Arch Linux and the New User

It was bright and early on a Sunday morning.  After taking a break from going through the endless array of Linux distributions I decided it was time to sit down and try another.  There were a few major distributions that I have yet to tackle and it was time to finish them.  I pull up my VM (Virtual Machine), go to my ISO file and browse through what I haven't yet tackled.  There in front of me was Arch Linux.  "Alright, easy peasy, kick this one out Crystal, write up the review and get it posted." I load and click start on the VM. The normal virtual machine start screen appears and then before me was a command line. After sitting for a second it suddenly dawns on me, it's waiting for my command. "Oh god, oh god, oh god, what do I do?"

I immediately went to the Arch Linux website to find out what my next step was.  "The entire install is done by my commands on the command line?" I'm a new user; I can ls and cd to my hearts content but if I'm being honest I have to look at a cheat sheet to do pretty much anything else on the command line. Now as I am faced with the installation wiki I am seeing that I will be partitioning drives, picking languages, installing almost everything from base.  I stepped away, got a cup of coffee and told myself, "Ok Crystal, it's another challenge.  You never back down from challenges.  Don't start now."

So because I knew I would have to do a lot of referencing during this install I decided to pull out my 32'' TV and hook it to the laptop so I can dual screen this.  I'm going to make it as easy as possible to make this happen.  Side note: I am not the Steelers Fan in this household.  Of course XFCE decided to have a bit of a hissy fit and killed some of my settings on the desktop.  After a quick diagnosis and a mini schooling session for me, we got it to work.  

With a fresh cup of coffee in hand I sit and I start tackling the install, facing every fear of breaking the machine for partitioning drives wrong or typing the wrong command and setting my computer on fire. I got the install done and realized, I set the wrong keyboard language.  I go back, get into the file and fix the problem. 

Once everything was set up I go to start the process of getting a window manager and a desktop environment installed, which for the most part ran smoothly.  At least until trying to get the environments to run at boot and I'm having trouble figuring out how to do this.  This is when aggravation sets in and I start typing echo commands to the effect of "Stop being a pain."  

I was proud to get through the Arch install, if all I did wrong was the keyboard language I am satisfied. Of course this puts me in a crash course of trying to learn as much as I can about the command line.  I knew it was going to happen and I took a leisurely time about it before.  Now however, my brain does not shut off.  Any free waking moment I have I am studying and learning about the command line and it's abilities. I am also not afraid of it anymore.  I realize a wrong command won't cause my computer to burst into flames.  

I'm looking forward to tackling Arch again in the near future, so far I was quite pleased with the experience.  I like the option of deciding what I want on my computer.  I like not having programs automatically installed making me go through the process of uninstalling them later.  I like what Arch has to offer and I will go back to it.  Call me a masochist but Arch is pretty wicked in my opinion.