Arch Linux Is Everything You Need

When I first told people I was switching from Windows to Arch Linux, many raised their eyebrows. “But isn’t Arch too hard?” “You’ll spend all day fixing stuff.” But now, having used Arch for 5 years, I can confidently say: Arch Linux delivers everything a modern desktop user needs — and then some.

Here’s why I believe Arch is the ultimate desktop OS, and how it has transformed not just my workflow, but also how I see what an operating system can be.

Simplicity (Yes, really) — thanks to archinstall

One of the main objections people have is that Arch is too complex to install. But that’s a misconception. With archinstall, Arch now offers a guided, semi-automated installation path that balances automation and control.

The installer is modular and transparent. You can choose what you want (desktop environment, filesystem layout, bootloader, etc.), or you can script it. The logs, steps, and actions are fully visible, so you never feel like the installer is doing “black magic.”

In version 3.0, archinstall introduced a redesigned TUI (text user interface) that is more intuitive and navigable for new users. Version 3.0.1 improved partition management and stability further.

So yes — you can set up a minimal Arch installation in under an hour (depending on your hardware and your selections). The difference from many other distros is you never get a lot of bloat by default; you pick exactly what you need.

Almost Every Program You Need — Desktop, Gaming, Media, Productivity

One huge power of Arch is its breadth of software availability — both in the official repos and via the AUR (Arch User Repository). The ecosystem is rich, and you rarely find yourself needing to “switch to another OS because I can’t find X program.”

Use Case	My Experience / Recommended Tools on Arch
Video Editing / Multimedia	Tools like Kdenlive, Shotcut, Blender, Olive are all available. You can also get ffmpeg, OBS Studio, HandBrake easily from the official repos or the AUR. Hardware acceleration (VA-API, NVENC) is supported if your drivers are set up correctly.
Text Editing / Development	From graphical IDEs like Visual Studio Code (via code or vscodium) to lightweight editors like Neovim or Emacs, everything is there. Plus, you have access to all the compilers, toolchains, and languages you want (Rust, Go, Python, etc.).
Web Browser	Firefox, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi — they’re all in the repos or AUR. If one isn’t in the official repos, the AUR almost always fills the gap.
Gaming	Thanks to Proton / Steam on Linux, many Windows games run well. The Steam package, Lutris, Heroic, etc., are available. GPU drivers (NVIDIA, AMD, Intel) are in the repos, and setting up Vulkan and Proton is straightforward. Many gamers use Arch as their daily driver.
Customization & Desktop Environments	Want Gnome, KDE Plasma, XFCE, Sway (i3-style), or even tiling window managers like dwm or bspwm? Arch gives you the choice. Beyond that, you can fine-tune themes, fonts, shell, compositor, even low-level parts like kernels or custom modules.
Everything Else (daily apps, tools, utilities)	Office suites (LibreOffice, OnlyOffice), email clients (Thunderbird, Evolution), chat/communication apps, container tools (Docker, Podman), virtualization (QEMU, VirtualBox), backup tools — they’re all there or accessible.

Because Arch is rolling release and relatively bleeding-edge, you often get newer versions of software faster than in many stable-release distros.

The Power of the Official Guide & the AUR

The Arch Wiki & Official Documentation

One of the most compelling strengths of the Arch ecosystem is its documentation. The Arch Wiki is legendary: comprehensive, detailed, community curated. If you need to configure anything — swap, GPU, networking, display servers, power management, encryption, printing, audio — the wiki often has a page for it.

Because you often build your system piece-by-piece, you learn as you go: you understand how the boot process works, how modules and kernel options affect hardware, how filesystems mount, and so on. Many people say using Arch is like a crash course in how Linux internally works.

The AUR (Arch User Repository)

The AUR is a community-driven repository where users contribute PKGBUILD scripts that allow you to build and install software not included in the official repos.

Because the AUR is user-maintained, it comes with caveats. The main warning is: you must inspect PKGBUILDs and trust your sources, because they are not vetted in the same way official packages are. Some AUR packages have historically contained malicious scripts. The community frequently emphasizes that AUR helpers (like yay, paru) are convenience tools — not guarantees of safety.

Still, the AUR dramatically widens what’s available. Many software projects never package binaries for Arch; they rely on the community to package them via the AUR. In practice, I’ve rarely needed to step outside the Arch + AUR ecosystem to find something I needed.

How Much You Learn (and Why That Matters)

One of the side effects (in the best sense) of using Arch is you learn. When your system doesn’t “just work” by magic, you see the wires behind the machine:

• You see how the bootloader, kernel, initramfs, and services interact
• You get familiar with filesystems (ext4, Btrfs, ZFS, LVM, encryption)
• You understand kernel modules, firmware, and device drivers
• You debug hardware issues (Wi-Fi, audio, GPU) and fix them
• You learn package dependencies, version conflicts, and build systems

Because you aren’t insulated behind abstraction, you develop stronger troubleshooting skills. This isn’t just “geek cred”: it pays dividends when things break (they will occasionally) — you already have the tools and mindset to fix them.

From Sad Windows to Happy Arch

Let me tell you a small personal anecdote. Recently I installed Arch Linux on my girlfriend’s computer — she had used Windows all her life, never touched Linux or terminals. I helped her migrate. Now, she tells me she’s “super happy” with how the computer works: No more Windows bugs, crashes, or slowdowns, Infinite personalization, Simplicity for her daily tasks.

It’s a reminder: you don’t have to be a Linux power user to enjoy the benefits. Once the base is solid, the daily experience can be as smooth or as varied as you like.

Counterpoints & Things to Watch Out For

To paint a full picture, here are caveats and tips:

• Stability vs bleeding edge: Because Arch is rolling release, occasionally updates break things, especially if you skip reading pacman -Syu news or ignore breaking changes notes.
• AUR safety: Always read and inspect PKGBUILDs. Don’t blindly trust everything.
• Time investment: The first time setup takes more attention than an Ubuntu-style installer — but you’re rewarded by custom-tailored results.
• Not for zero-effort use cases: If you want “install and forget forever,” a more controlled distro might be safer.
• Hardware support edge cases: Some niche hardware might require extra effort (firmware blobs, proprietary drivers). But overall Arch has excellent hardware support.

Conclusion: Why I Believe Arch Is Everything You Need

To many, Arch seems overkill for daily computing. But I see it differently: it’s just enough system and all the flexibility you’ll ever want. From video editing to gaming, from configuring tiling window managers to just using a browser, Arch covers it all. The official repositories + AUR form a nearly unbounded software universe. The documentation is rock solid. And the learning curve is part of the power — you don’t remain a passive user.

Arch isn’t just for nerds — it’s a path to owning your computer.