Since discovering how great Porteus 5.0 Linux Cinnamon is as a secondary OS and/or ‘Companion OS‘ to Windows OSes, I have been ‘gearing‘ most of my posts towards MS Windows users, but still mindful of interested Linux users. Probably due for an update to the Progressions of the Linux Newbie Blog page, but I have been postponing that post for a little longer. 😉

Arch Linux ‘brief intro‘

‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux is a terrible Desktop/Laptop OS, and may be one of the reasons for Linux desktop OSes bad reputation, as a whole. ‘Vanilla‘ is usually defined as being the ‘pure & plain uncustomized‘ Arch Linux…distinguishing it from the mere Arch-based OSes. It seems to be mostly used by “Name-dropping” individuals seeking attention, hence the infamous Arch term: ‘BTW, I Use Arch Linux‘.

There are all kinds of ways to install Arch (see the old Vanilla Arch Linux page) – most are a pain and even the easier GUI methods don’t seem to stay around very long, but the CLI seems to last. However, apparently, Arch Linux has added a “archinstall” method that I just found out about:

Not bad at all. Here’s a few more pics from one of the test installations, this time using Oracle VirtualBox on the Porteus computer to grab some pics:

That gets the Arch installer starting. Then:

That has you at the tty1 terminal – where you type – archinstall – at the prompt. Then:

That gives you a bunch of options where you can “Set/Modify” stuff…like this:

I selected the Cinnamon DE (desktop environment), which is a Linux DE that is similar to Windows 11 & 10.

  • This was just a brief intro for Windows users and not a full installation review; however, if you can install Arch using that “archinstall” method, then you would find Porteus 5.0 Cinnamon much easier.

Arch Linux ‘Bugs‘

I’ve been occasionally testing ‘n reviewing ‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux since 9/20/2020, and ‘Bugs‘ are always a problem wid it. Here is one that was found almost immediately after installation:

That’s the “Menu” window opened (Start in Windows). Note the highlighted red rectangle in upper left corner – the mouse arrow points to where the System Settings icon/app should be, in the “Favorite” area, and only that empty horizontal long gray rectangle is there – which can only be seen when the mouse arrow hovers over it.

Next:

That is the “Panel” area (Taskbar in Windows). I had added System Settings to the “Panel” but it didn’t show up; however, when the mouse arrow moved over the panel area, a very thin vertical gray ‘Thingie can be seen inside the highlighted red rectangle.

  • I am sure ‘Bugs‘ like that can be fixed, but what MS Windows user would want to deal with something like that right after installation!? Arch Linux Developers have never understood the meaning of Stability in an OS, IMHO.

Arch vs Porteus

One of the reasons I decided to test ‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux again was its small 786 MB ISO. Most Arch-based OSes go over 2 GB’s in ISO size…yes, loaded wid ‘Bloat‘. That 786 MB’s is literally a ‘Barebone‘ OS wid a Cinnamon DE. I have been looking for Linux OSes wid a smaller footprint ‘n less ‘Bloat‘, in order to ‘Pair‘ wid my Windows 11 Pro, and also ones that offer a Fulltime Linux Root User option without the annoying Linux “Authenticate” popup’s and/or other ‘Pesky Passwords’ demands during a computer session.

  • ‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux provides those requirements.

However, note the much smaller 359 MB ISO footprint in Porteus 5.0 Linux Cinnamon. That ISO’s footprint is 427 MB’s smaller than Arch’s ISO. What else does the ‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux Developers add to their ‘Barebone‘ ISO?

Dig the following two GParted pics of both OSes after installation:

That is Arch after installation, an update, PulseAudio, and gnome-screenshot app added. “5.37 GiB” of used space.

Porteus weighs in at “5.86 GiB” after installation, an update, Firefox added, Gnome-Disk utility added, LibreOffice suite added, GIMP added, Oracle VirtualBox added, Etcher added, slapt-get added, Free Download Manager added, Inxi tool added, Perl added (for Inxi), and slpkg plus Libraries added. Oh, gnome-screenshot app, GParted, Audacious, Celluloid, dconf Editor, Document Viewer, Image Viewer, mpv Media Player, Polyglot, PulseAudio, Text Editor, and much more were all included. Porteus 5.0 Linux Cinnamon is not a ‘Barebone‘ OS.

Arch has Linux Kernel 5.18.16-arch1-1 & Cinnamon version 5.4.9:

Porteus has Linux Kernel 5.18.8-porteus & Cinnamon version 5.2.7:

Conclusion

Leave ‘Vanilla‘ Arch Linux for the “Name-dropping” individuals, IMHO.

I have no clue how much space would be used by Arch wid at least the apps/tools/utilities/programs I have wid Porteus 5.0 Linux Cinnamon.

Arch is not a stable OS, and Porteus is a stable OS.

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

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