It would be a good video if you would avoid generalizing and speaking on behalf of the whole Linux community. We are diverse, and I use Manjaro at home and my company uses Ubuntu at work. Despite loud shouts against Ubuntu and how bad it is by pushing Snaps forward I don't see Ubuntu losing its popularity, at least not in the corporate space (which brings Ubuntu money and keeps their development). So, it would be good, if you would either prove your claims with numbers, before generalizing, or just say "IMHO" or "My impression is....". And I am not talking about this Manjaro video, it is relevant to any video.
Great video. I used to main Manjaro years ago (XFCE & KDE). One I think replaced it for me, someone else mentioned in the comments was ArcoLinux, easy to install, does the same thing. Am thinking I will mostly use Arco & Debian this year but have used each family. One of the main things that caused me when I was a noob to leave Mint was my friend then insisting Manjaro was a security and gaming distro. It was both good and bad but am thankful I was on Manjaro for a solid year or two before more hopping around. I never got around to trying Garuda Linux either but I do dual boot still for gaming. I still remember solutions on Manjaro to set the clock back sometimes due to the SQL nonrenewals, just a funny quirk that maybe isn't so funny now that I know more.
I liked Mannaro when I was using it. It was kinda my gateway to Arch. I decided to switch to Manjaro's unstable branch one day, which basically turns it into Arch with a green theme. At that point I figured why not just install Arch? But my experience on Manjaro while I used it was all positive.
I've used Manjaro for quite a few years now, and I've rarely encountered any issues. Plus, the tone in the forums is very, very nice and welcoming. Manjaro isn't perfect and all that, yeah. But it's the distro I feel best "living in" among those I've tried.
@user-hv9sg5pl8b BEGIN RANT Pretty typical for most Linux gurus. They revel in Linux difficulty feeling very accomplished when they figure things out. They treat new users asking for help with disdain and reluctance to share their knowledge because they feel, 'I figured the hard stuff out, why should you have it so easy and benefit from my hard work? I do get where their coming from. But what they loose site of is that many of use just want to use Linux, not endlessly tinker with it. When cars first came out you pretty much had to be a road-side mechanic just to drive one. But most drivers these days are not gear-heads. They just want to use a vehicle to get where we want to go. The same is true of computer users. I remember having to manually set up a hard drive, editing the config.sys and autoexec.bat, and having to account for device IRQs. We don't want to have to put in so much time and effort just to get the OS working now. We just want to use it as a vehicle to get to where we want to go. And many Linux gurus have little patience for casual users. I can almost hear them shouting at the screen... "Go use Windows, Linux is not for you!" END RANT
One thing missing now with arch is an offline iso of arch that does not need internet to install. So far we only have the net install which utilizes around 3gb of data per install. There are situations where people do not have access to internet and just need to install arch and use it for any offline tasks.
@@databug That is because they run their own repositories, and keep back the changes that often prove problematic on Arch and any distros that keep pace with them (including versions of Manjaro). In effect, Manjaro Stable is more stable than Arch Stable because they add one more layer of delays and testing. For those who don't know what they are doing--like trying to use a stable rolling distro as if it were testing or bleeding edge--when they compile a build from the AUR, they can get out ahead of the packages installed on their Manjaro system, leading to problems with dependencies.
Yeah but the anti-Manjaro idiots aren't going to listen to actual people who use Manjaro. Instead they repeat the naysaying of naysayers who don't use Manjaro.
@@cejannuzi Indeed, it was videos like these that made me go on an unsubscribing spree a couple of months ago, and yes, this channel was included. Now here I am checking in again and he's still at it.
I've been using Manjaro daily on my main PC for last 2 years and it served me well, I'm very happy with it. It delivered both promises of easy install and stable enough Arch-like, and also added very nice ready-made configurations of zsh and btrfs with snapshots. So far I don't feel any need or incentive to switch to something else.
Yes, I still get a lot of folks asking me 'How did you do that?' and I tell them I basically started with the Manjaro ZSH, learned about it, then applied knowledge to configuring BASH and then later, FISH.
the Manjaro AUR problem, i got on mainline Arch too, installing dotnet-runtime (8.0.0.sdk100-3) breaks dependency 'dotnet-runtime-7.0' required by pinta, this is all from the extra repo, so This is not a Manjaro only thing
7:21 Afaik the EndeavourOS team helped Arch complete their repo migration over to Git. And they were the first to discover and report a fix that GRUB EFI issue that bascially broke those systems even in Arch proper.
I've been daily driving Manjaro for the past year or so and i feel this. I've just been too busy to hop to another distro but once i get a chance i'm trying something new.
ArcoLinux has been nice and same easy to install as Manjaro also. Debian has been stable so I might main that this year. Mint/Fedora my video playback wasn't right, so am moving away from. Hop until you find one, use another nvme/ssd. I really settled into ArcoLinux a lot last year, it feels like home, Manjaro felt like home prior (Mint also still feels familiar but not as home for me).
Manjaro's issues exist but have been severely overstated. The developers are amazing and supportive, their mistakes are no worse than some of the crap other distros have done. Manjaro doesn't try to be arch, so it's not really a criticism. The AUR will fail as often as it does on plain arch, even arch themselves don't "officially" support the AUR packages. Saying Manjaro has no reason to exist because archlinux exists is like saying Mint or Zorin have no reason to exist because you can use upstream Ubuntu. Distros do things differently and appeal to different users, which is why Manjaro exists.
I have three machines running Manjaro (XFCE, Gnome and Plasma) and one system based on Manjaro (Mabox) and aside from me not updating them as regularly as I should and having to fuss with the keyring I have had no issues out of any of these. That could be just dumb luck or not but the XFCE system has been running flawlessly for 4 years. The others have been running at least 1.5 years. I also run 2 systems with Pop!_OS and one with MX (all physical machines, this isn't counting VMs.)
I've tried Manjaro several times over the years (each time hoping to see some kind of improvement), but I've always had too many issues with it, from things breaking right out of the box to things just not working at all. Many other distros out there "just work" and Manjaro isn't one of them.
I used Manjaro a number of years ago. While an update may break something back then, the forum always had the solution. Even then, Manjaro would work great out of the box or it would be the buggiest distro imaginable. People either loved it or hated it. I eventually attributed it to the hardware and system configuration. If you had the right computer setup and hardware, Manjaro was great. If you didn’t, Manjaro was horrible.
honestly i think this is hardware based. today, I installed Linux Mint, MiniOS Linux, even Debian straight up and none of it worked well or at all. Manjaro is one I tried today, and it worked straight out of the gate.
@@I401 That's always a possibility. There are so many different combinations out there. I built a new system end of last year. It might just work now better than before.
Manjaro Linux Cinnamon is my main operating system for the last 7 years. Not reinstalled once. Apart from a few small errors, which were always due to some Aur packages and could be quickly fixed, it is more stable than any distro before (Suse, Ubuntu, Fedora).
The reason I've stuck with Manjaro is the tools they have I wind up installing on other Distros like Arch or Endeavour just to make it, so I don't have to mess around in the terminal all the time. Manjaro is Arch's Ubuntu plain and simple. It's Arch simplified, and it's not ment for power users, and those are the ones who bitch the most about it.
i installed manjaro 3 years ago on both my desktop and my main laptop. it works great. i did have some issues but i had issues on every os i have ever used.
Manjaro and Ubuntu are at their core Arch and Debian with added marketability. Btw, archinstall is not easy to use for a lot of people, and still won't always work even if you think you know what you're doing, so Manjaro, EndeavorOS, Garuda etc. exist for that segment of people.
The problem for me with Manjaro was the AUR. After not getting stable distros like Debian and Ubuntu to work with my laptop's Wifi drivers (which I now realize was just an outdated kernel thing, whoops) I switched to Manjaro, and it worked great. Pamac looked great to me as well not being use to the terminal just yet, and I enabled all package sources (flatpak, snap, and the AUR), and it looked amazing, with the amount of things I could install so easily. And it all worked for a while, until the AUR decided to try to pull a different version of KDE and SDDM than I was using, and essentially (without knowledge of the terminal) irreversibly broke my system. I later found out why this was, but it was not a fun day finding out that a package source they let you enable with one switch can easily break your "stable" system without the right knowledge.
I remember the GRUB bug introduced in Arch and other Arch-based distros that Manjaro (stable) users didn't experience. Many people argue that delaying updates makes no sense, but it proved to be useful in this case.
great video dude. yea recently i switched over to manjaro for a couple months and i had to hop again because i had a bunch of issues with audio and other things. i dont really think its a bad distro like if i was a new user it would be great because all of the little hiccups it would teach me about trouble shooting and fixing stuff on my own but im way past that and it just seems like a nuisance. im reinstalling vanilla arch tonight again bc its just been the most stable experience ive had besides vanilla debian. im not opposed to arch based distros, i just seem to keep landing back on regular old arch.
I use Manjaro. I see the problems. Some people install it thinking it will make Arch easy, but don't realize what a rolling release is. And then they get into AUR without realizing what they are doing. MANJARO HAS NEVER PROCLAIMED THEMSELVES AS THE STABLE VERSION OF ARCH. But their stable version does not update like Arch. It doesn't even update like Arch Stable. It is still a rolling release (as is Arch Stable) and has to be updated regularly on its own schedule.
Manjaro uses the appstream arch packages, just the older ones. It uses the same package manager\package 'ecosystem' (things like AUR for example) as Arch. The only reason they hold down packages IS FOR TESTING which is ABOUT BEING MORE STABLE in the first place. They could've just included the appstream packages as is and called it a day. But they made a conscious choice not to do that. They could've contributed to the appstream, thus making it (and by proxy their own distro) more stable, but they choose to pretend to be a noobie Arch distro, and effectively punish their users with an incomplete (and sometimes even broken) experience (like holding the Discord package outdated and making the app unusable for a week every time there's a major update) even without the AUR. Believe me, I've been there, done that. Manjaro was my FIRST Linux distro, and I'am still using an Arch-based distro, just not Manjaro. I don't say it's garbage, but it isn't really viable both as a rolling release distro or as an Arch-based distro
@@Raspredval1337 AUR is official nothing. It is not supported by any Arch-based distro. How can a two weeks delay on a Discord package mess you up? I've been there and done that too. Why should a few people who are out there and need updates ahead of everyone else (although have to live with the regressions) determine who uses a distro? Manjaro isn't a noobie anything, and has never marketed itself as such. It only says its stable version withholds updates for 2 weeks for more testing. I'm on reddit and see how many idiots break their Arch installs. LOL. It has nothing to do with Manjaro when they do it.
I used Manjaro for a while in 2020 and 2021. I really liked pamac, and it was great for introducing me to the Arch ecosystem. I like KDE, so it was nice to see a distro that gives it the first-class treatment. My biggest complaint about it was the weird kernel installer thing. There was a meta package to always give me the latest, but they ended up removing that and I stopped getting kernel updates without realizing it. No warning I was aware of. Also, like many say, holding the packages back doesn't really do anything. I'd rather just use Arch if I need the latest at this point.
Running Manjaro now for a couple of months. It runs perfectly well being aware of the limitation AUR vs. Arch package dependencies. Will keep it as my daily driver for as long as it runs 🙂
Let me give a couple of cents since I've been using manjaro for the past couple of years. The reason why I continue to use despite the missteps of some of the devs: 1. It has a good setup out of the box for me. I don't need to do as much setup and configuration. 2. Its stable in my experience. Perhaps things have gotten better on arch but I've tried endeavor os for example and I found manjaro (at least for me) to have less problems. I ran multiple times into issues where I had to wipe my system and do a new install.
Used Manjaro couple of years ago on my main setup. Somehow anytime there was nvidia update the system would brick itself. Maybe it could've been restored somehow but 3rd time in the 4 months I used it I had enough and switched to other. I liked that it had aur and setting up some things are way easier than on other systems I had tried previously. Had Manjaro on my Rysen laptop little bit longer but every time I open the device for the fist time in like 2-4 weeks it would brick something. Now I just run immutable distro on it and haven't had any problems with updating it for a while.
Manjaro is the Ubuntu of Arch. I personally love it as my main stable distro. Comparing it to Arch is like comparing Debian to Ubuntu. While based on the same technology, they are distinctly different. Even when I use other distros like Garuda or Endeavour, I go out of my way to make it look and feel like Manjaro. I agree however that some of the decisions the developer team are not always cool in the Linux world. I ultimately understood why they were making them. Projects this big don't survive on pure charity alone. This is what lead to me playing with Garuda and Endevour in the first place, however, I always find myself coming back to Manjaro. It just hits the perfect balance of bleeding edge and stability (out of the box) for me. And you can't argue that their development team doesn't do a good visual polish on it.
It, and Fedora, are the only 2 distros that can be installed in all of my Intel Atom hardwares. I'm waiting in hopeless for a distro can run in my DIY Intel Atom C3958 laptop until Manjaro came and saved my project. or in my Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 (my daily tablet), it's the most stable distro ever and it recognize all things out of the box. then I arched all of them and hell yeah, now I have an arch server and an arch tablet.
Recently switched to Manjaro a few months back, despite being aware of the hate and all that. Not going to let that influence my own opinion of a distro though. I've personally had an alright time, and access to the AUR allows me easy access to tons of software, some of which I would consider almost necessary for my own workflow.
Same, I prefer Arco. For a stable I might go Debian for my main but Arco is pretty close to Arch (I hope), easy to install (main benefit). It made mostly moving from Manjaro to Arco easier.
@@dianaalyssa8726 I use Arco Linux on my PCs, and Arch Linux arch64 on Parallels on my MacBookPro. They are essentially the same. ArcoLinux does not support Mac 64bit OS on M2. On PC Arco adds arco's bells and whistle tools and Arco repositories.
thing is, idk if i would count arco or arch as an out of the box experience, I went with manjaro as my first proper daily drive distro as it is good and was out of the box, then i moved to endeavourOS because i wanted more arch-ness without going thru the headache of arch installation, whilst having a guide rail. I still use EOS and this is me, someone who has installed arch/artix many times and also done gentoo twice and is going to go to LFS in a few days. I come back to EOS as it is out of the box but still customisable, I go to manjaro when i want more of a linux mint experience for arch. This is linux, people can choose what they want, thats why we need this many options, manjaro is a great distro for people that dont care much for linux, they just want a PC that works, and want some arch features without going to EOS or Arch itself. You I believe are comming from the perspective of a linux enthusiast kinda deal, not the "idgaf i want a working PC with access to arch repository and AUR"
Laptop and SQL certs. I still have a KDE Manjaro on a spare SSD but I rarely use it. I did once main it, My friend pushed me from Mint to Manjaro for gaming/security. One thing that was good having Steam set up all ready. I think I will main Debian, alt Arco, and maybe boot Manjaro when I miss it's KDE variant. Manjaro and Nvidia/AUR packages were what I did not like, have nuked it on accident in 2022. Manjaro is familiar, I mostly went Manjarno in 2023 but did keep one 2023 KDE booter for nostalgia.
My biggest gripe with Manjaro is how they treat the AUR. Quite readily linking to it, including it in their gui's even (if I remember correctly) At the same time the AUR does not have to be compatible with Manjaro, does not target Manjaro, and there have at least been a few packages that don't work on Manjaro due to differences, or break due to their delayed updates. Using your own repositories is fine, but at least stay clear of mixing and matching them with something that is not meant to be compatible.
In the several months I used Manjaro, I enjoyed it for the most part but found its biggest problem to be package management. It was a bit all over the place and wrought with package breakage. Ever since I found Garuda (and also XeroLinux) I haven't looked back. Of course I still try others here and there for different use cases (Nix, Arco, Suse etc.) but definitely have left Manjaro behind for good. Regarding how the "Arch community" views Arch-derived distros, I truly couldn't care less - everyone knows the reputation that crew has developed for itself over the years.
Most of the complaints are just garbage repeated by people who don't use Manjaro and have never used Manjaro. Some just resent Manjaro's corporate plan for making money. They have never been affected by the so-called issues that keep getting repeated. Manjaro has never ever claimed to be Arch or to be a stable version of Arch. It claimed that with its pkg hold-backs, it's a different, typically more stable experience than Arch stable. And it has repeatedly warned people about not using the AUR if they don't know what they are doing.
I also used Manjaro for 3 years and as a user, I didn't have any major problems with it. Only reason I changed was that I switched to new laptop and wanted to start my i3 from scratch but with saner defaults and Endeavour ticked that box :)
I use Linux for only a year, and I know this isn't true, a day that manjaro dosent do something stuppid or push a package that isn't ready for release is a day that ends in y Like pushing asashi Linux when the baby was still in the womb
The issue is that the ppl that get harmed usually are ppl outside Manjaro, like when they accidentally ddos the aur with pamac, or tarnish Linux reputation, cause an influx of bug reports in a bug tracksr of an already solved issue because they hold back packages 1 week and etc (not as bad as debian but still not necessary nowadays) Also Manjaro is just obsolete nowadays, endeavor with a stable kernel and btrfs removed need for Manjaro
@@daorkykid No more common than any other Arch or Arch-based distro. It is what the individual user does on AUR. The only reason why it might be more noticeable with Manjaro, well, two reasons--one there are many Manjaro users and perhaps many of them don't know what they are doing with AUR.
Agreed there I learned fast only use the AUR as a last resort. I even had issues on Endevour and Arch itself. Good chunk of my software comes from Flatpak these days, so the headaches are mostly gone Arch and Manjaro can roll all day long for all I care.
I remember years ago when a friend accidentally converted a Manjaro installation into true Arch by changing the mirrors and updating. It was absolutely hilarious.
@@thingsiplay That's not what I said. Apparently he had found a bug in the mirrors or repos or something that caused Manjaro to convert into Arch around 2018 or so.
@@pip5528 I see. Well I misread it. But not sure if I can say by just changing the repository it would become Archlinux. What about packages installed that expect the Manjaro repo? And all the customizations from Manjaro team.
What initially drew me to Manjaro wasn't the easy install process, but the promise of a "stable" rolling release distribution. Apparently, that's a promise left unkept for a lot of people. I keep hearing horror stories about Manjaro breaking all the time, but it never happened to me. 3 years and still chugging. The worst thing that happened to me on Manjaro was a couple of AUR packages breaking due to dependency issues, but that was resolved with a downgrade quickly enough. Would I recommend it to other people? No. My experience obviously doesn't reflect the experience of other people. Would I install it again? No. A few of the past mistakes were inexcusable. The AUR is also kind of losing its luster for me, with Flatpaks having such a big library of available software packages. I'd probably hop to something else if I weren't so lazy, but I'll wait until this installation crashes and burns.
When I switched from Ubuntu (my first time hop ever after 13 years), my choice was Manjaro as well for the same reason. I think a stable rolling release model would work, if the source itself was designed with this approach in mind. I don't need to tell you all the problems, political and technical, which people reported. It does not mean everyone cares or have these problems. The holding back wasn't just a problem with the AUR, it was also a problem for applications which wasn't high priority, such as RetroArch. Sometimes it got a release which resulted updating the Manjaro repo for this app very late, even a month and longer! Because they have to wait until its on Arch itself, then they delay it further and if the release was close to a Manjaro update cycle, then it means it will be in next cycle weeks after. It was a terrible experience. Yes there is Flatpak, but if I have to use Flatpak because the repository sucks, whey would I use the distro in the first place then? That's my logic. I switched to EndeavourOS. And to me it's a better distribution with less problems and closer to Arch itself. So if you ever think of switching, try EndeavourOS.
Many think that Arch stable and Manjaro stable mean not rolling. LOL. So they don't update frequently. This leads to breakages. Also, they dabble in AUR and hard-f-ck their systems.
@@thingsiplay The reason for holding back updates is to prevent problems. I think the problem is trying to base such things on what Arch is doing, when Arch doesn't know what it is doing. Also, Manjaro was holding back which was good but then releasing after Arch had regressed, which was bad.
@@thingsiplay The thing with EndeavourOS is; it's not a real distribution. It's really just a graphical installer (Calamares?) and a custom theme, the rest is Arch Linux plain and simple. Last time I checked the only thing they have in their own repo is said custom theme. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with any of these things, it's just a hard sell over vanilla Arch.
I thought that Arch users would have disdain for every Arch based distro lol. I'm going to have to visit the merch store, I've got a birthday coming up.
Manjaro can be used with Flatpack's only, no need for full system update every time you need to install something. Kget should be included in installer. I would like option for default KDE theme. The drivers switching panel is not self explanatory. After install, In boot menu should be option with Nvidia proprietary or integrated GPU use, because Nvidia disabling is not possible at the moment, check out the ongoing topic in Nvidia forums "How to deal with nvidia-modprobe when switching between nvidia/nouveau"
You're absolutely right about the bad management of Manjaro but it's not only that. A few years ago I used to provide a free tech support on Manjaro IRC channel and there was a troll who never helped users with their issues but instead he was only making impolite and inappropriate remarks about how bad Manjaro is. For instance an user saying that his GPU doesn't work right, that troll would pop in saying: "that's because you use Manjaro" and this is on Manjaro channel! The mods were there all the time and never took any actions to deal with this situation not even mute him, I had enough of that nonsense and I was about to leave that place but first I wanted to do something myself to maybe drag mods attention to this situation. I tried to confront that troll telling him that he shouldn't be trolling because he has never helped anyone but only making inappropriate remarks about how bad Manjaro is. And what do you think happened? The modes kicked me out of the channel, I was the only person who actually tried to defend Manjaro and provided support for half a year already, I came back for a minute and told them that with such a bad management and childish and unprofessional moderators, Manjaro has no bright future and I left the channel forever. Since then, I've only heard bad things about Manjaro, about those silly mistakes with SSL certificates witch happened twice, about their DDoS of AUR issue getting them banned from the repo also not once but twice, about the split and drama in the administration itself, also you forgot to mention the funny situation when they included experimental broken kernel modules from Asahi Linux without even contacting the developers. At this point everyone knows that Manjaro is run by unprofessional and untrustworthy people and the distro itself is considered as: "the Jester of the Linux world".
I make an effort not to care about the larger Linux community because it seems a lot of what gets said is toxic arguments for the sake of drama and gatekeeping. Manjaro works fine. It's Arch at Its core, and people have far overexaggerated its issues, regardless of how the team may have handled themselves. It's also funny that Arch users are always the ones complaining about other distros. Especially ones based off Arch...
i've got a pinebook pro, i still have manjaro on it(when the slackware build instructions are fixed i'll do that), the ONLY problems i ever had are related to editing build scripts to set it as aarch64. if manjaro had the scripts copied and edited, magiprogrammed to insert the edited build script for arm support, it'd be fine, i guess... it's the arch script style, sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not, and some of the script writers just wanna watch the world boil in urine. fine till you have an architecture that not all their scripts support, yet... every time i've done an arm build, the package came out fine. i figure out if it has a detect for auto setting architecture, if not, i change the arch=, maybe there's some stuff that won't build right, haven't run into it yet, everything so far has just built and installed fine, after figuring out whether it's a waterports kind of day or not.
Yet another happy long term Manjaro user here. (I am not a Linux 'noob' either - I learned my initial Unix skills over 30 years ago !) I have always thought of Arch as experimental and never really wanted to use it. Of course Arch has a very important role to play in providing wide user base testing of new versions. With all distros we are talking about the same code and version history for packages.
Manjaro is fine. Manjaro is in fact Arch. Arch fanboys are salty that someone made a non-sweaty tryhard version of their elitist fetish OS. Well guess what. Now there's several of them. Stay mad, Archies.
I say this only because it usually comes up in comments and most other videos criticizing Manjaro. The only issue I've ever had with AUR on Manjaro in the last 4 years is a failure to build and install that one thing. I've never had AUR on Manjaro break anything else in my system. He didn't mention AUR in this video though. It's not that I can't install straight Arch, it's that it is FAR more annoying for me to do so.
Absolutely nailed it. Maintenance of Manjaro has grown to have it's own superset of issues directly with their tool set and environment set up. However if it's not an issue with one of those things, the answer is the arch wiki, Manjaro wiki is rough to say the least. To follow that, a lot of the super set of issues can be solved using arch wiki. This was not much of an issue when it had strong enough community support to balance that out. However, imo since 2020, they've really worked to limit the community aspect in favor of the gmbh. Basically cutting themselves off at the knees and walking into exactly as detailed in the video
I distro hopped and installed Manjaro completely oblivious to the community’s opinions and background indiscretions of its developers. I found the experience of Manjairo to be a positive one 6 months ago. It installed smoothly, out of the box all my hardware was recognised, the software was more recent than say Ubuntu, it was all there to install my usual software. I didn’t experience any strange or unwelcome applications. The Kde desktop was full featured and was aesthetically pleasing. As for data, I didn’t feel concerned that that my profile was being sold on or any other nefariousness, bearing in mind that that horse bolted decades ago long before I realised I had to shut the gate! I think that the vast majority of community oblivious users wouldn’t even notice the effects of ‘decisions’. Quite right though, developers should not be making the wrong decisions given that it must operate as part of a community. That’s just good manners!
Arch is too mainstream for me. That's why I chose it. Wanted something a little less popular. But now I keep using it because it is fantastically stable.
I've been on ArcoLinux using qtile wm and it's my first arch based and first wm and I love it. was wondering because I love Arco and haven't tried Suse yet. Thanks for the quick reply Matt, it's appreciated.@@TheLinuxCast
I like Manjaro KDE, works well for me. This is the second go around, and they have polished it abit...I see it as what Linux Mint is to Debian, Manjaro is to Arch...
last time i was reading a comment : "its like your running artix and your going "back" to a distribution like "manjaro". ?!!? I always loved both - I use artix and manjaro and love both.(artix and awesome wm everything matt loves 😀😀🙃😇greetings from vienna - love your content matt greetings)
I tried Manjaro once and it was such a buggy mess it kinda scared me for good and I went for minimal arch instead. Didnt regret it. Maybe it was just me that was badlucky with Manjaro.
Its a nice distro, but I'd like to see less fragmentation across the board. Manjaro does need to bring something new to earn its keep imo. The developer hours maintaining distros could be better spent elsewhere.
taking donations for personal gains, something like that happened, too. Manjarno is a mess. Why would you ever use this over vanilla arch, especially since Arch is easy as F to install nowadays.
I used Manjaro back when it was known as one of the few “nVidia Optimus ready” distros, before driver improvements started helping the difficulties with running integrated vs discrete. But it was a bit of a pain - Arch without AUR is limited, and that’s how Manjaro feels if you use AUR heavily.
A part of the Linux community is a vengeful group of Open Source theocrats. I see Arch and Manjaro as two separate distros, comparable to the relation between Debian and Ubuntu. Manjaro is the most reliable rolling releases I ever used. I have it in a VM since 2018 and it never failed me. Like the Manjaro team I use browsers like Microsoft Edge in my Xubuntu VM, because it not only looks attractive, but more important for me, it is the most effective browser with respect to memory occupation :)
And that is where the nasty stuff actually comes from. Manjaro has incorporated, is making money from software sales and hopes to get on the ARM / mobile wave. They have a business plan, like Canonical. I'm not saying that makes them great or anything else. But like Canonical, it makes others envious.
I'm also one of the freaks using Microsoft Edge in Linux, but I think it is actually pretty good (after few settings like disabling most of the Microsoft things like Bing and smartscreen protection etc, and that annoying selection minimenu). It's tab sleeping is miles better than in Google Chrome, it was the reason why I originally switched into it in my laptop. Chrome kept refreshing pages after waking up the tabs, that was so annoying, but Edge just continues like nothing happened. Being compatible with Chrome extensions, which you can even install through Chrome webstore, is also very good thing. I also use it in my Android phone, mainly because it has adblocker built-in and also works ok otherwise. And yeah I like the idea of using something non-proprietary like Firefox, but in reality it is just too slow and problematic with some pages. Though unfortunately with manifest v3 I might be forced to switch to something like it in the future.
Great Video and levity when discussing this hot button issue. I appreciate that you made a conscious effort to not mention your personal opinion. I've tried Manjaro on several occasions, always bare metal. I love the installation and initial zippiness of the system. However, inevitably, each time, something comes up to cause catastrophic failure. It usually ends up being the mix of dependencies from the AUR and Manjaro's repos. On the flip side, I have a friend who's been on Manjaro for the past 2 years and has had no issues. I don't hate Manjaro but I also don't intend to try it again unless there's some sort of major change on their end.
Manjaro is very good, but has serious recurring update problems. This means that Manjaro is stable over a short period of time. They claim to be a rolling distribution. But this philosophy is a bit shaky around the edges, as previous updates have thrown users out to new installations of Manjaro. That's why I currently use Linux Mint, as it seems the most stable on my computer. If they solve their update problems, I might come back to the project!
I have not used Manjaro in years because I did not like some of there bone head moves back then. Now I just run Arch that I install with my scripts my way... Lol Awesome video Matt! 🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆 LLAP 🖖
Well, I use Manjaro for 2 months and everyone told me that "is going to break" and "you have mental problems if you use it" (Sometimes the mods from the Linux Mint Discord are weird) So I installed a real Arch distro, Endeavour OS. It lasted 2 weeks. I did a -Syu and it broke, probably a systemD package. And no, I didn't use the AUR, so no dependency hell either, it was an oopsie from the devs. Manjaro never broke, any distro that I had used has never broke, just Arch/Endeavour
I call Manjaro arch still bc if I have it running and setup, I don't even remember it's Manjaro, just an arch based install that I can use 'yay' for all my installation needs
I used manjaro as my first inux distro and then after a couple of fatal crashes i jumped to endeavour, and eventually landed on arch. Manjaro is good at introducing people to linux as an alternative operating system but it's not a keeper, imo.
Manjaro needs to rechek/change its purpose. if its main purpose was to fix Arch shortages, and if Arch have fixed them on its own, then the main purpose of Manjaro is no longer valid. this is not good. they either have to reset their purpose or to focus their effort on uplifting the main thing, Arch.
i am using linux for 26 years i never tried manjaro and my next statement might get people upset. My first distro in 96 was suse 6 now in 2022 and 2023 i tried arch. The thing with arch is they over complicate things and i hate it take on installing a open vpn on arch .. you need to jump trough hoops. I love my pos os i am done doing hard linux style distroies .. Guess i am ritired in being an elitist. I know my linux and i love it and want it to be stable ...
I've been mainly a Windows user for years and would always dabble with Linux desktop every few months. Manjaro was the first one I've found with the polish and stability comparable / better than windows. I switched my work pc to Linux and have kept using it ever since. I once made the mistake of trying a non stable kernel which broke my 10g nic but once I stuck with stable only versions its been 100%. I can't even say that about Windows anymore. I'd never go with Arch simply for the elitist/asshat mentality that goes with it. On the server side I'm majority Linux with about 50 Linux VM's in my home, outside of my AD/Encryption/AV/Patching servers they are all Linux, usually Alma/Rocky or Ubuntu so I've been very comfortable with Linux for years along with managing Redhat Satellite in work.
Manjaro's bad press is from alieninating their own user base. Bad inneractions have made several long time users jump ship, & it also is the reason for Mabox. I agree that their focus is now on the moblie.
On paper, Manjaro is fantastic. In practice..... Not so much. I used Manjaro since the early beta days. Back long before they even has a version 1.0. Honestly it was a better distro as an unfinished beta than it is today. It's very sad. I think the developers just can't leave well enough alone. In the early days, Manjaro was basically just Arch, with a GUI installer, Kernel Manager, and Hardware Detection tool with custom kernels and a theme. That was it. The devs should have just kept it that way, and improved upon it. Instead, they've tried to reinvent the wheel and it all went to sh*t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’ve never had a stable experience on manjaro once. All the Manjaro users in the comments, I understand that it has worked for you, but I have been using arch for 5 years before with Manjaro was my gateway. In the year or so I used manjaro I had my system break no less than 6 times.
Manjaro went from concentrating on being a passion project by a group of developers that love Linux and Arch to being a cash grab run by penny pinching infinitely greedy corporate types at the expense of quality.
i tested manjaro and think it looks too much like wincrap! i was at begin of my linux exp. thinking why use a linux who looks like a wincrap os? if i learn linux i want the real linux no winish linux :D
It never DDOSed the AUR. LOL. Pamac, which is not limited to Manjaro by the way, sent excessive requests to AUR and caused shutdowns. Sounds more like an issue with the AUR actually.
@@cejannuzi It did twice at least. But it wasn't a planned attack, more a bug or bad design choice leading to a DDOS like result. People just "jokingly" or "angrily" say it was DDOS.
@@cejannuzi Oh I see you edited your reply. You should read what happened, it wasn't an issue of the AUR itself. Pamac is not limited to Manjaro (like any other package manager), but it is developed for and the (from the devs) recommended and only supported package manager for the distro. Devs from Manjaro work on Pamac, or don't they? So its fair to say if Pamac has a problem, then Manjaro has it. It's not an AUR problem, because none of the other AUR helper tools such as yay has this problem. It's only the Pamac it has or had.
Want more Linux content? Follow me over on Mastodon! fosstodon.org/@thelinuxcast
It would be a good video if you would avoid generalizing and speaking on behalf of the whole Linux community.
We are diverse, and I use Manjaro at home and my company uses Ubuntu at work. Despite loud shouts against Ubuntu and how bad it is by pushing Snaps forward I don't see Ubuntu losing its popularity, at least not in the corporate space (which brings Ubuntu money and keeps their development).
So, it would be good, if you would either prove your claims with numbers, before generalizing, or just say "IMHO" or "My impression is....". And I am not talking about this Manjaro video, it is relevant to any video.
Great video. I used to main Manjaro years ago (XFCE & KDE). One I think replaced it for me, someone else mentioned in the comments was ArcoLinux, easy to install, does the same thing. Am thinking I will mostly use Arco & Debian this year but have used each family. One of the main things that caused me when I was a noob to leave Mint was my friend then insisting Manjaro was a security and gaming distro. It was both good and bad but am thankful I was on Manjaro for a solid year or two before more hopping around. I never got around to trying Garuda Linux either but I do dual boot still for gaming. I still remember solutions on Manjaro to set the clock back sometimes due to the SQL nonrenewals, just a funny quirk that maybe isn't so funny now that I know more.
I liked Mannaro when I was using it. It was kinda my gateway to Arch. I decided to switch to Manjaro's unstable branch one day, which basically turns it into Arch with a green theme. At that point I figured why not just install Arch? But my experience on Manjaro while I used it was all positive.
I've used Manjaro for quite a few years now, and I've rarely encountered any issues. Plus, the tone in the forums is very, very nice and welcoming.
Manjaro isn't perfect and all that, yeah. But it's the distro I feel best "living in" among those I've tried.
@user-hv9sg5pl8b
BEGIN RANT
Pretty typical for most Linux gurus. They revel in Linux difficulty feeling very accomplished when they figure things out. They treat new users asking for help with disdain and reluctance to share their knowledge because they feel, 'I figured the hard stuff out, why should you have it so easy and benefit from my hard work? I do get where their coming from. But what they loose site of is that many of use just want to use Linux, not endlessly tinker with it.
When cars first came out you pretty much had to be a road-side mechanic just to drive one. But most drivers these days are not gear-heads. They just want to use a vehicle to get where we want to go. The same is true of computer users. I remember having to manually set up a hard drive, editing the config.sys and autoexec.bat, and having to account for device IRQs.
We don't want to have to put in so much time and effort just to get the OS working now. We just want to use it as a vehicle to get to where we want to go. And many Linux gurus have little patience for casual users. I can almost hear them shouting at the screen... "Go use Windows, Linux is not for you!"
END RANT
One thing missing now with arch is an offline iso of arch that does not need internet to install. So far we only have the net install which utilizes around 3gb of data per install. There are situations where people do not have access to internet and just need to install arch and use it for any offline tasks.
I've been using Manjaro as my main OS for at least 8 years. For me, it works perfectly fine.
7 years here, and it's still running sweet as a nut... bored with all this clickbait crap.
Still a noob Ive been on Manajro for 2 years across 3 machines. I had issues with other Arch based distros that I didn't have on Manjaro.
@@databug That is because they run their own repositories, and keep back the changes that often prove problematic on Arch and any distros that keep pace with them (including versions of Manjaro). In effect, Manjaro Stable is more stable than Arch Stable because they add one more layer of delays and testing. For those who don't know what they are doing--like trying to use a stable rolling distro as if it were testing or bleeding edge--when they compile a build from the AUR, they can get out ahead of the packages installed on their Manjaro system, leading to problems with dependencies.
Yeah but the anti-Manjaro idiots aren't going to listen to actual people who use Manjaro. Instead they repeat the naysaying of naysayers who don't use Manjaro.
@@cejannuzi Indeed, it was videos like these that made me go on an unsubscribing spree a couple of months ago, and yes, this channel was included. Now here I am checking in again and he's still at it.
Manjaro trying to inovate is a good thing, even if there are obstacles along the way for them.
I've been using Manjaro daily on my main PC for last 2 years and it served me well, I'm very happy with it. It delivered both promises of easy install and stable enough Arch-like, and also added very nice ready-made configurations of zsh and btrfs with snapshots. So far I don't feel any need or incentive to switch to something else.
Yes, I still get a lot of folks asking me 'How did you do that?' and I tell them I basically started with the Manjaro ZSH, learned about it, then applied knowledge to configuring BASH and then later, FISH.
the Manjaro AUR problem, i got on mainline Arch too, installing dotnet-runtime (8.0.0.sdk100-3) breaks dependency 'dotnet-runtime-7.0' required by pinta, this is all from the extra repo, so This is not a Manjaro only thing
7:21 Afaik the EndeavourOS team helped Arch complete their repo migration over to Git. And they were the first to discover and report a fix that GRUB EFI issue that bascially broke those systems even in Arch proper.
The Grub EFI issue didn't occur on most Manjaro installations. In this case, Manjaro's policy of holding packages back for a few days worked well.
I've been daily driving Manjaro for the past year or so and i feel this. I've just been too busy to hop to another distro but once i get a chance i'm trying something new.
Try Endeavour. You will see it. It is great too. But if you don't know what you are doing, you can have the same problems.
ArcoLinux has been nice and same easy to install as Manjaro also. Debian has been stable so I might main that this year. Mint/Fedora my video playback wasn't right, so am moving away from. Hop until you find one, use another nvme/ssd. I really settled into ArcoLinux a lot last year, it feels like home, Manjaro felt like home prior (Mint also still feels familiar but not as home for me).
Manjaro's issues exist but have been severely overstated. The developers are amazing and supportive, their mistakes are no worse than some of the crap other distros have done. Manjaro doesn't try to be arch, so it's not really a criticism. The AUR will fail as often as it does on plain arch, even arch themselves don't "officially" support the AUR packages. Saying Manjaro has no reason to exist because archlinux exists is like saying Mint or Zorin have no reason to exist because you can use upstream Ubuntu. Distros do things differently and appeal to different users, which is why Manjaro exists.
I have three machines running Manjaro (XFCE, Gnome and Plasma) and one system based on Manjaro (Mabox) and aside from me not updating them as regularly as I should and having to fuss with the keyring I have had no issues out of any of these. That could be just dumb luck or not but the XFCE system has been running flawlessly for 4 years. The others have been running at least 1.5 years.
I also run 2 systems with Pop!_OS and one with MX (all physical machines, this isn't counting VMs.)
I've tried Manjaro several times over the years (each time hoping to see some kind of improvement), but I've always had too many issues with it, from things breaking right out of the box to things just not working at all. Many other distros out there "just work" and Manjaro isn't one of them.
LOL. I've read just the opposite about Manjaro. If often does install and run well 'out of the box'. That is what made it so popular.
I used Manjaro a number of years ago. While an update may break something back then, the forum always had the solution. Even then, Manjaro would work great out of the box or it would be the buggiest distro imaginable. People either loved it or hated it. I eventually attributed it to the hardware and system configuration. If you had the right computer setup and hardware, Manjaro was great. If you didn’t, Manjaro was horrible.
honestly i think this is hardware based. today, I installed Linux Mint, MiniOS Linux, even Debian straight up and none of it worked well or at all. Manjaro is one I tried today, and it worked straight out of the gate.
@@I401 That's always a possibility. There are so many different combinations out there. I built a new system end of last year. It might just work now better than before.
@@no-stresscat1519 Best of luck if you ever decide to test!
The only Arch based distro I like is EndevourOS, but I prefer just running Arch Linux.
Manjaro Linux Cinnamon is my main operating system for the last 7 years. Not reinstalled once. Apart from a few small errors, which were always due to some Aur packages and could be quickly fixed, it is more stable than any distro before (Suse, Ubuntu, Fedora).
I am using manjaro for around 4 years. I didn't have a much of a issue and tried many distros but couldn't met a one satisfying as manjaro.
The reason I've stuck with Manjaro is the tools they have I wind up installing on other Distros like Arch or Endeavour just to make it, so I don't have to mess around in the terminal all the time. Manjaro is Arch's Ubuntu plain and simple. It's Arch simplified, and it's not ment for power users, and those are the ones who bitch the most about it.
Yes, and its main competition are distros like Garuda.
i installed manjaro 3 years ago on both my desktop and my main laptop. it works great. i did have some issues but i had issues on every os i have ever used.
I don't give a toss what the "community" thinks. Manjaro is a great distro. It's light years better than any of the Ubuntus.
Manjaro and Ubuntu are at their core Arch and Debian with added marketability. Btw, archinstall is not easy to use for a lot of people, and still won't always work even if you think you know what you're doing, so Manjaro, EndeavorOS, Garuda etc. exist for that segment of people.
But EndeavorOS is Arch and Manjaro isn't. Because EndeavorOS does use the original Arch packages and Manajro holds them back for 2 weeks or whatever.
The problem for me with Manjaro was the AUR. After not getting stable distros like Debian and Ubuntu to work with my laptop's Wifi drivers (which I now realize was just an outdated kernel thing, whoops) I switched to Manjaro, and it worked great. Pamac looked great to me as well not being use to the terminal just yet, and I enabled all package sources (flatpak, snap, and the AUR), and it looked amazing, with the amount of things I could install so easily. And it all worked for a while, until the AUR decided to try to pull a different version of KDE and SDDM than I was using, and essentially (without knowledge of the terminal) irreversibly broke my system. I later found out why this was, but it was not a fun day finding out that a package source they let you enable with one switch can easily break your "stable" system without the right knowledge.
I remember the GRUB bug introduced in Arch and other Arch-based distros that Manjaro (stable) users didn't experience. Many people argue that delaying updates makes no sense, but it proved to be useful in this case.
great video dude. yea recently i switched over to manjaro for a couple months and i had to hop again because i had a bunch of issues with audio and other things. i dont really think its a bad distro like if i was a new user it would be great because all of the little hiccups it would teach me about trouble shooting and fixing stuff on my own but im way past that and it just seems like a nuisance. im reinstalling vanilla arch tonight again bc its just been the most stable experience ive had besides vanilla debian. im not opposed to arch based distros, i just seem to keep landing back on regular old arch.
Shifted to opensuse after watching your videos and yeah ig it is the final destination
I loved opensuse, but getting software from them was horrible. I mean really horrible.
@@cejannuzi eh? wdym 😷
@@frost3680 Their repositories and mirrors forking suck.
I use Manjaro. I see the problems. Some people install it thinking it will make Arch easy, but don't realize what a rolling release is. And then they get into AUR without realizing what they are doing. MANJARO HAS NEVER PROCLAIMED THEMSELVES AS THE STABLE VERSION OF ARCH. But their stable version does not update like Arch. It doesn't even update like Arch Stable. It is still a rolling release (as is Arch Stable) and has to be updated regularly on its own schedule.
Manjaro uses the appstream arch packages, just the older ones. It uses the same package manager\package 'ecosystem' (things like AUR for example) as Arch. The only reason they hold down packages IS FOR TESTING which is ABOUT BEING MORE STABLE in the first place. They could've just included the appstream packages as is and called it a day. But they made a conscious choice not to do that. They could've contributed to the appstream, thus making it (and by proxy their own distro) more stable, but they choose to pretend to be a noobie Arch distro, and effectively punish their users with an incomplete (and sometimes even broken) experience (like holding the Discord package outdated and making the app unusable for a week every time there's a major update) even without the AUR.
Believe me, I've been there, done that. Manjaro was my FIRST Linux distro, and I'am still using an Arch-based distro, just not Manjaro. I don't say it's garbage, but it isn't really viable both as a rolling release distro or as an Arch-based distro
@@Raspredval1337 AUR is official nothing. It is not supported by any Arch-based distro. How can a two weeks delay on a Discord package mess you up? I've been there and done that too. Why should a few people who are out there and need updates ahead of everyone else (although have to live with the regressions) determine who uses a distro? Manjaro isn't a noobie anything, and has never marketed itself as such. It only says its stable version withholds updates for 2 weeks for more testing. I'm on reddit and see how many idiots break their Arch installs. LOL. It has nothing to do with Manjaro when they do it.
If you download the minimal version, AUR does not work. So you have to install make, autoconf, automake and pkg-config.
I used Manjaro for a while in 2020 and 2021. I really liked pamac, and it was great for introducing me to the Arch ecosystem. I like KDE, so it was nice to see a distro that gives it the first-class treatment. My biggest complaint about it was the weird kernel installer thing. There was a meta package to always give me the latest, but they ended up removing that and I stopped getting kernel updates without realizing it. No warning I was aware of. Also, like many say, holding the packages back doesn't really do anything. I'd rather just use Arch if I need the latest at this point.
Running Manjaro now for a couple of months. It runs perfectly well being aware of the limitation AUR vs. Arch package dependencies. Will keep it as my daily driver for as long as it runs 🙂
Let me give a couple of cents since I've been using manjaro for the past couple of years. The reason why I continue to use despite the missteps of some of the devs:
1. It has a good setup out of the box for me. I don't need to do as much setup and configuration.
2. Its stable in my experience. Perhaps things have gotten better on arch but I've tried endeavor os for example and I found manjaro (at least for me) to have less problems. I ran multiple times into issues where I had to wipe my system and do a new install.
Used Manjaro couple of years ago on my main setup. Somehow anytime there was nvidia update the system would brick itself. Maybe it could've been restored somehow but 3rd time in the 4 months I used it I had enough and switched to other. I liked that it had aur and setting up some things are way easier than on other systems I had tried previously. Had Manjaro on my Rysen laptop little bit longer but every time I open the device for the fist time in like 2-4 weeks it would brick something. Now I just run immutable distro on it and haven't had any problems with updating it for a while.
Manjaro is the Ubuntu of Arch. I personally love it as my main stable distro. Comparing it to Arch is like comparing Debian to Ubuntu. While based on the same technology, they are distinctly different. Even when I use other distros like Garuda or Endeavour, I go out of my way to make it look and feel like Manjaro. I agree however that some of the decisions the developer team are not always cool in the Linux world. I ultimately understood why they were making them. Projects this big don't survive on pure charity alone. This is what lead to me playing with Garuda and Endevour in the first place, however, I always find myself coming back to Manjaro. It just hits the perfect balance of bleeding edge and stability (out of the box) for me. And you can't argue that their development team doesn't do a good visual polish on it.
Manjaro Cinnamon is one of only two distros that will make all features of my ThinkPad T14s function which is why I use it.
What's the other distro?
@@cameronbosch1213 Pure Arch.
Probably tiny core?
@@cameronbosch1213 Probably Mint.
It, and Fedora, are the only 2 distros that can be installed in all of my Intel Atom hardwares. I'm waiting in hopeless for a distro can run in my DIY Intel Atom C3958 laptop until Manjaro came and saved my project. or in my Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 (my daily tablet), it's the most stable distro ever and it recognize all things out of the box. then I arched all of them and hell yeah, now I have an arch server and an arch tablet.
Recently switched to Manjaro a few months back, despite being aware of the hate and all that. Not going to let that influence my own opinion of a distro though. I've personally had an alright time, and access to the AUR allows me easy access to tons of software, some of which I would consider almost necessary for my own workflow.
I have never used Manjaro, but now it is so easy to install Arch Linux with Arcolinux its silly to look elsewhere if you want Arch.
Same, I prefer Arco. For a stable I might go Debian for my main but Arco is pretty close to Arch (I hope), easy to install (main benefit). It made mostly moving from Manjaro to Arco easier.
@@dianaalyssa8726 I use Arco Linux on my PCs, and Arch Linux arch64 on Parallels on my MacBookPro. They are essentially the same. ArcoLinux does not support Mac 64bit OS on M2. On PC Arco adds arco's bells and whistle tools and Arco repositories.
thing is, idk if i would count arco or arch as an out of the box experience, I went with manjaro as my first proper daily drive distro as it is good and was out of the box, then i moved to endeavourOS because i wanted more arch-ness without going thru the headache of arch installation, whilst having a guide rail. I still use EOS and this is me, someone who has installed arch/artix many times and also done gentoo twice and is going to go to LFS in a few days. I come back to EOS as it is out of the box but still customisable, I go to manjaro when i want more of a linux mint experience for arch. This is linux, people can choose what they want, thats why we need this many options, manjaro is a great distro for people that dont care much for linux, they just want a PC that works, and want some arch features without going to EOS or Arch itself. You I believe are comming from the perspective of a linux enthusiast kinda deal, not the "idgaf i want a working PC with access to arch repository and AUR"
Archinstall script from vanilla arch linux has made it so easy to install, why is arco even needed?
Laptop and SQL certs. I still have a KDE Manjaro on a spare SSD but I rarely use it. I did once main it, My friend pushed me from Mint to Manjaro for gaming/security. One thing that was good having Steam set up all ready. I think I will main Debian, alt Arco, and maybe boot Manjaro when I miss it's KDE variant. Manjaro and Nvidia/AUR packages were what I did not like, have nuked it on accident in 2022. Manjaro is familiar, I mostly went Manjarno in 2023 but did keep one 2023 KDE booter for nostalgia.
My biggest gripe with Manjaro is how they treat the AUR.
Quite readily linking to it, including it in their gui's even (if I remember correctly)
At the same time the AUR does not have to be compatible with Manjaro, does not target Manjaro, and there have at least been a few packages that don't work on Manjaro due to differences, or break due to their delayed updates.
Using your own repositories is fine, but at least stay clear of mixing and matching them with something that is not meant to be compatible.
I haven't used Ubuntu since the Amazon affair.
In the several months I used Manjaro, I enjoyed it for the most part but found its biggest problem to be package management. It was a bit all over the place and wrought with package breakage. Ever since I found Garuda (and also XeroLinux) I haven't looked back. Of course I still try others here and there for different use cases (Nix, Arco, Suse etc.) but definitely have left Manjaro behind for good. Regarding how the "Arch community" views Arch-derived distros, I truly couldn't care less - everyone knows the reputation that crew has developed for itself over the years.
I'm glad that endeavor os works on my laptop and gaming pc I hope I can use Novara again after its updated to version 40
Most of the complaints are just garbage repeated by people who don't use Manjaro and have never used Manjaro. Some just resent Manjaro's corporate plan for making money. They have never been affected by the so-called issues that keep getting repeated. Manjaro has never ever claimed to be Arch or to be a stable version of Arch. It claimed that with its pkg hold-backs, it's a different, typically more stable experience than Arch stable. And it has repeatedly warned people about not using the AUR if they don't know what they are doing.
I also used Manjaro for 3 years and as a user, I didn't have any major problems with it. Only reason I changed was that I switched to new laptop and wanted to start my i3 from scratch but with saner defaults and Endeavour ticked that box :)
I use Linux for only a year, and I know this isn't true, a day that manjaro dosent do something stuppid or push a package that isn't ready for release is a day that ends in y
Like pushing asashi Linux when the baby was still in the womb
The issue is that the ppl that get harmed usually are ppl outside Manjaro, like when they accidentally ddos the aur with pamac, or tarnish Linux reputation, cause an influx of bug reports in a bug tracksr of an already solved issue because they hold back packages 1 week and etc (not as bad as debian but still not necessary nowadays)
Also Manjaro is just obsolete nowadays, endeavor with a stable kernel and btrfs removed need for Manjaro
@@luizansounds Pamac users in general did that, due to flaws in how pamac interacted with the AUR.
@@yanlucasdf Blah blah blah. I've been using Manjaro for a year not problems.
Problems with Manjaro is the AUR. The conflict between Manjaro libraries and the AUR can be system breaker.
Yeah, they should not make it that easy to install from the AUR when they don't use the stock repos.
How common is it for breaking AUR conflicts to occur?
Sure like other Arch and Arch-based users have never had the same problems. LOL.
@@daorkykid No more common than any other Arch or Arch-based distro. It is what the individual user does on AUR. The only reason why it might be more noticeable with Manjaro, well, two reasons--one there are many Manjaro users and perhaps many of them don't know what they are doing with AUR.
Agreed there I learned fast only use the AUR as a last resort. I even had issues on Endevour and Arch itself. Good chunk of my software comes from Flatpak these days, so the headaches are mostly gone Arch and Manjaro can roll all day long for all I care.
I remember years ago when a friend accidentally converted a Manjaro installation into true Arch by changing the mirrors and updating. It was absolutely hilarious.
How does someone accidentally change the mirrors?
@@thingsiplay That's not what I said. Apparently he had found a bug in the mirrors or repos or something that caused Manjaro to convert into Arch around 2018 or so.
I'm sure you both suddenly knew what you were doing and all your Manjaro problems were solved.
@@pip5528 I see. Well I misread it. But not sure if I can say by just changing the repository it would become Archlinux. What about packages installed that expect the Manjaro repo? And all the customizations from Manjaro team.
It strikes me as a total bullshit story--or at least the explanation for what your friend did is.
What initially drew me to Manjaro wasn't the easy install process, but the promise of a "stable" rolling release distribution. Apparently, that's a promise left unkept for a lot of people. I keep hearing horror stories about Manjaro breaking all the time, but it never happened to me. 3 years and still chugging. The worst thing that happened to me on Manjaro was a couple of AUR packages breaking due to dependency issues, but that was resolved with a downgrade quickly enough.
Would I recommend it to other people? No. My experience obviously doesn't reflect the experience of other people. Would I install it again? No. A few of the past mistakes were inexcusable. The AUR is also kind of losing its luster for me, with Flatpaks having such a big library of available software packages. I'd probably hop to something else if I weren't so lazy, but I'll wait until this installation crashes and burns.
When I switched from Ubuntu (my first time hop ever after 13 years), my choice was Manjaro as well for the same reason. I think a stable rolling release model would work, if the source itself was designed with this approach in mind. I don't need to tell you all the problems, political and technical, which people reported. It does not mean everyone cares or have these problems.
The holding back wasn't just a problem with the AUR, it was also a problem for applications which wasn't high priority, such as RetroArch. Sometimes it got a release which resulted updating the Manjaro repo for this app very late, even a month and longer! Because they have to wait until its on Arch itself, then they delay it further and if the release was close to a Manjaro update cycle, then it means it will be in next cycle weeks after. It was a terrible experience. Yes there is Flatpak, but if I have to use Flatpak because the repository sucks, whey would I use the distro in the first place then? That's my logic.
I switched to EndeavourOS. And to me it's a better distribution with less problems and closer to Arch itself. So if you ever think of switching, try EndeavourOS.
Many think that Arch stable and Manjaro stable mean not rolling. LOL. So they don't update frequently. This leads to breakages. Also, they dabble in AUR and hard-f-ck their systems.
@@thingsiplay The reason for holding back updates is to prevent problems. I think the problem is trying to base such things on what Arch is doing, when Arch doesn't know what it is doing. Also, Manjaro was holding back which was good but then releasing after Arch had regressed, which was bad.
@@thingsiplay The thing with EndeavourOS is; it's not a real distribution. It's really just a graphical installer (Calamares?) and a custom theme, the rest is Arch Linux plain and simple. Last time I checked the only thing they have in their own repo is said custom theme. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with any of these things, it's just a hard sell over vanilla Arch.
Exactly right. Flatpacks have made the AUR a less desirable software source.
Manjaro is a distro based on Arch* Linux.
*Like Ubuntu is a distro based on Debian, which is true, but not really. Same thing with Manjaro and Arch.
I use vanil arch with a windows manager btw
I thought that Arch users would have disdain for every Arch based distro lol. I'm going to have to visit the merch store, I've got a birthday coming up.
Manjaro can be used with Flatpack's only, no need for full system update every time you need to install something. Kget should be included in installer. I would like option for default KDE theme. The drivers switching panel is not self explanatory. After install, In boot menu should be option with Nvidia proprietary or integrated GPU use, because Nvidia disabling is not possible at the moment, check out the ongoing topic in Nvidia forums "How to deal with nvidia-modprobe when switching between nvidia/nouveau"
You're absolutely right about the bad management of Manjaro but it's not only that. A few years ago I used to provide a free tech support on Manjaro IRC channel and there was a troll who never helped users with their issues but instead he was only making impolite and inappropriate remarks about how bad Manjaro is. For instance an user saying that his GPU doesn't work right, that troll would pop in saying: "that's because you use Manjaro" and this is on Manjaro channel! The mods were there all the time and never took any actions to deal with this situation not even mute him, I had enough of that nonsense and I was about to leave that place but first I wanted to do something myself to maybe drag mods attention to this situation. I tried to confront that troll telling him that he shouldn't be trolling because he has never helped anyone but only making inappropriate remarks about how bad Manjaro is. And what do you think happened? The modes kicked me out of the channel, I was the only person who actually tried to defend Manjaro and provided support for half a year already, I came back for a minute and told them that with such a bad management and childish and unprofessional moderators, Manjaro has no bright future and I left the channel forever. Since then, I've only heard bad things about Manjaro, about those silly mistakes with SSL certificates witch happened twice, about their DDoS of AUR issue getting them banned from the repo also not once but twice, about the split and drama in the administration itself, also you forgot to mention the funny situation when they included experimental broken kernel modules from Asahi Linux without even contacting the developers. At this point everyone knows that Manjaro is run by unprofessional and untrustworthy people and the distro itself is considered as: "the Jester of the Linux world".
also the pinephone uses manjaro as stock os for their phone which is broken
Hi mat ..as a new Linux user I'm using arch garuda kde.could you do a video on arch for new user's
I''v used Garuda linux for four years, it is a great Arch based distro that works on my stuff
I make an effort not to care about the larger Linux community because it seems a lot of what gets said is toxic arguments for the sake of drama and gatekeeping.
Manjaro works fine. It's Arch at Its core, and people have far overexaggerated its issues, regardless of how the team may have handled themselves.
It's also funny that Arch users are always the ones complaining about other distros. Especially ones based off Arch...
i've got a pinebook pro, i still have manjaro on it(when the slackware build instructions are fixed i'll do that), the ONLY problems i ever had are related to editing build scripts to set it as aarch64. if manjaro had the scripts copied and edited, magiprogrammed to insert the edited build script for arm support, it'd be fine, i guess... it's the arch script style, sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not, and some of the script writers just wanna watch the world boil in urine. fine till you have an architecture that not all their scripts support, yet... every time i've done an arm build, the package came out fine. i figure out if it has a detect for auto setting architecture, if not, i change the arch=, maybe there's some stuff that won't build right, haven't run into it yet, everything so far has just built and installed fine, after figuring out whether it's a waterports kind of day or not.
As a Linux amateur Manjaro has been one of the most consistently good distros I’ve used on multiple computers over the last few years.
Yet another happy long term Manjaro user here. (I am not a Linux 'noob' either - I learned my initial Unix skills over 30 years ago !) I have always thought of Arch as experimental and never really wanted to use it. Of course Arch has a very important role to play in providing wide user base testing of new versions. With all distros we are talking about the same code and version history for packages.
Manjaro is fine.
Manjaro is in fact Arch.
Arch fanboys are salty that someone made a non-sweaty tryhard version of their elitist fetish OS.
Well guess what. Now there's several of them. Stay mad, Archies.
I tried manjaro for abit I liked some things but all in all its not worth keeping as a main os good to fool around with
I say this only because it usually comes up in comments and most other videos criticizing Manjaro. The only issue I've ever had with AUR on Manjaro in the last 4 years is a failure to build and install that one thing. I've never had AUR on Manjaro break anything else in my system.
He didn't mention AUR in this video though.
It's not that I can't install straight Arch, it's that it is FAR more annoying for me to do so.
So, have you switched Tumbleweed over to the CDN repos yet?
What's this? Repository hopping? LOL.
Absolutely nailed it. Maintenance of Manjaro has grown to have it's own superset of issues directly with their tool set and environment set up. However if it's not an issue with one of those things, the answer is the arch wiki, Manjaro wiki is rough to say the least. To follow that, a lot of the super set of issues can be solved using arch wiki. This was not much of an issue when it had strong enough community support to balance that out. However, imo since 2020, they've really worked to limit the community aspect in favor of the gmbh. Basically cutting themselves off at the knees and walking into exactly as detailed in the video
I distro hopped and installed Manjaro completely oblivious to the community’s opinions and background indiscretions of its developers. I found the experience of Manjairo to be a positive one 6 months ago. It installed smoothly, out of the box all my hardware was recognised, the software was more recent than say Ubuntu, it was all there to install my usual software. I didn’t experience any strange or unwelcome applications. The Kde desktop was full featured and was aesthetically pleasing. As for data, I didn’t feel concerned that that my profile was being sold on or any other nefariousness, bearing in mind that that horse bolted decades ago long before I realised I had to shut the gate! I think that the vast majority of community oblivious users wouldn’t even notice the effects of ‘decisions’. Quite right though, developers should not be making the wrong decisions given that it must operate as part of a community. That’s just good manners!
Matt, why do you prefer Opensuse over arch?
Arch is too mainstream for me. That's why I chose it. Wanted something a little less popular.
But now I keep using it because it is fantastically stable.
I've been on ArcoLinux using qtile wm and it's my first arch based and first wm and I love it. was wondering because I love Arco and haven't tried Suse yet. Thanks for the quick reply Matt, it's appreciated.@@TheLinuxCast
I like Manjaro KDE, works well for me. This is the second go around, and they have polished it abit...I see it as what Linux Mint is to Debian, Manjaro is to Arch...
I first came to Arch through Manjaro many moons ago.
last time i was reading a comment : "its like your running artix and your going "back" to a distribution like "manjaro". ?!!? I always loved both - I use artix and manjaro and love both.(artix and awesome wm everything matt loves 😀😀🙃😇greetings from vienna - love your content matt greetings)
I tried Manjaro once and it was such a buggy mess it kinda scared me for good and I went for minimal arch instead. Didnt regret it.
Maybe it was just me that was badlucky with Manjaro.
Its a nice distro, but I'd like to see less fragmentation across the board. Manjaro does need to bring something new to earn its keep imo. The developer hours maintaining distros could be better spent elsewhere.
taking donations for personal gains, something like that happened, too. Manjarno is a mess. Why would you ever use this over vanilla arch, especially since Arch is easy as F to install nowadays.
I used Manjaro back when it was known as one of the few “nVidia Optimus ready” distros, before driver improvements started helping the difficulties with running integrated vs discrete.
But it was a bit of a pain - Arch without AUR is limited, and that’s how Manjaro feels if you use AUR heavily.
What? I use Manjaro and I use AUR, and all is fine.
I wish they could change into a recursive acronym that ended with "is not arch"
Manjaro is the only distro that has ever worked for me, gonna permanently switch to it soon
Manjaro KDE is my personal go to.
A part of the Linux community is a vengeful group of Open Source theocrats. I see Arch and Manjaro as two separate distros, comparable to the relation between Debian and Ubuntu. Manjaro is the most reliable rolling releases I ever used. I have it in a VM since 2018 and it never failed me.
Like the Manjaro team I use browsers like Microsoft Edge in my Xubuntu VM, because it not only looks attractive, but more important for me, it is the most effective browser with respect to memory occupation :)
And that is where the nasty stuff actually comes from. Manjaro has incorporated, is making money from software sales and hopes to get on the ARM / mobile wave. They have a business plan, like Canonical. I'm not saying that makes them great or anything else. But like Canonical, it makes others envious.
I'm also one of the freaks using Microsoft Edge in Linux, but I think it is actually pretty good (after few settings like disabling most of the Microsoft things like Bing and smartscreen protection etc, and that annoying selection minimenu). It's tab sleeping is miles better than in Google Chrome, it was the reason why I originally switched into it in my laptop. Chrome kept refreshing pages after waking up the tabs, that was so annoying, but Edge just continues like nothing happened. Being compatible with Chrome extensions, which you can even install through Chrome webstore, is also very good thing.
I also use it in my Android phone, mainly because it has adblocker built-in and also works ok otherwise.
And yeah I like the idea of using something non-proprietary like Firefox, but in reality it is just too slow and problematic with some pages. Though unfortunately with manifest v3 I might be forced to switch to something like it in the future.
I used Manjaro on a laptop for about 3 years, never had a problem with it. All my daily drivers now use Kubuntu only because of Debian packages.
Great Video and levity when discussing this hot button issue. I appreciate that you made a conscious effort to not mention your personal opinion. I've tried Manjaro on several occasions, always bare metal. I love the installation and initial zippiness of the system. However, inevitably, each time, something comes up to cause catastrophic failure. It usually ends up being the mix of dependencies from the AUR and Manjaro's repos. On the flip side, I have a friend who's been on Manjaro for the past 2 years and has had no issues. I don't hate Manjaro but I also don't intend to try it again unless there's some sort of major change on their end.
I like Manjaro...
Manjaro is very good, but has serious recurring update problems. This means that Manjaro is stable over a short period of time. They claim to be a rolling distribution. But this philosophy is a bit shaky around the edges, as previous updates have thrown users out to new installations of Manjaro. That's why I currently use Linux Mint, as it seems the most stable on my computer. If they solve their update problems, I might come back to the project!
I get the 'bitching' about everything.
It's not just 'Manjaro' - I have a love/hate relationship with Linux-everything.
Manjaro used to be good I stopped using it because I kept getting a bunch of invalid key errors 😂
Manjaro is good. I've been using it for the last three years and haven't had any problem with it.
I have not used Manjaro in years because I did not like some of there bone head moves back then. Now I just run Arch that I install with my scripts my way... Lol Awesome video Matt!
🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
LLAP 🖖
Well, I use Manjaro for 2 months and everyone told me that "is going to break" and "you have mental problems if you use it" (Sometimes the mods from the Linux Mint Discord are weird)
So I installed a real Arch distro, Endeavour OS. It lasted 2 weeks. I did a -Syu and it broke, probably a systemD package. And no, I didn't use the AUR, so no dependency hell either, it was an oopsie from the devs.
Manjaro never broke, any distro that I had used has never broke, just Arch/Endeavour
I still copy xfce config from manjaro. Because i hate customize things...
I call Manjaro arch still bc if I have it running and setup, I don't even remember it's Manjaro, just an arch based install that I can use 'yay' for all my installation needs
I used manjaro as my first inux distro and then after a couple of fatal crashes i jumped to endeavour, and eventually landed on arch. Manjaro is good at introducing people to linux as an alternative operating system but it's not a keeper, imo.
Manjaro needs to rechek/change its purpose.
if its main purpose was to fix Arch shortages, and if Arch have fixed them on its own, then the main purpose of Manjaro is no longer valid. this is not good. they either have to reset their purpose or to focus their effort on uplifting the main thing, Arch.
i am using linux for 26 years i never tried manjaro and my next statement might get people upset. My first distro in 96 was suse 6 now in 2022 and 2023 i tried arch. The thing with arch is they over complicate things and i hate it take on installing a open vpn on arch .. you need to jump trough hoops. I love my pos os i am done doing hard linux style distroies .. Guess i am ritired in being an elitist. I know my linux and i love it and want it to be stable ...
I've been mainly a Windows user for years and would always dabble with Linux desktop every few months. Manjaro was the first one I've found with the polish and stability comparable / better than windows. I switched my work pc to Linux and have kept using it ever since. I once made the mistake of trying a non stable kernel which broke my 10g nic but once I stuck with stable only versions its been 100%. I can't even say that about Windows anymore. I'd never go with Arch simply for the elitist/asshat mentality that goes with it. On the server side I'm majority Linux with about 50 Linux VM's in my home, outside of my AD/Encryption/AV/Patching servers they are all Linux, usually Alma/Rocky or Ubuntu so I've been very comfortable with Linux for years along with managing Redhat Satellite in work.
Manjaro is fine, I'd rather be using CachyOS but I'm too lazy to reinstall.
I like Manjaro. I don't care about their reputation, I only care that it works for me.
i love manjaro
Manjaro's bad press is from alieninating their own user base. Bad inneractions have made several long time users jump ship, & it also is the reason for Mabox. I agree that their focus is now on the moblie.
I went a cycle of Manjaro to Endeavour to Garuda to Cachyos to Manjaro and I just could not understand why I wasted my time to those other distros.
Any numbers to prove that Manjaro lost user base?
On paper, Manjaro is fantastic. In practice..... Not so much. I used Manjaro since the early beta days. Back long before they even has a version 1.0. Honestly it was a better distro as an unfinished beta than it is today. It's very sad. I think the developers just can't leave well enough alone. In the early days, Manjaro was basically just Arch, with a GUI installer, Kernel Manager, and Hardware Detection tool with custom kernels and a theme. That was it. The devs should have just kept it that way, and improved upon it. Instead, they've tried to reinvent the wheel and it all went to sh*t. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’ve never had a stable experience on manjaro once. All the Manjaro users in the comments, I understand that it has worked for you, but I have been using arch for 5 years before with Manjaro was my gateway. In the year or so I used manjaro I had my system break no less than 6 times.
Manjaro went from concentrating on being a passion project by a group of developers that love Linux and Arch to being a cash grab run by penny pinching infinitely greedy corporate types at the expense of quality.
Manjaro works for me.
Manjaro is the most unstable and bloated, stable Arch Distro I've ever used :D Always switched back to Arch or Antergos/EndeavourOS after a few days.
i tested manjaro and think it looks too much like wincrap! i was at begin of my linux exp. thinking why use a linux who looks like a wincrap os? if i learn linux i want the real linux no winish linux :D
How about the _5_ times their SSL certificates expired or the two times their Pamac tool DDOSed the AUR?
It never DDOSed the AUR. LOL. Pamac, which is not limited to Manjaro by the way, sent excessive requests to AUR and caused shutdowns. Sounds more like an issue with the AUR actually.
@@cejannuzi It did twice at least. But it wasn't a planned attack, more a bug or bad design choice leading to a DDOS like result. People just "jokingly" or "angrily" say it was DDOS.
@@cejannuzi Oh I see you edited your reply. You should read what happened, it wasn't an issue of the AUR itself. Pamac is not limited to Manjaro (like any other package manager), but it is developed for and the (from the devs) recommended and only supported package manager for the distro. Devs from Manjaro work on Pamac, or don't they? So its fair to say if Pamac has a problem, then Manjaro has it.
It's not an AUR problem, because none of the other AUR helper tools such as yay has this problem. It's only the Pamac it has or had.
@@thingsiplay The flaw was in a program not exclusive to Manjaro. And there was also a flaw in how the AUR was being accessed.
@@thingsiplay It was a problem with the AUR too. I saw the old blog posts about it.