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Why did I switched from Ubuntu to Manjaro: The problems and How can you do it too

Why did I switched from Ubuntu to Manjaro: The problems and How can you do it too

Md. Shahadat khokhar's photo
Md. Shahadat khokhar
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4 min read

Hello Everyone, I am Shahadat Khokhar and today we're gonna have a look into why I switched from Ubuntu to Manjaro, what problems I faced and how you can do it too.

but before that, let me give you a little introduction about myself, I am an Android developer, I have been using Linux since my High School. I use Linux and open source software for all of my work be it development, creating documents, or watching movies. I use Windows for only two reasons : Adobe Software and gaming. As much I hate to admit it, Linux still needs a lot of improvements in Gaming. The release of steam deck might encourage more publishers to bring support to Linux

Now, Back to topic so Why Manjaro, why not Fedora or Gentoo or Linux from scratch.

The answer is simple all Linux distributions be it Manjaro, Debian, Ubuntu, fedora, they all have Linux at their core and so i can choose any Distro and will be good to go but the difference comes in through the packages and software bundled with it, which eventually affects the performance

I have heard a lot of praise about Manjaro, for various reasons

  1. its a rolling release: So i don't have to download a 3 GB of ISO to update to the latest and up to date software and drivers which comes with it, a rolling release Distro sends the update as soon as the updates are provided on the official repositories of Linux and other drivers, but unlike Arch Manjaro doesn't releases the updates with breaking changes so its a lot more stable than Arch.

  2. Its a lot lighter than Ubuntu: In terms of performance Manjaro takes up quite less resources so its a good fit for computers with limited resources or someone likke me who need more resources for other uses.

though there isn't something "Special" about Manjaro but its just that I wanted to have a go at Arch and Manjaro seemed a good fit.

Now what problems, I faces while switching from Ubuntu:

  1. The biggest problem I faced was the partition management, though the installation is pretty easy for Kubuntu and you need only one partition to install, while installing Manjaro i was presented with a different scenario, the installer needed an additional 512 MB FAT32 partition for /boot/efi. I accidently formatted it with ext4 which is the default so I had to go through the complete installer process again to set the partition type as FAT32

  2. The package manager has a completely different command options so that created a problem as I was accustomed to the simple apt update and upgrade command running -Syyu seemed a little odd at first. but eventually i got used to it and I came across pamac which does have somewhat similar options as apt.

  3. the Ubuntu repo list can't be imported to Arch systems so I had to manually get every software from their individual websites.

  4. I had to import all my GPG and ssh keys and re setup my password store, for those who don't know I host my own passwords, so their encryption and decryption are managed through GPG keys, If you wanna know how to setup your own password store, Let me know in the comments below.

one advantage I had while switching that I was using Kubuntu so I got the same UI and customised it so it felt like home.

now what should you keep in mind which switching from any

First of all, If you're doing it for the first time and you're switcing from Windows,since you're already familiar with Windows partitioning system create a separate partition for Linux from Windows itself. and just identify it from the installer and install on it. and while going through the installer always read instructions carefully or you might end up messing up everything.

If you're coming from another Linux Distro then you should backup your home folder, your documents and all your personal stuff as well as any keys you might have stored. double check everything to make sure.

if you're using brave try syncing it up with your mobile device or exporting it to an external partition/drive so that you don't lose you bookmarks and passwords since brave doesn't store it.

At Last here is a summary of what should you pay attention to:

  1. Instructions and Partition size During installation
  2. Getting a list of Software you use
  3. Backing up all your GPG and SSH keys or any encryption/decryption keys
  4. Backing up your home folder
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