"We recently asked readers for requests on new articles you’d like to see (and thanks for all the great ideas!). One such request was a beginner’s guide to Arch Linux. As a Linux distro addict, I’ve heard of Arch many times over the years but for some reason, I’d never actually given it a shot. In particular, one aspect that’s always interested me has been Arch’s homegrown package management system, pacman. Today we’ll be finding out what Arch is all about, how to use it, and what makes it special.
"About Arch
"Arch does not come as a complete, all-in-one pre-built shiny desktop OS. This is on purpose. The idea behind Arch is that upon installation, you’ve got a fast, light, minimal OS to use as the base to make your own shiny desktop. If you don’t like the idea of putting together your own version of what Linux should be like, then Arch may not be for you.
Installation
"The Arch website provides torrent links here. The FTP ISO is the “netinstall” version, where packages are downloaded as needed during the install. The Core ISOs include the core packages on the disc, so that you can complete an install without a working internet connection. Download whichever you like, and burn to CD to begin the install. I’ll be using the FTP ISO for this article. That’s the recommended method, as it will download the newest available versions of all packages, instead of installing old ones from the CD which must be upgraded later."
