Manjaro 20.2.1

[fox]

This is the latest version, released last December. I decided to try it, just for fun, and I downloaded the KDE version for something different. I put the live version on a USB 3 stick and gave it a try. It loads and runs unbelievably fast, given the device it's on. Aesthetically, Manjaro provides one of the nicest, if not the nicest, desktop I have ever seen. I'm tempted to install it as a secondary distro, but I have some hesitancy about using an Arch-based distro just because I haven't run one since I axed Arch from my laptop 6 months ago, and it works differently from the Debian-based distros I'm used to. Anyone have experience with Manjaro or a similar alternative like EndeavourOS?

[Jason]

What? No complimentary screenshot?

I used Manjaro once but I don't think it was for more than a month or so. They really do put an effort forward to make a beautiful desktop environment. I believe I tried out the Xfce edition. What were the specs of the computer you tested it on?

[fox]

What were the specs of the computer you tested it on?

My 2019 iMac (3ghz core i5, 8gb RAM, Radeon Pro 570X with 4GB RAM)

[fox]

What? No complimentary screenshot?

Attached. I liked it enough to install it on an external drive. Because it's a rolling release distro, you don't want to install it unless you're willing to download big, regular updates. My first one after installing was 1.6 gb.

[fox]

Just a quick update on Manjaro. It may not be a Debian-based distro, but it seems pretty easy to use and get packages for if you have a bit of ability to use the command line (mostly to copy and paste commands found on the internet). I use some academically-oriented packages that most people don't use, and was successful in finding and installing every one I looked for. These include Rstudio (statistics), pspp (statistics), mendeley desktop (reference manager), as well as insync (Google Drive assess and sync) and simplenote (stores notes). In all cases, I started out by googling the name of the program and Manjaro. Manjaro installs flatpacks and snaps; a few came to me that way. And you can enable AUR (Arch User Repository) in the GUI software install and update app; AUR has quite a few packages of interest to me.

I put in a forum inquiry on getting the iMac hardware that doesn't work in Ubuntu to work in Manjaro. If I could get these things to work (internal sound, internal mic, internal wifi card), that would be a real incentive to switch. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. The SysAdmin replied that Apple would have to supply the driver and he closed the topic as "irrelevant to Manjaro - Apple hardware is not supported". Nice of him to reply so quickly, but I don't ever remember seeing a statement on any Linux forum stating that the particular distro doesn't supple Apple hardware.

[Jason]

It looks great. And if you can find packages that uncommon it bodes well for others. That's too bad about it not working fully with Apple hardware.

[fox]

For sure. I didn't expect anything helpful, but I was very disappointed with the response that Manjaro doesn't support Apple hardware. I had previously posted on Ubuntu and Mint forums, and although I didn't get anything workable back from them, neither cut it off by stating that they don't support Apple hardware. Manjaro seems to have nice, helpful forums, too. I'm going to take the response as not official, but from a guy who just doesn't like Apple.

Forgot to mention that PIA was also easy to install on Manjaro.

[Jason]

Do you mean that the icon is in the tray for easy switching? Because the installer works in the terminal from what I understand. If I'm not mistaken, it's written in Ruby although that may only be the Windows version. So it should install on any distro easily. But some window managers might not support the tray icon. Elementary had this issue in Pantheon.
....

Anyway, in regards to Mac support, I wonder if the Arch community might have more help there. The only thing is you probably don't want to mention that you're using Manjaro. I've heard that some in the forums don't like supporting that as they always emphasize that Majaro isn't Arch (they're not entirely wrong).

Yes, the PIA icon is in the tray for turning on and off, but what I really meant was that it was easy to install. But as you say, it should install easily on any distro. As far as Mac support goes, I have looked at Arch in the past for ideas, but I have never posted there. They have high expectations on their posting and don't suffer newbies easily.

[fox]

Strange; somehow the last post got attributed to Jason, not me. I only quoted Jason. No biggie.

Small update: I was easily able to install VirtualBox on Manjaro; it was in their repos. I then tried using it to install Haiku OS, which is not a Linux distro, nor BSD. I was able to do it and run it; I posted a screenshot and some comments in the Haiku thread.

[Jason]

I was thinking that you accidentally clicked 'Modify' instead of 'Quote' (or both) and that would then happen because my post before yours isn't there. I checked the logs and they confirmed this. It's something admins and mods can do (modify posts). But I thought I turned off your mod permissions. I'll look into it.

[fox]

Yes, I suspected that, too. Feel free to turn off my admin status; I don't have any need to modify other people's posts.

[fox]

For sure. I didn't expect anything helpful, but I was very disappointed with the response that Manjaro doesn't support Apple hardware. I had previously posted on Ubuntu and Mint forums, and although I didn't get anything workable back from them, neither cut it off by stating that they don't support Apple hardware. Manjaro seems to have nice, helpful forums, too. I'm going to take the response as not official, but from a guy who just doesn't like Apple.

....

Update. After the Admin closed the topic because of it relating to Apple hardware, the topic got reopened and there were two potentially helpful posts. I'm dealing with them now, and I will be ecstatic is one of them gives me a solution. Whether they work or not, the posts restored my faith in the Manjaro community, which I always thought of as nice, helpful people.

[Jason]

Good to hear. Honestly, any Linux should be thrilled to hear about Mac users trying out Linux, not cut them off as soon as support questions about Apple hardware come up. Not to mention they can learn what works and what doesn't with running Linux on Macs. That's important info.

[fox]

Unfortunately, none of the suggestions so far resulted in my internal speakers working, but I at least appreciate the attempts to help me.

One of the things I appreciate in Manjaro KDE is Dolphin. I know that Harry prefers this to Gnome Files because of the split option. That's nice, but what I found even more useful is that Dolphin remembers recently accessed files and locations, and that made it easier for me to keep checking the modprobe file that was created and modified as per the sound suggestions. I assume that this is a regular KDE feature and not specific to Manjaro, but this is the first I've noticed it since I don't regularly use KDE.

One of the other things I appreciate about Manjaro KDE are the widgets. I am using the clock, date & time, weather and network speed widgets; much like I used Conky on Crunchbang and Bunsenlabs Linux. However, they have a bug - they don't stay at the position I place them on the desktop following a reboot. That is rather annoying, and I haven't found a fix for it yet.

Incidentally, I am running Manjaro on a Samsung Portable T5 drive plugged into my Thunderbolt port. It is very, very fast; possibly faster than Ubuntu 20.10 running on my internal SSD.

[Jason]

I never noticed that bug with Plasma but it's been a while since I used it. Perhaps it's because it's a rolling release which probably assumes you're using the latest version of Plasma that may not be fully tested. Maybe and update soon will fix it.