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Realizing Arch isn't for me after updating broke VLC (lemmy.sdf.org)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I realized my VLC was broke some point in the week after updating Arch. I spend time troubleshooting then find a forum post with replies from an Arch moderator saying they knew it would happen and it's my fault for not wanting to read through pages of changelogs. Another mod post says they won't announce that on the RSS feed either. I thought I was doing good by following the RSS but I guess that's not enough.

I've been happily using Arch for 5 years but after reading those posts I've decided to look for a different distro. Does anyone have recommendations for the closest I can get to Arch but with a different attitude around updating?

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[–] 40 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Fedora, great blend of bleeding edge and stability. Plus Linus uses it, so what better praise could you get.

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  • [–] 22 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I hope we're talking about that Linus, and not that Linus. You know, the one that works with computers, and not the other one that works with computers.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Can definitely recommend Fedora too. Software updates are at a good pace, and the system has a lot of polish all around. For example, all you need to do for updates is to press "update" in Discover and it'll do everything for you, applying on reboot for stability. Most things "just work".

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    that's exactly how updates should work in every desktop distro. as an option of course.

    systemd made it possible to install updates on shutdown.
    packagekit enabled kde software to automatically obtain and prepare the updates.
    plasma does the final touch nowadays to ask you on the reboot/shutdown dialog whether you want to install them.

    Basically all the system is in place, with code from widely used parties. packagekit can even integrate with your filesystem to make a snapshot before install. It's wonderful. yet, it seems as if only fedora supports this full setup right now? or is there anything else?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I've tried quite a few distros (openSUSE, Ubuntu, Solus, Arch, so on) and none seem to offer this feature. It's a shame, as it's quite useful to have since updating a live system can sometimes cause some trouble. Even just the updating from Discover can be broken on some systems (I know openSUSE at the very least acts a bit funny when it comes to PackageKit, I think Arch as well).

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    I've been told that opensuse tumbleweed has it. I've also read a suse forum post saying leap 16 will support offline updates, releasing in January, so they could be the first to support all of this with fs snapshots

    Even just the updating from Discover can be broken on some systems

    if you didn't enable offline updates in systemsettings, then it'll do roughly the same as you would in the terminal, so that's not unexpected

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Discover is a KDE thing, not a fedora thing. Not fedora exclusive.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    It is a KDE thing, but Fedora is the distro on which it works best. On a lot of other distros it often runs into problems.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    I can attest to that. It's remarkable on how few distros updating through Discover actually works reliably. I always update through the terminal because at least that works. I've noticed this issue on Kubuntu (apt), Debian (apt), and OpenSUSE (zypper). I think these issues are related to the PackageKit integration.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    The only issue is that you provide free testing for IBM, so it's a no go if you try to boycott/avoid US companies. If you don't it's indeed a great choice.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    How are you providing free testing by using something if you don't actively file bug reports and such?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    Telemetry, but I don't know if many Linux user doesn't turn it off. But I also don't know if many Linux user doesn't fill bug reports.

    Also, if you use Fedora you may recommend it to people that will leave telemetry and/or file bug report. And you also contribute to make the red hat ecosystem relevant, potentially bringing paid customers for RHEL. It's a drop in the ocean of course, but personally I don't want to contribute to it.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Turn off telemetry?

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    And don't report bugs when you find one ?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    As long as they're not for the core Fedora projects why not? Bugs for those should be scarce and there are many other users to report them anyway.

    Using and contributing to FOSS is hardly scabbing regardless. Unless you're donating to the project I wouldn't consider even bug reporting as directly supporting IBM. The tangible profit to them is pennies if that.

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