What are the advantages or disadvantages to using Manjaro instead of Ubuntu-based distros?

Hi there,

My name is Alex and I am not very experienced with Linux, having only used Ubuntu and Linux Mint so far.

Can anybody tell what are the advantages or disadvantages to using Manjaro instead of Ubuntu-based distros?

Thank you!

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Hi,

About the advantages:

  • Manjaro is a rolling release distro, which mean your software will be more up-to date
  • pacman is far better than apt/dpkg, and you wont have to deal with those non-sense ppas anymore
  • The AUR

Inconvenients :

  • Less stable due to it being a rolling release
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I completely disagree.

While that might be true for the testing branch, and probably is for the Unstable branch, the stable is rock solid, provided you do proper maintenance.

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@Kuchenmampfer you forgot to mention that folk here is really helpful :smiley:

Aside of this after trying Kali and Fedora - I had less issues with Manjaro.
So my personal opinion is that this distro is so useful and convenient that after using Windows (1993-2008 / at work 2010-2013 : 2021-now) and Mac from 2008 until now,
I switched from macOS in my private life to Manjaro as my daily driver.
Event when I am fully immerse in Apple ecosystem (only macOS, iPadOS, WatchOS and iOS in my whole family).
So - enjoy the sweetness and few pains. Use and learn!

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Why asking ?
Just install and test by yourself, your own experience will always prevail over the testimony of others

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Thanks!

So the software manager for Manjaro is called Pacman, and I won’t have to deal with PPA’s anymore.

Does that mean I won’t have to manually search the PPA in order to find and install the latest version of software like I used to do on Ubuntu for example?

Also, I read that AUR is the default package manager for Manjaro. Does that mean AUR and Pacman are the same thing? Sorry I’m really new to all this.

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No, pacman is the package manager for Arch while pamac is the package manager for Manjaro, but both can be used on Manjaro since its based on Arch. There’s nothing like PPA in Arch AFAIK.

Manjaro already brings the latest software.

Aur is a repo/collection of packages(application, library etc) not a package manager. pacman works with aur.

For more info visit pacman and pamac.

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No it doesn’t.

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Now you mentioned it, I guess that’s why we have aur helpers.

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Pros:

  • Latest software
  • Latest kernel and drivers
  • Latest desktop environment version
  • No major upgrades
  • No need to upgrade or perform clean installs regularly
  • Pacman is faster than APT, has a shorter syntax, and more features
  • An uncomplicated Arch based distro
  • Made for beginners
  • Overall better performance
  • Better gaming performance and support

Cons:

  • AUR may cause dependency problems due to packages being held back
  • Less stable than point releases (Stable in the sense of not changing)
  • Always a couple weeks behind Arch
  • May require more maintenance
  • May require manual user intervention in rare occasions
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This is a pure non-sense. Rolling release, due to its release cycle policy can’t be tested as a fixed release, by definition.
I know very little (or none) production environment with rolling release distro, do you bro ?
Rolling release is a nightmare for admins, period.
For desktop use, i prefer rolling release because i want to have the lastest version of kernel and apps, at the price of some regular issues and manual intervention required after updates.

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Usually point releases go through long testing periods, this guarantees that the system works as intended, also this gives the devs more time to polish it.

For production a point release would be ideal, so that things stay the same for long periods of time.

Rolling release is perfectly fine for desktop use, rolling doesn’t necessarily mean it will be buggy, i have used Manjaro for nearly an year, without any issues or manual intervention required, i would say Manjaro is quite solid despite being a rolling distro.

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There is no explicit advantage to use one system over the other unless you have specific requirements which cannot be met otherwise.

The subject of the topic has been touched several times before and they usually end in flamewars.

It has no place in this forum as a common discussion - this is more suited for the unofficial reddit channel.

I will unlist this topic as it is toxic in nature - and the reason we usually avoid such topics - and the main reason for the unlisting of this.


moderated offending parts - removed unlisting

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I came from Linux Mint, and at the time was using the KDE Desktop. I had to make a decision because if I was going to stick with KDE, I wanted a distribution that supported it natively. Ironically, I’m using the XFCE desktop now, which meets my needs and more. I still read Clem’s monthly blog. And the forum was always respectful and helpful.

I wanted an estalished distribution, and was looking at moving away from a fixed release distribution. I had already discounted slackware, redhat or related, and opensuse. I had been running arch on a VM for some time.

It’s helpful if you can describe what you want in a distribution. There are technical, usage, and philosophical differences. It’s good to stretch and learn, but the grass isn’t always greener.

A couple of main differences, from an end user’s perspective. One is the type of distribution. Manjaro is a rolling release and Ubuntu (based on Debian) and Linux Minut (based on Ubuntu) or LMDE (based on Debian) are fixed releases. Another difference is how software is packaged, therefore the tools you use to install, remove, and update software. The utilties that come from gnu.org or freedesktop.org, or the applications like gimp, libreoffice, blender should be the same. But each distribution, will have their own default settings and homegrown applications. Each distribution supports a different set of desktops, and may customize them.

Here is my original response, why I’m using Manjaro, when it was fresh in my mind.

This site distrowatch might be helpful.

Also this youtube channel, OldTechBloke. He has specific videos on Manjaro, Arch, Linux Mint and other distributions… imho, he does an awesome job. Really, he’ll discuss the topics you need to know to increase your happiness as a linux user.

PS: I once got flagged by a user on this forum for simply suggesting pamac as an alternative to yay. Oh well. I value hearing people’s experiences. You never know what you might learn, or be able to give back, in a good way.

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Hello @CRISPR2384

If you know how to use apt well, you can compare it with pacman, what options are there in pacman:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pacman/Rosetta

It would be helpful if you get to know how to use pacman quickly.

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Thanks for the clarification!

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Perhaps another use case might be helpful: I inherited a 2016 Acer One Cloudbook, and if you’ve ever experienced a $250 Windows laptop, it is basically bloat and lag. It was never a decent laptop, and my understanding was that it soon became a closet bookend, until I received it, this year. 2GB RAM, Celeron N3050, 32GB storage. Typically, I’ve found that decent laptops from that era work very well with just about any flavor of linux, but this one seems to have been born with a very bad limp. Manjaro Xfce was its savior. Lightweight, modern-looking, and capable. Generally, I agree with everyone on this thread that the decision to go with a certain distro or desktop is a personal one, based primarily on use case and experience. In my case, I’d add that manjaro is nimble, surprisingly frugal on memory, and packs a lot of modern features, to boot. As you get accustomed to Manjaro, you might fall in love with Pacman and its gui derivatives, too. Here I am, actually using this old laptop as my primary driver for home use, battery life amazing, stability phenomenal, and all due to the fine folks developing and supporting manjaro.

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Thank you very much for your summary!

Why do you say Manjaro may require more maintenance? And what do you mean by maintenance here?

Also, if you could expand on the overall better performance, that would be much appreciated!

Thread tidied to remove leftovers from the previous cleanup. @linux-aarhus was kind enough to keep the thread listed and not close it earlier.

Please review:

:warning: Any further inappropriate behavior in this thread will be grounds to close it permanently. :warning:

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In my experience, being a rolling-release distribution and at the cutting (but not bleeding) edge of keeping with updates, I’ve found that Manjaro seems to offer updated software at a greater frequency than, say, Linux Mint or Ubuntu. For me, this has been a pleasure, but it does mean that one may need to pay a bit more attention to updates than with a less cutting-edge distro. For performance, the overall system seems to be snappier and certainly more capable with Manjaro (and performance deltas are very noticeable on the very underpowered laptop I use it on). One thing that may not have been mentioned: I really like the design decisions the manjaro team has made for Gnome, KDE, and my current Xfce. For the latter, many distros either provide the default options and themes or make decisions I am not fond of, resulting in some unnecessary tuning after install. For Manjaro Xfce, it was very usable right out of the box. I realize the question wasn’t directed to me, but all feedback can be helpful. :slight_smile: