(Manjaro keeps breaking itself for a laugth)
Are you perhaps using the AUR more than you should on a Manjaro installation? Just for your information; because Manjaro holds back packages for a couple of weeks, any package from the AUR might conflict with those ‘outdated’ packages and thus cause some breakage. If you really need those packages, then you should consider container solutions like Distrobox to resolve this. Note that trying things like installing a custom kernel won’t work through Distrobox.
So the main options probably consist of:
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Just plain Arch;
archinstall
has made it a lot easier to install. Furthermore, after everything is set and done, it can literally be Manjaro without outdated packages and less bugs etc, or actually whatever you would like your Linux installation to be. Setting up is the most daunting part though. Fortunately, the Arch Wiki does an excellent job in providing a resource at every set of the journey. Recommended if you’re not scared of setting up your system from a blank slate. -
Any other Arch-based distro, really. There are a ton of recommendations found in the other comments and there’s even more if you check out Distrowatch for Arch-based distros. If you kinda know what you’d want from a future system, but can’t be bothered with setting it up directly from Arch, then this might be recommended based on the specifics of your demands and to what degree existing distros align to that. For whatever it’s worth, I think Garuda Linux is an interesting option for those that want to move on from Manjaro. Similary to Manjaro, it’s opinionated on how your system is/should be configured. That’s why it’s also one of the few Arch-based distros (like Manjaro) that offers -out of the box- the means to rollback to a working system whenever anything unfortunate befalls your system, Garuda achieves this through coming pre-configured with Btrfs+Snapper. It should be noted, though, that Garuda is considered bloated by some. However only you can decide for yourself if their offering is bloated to you or not. So check out its Xfce edition -or any that sound interesting to you- for yourself, if you’re interested. If you think it’s interesting, but are still too much bothered by the bloat, then perhaps their Lite versions are more to your liking.
There are a lot of options beyond Arch-based distros. However, as I don’t know what made you gravitate towards Manjaro in the first place and what you’ve come to (dis)like since, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly you’d like. If the AUR has been your main reason for using Manjaro in the first place, then it’s important to note that Distrobox also grants access to the AUR from any of the other popular distros out there. So you’re not confined to just using Arch(-based distros) unless you really need some custom kernel that is somehow only available in the AUR.
- If you checked out Manjaro for its unsuccessful attempt at providing a stable rolling release, then you should check out the most successful attempt with openSUSE Tumbleweed. It has a respectable amount of packages and enables users through OBS (OpenSUSE Build Service) to extend this significantly. Its installer offers the option to go for a minimal installation.
- If rolling release has scarred you, but you still want up-to-date packages, then consider Fedora. Huge community, AUR-like repo in COPR and once again a very respectable amount of packages make it definitely worth a mention. It offers the so-called Fedora Everything ISO (Network Installer) that acts as the installer for minimal systems.
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Instead of trying another distro, take the time to learn all aspects of the command line, up to and including shell scripting. Learn how tools like awk, sed, grep, vi, and regex work. That would be a better use of your time than distro hopping.
I am a sysadmin and I don’t even know how to use awk, sed or regex properly. I doubt a normal user will. Of course these are very handy tools and can help greatly with performing manipulative tasks.
I recommend people become power users with the command line before progressing because, in my opinion only, they’re necessary. This is my opinion only and is in no way meant to discount your abilities. I was a Linux system admin who learned awk, sed, grep, and regex after the fact and I wished I’d learned it earlier. This is what formed my opinion.
Sure but not every linux user is striving to become a sysadmin. I am totally with on the cli love, but I also understand that this isn’t everybodys jam. Learning the basics of your packet manager is enough imo, the rest comes with time through tinkering…
Here’s my take: If you’re going to learn Linux, go about it the right way and not the laziest way possible. You would be incorrect about simply learning the basics of the package manager. What happens if the package you’ve installed breaks something and uninstalling the package does not work?
We are going in circles here, your perspective is skewed because you are looking from a very distinct professional viewpoint. Whereas I recognize big “userbase” which wants linux just to “work”, without “tinkering”. You are never going to persuade those to learn the terminal in the way you described.
And again I am a long time user not versed in awk, regex etc. and I have minimal problems helping myself when in trouble with linux.
Basically your suggestions goes to far…
Thats all I am saying.
If you like Manjaro but wish it would stop breaking, try EndevourOS ( EOS ).
EOS does not have graphical package management. Try pacseek ( yay -S pacseek ). You can install pamac but please do not. It brings Manjaro levels of quality with it.
He wanted something stable… Arch based systems require you to read the release notes each time you upgrade to make sure there’s nothing special you must do. Those who are unaware of this requirement often end up with broken systems. Also I wouldn’t call Arch based systems without GUI configuration tools not being too complex… Arch is for those who like to tinker, edit lots of config text files and read man pages and wiki entries.
Personally, I like Arch Arcos and even Manjaro (Probably EOS as well, but it doesn’t play well with Ventoy) - but I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who just wants things to work out of the box with minimal tinkering and not require special attention when updating.
Arch is for those who like to tinker, edit lots of config text files and read man pages and wiki entries.
Basically how every linux user should be.