ArchLinux

[Cody Rose]

Have any of you guys tried Archlinux? Their goal is KISS or Keep it simple stupid. I have been using this distro for about a week and i will say its not for newer linux users. If you give this a go only do the base install from ftp. you will get the newest packages and only get the system running. I also suggest you install the Networking package to get hooked up with dhcp to use pacman. I love their package management. Make sure to add these repos to your pacman.conf.

[ELG]
Server = http://easylinuxguide.com/downloads/archpkgs/ELG

[fouiny_repo]
Server = http://elusseau.free.fr/arch/fouiny_repo

[shadowhand]
Server = http://archpkg.wgilk.com/shadowhnd

Ive also found that if there is a package you really need its either easy to build yourself or someone will do it for you. Check out the archlinux wiki also for more information.

[Cody Rose]

I just came across this article that is pretty impressive.
http://michael-and-mary.net/intro/?q=node/260
Gives a good view if you wanna read some more on arch or get a sense what the install is like. Arch is so impressive because once you install base, its up to you to pick the WM if you want one. I will say Xfce4-SVN is very impressive desktop along with E17 aka Enlightenment or Gnome 2.12. then you must pick exactly what apps you would like. Plus the distro is optimized to i686 which is nice. Be sure to check out #archlinux and #easylinuxguide on IRC under server Freenode. Oh by the way the base install is only in the area of 230mbs ;). I have now effectively replied to my own post  :-P

[lazychris]

I noticed an error in your repos.  shadowhand should be:

[shadowhand]
Server = http://archpkg.wgilk.com/shadowhand

you forgot the a in the URL.  It's a minor mistake, but it may confuse people.
btw, those are the best repos to have in your pacman config!