I want to learn Linux and I read that installing Arch Linux is a great way to do this. But all guides I’ve found so far only guide you through the steps without much explanation of what it is you are doing during the installation.
Is there a guide that is more “guided” for lack of a better word? One that teaches me what I’m doing and why I’m doing it? I could of course google every single command and step during the installation but I think it would be easier to understand if there would be a guide including all this.
Uhh, sort of sounds like you’re looking for the arch wiki? Each installation step has links to detailed information for the tools and commands used.
Yes actually. Every single part of the OS that the Arch Wiki tells you to install is a hyperlink. If you click it then it takes you to the detailed documentation for that component. Then you can read about each component individually. So the wiki install doc is probably your best bet.
This is what I was going to say. It’s how I installed Arch, and it’s just a really good way to learn about a linux system in general, in addition to the specifics of Arch.
Arch’s official Wiki and general documentation are second to none. I don’t generally use Arch anymore, but I keep the documentation bookmarked, and the forums are one of my first stops when I’m trying to solve a problem, usually before whatever distro I’m working on.
Seriously, OP - use the Arch Wiki, set up Arch the Arch way, and lookup anything you don’t understand from the docs. It’s the best way to do what you’re trying to do. Nothing else comes close.
The arch wiki explains everything pretty well if you read everything, but there is quite a bit. The gentoo wiki does even better, but it takes longer to compile and build. You will not be able to get any better than LFS however. It explains everything really in depth to the point where you could get overwhelmed with the amount of information it contains.
LFS?
Linux from scratch
This guy does (or did) monthly Arch installs where he’d focus on a different aspect each month. For instance, one month he may do an install with an encrypted filesystem. And the next month he may focus on BTRFS.
Maybe you would be interested to try linuxfromscratch?
Don’t know why you’re down voted, LFS is the best way to learn how Linux works from the ground up.
The Arch Wiki is great and it does cover just about everything, but it’s not what OP is describing – you certainly could exhaustively read it and all the linked pages every step of the install, but the actual installation documentation is focused on installing and getting a useable system. But LFS is exactly what OP wants: a detailed, very explicit, ground up tutorial on every piece required for a functional Linux system.
If that sounds too technical, OP, that’s because you’re asking an extremely technical question. Most Linux users, even pretty advanced ones, don’t understand the really low level parts of the system, they just know how to interact with them once in a while to get specific tasks done.
If you just want a general overview of how to use Linux and a detailed explanation of its philosophy, there are many YouTube channels that offer that without such a deep technical dive.
The Arch Wiki is great and it does cover just about everything, but it’s not what OP is describing – you certainly could exhaustively read it and all the linked pages every step of the install, but the actual installation documentation is focused on installing and getting a useable system.
Someone who gets what I’m looking for. I will take a look at LFS
This guy makes some of the best Linux content on the Internet. This walk through is spot on and if you’re having trouble with the written guide, watch the video and you can do it along with him in several different scenarios. I can’t say enough good things about his content.
https://www.learnlinux.tv/arch-linux-full-installation-guide/
This is exactly what I was talking about that I don’t want since this guide is just: do this, then this, then this and so on without explaining any of the steps. I could mindlessly follow this guide and not learn anything in the process of it.
At some point you need to take control of your own learning journey. If there is one thing you don’t understand, look it up. If you don’t understand any of it, look it all up. If you don’t want to look it up to understand it better, then installing Arch isn’t for you.
Can you not learn by extrapolation?
Watch the video if you want greater detail.
I unironically suggest you try installing Gentoo some time. You’ll be forced to learn a lot about how modern Linux works, and can even go with a non-systemd install if you want to learn a more “traditional” install.
just use the Arch Wiki. The only parts that differ per system and when you really have to read a lot is partitioning (depending on whether you want encryption, etc) and post-install configuration like installing a DE, other than that the installation guide will basically cover everything on a single page
So, a lot of people have already mentioned that the arch wiki contains great info. What’s missing, IMO is this: Installing Arch as described on https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Installation_guide will leave you with an EXTREMELY basic system - you just have a bare command line, with none of the tools you’d use daily for actually using your pc.
This is where the learning comes in - choosing the software you need on your system, and learning how it all interacts with each other. IMO, you can be an experienced sysadmin, and never really have to deal with the details of what’s going on during installation - it’s the applications on top that actually do the work, and that you need to configure and run. Sure, you’ll need to learn systemd and other components, but that all comes with use of the software you need, not necessarily the base system.
This is also why I strongly recommend having a second, working machine with a browser while installing Arch for the first time. A plain arch install does not come with the tools you’re used to to connect to wifi, or even wired networks. and without a working browser, it can be hard to figure out how to connect to the internet. First things i had to do when setting it up were searching for the proper network tools and then choosing between desktop environments and window managers. For learning I recommend a WM, as a full blown desktop environment like Gnome comes with a whole host of tools already, but with a WM you need to set things up yourself so you learn more. (I went with Sway, but if you have an nvidia GPU i cannot recommend it - it works but with many little issues.)
I remember my frustration, when i installed arch for the first time, booted and couldn’t connect to the network
at the bottom of the install doc is a link to https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/General_recommendations which is excactly what you need afterwards
the archinstall script covers part of this too but I really recommend this as second most important ArchWiki article to literally every Arch Linux user
Closest thing to it is Arch wiki.
I think EF channel made a video recently covering some foundations while installing Arch. Maybe it’s close to what you’re looking for
I just started watching this video after recommending his channel right when you did.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/hdJX27g0z14
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
This is a very nice guide with encryption support where you can learn a lot: https://gist.github.com/orhun/02102b3af3acfdaf9a5a2164bea7c3d6 . Please note i’m not the author.
I’m in the same boat. I installed endeavoros, then arch with archinstall.
Now I want to do it manually.
When I started with the archinstall script it kept failing… Finally I tried a new USB and it worked smoothly.
Are there specific aspects you want to learn? I’m curious about partitioning. Possibly putting my /home on a external SSD.
Type “archinstall” in the installation environment, you don’t need to setup arch yourself…
