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Operating System

Desktop

Artix Linux

My workstation runs Artix Linux — the systemd-free fork of Arch. The package set and the rolling-release model are the same; the init system and a few userspace tools are not.

Why Artix

I used Arch for years and liked it. I switched to Artix because I wanted:

  1. An init system I can read end-to-end. dinit is small, well-documented, and behaves the way I expect. systemd does its job, but its scope is far larger than I need.
  2. A privilege-escalation tool that matches my mental model. doas has a config file I can audit in thirty seconds. sudo is fine, but it's more than I need.
  3. Less coupling. On Artix, I pick the init, I pick the logger, I pick the service supervisor. Nothing's bundled by default.

None of this makes Artix "better" for everyone — it's better for me because each piece matches what I actually want.

Core Stack

  • Init & service supervisor: dinit
  • Privilege escalation: doas (doas instead of sudo everywhere, including in muscle memory)
  • Package manager: pacman (same as Arch) with the Artix repos + Arch repos
  • Shell: zsh
  • Bootloader: GRUB with microcode updates

Philosophy

My setup isn't about being contrarian. Every piece I run is one I've picked on purpose. When something stops fitting, I replace it — that's how I ended up here and it's how I'll end up somewhere else eventually.