Are you intimidated by Arch Linux’s reputation for being difficult and hard to use? Do you want an accessible way to get the benefits of Arch without the headaches? Well, here are five Arch-based distros for anyone looking for something powerful but not too technical.
Arch Linuxfollows a rolling release model, giving you access to the latest software updates as soon as they’re available. You also get access to theAUR (Arch User Repository), which contains tens of thousands of packages at your disposal. All this makes it no wonder Arch Linux is so popular!
However, it’s also true that vanilla Arch Linux is a very minimal distro and doesn’t ship with graphical tools, forcing you to use the terminal to configure the entire system. This typically includes picking different drivers, tools, and packages, which becomes difficult as you probably have never heard of them or know what they do. This makes it one of the most technically demanding and intimidating distros.
Thankfully, there are many distros built on top of Arch Linux that add necessary packages and even a graphical layer to make it less intimidating while still delivering all the perks. Here are five such options that you’re able to consider as the gateway distros into the world of Arch.
Why You Should Consider Manjaro
Why Manjaro Might Not Be for You
Manjarois to Arch Linux what Ubuntu is to Debian. It’s one of the earliest and most popular Arch-made-simple distros with a focus on making the OS more beginner-friendly and accessible. Manjaro achieves this by including a bunch of graphical apps to operate the system while adding an extra layer of stability by holding app updates and testing them for a few additional weeks.
The distro officially supports KDE Plasma, GNOME, and Xfce desktop environments (DEs) but there are community images that extend support to other popular DEs andwindow managers. Once you pick the DE you want, you can install the distro using a graphical installer similar to any other mainstream Linux distro with all options in simple and plain English.
Why You Should Consider Garuda
Why Garuda Might Not Be for You
I seeGaruda Linuxas Manjaro supercharged for power users. It’s beginner-friendly with a bunch of graphical tools, namely Garuda Rani, to help you with routine system maintenance tasks. There’s also support for multiple desktop environments, with its flagship Dragonized and Mokka editions based on a heavily customized version of KDE Plasma.
The distro is optimized for gaming and ships with a bunch of system-level optimizations like the Zen Kernel and zRAM to deliver better performance. It also uses the Btrfs file system with the Snapper tool to automatically take system snapshots. This is extremely useful as it allows you to easily revert to a working state in case something breaks in your system.
Why You Should Consider EndeavourOS
Why EndeavourOS Might Not Be for You
EndeavourOSsits at the opposite end of the spectrum from Garuda Linux, offering a super-minimal and lightweight Arch installation. In fact, it offers a near-vanilla Arch experience with the major changes being a simpler graphical installer and some necessary tools and packages pre-installed for you.
The distro also doesn’t throw a bunch of graphical tools to help you use the system, but instead encourages you touse the terminaland learn Arch principles. To help you with thisendeavor, the distro offers one of the most helpful and welcoming communities in the Linux space. Feel free to present your problems or confusions, and you should receive a helpful comment relatively quickly.
Why You Should Consider RebornOS
Why RebornOS Might Not Be for You
RebornOSoffers a minimal Arch Linux installation with a choose-your-own-bloat approach. The distro supports almost all the popular DEs, and during the installation process it will let you pick whichever DEs you want to use. Following that, it will also ask you to select whatever apps or packages you want on your system.
I find this system extremely convenient and useful for Linux newcomers. One of the main problems with people just starting out with Linux isfiguring out what software to install. Well, RebornOS gives you access to all the popular Linux apps right at the installation phase, neatly categorized, so you can have a system fitted with all the apps you want to use (and test) right from the get-go.
Why You Should Consider CachyOS
Why CachyOS Might Not Be for You
Last but not least, we haveCachyOS, one of the newer Arch-based distros released back in 2021. It’s aperformance-first Linux distrooffering a bunch of system-level optimizations to squeeze every bit of performance out of your modern PC or laptop—whether for gaming or other resource-intensive workloads.
The distro supports all the popular DEs and window managers. You also get access to necessary graphical apps for system installation and routine maintenance. It will rarely ask you to use the terminal for regular day-to-day use, but I’d still urge you to learn how the system works to make troubleshooting potential system issues easier—since it runs a unique kernel and very specific system optimizations.
Download CachyOS
Which Distro Should You Choose?
If you’re someone who is completely new to Linux and wants to try an Arch-based distro, I’d recommend Manjaro. Its stability-focused approach to updates and excellent hardware detection make it the safest entry point. However, if you’ve used Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or any otherbeginner-friendly distroand now want to switch to Arch, then RebornOS can be an excellent pick with its choose-your-own-bloat approach.
Garuda Linux makes most sense for gamers and power users looking for a relatively easy yet highly customizable system. CachyOS is also great for gamers, but only pick it if you have a relatively modern system to get the most benefit from its configurations. Lastly, we have EndeavourOS, and I’d save it for anyone looking for an easy way to start using and learning Arch Linux, especially thanks to the helpful and responsive community backing the distro.
How to Get Started
If you’re confused between one or two distros or just want to test them before committing, you caninstall them on VirtualBoxfirst. If you like what you see, follow our detailed guide to easilyinstall the distroon your system.
