A long shot, anyone use the Arch-based Distro Garuda Linux?
A long shot, anyone use the Arch-based Distro Garuda Linux?
I have an alternative system I wanted to explore beyond Debian-based options, which is usually my preferred setup. These tools seem focused on gaming performance. It looks appealing, so I’ll try it out. The interface is nice and installs smoothly, but by default it loads Open Source nVidia drivers—something that often causes problems with Steam and Proton. In Garuda’s settings, there’s an option to switch to proprietary drivers with a simple click. That works well on Ubuntu, but here the installer reports a conflict between python-pyxdg and python-xdg, causing it to fail. A quick search yields no results, which is frustrating. The app store shows nVidia drivers available for my GTX 1060, and they seem to install without major issues, just requiring a reboot afterward. After restarting, the system freezes at the loading stage. Any suggestions other than switching distros?
I wouldn't choose Garuda unless you need something built around Arch without the complicated setup—I'd go with Manjaro instead. It's unclear what Garuda is achieving or promoting; since its install appears to be a ready-made Arch version with pre-installed Steam and Wine, it likely just adds those tools and stops there. EDIT: If you really want Garuda, turn off quiet boot and check for any loading issues.
For Arch-based systems, I recommend Manjaro or Arch itself. Other distributions tend to be less refined.
I also gave it a shot, but ran into some dependency headaches. Not really committed to it, just exploring what existed and the interface really stood out. This appears to be the main point (similar to Ubuntu on Debian) in the Arch community, though I wasn’t overly impressed, especially outside the Debian sphere.
Usually I was accustomed to the setup in Ubuntu environments, and some tools (like indicator-multiload and psensor) proved tricky to install on Arch or to locate comparable alternatives. For me, these tasks demanded significantly more command-line work than I preferred.
I think there are KDE widgets that can handle this. Arch definitely comes to mind, and based on my experience with Manjaro, I’d lean toward trying Manjaro’s KDE setup. The initial configuration might feel a bit daunting, but once you get the DE settings right, it’s really rewarding after about half an hour of tweaking.
It's worth considering, as I've felt unfulfilled with the recent direction—especially the UI—of Ubuntu. This prompted me to explore alternatives. Voyager Linux, being based on Ubuntu, truly embraced a sleek and elegant design without trying to copy everything from Windows 10.