this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
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I am a Linux noobie and have only used Mint for around six months now. While I have definitely learned a lot, I don't have the time to always be doing crazy power user stuff and just want something that works out of the box. While I love Mint, I want to try out other decently easy to use distros as well, specifically not based on Ubuntu, so no Pop OS. Is Manjaro a possibly good distro for me to check out?

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[–] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago (8 children)

It sucks.

I've never used Manjaro, but I've used Arch (I don't currently use it) enough to know where it went wrong. Basically, they're trying to make a snapshot based distro out of a distro that's not snapshot based, and they run into issues because of it. On Arch, if you have an issue, you revert and wait a couple days. On Manjaro, if you have an issue, you revert and then wait, a week? Two? Is there any reasonable assumption that the next snapshot is good? I don't think they have the manpower to ensure snapshots are high quality, so they're merely whatever existed at the time, perhaps with obvious issues fixed.

I currently use OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, which is snapshot based by design, while also being a rolling release. The way OpenSUSE works is by having all snapshots go through openQA, which means all snapshots (near daily) go through an automated test suite. So if something breaks, they'll write a test and the next snapshot won't have that issue.

So my opinion is to go with something release based (e.g. Mint) or bleeding edge (e.g. Arch), but don't try to go somewhere in the middle unless you have a larger team. So either trust your user or your dev team, there shouldn't be a middle ground.

[–] blackstrat@lemmy.fwgx.uk 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It sucks. I've never used Manjaro

If you've never used it then it doesn't suck half as much as your opinion.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

He said it badly but his longer explanation was “I have never used it but I spent enough time ina closely linked community and heard enough horror stories to know that it sucks”. I mean, that seems fair actually.

I used Arch for long enough (~5 years) to have seen plenty of people blame Arch for problems unique to Manjaro. I've also been following PinePhone development hoping to jump in once it stabilizes, and Manjaro is the distro with the most problems by far. Most of the problems Manjaro has, they create for themselves by trying to make Arch "more stable," whatever that's supposed to mean.

Use what you like, but I just do not feel comfortable recommending Manjaro to anyone. I'll continue to recommend Mint, Arch, OpenSUSE, and Void depending on what users are looking for.

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