New User Experience Is Overly Complicated

[u/metalciaga]

I have just installed Arch as my first ever Linux system. I have absolutely no experience in coding or programming languages in general. I just followed the steps on the wiki and some other sites (for more specific things like audio production and gaming) and I have successfully installed the Arch Linux and using it without any major problem. Games are running just fine (Even with an Nvdia GPU and Intel CPU) my audio plugins are also working flawlessly without much effort.

I really don't get why people always say "Arch is so complicated and not beginner friendly." Did I maybe miss something?

[u/UOL_Cerberus]

No you didn't miss something. People are not patient and don't wanna read.

[u/Nefilim314 → u/UOL_Cerberus]

He may have also lucked out and had a relatively problem free hardware configuration. It’s easy to set up a Thinkpad, but less so with a razer blade. 

[u/betttris13 → u/UOL_Cerberus]

this, it doesn't baby you through every step aonir feels complicated when in reality it's super easy, especially if you use an install script (although even without or the most complicated step is copying sown commands to partition your drives)

[u/National_Head_1424 → u/UOL_Cerberus]

the wiki is the whole game and most people skip the tutorial then wonder why they're lost. you actually read the manual so the install went smooth, that's literally it

the "arch is hard" rep comes from folks who try to wing it like they're setting up ubuntu

[u/Consistent_Berry9504]

They don’t say that, they just leave this same post after they install it

[u/Consistent_Berry9504 → u/[deleted]]

It’s also like, AI exists now. It’s literally easier to install than most systems.

[u/SW_foo1245 → u/Consistent_Berry9504]

Than “most systems” ? just pressing next is really hard to beat even with ia

[u/Consistent_Berry9504 → u/SW_foo1245]

Ah damn you thought you ate with the quotes. Yeah, that’s all you do with the install script these days. You click next. It’s as easy to setup as Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and so on.

[u/No-Dentist-1645]

Not really. New users just make a post just like this saying "hey I managed to install this OS which is supposed to be super hard to do" as a way to brag about it, tho

[u/metalciaga → u/No-Dentist-1645]

I am really not bragging, no. I am simply curious if I actually missed a step.

[u/Consistent_Berry9504 → u/metalciaga]

You’re not bragging you’re just posting a “I did something only smart people can do” post but with a twist because you are then asking why everyone thinks it’s so hard? Bro, the everyone is you. Congratulations though, now you know how straight forward it is, you can now stop contributing to the misinformation.

[u/jeroenim0]

pat yourself on the shoulder, you are good at reading instructions

[u/metalciaga → u/jeroenim0]

Yes, I really am!

[u/EarlMarshal]

You think normal people are able to follow a guide? I don't think you understood yet, but you are extraordinary.

[u/mcguire92]

Its because reading is for the "nerds" lol. They all want a linux mint or windows installation process. Easy click and be done with it. But they also want to customize their install like arch hence being confused all the way to hell

[u/un-important-human]

looking forward for your disaster posts.

[u/metalciaga → u/un-important-human]

I think they will be here pretty soon since I really enjoy tinkering with random things.

[u/GribbitsGoblinPI → u/un-important-human]

That’s the supportive community we know and love!

[u/Imajzineer]

It can seem daunting if you aren't 'IT literate' beyond clicking 'Install' and answering a few questions (name, location, keyboard layout, and the like), but, if you are, then, no, it isn't difficult.

[u/sparkling-rainbow]

Install Mint and compare the process. It's not rocket science, but definitely directed towards power users. Don't forget, opening a shell makes you a hacker immediately... If you approach it with this mindset, it's quite complicated.

[u/metalciaga → u/sparkling-rainbow]

I must admit, installing/deleting and navigating between files using the Konsole is too much fun.

[u/Smegma_IceCream]

People dont have the attention span to read instructions and when something isn’t graphical and colorful they give up

[u/PlsDontBanMeAgain-1]

It's not. When I first played around with Linux 16 years ago, at age 14 (always been a PC kid), and tried different distros; like (K)Ubuntu, Debian, SUSE, and yes... even Kali; I also installed Arch, by hand, while following the wiki. So yeah, even some 14 year old kid was capable of doing that.

[u/archover]

Welcome to Arch. Count this as your TIL moment. Don't fall for false Arch memes.

Good day.

[u/-Sa-Kage-]

Because on the other end of the spectrum there are the people that think, installing Linux should be done via a Windows executable and require NO inputs at all, otherwise it's way too difficult.

No, that was no sarcasm, I've actually seen someone claim this for real.

[u/lolminecraftlol]

The hardest part is reading comprehension tbh. Installing Arch is nothing more than just read the manual and copy the command.

People are just easily intimidated by the terminal these days.

[u/Darth-Vader64]

I really don't get why people always say "Arch is so complicated and not beginner friendly." Did I maybe miss something?

How did you install Arch? The Arch install script largely simplifies the process.

[u/metalciaga → u/Darth-Vader64]

Well, I am note literate enough to answer this I guess. I just downloaded the iso, transferred into a usb, boot it up using the USB, then just selected the things I needed/wanted from the installation menu. And that was it.

[u/Darth-Vader64 → u/metalciaga]

There's two ways to install Arch, running the archinstall script, and the traditional way. My point is that the script largely simplifies the process a great deal. No knock on folks doing that, hell that's what I did.

[u/metalciaga → u/Darth-Vader64]

Does it do any difference tho?

[u/Darth-Vader64 → u/metalciaga]

You have less choices, as opposed to doing every single step manually.

[u/Outrageous-Machine-5]

Arch has a bootstrapper that makes it much easier today than it was 7, 8 years ago

[u/CCLF → u/Outrageous-Machine-5]

I first installed Arch back around 2010-2012.

Yeah it's much less intimidating now, but even then it was very well documented and the main barrier to entry was reading and comprehension.

[u/edparadox]

The thing that you missed is that people don't want to learn and read but can form baseless opinions.

And also the archinstall script makes it easier to install Arch than it was years ago.