Best Arch derivatives?

[Starks]

Any good ones that deliver a better out-of-box experience?

[valytzu01]

Read this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php...utions_(Active)

[kazuya]

(1) For a very good user-friendly but Kde-based distro => Chakra Linux
Note that: chakra does not support gnome or other Desktop environments; And it is a little deviated from archlinux. Big plus is availability of a gui package manager like synaptic for debian-based distros.

(2) Archbang really the best in my opinion or preference to archlinux derivatives. It is pretty much archlinux, with the essential apps and interface you need to be fully functional. Cannot say enough good things about this distro. Like archlinux, no graphical package manager. But the cli pacman front-ends is very good and fast.

(3) Ctkarch - never used it, but heard about it as well. Minimalistic like archbang.

These are the three I know. Coming from kUbuntu or Mint, Chakra Linux might be the easiest bet. For someone seeking power to alter their install to nth degree, archbang or ctk-arch.

[drawkcab]

Not to hijack, but what are the options in terms of gui package management in arch?

[sisco311]

Not to hijack, but what are the options in terms of gui package management in arch?

If you are considering to use Arch, then the Arch Wiki is your friend: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php..._GUI_Frontends

[Starks]

Which front-ends are best for AUR usage?

I like Chakra as a base, but I want a firm gnome-friendly foundation for gnome-panel+docky+synapse.

[mips]

Which front-ends are best for AUR usage?

Packer

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR_Helpers#packer

Packer is a wrapper for pacman and the AUR. It was designed to be a simple and very fast replacement for the basic functionality of Yaourt. It has commands to install, update, search, and show information for any package in the main repositories and in the AUR. Use pacman for other commands, such as removing a package.
Website: http://github.com/bruenig/packer
Forum: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=88115
Package: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=33378
Wiki: https://github.com/bruenig/packer/wiki

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=88115&p=1



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[el_koraco]

I like Chakra as a base, but I want a firm gnome-friendly foundation for gnome-panel+docky+synapse.

Forget it, you'd have to pin a whole host of stuff to GTK2, and hack your way into keeping gnome-panel alive, since pretty much everything having to do with Gnome 2 is being dropped. You can't keep it bleeding edge and stick to gnome-panel. Consider XFCE as an alternative if that's up your alley, in which case Archbang will suit you just fine, but you'll have to migrate from Openbox to XFCE.

[Starks]

could i do gnome3 fallback with synapse and docky?

i'd lose applets, but i'd have some semblance of a panel, right?

[el_koraco]

You could, you just need to enable Metacity compositing for Docky (some obscure command in Gsettings, no doubt). But it's not even close to Gnome 2 plus Compiz. If I remember correctly, you're on Mint 11. Honestly, until the whole mess gets sorted out, why not just stay with that and carve up a Chakra/Arch(bang) partition and mess around with XFCE, or even Openbox or Compiz standalone? With some config file editing, and with using tint2/xfce4-panel + xcompmgr, xcompmgr-dana or cairo-compmgr if on Openbox, you can have a Gnome independent setup like you describe.

Of course, the proper thing to do would be to use a tiler...