NOTE

This post is a bit of a mess, but it runs through my history with Linux, and how I got to where I am now - but in short if I could go back and change anything, I wouldn’t. I love OSS, Arch and all of the wonderful technologies that make it possible.

I’ve been meaning to write about my experience with Arch Linux for a while—finally getting to it now!

Well, where did this journey begin?#

I’ve been a Windows user since Windows 7, mainly because that’s all I knew. But as a curious, slightly misguided teenager, I strayed into the world of third-party exploits and “hacking tools,” thinking it made me cool. Spoiler: it didn’t. I stumbled across Kali Linux during that phase, drawn in by its “hacker” reputation, and attempted to learn tools like Metasploit.

One day, someone in a voice call challenged me: “Bet you can’t handle Arch Linux.” That was all it took for me to dive headfirst into something I wasn’t remotely ready for.

Well, how did that go for me?#

It was a disaster. I overwrote my Lenovo recovery partition, wiped my Windows install, and realized I had no clue what I was doing. 😅 But in the chaos, I learned a lot—about Linux, about software I still use today, and, most importantly, about not being so gullible.

Looking back, those early mistakes taught me valuable lessons the hard way, and for that, I’m grateful.

So, what happened next?#

For the next few years, I stuck with Windows. I did manage to get Arch running on my laptop eventually—after three attempts and a lot of frustration with NVIDIA drivers 💢—but I only dabbled in Linux here and there. It never really stuck.

And a few months later.. I decided to take Linux more seriously as a potential Windows alternative. I tried switching multiple times, but it always felt too inconvenient, and I wasn’t motivated enough to fully commit. So, Linux remained a side project—a “someday” idea I’d tinker with but never fully embrace.

This does have a good ending right?#

When I joined Dubit, I had the chance to save up for a Linux-based computer I’d been dreaming of. It felt like a big step into unfamiliar territory, but I was ready to dive in.

By the following year, I had built the PC and was eager to embrace Linux fully. Then I hit a roadblock: Roblox.

Roblox had been my go-to platform for years—a constant in my life from Greenwood Town to Build Your Own Mech. But it didn’t support Linux, which left me torn between two worlds. After months of indecision, I finally chose to cut ties with Roblox. If I had to let go of one, it would be Roblox, because I knew Linux could teach me so much more than Windows ever could.

(Though I’ve been able to use Roblox Studio on Linux for a while, just that running or playing games natively has never been an option.)

TIP

As of writing this, you can run Roblox on Linux, by using Sober, a Runtime dedicated to Roblox, it’s an awesome project and I am grateful to the developers for their hard work.*

And so, my Linux arc began.#

I started with Arch, I’ve previously used other distros, but nothing hits home like Arch, and specifically it’s package manager - Pacman. I just know how to configure it, how to use it and how to fix it in any unexpected situations, these are skills I don’t have with other distros - and if I were to switch to Linux, I want it to be as painless as possible - I need to have a functional computer for Work!

And so, I started my journey with Arch Linux, I’ve ran into a few issues (on my first install, I annoying rm -rf’d my icons directory! Which in turn borked my system..) I had no choice but to accept I was an idiot and to retry the install again.

But this just bolstered me, installing arch isn’t the issue, it’s committing to it which is!

And.. so that brings me onto my next point, Gnome.#

I’ve stuck with Gnome as my desktop environment, and it’s been fantastic. While some prefer KDE or others, I’ve found Gnome simple and effective. Customizing QT and GTK for consistent system themes is easy, and the workspaces feature has been a game-changer. Switching windows with the super key + scrolling feels so intuitive—it’s leagues ahead of Windows’ implementation, which never clicked for me.

The Gnome extensions repository is another highlight. It’s like a marketplace for powerful add-ons—whether it’s fun tweaks like “Burn My Windows” animations or practical tools like embedding Spotify controls in the top bar, it just works.

Gnome has turned what once felt inconvenient into something enjoyable, something worth personalizing. I’ve put in the effort to make it my own, and while I haven’t shared my setup (“rice”) online, I’m happy to call it mine—it reflects me.

In light of the preasent situation on Windows#

I’ve seen too many horror stories with Windows, and even the ones I brushed off couldn’t hide the fact that it’s slower, more resource-intensive, and just not scalable. (Seriously! I used to have a tradition for re-installing Windows every few months!)

And don’t get me started on Copilot. The idea of my PC being controlled by a massive corporation like Microsoft is a nightmare. Sure, Linux isn’t perfect—Canonical has its issues (or so i’ve heard!) —but at least I’m not being forced to use something like Microsoft Edge (which I absolutely despise).

What was once inconvenient has now become my base of operations. I still keep Windows as an alternative-dual boot, but I log into it maybe once a month, usually to test something I can’t do on Linux.

In short, I don’t see myself going back to Windows anytime soon. Linux fits into my daily life now—and yes, I even play games on it. CRAZY, right?