I use this as a starting point for every laptop/desktop I've used in the past few years. Instant boot, no mystery services, yet access to the same great Ubuntu repos.
Have you looked at Suse Studio? http://susestudio.com/ Frankly, as an Ubuntu/Debian-derivative user, I'm a bit jealous. I wish there were something like this based on Debian (or Ubuntu for that matter). You can tailor a system to your needs and then download or share your custom ISO.
I am in the same situation as parent so I'll give you my reasons for not using Arch:
- Tried arch for some weeks, I liked it but had to reinstall twice after some pacman -Sy managed to break something and I couldnt't upgrade/install anything anymore ;
- I love the nice ubuntu fonts and aliasing/hinting ;
- I installed it again in the beginning of this year (netinstall) and although I was installing from the web I had no connection (not even eternet) upon rebooting even though I followed the wiki step-by-step (I tried it twice as well).
I wish there was some arch version that would have a debian like cycle release.
I've never had a problem with pacman breaking things on install/updated except for when I attempt to use unstable repositories.
You can get the exact same font aliasing/hinting, you just need to change the hinting settings (if you're using gnome, install gnome-tweak-tool, if you're using xfce it's in the font settings menu, I don't know about other DEs).
Arch wouldn't really be arch if it had a release cycle. Part of the simplicity of it is that it's a rolling release.
> I've never had a problem with pacman breaking things on install/updated except for when I attempt to use unstable repositories.
I wasn't using any unstable or experimental repo., only the standard basic one. I read on HN some weeks ago that there had been problems last year and there were related to some changes in the system and that that year wasn't a good one to get started with arch but I didn't follow on that.
> You can get the exact same font aliasing/hinting, you just need to change the hinting settings (if you're using gnome, install gnome-tweak-tool, if you're using xfce it's in the font settings menu, I don't know about other DEs).
I'm really curious about Arch. What gap in the market does it fill? What advantages does it have over Debian or Ubuntu? It's certainly mentioned a lot on HN...
I guess the most notable difference between Arch and Unbuntu is Arch's quest for simplicity as a system, where Ubuntu tries to be simple for the "common man" by abstracting implementation details, adding to overall complexity of the system.
