Given that this is the start of my days off (I get 4 because part-time employee) I decided to try to install CachyOS, as it’s suppose to be an easier form of Arch-based distro to install. Now, I had thought this was going to go swimmingly and not like the disaster that EndeavourOS was for me months back, where the installer decided not to care about my partitioning choices.
I wanted to sate my curiosity after using Bazzite for more than 2 months now…I got the itch to change it up. So I created a Live USB with CachyOS on it, and got to work on it after shopping for some lunch in the late morning. Backed up all my data like a good computer person does, and summoned all the bravery that I could muster.
I first disabled secure boot and chose to boot the Live USB with CachyOS before booting into CachyOS’s installer (which looks rather pretty). I selected all the correct options and let it rip. Just a small little error happened and I thought nothing of it as it continued to quickly succeeds overwriting Bazzite and adding all its software goodness into my SSD.
Except that isn’t what happened, in fact CachyOS failed to install the kernel correctly. Broke Bazzite’s bootloader, and generally wasted hours of my time (which isn’t actually a big deal, since I’m off for days).
I had to futz around with reinstalling Bazzite and took about 2 hours and 5 minutes to get my system back to the point it had been before attempting to install CachyOS. Bazzite installs super fast and accurately, so no issue there…There are fiddly bits with working with an atomic distro. I had to set up a distrobox VM (Distroshelf makes it very easy), create an Ubuntu VM, and install programs there to pass through to Bazzite. I wanted to avoid layering packages, only Mullvad VPN is installed via that method (as that was the simpliest way to do it). The rest of the time was simply finding, installing, and configuring Flatpaks to how they were before my little experiment.
Apparently, the universe has spoken and said, “Arch, not even twice, you silly fucker!”
I learned a lot today, always stick to Fedora, Bazzite (Atomic Fedora), and Ubuntu. Those are the only ones that ever seem to install successfully on my PCs. ROFL Sorry for the nerd post, I just had to let it all out.
I used to be a sysadmin in a web hosting company so I know my way around CentOS systems which are basically the same as Fedora both being derived from Red Hat. I liked the system and their SELinux configuration was really good. Package updates were reliable and easy though sometimes a bit out of date.
I found Debian to be rock solid but quite out of date and back porting something was generally not a good idea, it generated too many errors and complex problems with dependencies etc.
Ubuntu, specifically Mint, is something I have installed on a few peoples machines and they found it fine, no complaints really, until they tried to do something more complex or advanced. They could usually get one complex thing done but without lots of experience they tended to have one thing interfere with another and just make things unstable. I got one person to use a VM for some stuff as a work around and it was much easier from there. That said the defaults are good if you have a modern machine and don’t want to make massive complex changes.
As a server I really don’t like Ubuntu. They did things their own way to avoid systemd and honestly it was a nightmare to administer. Much better for me to switch to Debian for stable stuff or to CentOS or Arch for complex stuff.
The biggest advantage for Ubuntu based distros is the user base. Lots of people in lots of forums documenting their problems and eventual solutions. That seems to be shifting with Bazzite and CachyOS getting massive install bases in fairly short times, especially around Steam Deck style machines. I expect we will have more more change in that direction over the next few years and honestly more users means more of a useful position in the market driving more support from developers so I am all for it.
But yeah, using the CLI is harder at first because you have all the keys as an option and no idea what the names of things are, but it can get really fun especially when you start chaining commands together. For example, you can find files name *.log, grep a specific line out of them, the sort by time and merge it all together. The output is all the logs from these different files that match your search but in appropriate time sequence and it makes troubleshooting way easier. Or you can search for all files in your whole filesystem which match a characteristic like who owns them, check their sizes, and present the largest 10. All with a few pipes and filters. It makes you feel like you need a hoodie, dark glasses, and a projector blasting green text over your face while playing trance in the background.
That would make sense, as I remembered reading about how CentOS and Fedora are truly similar due to being created by Red Hat, they took the advantages of CentOS and inserted them into Fedora (which is why I seem to get Fedora, while also not understanding Fedora). Given your range of experience, I can see why you’re honestly most comfortable with Arch and dealing with complex things.
I agree with the advantage of Ubuntu/Linux Mint/Debian: it’s an ubiquitous install which means troubleshooting naturally gets easier over time, because so many document problems and solutions are created for the issues any distro might face over time. The fact that YouTubers are using and discussing both Bazzite and CachyOS means a similar flow of users will eventually create a critical mass of troubleshooting resources. As well as significant developer interest which Valve got the ball rolling on because of their Proton Compatibility Layer (which is open source) that makes gaming on Linux much easier!
I’ve never used Ubuntu as a server, so I confess ignorance on that count. I will take your word on it.
As for CLI I find that manpages/tutorials are further demystifying commands and the reasons for using them are getting through even my thick skull. Learning how to inquire about specific programs CLI commands is massively helpful. As the options are gradually being expanded upon (in a natural way). I don’t feel as lost as I did when in my first few years of actively using Linux (still do get lost as a goose on the loose).
I like being able to chain commands that make sense together in order to make interacting with the Terminal easier. I am learning the basics before getting really fancy, like moving files (still prefer the GUI for that). I do find the CLI amazing for actually searching my whole computer, as it’s really fast and doesn’t skimp on the richness of information. The ability to refine searches even further is a dream feature. However, GUI is getting better everyday, and is starting to be comparable to Terminal system searches. Still never use the Terminal for stitching together log reports about complex issues. I am better suited to reading the printed logs in the application (unless it’s a log which requires CLI to access, then I cave). As a lot of my system upkeep is done via GUIs.
Heh, I do admit I feel like a hacker, that should be listening to Velvet Acid Christ and wear concealing clothing while working with the Terminal and typing commands. Especially on Debian, because it’s often necessary to do certain things. However, I’ve not had to do anything meaningfully complex on Debian, as it just works. Debian 13 (Trixie) has been quite good for the near 9 months that its been installed on my laptop.