Is Manjaro really big risk for beginner?

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#1

Hi, I installed Manjaro today, after big problems on Ubuntu on my new laptop…
Thing is, I really love Manjaro, how it looks, how fast and slick it is…
My question is: I used Ubuntu for 6-7 months, and get familiar with some basic stuff and it’s no problem for me to learn new things here, but I’m still relativly new to Linux and Manjaro especially. I read lot of texts where they say that on Manjaro every update is lottery?
Is it really like that?
I started learning webdev and for now, I won’t try some “crazy” stuff in Linux, is it big risk if I just update things like I did in ubuntu(sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade) and keep doing on webdev course, or should I try find fix on some Ubuntu based distro?
I would really love to stay on Manjaro, but after I read those texts, I’m little bit scared to be honest…

P.S.
I know that apt-get don’t work in Manjaro, just trying explain what I did in Ubuntu

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#2

I’ve been distro hopping on ubuntu based distros for many years.
I don’t remember exactly when I decided to move to Manjaro but it was the best distro change ever.

I used stable branch and there was no problem after upgrade at all. (About 5 years of upgrading)

I switched to testing branch some time ago and still everything works like a charm.

Just install timeshift and if something goes wrong during update you will be able to restore the system in a minute (on ext4) :slight_smile:
I use it on btrfs. It takes about 1-2 seconds to restore system :slight_smile:

Thanks to Manjaro I learned a lot about Arch linux and currently I use it on my laptop (it’s my training ground) but on my main PC there is Manjaro XFCE.

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#3

People having issues on Manjaro, from experience, are the ones tempering with the base system, or the ones installing a lot of stuff in their system, and often from external sources.

Sure it can happen to have bad luck and no prior testing discovered an issue and you have to fix something, in almost two years it never happened to me, my mother (OK her laptop needs me to install the wifi driver every kernel update but that’s not really a manjaro issue, just this specific wifi is not supported in kernel), my sister computer, the five computers my friends have (OK on the kid computer, there was once an issue after an update, but we don’t know what the kid did so… let blame the kid lol).

Also this, basically you’re bullet proof with Timeshift, a bootable USB key with Manjaro ISO on it (in that theorical case maybe one day you can not boot at all, you never know), and making sure you do not modify the system without understanding what you’re doing, and do not install everything you find on the internet.

Stay on Stable branch, once an update comes LOOK UP THE ANNOUNCEMENT THREADS EVERY TIME, VERY IMPORTANT (as sometimes, there are known issues and solutions, but they are always described in the second post of each announcement threads), and basically you shouldn’t have any issue.

//EDIT: here Stable Updates - Manjaro Linux Forum click on the little bell at top right corner, and select Watching first post this way you’ll have a notification on the forum for each new announcement threads. Also if you want to be on the ‘safer side’, wait when an update is announce, read a little what people report, this way you can make sure there is no breaking update if you’re scared :stuck_out_tongue:

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#4

Thanks for answers…
Yes, I decided to go with stable Manjaro KDE…
And I understand that it can be minor bugs, like wifi driver, graphics driver, that’s not problem for me, I had similar issues on Ubuntu also sometimes haha… I was afraid of something worse, when I read couple articles, where they said you can broke your system completely which was a little odd for me, at least if you don’t do “crazy” stuff and do things that you don’t understand…

I just found timeshift preinstalled on this distro :slight_smile: so I just set up and ready to enjoy in Manjaro…

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#5

Nope, Manjaro is very stable. Based on my experience (1 year with Ubuntu, 4 years with Kubuntu and 4 years with Manjaro KDE) I can say that Manjaro is much more stable than *buntu. You will be safe as long as you will be read update announcements.

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#6

Also, if someone is concerned about updates being a little risky & they don’t feel confident yet in their Linux (& rolling release package management skills), just wait a few days before updating (particularly when there are a number of new packages being updated).

If problems show up, the forum will know, the dev’s will know & bugs will be fixed or workarounds presented.

A little patience can save a lot of repair time… :wink:

Also, there are an enormous amount of variables involved in hardware combo’s & also package combinations. Some systems are more vulnerable to problems than others.

That being said, Linux has come such a long, long way since I became a full time user in 2005. In those days, every 6 months when Ubuntu had an update, all hell broke loose. To the point where I (like many others) had to go & find another distro to get around the show stopping problem that the last upgrade bought with it.

That is incredibly rare these days.

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#7

Thank you very much to all of you, just answers what I was looking for :smiley:
I was a little bit scared, when i read all of that before and I really don’t want to go back to Ubuntu

#8

Hello,

As with anything, the more you first read to understand how something works, the better chance you will reach your goal. Manjaro can be used by anyone. However the real question is how much do you know about linux? If all you have is the understanding of “oh I hate windows and want to use linux” Then you will run into problems.

  1. Read the history, and file structure, Package management, and definitely make sure to make the arch and manjaro wiki’s your foundation on learning.
  2. Make sure you ask questions, beforehand to understand how Nvidia and AMD graphics will work. Unlike windows, the drivers are either in the kernel or are a DKMS module that loads in addition to the kernel. It’s the difference between " black screen issues" or working desktop.
  3. Linux is NOT windows, don’t expect it to be such! What you do in windows will have no bearing on using linux period.
  4. Ask competent questions in the Forum, but make sure to search the forum as the problem most likely has been solved. Please always post your system specs before you even ask the question.
  5. Distro’s are Distro’s, please don’t make a big issue of one being better than another, especially while your asking for help, nothing can be so offensive as you being in a forum asking for help, yet putting down the very distro you are asking for help on.
  6. Get rid of expectations and just enjoy learning what linux is and does. Keep the politics out of the user experience. And listen to those who use it everyday, as opposed to someone with soundbites.

Hope this helps.

3 Likes
#9

To answer the topic headline

No - Manjaro is not risky for a beginner.

Most users are not beginners - absolute beginners has not been colored by their previous experience with proprietary systems.

If you have a driver’s license - compare the change by moving from UK to Germany - from a car designed for left-lane driving to a car designed for right line driving.

They are both cars - but as you already know how to drive and have your license - you drive carefully and you double think what you are doing to get rid of your old habits.

It takes some time but soon you will be familiar with the car and all is good.

4 Likes
#10

Ubuntu is not bad, particularly Linux Mint Cinnamon. The advantage with Ubuntu is that when you get online installers at websites, they will Debian packages only. But once you start using Manjaro KDE like me, you will love it. It’s amazingly stable, and the forum support is outstanding.

At first you might worry that there might be applications available only on Ubuntu. But that really is not true. If in need of a package you are having trouble locating, look up this very useful URL:

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages

Arch (and thus Manjaro) have a sophisticated ports system much like that in FreeBSD. Once you start using Manjaro, you will be amazed with what you can do with makepkg. All in all, rest assured you have made a good choice.

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#11

Here is the WIKI about the AUR Arch User Repository - Manjaro

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#12

I tried Manjaro a couple of years ago and again recently. Both times the system broke due to updating. Manjaro is super slick and l would love to use it professionallly but so far l dont dare. Every time it breaks it is of course fixable but at work l do not have the time to debug a broken system so l will stick to ubuntu until Manjaro adress this problem.

1 Like
#13

If you apply some basic rules to your updating procedures - Manjaro itself causes little trouble.

What may be more problematic is the end-user - no offense to end-users a such - but how the system is used and how to maintain it - has an immense impact on general system stability.

For the same reason I wrote a short article on the subject

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