just preferring the gooey and whether or not that's an okay reason is really a personal choice i don't have a problem with people preferring the gooey if that's the way they want to do it it just feels like they're adding a extra layer of abstraction on top of their linux install that doesn't really need to be there because when you download someone else's iso to install arch linux you're adding an extra third party to the relationship between you and arch that doesn't really need to be there and that extra third party may or may not be trustworthy i'm not really saying that they're going to be nefarious it just i'm really just saying that maybe at some point something that they've added to the iso or something like that may break your system or may be abandoned so if they are trying to add their own repositories or if they're trying to add their own software their own tools whatever if they do that there's a chance that those things get abandoned and then your system no longer has parts that are functioning and that's definitely something that is you got to kind of keep in mind when you add in that extra person to the relationship between you and arch linux also sorry about the dog so to bring everything back around to the original question of do arch based distros need to exist anymore i think it's a kind of mixed bag it's not as clear cut of an answer as it used to be i also don't think that the answer really matters because at the end of the day people are going to make distributions whether they have a purpose or not and i have no say in that and that's okay right that's just the nature of open source and the nature of linux you make your own distribution you put it out there some people use it whether it has a function or a reason for being doesn't really matter at the end of the day i will continue to ask that question over and over again why does this thing exist but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter my advice for new users who want to try arch linux is to try arch install on vanilla arch linux you'll be happy you did even if it doesn't succeed because it gives you more of an idea of how your computer actually works and when you actually use vanilla arch linux you can say i use arch linux by the way so that's it for this video if you have comments on this you can leave those comments in the comment section below you can follow me on twitter at the linux cast you can follow me on masted honor odyssey those links will be in the video description along with all my other social media stuff amazon wishlist that kind of stuff you can support me on patreon at patreon.com slash linux cash just like all these fine people thanks to everyone who does support me on patreon youtube you guys are all amazing amazing amazing people so thank you so very very much without you the channel just would not be where it is today so thank you again thanks everybody for watching i'll see you next time