Simpler yet powerful Linux distro - Arch

Inspired by CRUX, Judd Vinet started Arch Linux in March 2002. Arch Linux defines simplicity as without unnecessary additions, modifications, or complications, and provides a lightweight UNIX-like base structure that allows an individual user to shape the system according to their own needs. The Arch is designed for a specific user. The whole system will be under your control. You can change any appearances that you want. This OS is simply designed, so you don’t have to worry about the operating. Arch Linux is a pure community driven project which is one of the strengths of its. It doesn't be anxious about the market and ROI, which can affect its development process.

So, why you should choose Arch Linux? Let’s find out...

Minimum system requirements

The Arch is not a resource hungry distro. Its utilities have a need at least 256MB of RAM and use about 800MB of hard drive space.

Many different ways to install

The Arch can be installed in many ways. It can install by a CD or from a USB flash drive. The Arch Linux ISO is available on Arch download page.

Total user control

The Arch is fully under control by the users. There is no middleman collecting taxes and tolls. Since nothing is patched by Arch developers. Whether it be Plasma or Gnome, you get the pure experience of this software. The user can build everything from scratch, can choose the components for the desktop to get the full experience of PC.

Stay always up to date

Another key reason for people who have switched to Arch Linux, stay always up to date, where other distributions have to wait for a while. This isn’t to say that Arch is inherently unstable. Software packages are tested thoroughly before making their way into the official Arch repositories, just like any other distro, but very minimal changes are made to the software from the original version released by the upstream developers.

Easy version switching

The RVM-inspired NVM to manage your different versions of Node. Each new language nowadays needs a version manager to evolving quickly, because if you work with client projects you will eventually need to use an old version to deal with legacy software. The current stable Ruby 2.3.3 can be installed by just doing Pacman -S ruby or Pacaur -S ruby, you will eventually need to switch back to Ruby 2.1 or older for a client project.

The biggest software repository

One of the absolute favorite parts of Arch is the Arch User Repository. It's a user-maintained repository that enables users to 'compile’ and install packages from source. It’s so easy to compile the packages, just two commands and the package is installed. At the same time, it’s also fairly easy to create packages by using PKGBUILD for other users, so anyone can create them. The makepkg command also allows users to compile packages from scratch using source codes from the AUR.

Faster processing speed

Once Arch is installed, you will be amazed by the sheer speed applications open and work. Even system is booting up in 10 seconds and shuts down in 4. It‘s quite a speeder than other OS.

Conclusion

Arch Linux is definitely not for everyone. However, if you cherish customization, minimalism, simplicity, and living on the bleeding edge, or if you just want to take your Linux knowledge to the next level, Arch Linux is perfect for you. But for a distro that many consider targeted to "advanced users", Arch is way more polished. The Gnome 3 experience under Arch is noticeably better than the same Gnome 3 over Fedora. The only downside of Arch is it’s a steeper learning curve and some time and effort to get it working. But at the end, it’s worth it. And remember, you need to install Arch and configure it only once and it will work in your system until your PC dies.