[LAU] How to keep an updated "standard" linux audio system?

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Mon, 8 Jan 2018 11:45:37 -0500, Peter Lutek wrote:
>are there any particular caveats or helpful configuration tools to be
>aware of in that distribution?

Hi,

I can't speak for Arch derivatives, but I'm a long time Arch user.
There are neither caveats nor helpful configuration tools, there is
just one thing you need to know about Arch Linux, it's aimed for Linux
experienced power users. To me it's the most user-friendly distro, but
it isn't user-friendly in an Ubuntu kind of user-friendliness. A
default install is more basic, than an install from the Ubuntu server
image, with all uncheckable packages unchecked.

In a nutshell:

"Simplicity

Arch Linux defines simplicity as without unnecessary additions or
modifications. It ships software as released by the original developers
(upstream) with minimal distribution-specific (downstream) changes:
patches not accepted by upstream are avoided, and Arch's downstream
patches consist almost entirely of backported bug fixes that are
obsoleted by the project's next release.

In a similar fashion, Arch ships the configuration files provided by
upstream with changes limited to distribution-specific issues like
adjusting the system file paths. It does not add automation features
such as enabling a service simply because the package was installed.
Packages are only split when compelling advantages exist, such as to
save disk space in particularly bad cases of waste. GUI configuration
utilities are not officially provided, encouraging users to perform
most system configuration from the shell and a text editor." -
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux#Simplicity

"User centrality

Whereas many GNU/Linux distributions attempt to be more user-friendly,
Arch Linux has always been, and shall always remain user-centric. The
distribution is intended to fill the needs of those contributing to it,
rather than trying to appeal to as many users as possible. It is
targeted at the proficient GNU/Linux user, or anyone with a
do-it-yourself attitude who is willing to read the documentation, and
solve their own problems." -
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux#User_centrality

"Drop of i686 support

On 2017-01-25 it was announced that support for the i686 architecture
would be phased out due to its decreasing popularity among the
developers and the community. By the end of November 2017, all i686
packages were removed from the mirrors." -
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Arch_Linux#Drop_of_i686_support

The new Arch audio mailing list:
https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/arch-proaudio

The mailing list related to the so called "Arch user repository":
https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/aur-general

The Arch Linux users mailing list:
https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/arch-general

You either need to read the latest news on the Arch homepage or
subscribe to https://lists.archlinux.org/listinfo/arch-announce, since
upgrades might require manual intervention during transitions.

Regards,
Ralf

-- 
$ pacman -Q linux{,-rt{,-cornflower,-pussytoes}}|awk '{print $2}'
4.14.12-1
4.14.6_rt7-1
4.11.12_rt16-1
4.14.8_rt9-2