# HOw does Arch 'Roll'



## chesss (Jun 1, 2009)

Thinking of giving arch linux a try. 
One thing concerns me. I read that arch is rolling update kind of distro . How exactly does this work ? 
My concern is will I have to upgrade my system (while potentially breaking it ) every 3 months just to install the latest version of a package . I read that upgrading, just like other distros may not be smooth. 

Basically it feels like a high-maintenance distro. One that might easily break.

What I really want to avoid is one of those distros in which a dist-upgrade could very well break your system. But the dist-upgrade is required to install the latest apps from the package manager.


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## nileshgr (Jun 2, 2009)

If you have experience of Linux then Arch won't break. Arch is very complicated to n00bs.

Get some experience with other user friendly distros and then move to Arch.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jun 2, 2009)

I use arch and it has not broken ever, since several months back when I installed it.

And doing a System Upgrade here is perfectly alright and does not b0rk the PC.

I run the update command DAILY.

Unlike debian sid, which I think is the distro you are refering to which causes issues upon upgrading 1 in 10 times, arch only has stable updates and they are all 99.99% safe.

But don't join the arch club unless you have enough experience with linux. I recommend you to move to Debian Testing (Squeeze) first and try it for a few months. Install a minimal commandline system and then build the rest of the system from there. Once you do this you have gained valuble commandline experience. Then you can join the arch gang.

And BTW, arch has next to ZERO maintainence. Its also called the distro for lazy geeks.


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## chesss (Jun 2, 2009)

I got concerned after reading this post .
Nice to know this one doesn't break


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## a_k_s_h_a_y (Jun 2, 2009)

I have arch, I used to update regulary, haven't updated for a while and it works just fine and very smooth. 
Will go for complete re-install according to new needs !


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## kalpik (Jun 3, 2009)

I use arch.. And i do a system upgrade twice daily 

And its totally noob friendly if you know how to read. The wiki is an awesome resource and everything is well documented.

People even run arch testing (which also considered VERY stable)! The only instability is in the unstable repo.. I myself use quite many packages from testing every now and then. Trust me, its a very nice distro


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## kalpik (Jun 3, 2009)

I use arch.. And i do a system upgrade twice daily 

And its totally noob friendly if you know how to read. The wiki is an awesome resource and everything is well documented.

People even run arch testing (which also considered VERY stable)! The only instability is in the unstable repo.. I myself use quite many packages from testing every now and then. Trust me, its a very nice distro


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## chesss (Jun 3, 2009)

> People even run arch testing (which also considered VERY stable


well konqueror has crashed a few times already  . But I am using kdemod, which isn't official


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## kalpik (Jun 3, 2009)

Yup.. Use official KDE.. Though KDE4 in itself has some stability issues.. So you cannot blame it on arch


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## chesss (Jun 3, 2009)

oh damn yet another distro with some obscure problem  . With arch its random dropping of network! that or a random pause while downloading from the repo bug.

Besides I can't install Opera 10 beta 1 on it! formatting time...


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## hullap (Jun 3, 2009)

chesss said:


> oh damn yet another distro with some obscure problem  . With arch its random dropping of network! that or a random pause while downloading from the repo bug.
> 
> Besides I can't install Opera 10 beta 1 on it! formatting time...



ive never encoutered those 'bugs'


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## Faun (Jun 3, 2009)

chesss said:


> oh damn yet another distro with some obscure problem  . With arch its random dropping of network! that or a random pause while downloading from the repo bug.
> 
> Besides I can't install Opera 10 beta 1 on it! formatting time...



Nice !


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## kalpik (Jun 3, 2009)

chesss said:


> oh damn yet another distro with some obscure problem  . With arch its random dropping of network! that or a random pause while downloading from the repo bug.
> 
> Besides I can't install Opera 10 beta 1 on it! formatting time...


Wow.. That's it? Great!

*aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=18994


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## chesss (Jun 4, 2009)

^  Thanks, but thats not the beta version


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## Crazykiller (Jun 4, 2009)

What exactly is Arch???
Would you mind giving some insight into Arch to a newbie?


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## Crazykiller (Jun 4, 2009)

*Arch Rolls on It's Back when we say "arob"*

arob = Arch Rolling on Back


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## kalpik (Jun 4, 2009)

chesss said:


> ^  Thanks, but thats not the beta version


yes. but you can just modify the PKGBUILD!


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## kalpik (Jun 4, 2009)

wait.. someone did it! *aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=27001


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## chesss (Jun 4, 2009)

^That is fast. I guess packages appear in Aur faster than in other distros community repos


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## rb210 (Jun 15, 2009)

Arch + KDEmod is the best. There is an Arch derivative called Chakra which is basically an Arch + KDEmod livecd.


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## kgas (Aug 31, 2009)

Chess, wet your hands first. Don't use AUR first unless you know what your are doing. IMO Arch is having detailed documentation. pacman is very nice and best among all the distros. Arch won't bind your hands


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## chesss (Aug 31, 2009)

> pacman is very nice and best among all the distros.


I have heard this statement for almost every distro. xyz's package manager is the best among all distros


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## Rahim (Sep 3, 2009)

^All the package manager does the same thing: Download and install application 
So which is better and which is not is not the main point.


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