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Arch Linux – Best Tips for Beginners? (lemm.ee)
submitted 6 hours ago by thatdude@lemm.ee to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I’m planning to install Arch Linux for the first time. Any recommendations on setup, must-have applications, or best practices? Also, what’s something you wish you knew before switching to Arch?

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[-] LittleBobbyTables@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 5 hours ago
  • ALWAYS avoid partial upgrades, lest you end up bricking your system: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/System_maintenance#Partial_upgrades_are_unsupported
  • The Arch Wiki is your best friend. You can also use it offline, take a look at wikiman: https://github.com/filiparag/wikiman
  • It doesn't hurt to have the LTS kernel installed as a backup option (assuming you use the standard kernel as your chosen default) in case you update to a newer kernel version and a driver here or there breaks. It's happened to me on Arch a few times. One of them completely borked my internet connection, the other one would freeze any game I played via WINE/Proton because I didn't have resize BAR enabled in the BIOS. Sometimes switching to the LTS kernel can get around these temporary hiccups, at least until the maintainers fix those issues in the next kernel version.
  • The AUR is not vetted as much as the main package repositories, as it's mostly community-made packages. Don't install AUR packages you don't 100% trust. Always check the PKGBUILD if you're paranoid.
[-] CorrodedCranium@leminal.space 1 points 2 hours ago

It doesn’t hurt to have the LTS kernel installed as a backup option (assuming you use the standard kernel as your chosen default) in case you update to a newer kernel version and a driver here or there breaks.

I had a similar issue that was resolved by swapping to the LTS kernel. Learning about using a bootable Arch USB and chrooting into your install to make repairs would be a good thing for OP to know

this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2025
51 points (98.1% liked)

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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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