Transitioning from Windows 10: Arch vs Manjaro for Secure Boot and Gaming"

Hello,

I'm currently evaluating my long-term options for a Linux distribution as I prepare to move away from Windows 10, which will reach end-of-life this October. At the moment, I dual-boot Ubuntu with Windows 10, but I’ve also spent some time experimenting with Arch Linux on an older system that I use for testing.

I do not intend to adopt Windows 11 as my main operating system. Instead, I want to shift to using Linux full-time for general computing and gaming, with Windows reserved strictly for noscripts that require features not currently supported under Linux. One of those is Valorant, which depends on TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot due to its anti-cheat system (Riot Vanguard).

When it comes to package management, I strongly prefer pacman over apt. I find pacman's command structure more logical and easier to work with, which has led me to consider Arch-based distributions more seriously. However, Secure Boot support complicates things. Since Valorant requires Secure Boot to be enabled in Windows 11, I need to maintain that configuration across the system. I’ve researched how to configure Secure Boot on Arch manually, including generating and enrolling my own keys and signing the kernel and bootloader. While I understand the process in theory, I’m hesitant to proceed because I’m concerned about misconfiguring something at the UEFI level and inadvertently affecting my Windows installation.

That’s why I’m looking at Manjaro as a potential alternative. It offers Secure Boot support via shim and MOK, which would simplify setup significantly. I also appreciate Manjaro’s delayed update cycle, as it provides a layer of stability while still staying reasonably current. What gives me pause, however, is the fact that Manjaro comes with more preinstalled software than I prefer. I value having more direct control over what’s installed on my system, even though I know most of it can be removed or disabled.

My plan is to use Linux as my primary OS for day-to-day use and for gaming, as long as the noscripts I play are compatible through native support or via Proton. Windows 11 will remain installed on a separate SSD and will only be used for games that can’t run on Linux due to Secure Boot or kernel-level restrictions.

I’m looking for a Linux distribution that works with Secure Boot without risking my Windows setup, uses pacman or a similar package manager, offers strong support for gaming, and provides a stable but up-to-date environment without excessive preinstalled software. I'm currently debating whether I should go all-in with Arch and handle Secure Boot myself, use Manjaro and customize it to my liking, or explore another Arch-based distro that strikes the right balance between control and simplicity.

If anyone has experience with Secure Boot on Arch or Manjaro in a dual-boot setup with Windows 11, I’d really appreciate your insights. Thanks in advance.

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I graduate tomorrow. Thought yall would like my cap design.
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i basically restored my old laptop

my old laptop was horrible, most keys were broken, only worked with charger, held with tape and barely ran windows 10, so today i decided to install linux on it, after many distros i ended up with ubuntu 17.04 (i didnt use the latest ubuntu on purpose) and now its way better than it previously was, its far faster, stays a long while with no charger and is pretty usable, the keys still dont work so i plugged in an external keyboard

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I'm getting sick of windows and all of the bloat

I have a question as someone who has never learned a lick of syntax, but also can't deal with windows anymore. I use my computer for 90% gaming and about 10% like watching youtube/movies. Am I better off buying a laptop first and installing mint to see if I am any good at it? Like is Linux all that good for gaming or am I better off just dealing with windows?

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I installed Arch on my HP Chromebook!
https://redd.it/1kf0exj
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Debian is a great distro

It's honestly quite simple. It's clear to use, it's nice. It's fast as hell, and smooth. Even on an HDD, spinning disk. Apt is simple to use. What OS should I try next? Gentoo? /hj but it would be just to see if I could. Very interesting. Hmm. I did Manjaro as my first OS, actually.

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why is ARM on linux problematic?

looking at flathub, a good amount of software supports ARM.

but if you look at snapdragon laptops, it seems like a mixed bag: some snapdragon laptops have great support, while others suck. all that while using the same CPU

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Windows 11 and Clean Bandit caused me to install linux (real)

Hear me out: i have a low end computer from 2015 which ran fine windows 7 and 8.1 but windows 10 is crippling slow and windows 11 cant even be installed. I "bypassed" this awful thing by using modded isos (ltsc, xlite, tiny) but even tough most of the pc was pretty much usable, metro/uwp stuff is really slow. This morning i was listening to some music from mid 2010s but the volume was too high and when i tried to lower it, the volume control didnt pop up at all. I was so fucking tired of it that simply installed linux mint xfce on my own and thats gone now. When that happened the pc was playing rockabye.

Also, i cant get a new pc because thats pretty expensive where i live, a 150$ pc is like 15000 of my currency

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Malicious Go Modules Discovered Wiping Linux Systems in New Supply Chain Attack
https://sensorstechforum.com/malicious-go-modules-linux-supply-chain-attack/

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Tried to create simplest tmux guide
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Looking for a word processor with text prediction

Well, for medical reasons, someone in my household has just been prescribed a "word processor with text prediction." Clearly, the doctor means "Word", but this is a Linux household. I'm sure I can plug a local ollama to typst, but I'm not entirely certain that this is what the doctor ordered :)

Does anybody have a suggestion on what I should install?

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[OC] iwmenu 0.2 released: a launcher-driven Wi-Fi manager for Linux
https://redd.it/1kf9ylv
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Benefits of TKG Kernel (Zenify, Preemptive, Zen+ Arch, ...) for Real World Usage?

Hey there,

are there any real-world benefits (non-gaming) of using a patched kernel like `kernel-tkg-zen2-preempt` over the default (Fedora) kernel?

If I understand it correctly, this particular kernel (I'm on Fedora) compiles the default Fedora kernel with the additional config specified (CONFIG_PREEMPT=y enables full preemption mode, CONFIG_ZENIFY=y applies Zen-kernel patches, CONFIG_MZEN2=y adds Zen2+ CPU architecture specialization (I have an 7840HS), and others).

I have yet to find actual benchmarks that measure improvements in system responsiveness (how do you even measure that?) and fear that these patches will only decrease system stability. I'm not trying to tweak my system for a few percentages of performance or anything.

Cheers


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After joining many Linux subreddits, is it normal to get this advertisement on Reddit?
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Best lightweight Linux distro for school project with old PCs?

So I somehow ended up setting up computers for a rural school project in South America. Got gifted a pile of ancient hardware (some of it probably predates my first distro install). Specs are mostly Core 2 Duo, 2-4GB RAM. Looking for something that won’t choke on boot and ideally lets 35 kids learn stuff without me turning into tech support for life. Spanish OOTB would be nice. Something stable, with low maintenance, and if it looks like 2007 that’s fine.

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Started working on my own Documentation about All u need to now to install arch. And only now realized how much i learned from Arch...
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LibreWolf is out there

I can see a browser called LibreWolf is out there, it looks like it's an independent fork from firefox, focusing on security and keeping user data from being exposed by any means, did anyone try it and what do you think about it?

https://redd.it/1kfi6fc
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FileZilla vs. File managers

I used to use FileZilla for transfering files to and from my Linux-powered VPS (that is, when I felt like using a GUI tool instead of rsync or scp), but lately I found out that most (if not all) modern Linux file managers can handle remote directories via FISH.

Taking that into account, are there any advantages in using FileZilla?

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VS code conspiracy

For some people I will probably sound crazy. Same project same extensions and same settings.
I start project on work PC that is running Win, vscode ram usage 4 max 5 gb.
Same project I run on my Linux with same commands and everything, vscode use 11gb of my RAM.
Like is it even possible that it need double of RAM to run project on my Linux.
I tried million tips and tricks how to make it use less RAM but it seems it is mission impossible unless you switch to Win.

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My wife has been mad at me all week for talking about Linux, now she wants me to install it on her laptop.

I am a geek, one who likes to break things, complain to my wife that I broke the thing all the time up until I fix them, then tell her how I fixed it. Poor wife.

I have been meaning to get into Linux for years, and in the past did try Ubuntu and Mint, but stayed away due to gaming and I worked in desktop support, predominately for Windows (and some old IBM tech but not relevant). So it made sense to stay on Windows.

Recently though it has been to the point where everything has been going wrong on Windows, slow down in games, buggy boots, high temps etc. I have been spending half my spare time trying to fix it. I am meant to be the guy who breaks things, not the things breaking themselves. Also I am now a software/data engineer, who of course interacts far more with Linux day to day, and has more important things to do than basically my previous roles in my spare time.

And then came the Pewdiepie video. I never watched him until he moved to Japan, then his videos had a vibe so I watch them now and again, and it came up on recommended. Don't judge me.

Immediately after I set up a dual boot on my laptop with Fedora KDE. He put me off arch and gnome/cinnamon at the same time.

So for the last week I have been tinkering, playing around. Thinking I am smarter than I am. All the while my wife has been having to put up with stories about how I needed a bigger ssd, how cloning an ssd and not following a guide was not the smartest idea. How I refused to follow a guide to fix the issue, but still did. How I nuked the system again doing stupid stuff. Again, poor wife. I even took time to explain my knowledge and history with linux to her (you don't understand anything until you can explain it to someone else has always been my mind set).

She has mentioned the fact that she never wanted to hear the word Linux again (more than once). And cursed my career and how she loves a geek. Well this afternoon she went to update Windows and boom, black screen. Geek husband to the rescue, but instead what comes out of her mouth... What would be the best Linux for me rather than this shit. I will be installing mint, but more importantly

I win.

(I will be keeping this win to myself, which is why I posted it here. Not worth the danger pointing it out to her. Also sorry if not allowed, I did read the rules and was unsure so understand if it gets deleted)

TLDR: My wife has complained all week that I keep talking to her about Linux after I finally installed it as my main OS, until she needed Linux.

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Linux became my main desktop OS - but still needs to improve

Hi,

II'll just tell my story for noobs doubting about adopting Linux, about what I found going full to a only-Linux setup, hope it's useful.

I've used Windows forever. I tried Linux between 2010 and 2014, but it never felt comfortable, too many quirks, time "wasted" on maintenance, missing features or software, and unstable drivers (I remember Nouveau crashing constantly). In the end, it felt like I was forcing myself to use it for no real reason, especially since Windows just worked.

Recently, though, Windows 11 started giving me trouble: losing performance, strange bugs (like Explorer lagging when renaming files on multiple computers), ads to disable after installation, Copilot installed without my permission, telemetry, and a general sense of bloat and unwanted changes over time.

I even considered switching to macOS with a Mac Mini M4 (600€) for a more comfortable, stable platform (also because I already have an iPhone). But before spending the money, I thought-why not give Linux another try?

I compared options and chose to go to a Debian/Ubuntu-based distro. I skipped Pop!_OS because I wanted native Secure Boot support, and Mint because I prefer more up-to-date software and didn’t like Cinnamon. So I went with Ubuntu 25.04.

I installed it directly and was surprised: it’s responsive, uses about half the resources of Windows at idle, and feels “empty” in a good way: no ads, telemetry, or bloatware. It’s like a clean slate.

What I found:

GOOD

1. Highly customizable GUI: With GNOME, I easily set the dock to the center bottom (like Mac), made the top bar transparent, and was done.
2. Easy setup: Custom night mode, installing software (Snaps/Flatpaks), battery modes, fractional scaling (now looks great, unlike years ago), printer and NAS setup in seconds, everything straightforward and using the GUI.
3. Secure by default: Full-disk encryption is just a checkbox, apps are sandboxed, and Linux is a smaller malware target than Windows.
4. Fast and reliable: All drivers worked out of the box, sleep mode is reliable (better than Windows, which would randomly wake up the laptop, depleting the battery), and overall it just seems to work as intended. No magical things happening under your radar without your knowledge.

BAD

1. Some tasks still require the terminal: For example, setting a CPU frequency limit (in Windows was an easy GUI option, to disable boost as I don't need it and prefer the silence and battery boost, and BIOS doesn't have the option) required searching online, dealing with broken GNOME extensions, and configuring a systemd service with the command. Cloudflare Warp (VPN Setup) also lacks a GUI and needs terminal commands to install (including adding Cloudflare repos), register it and enabling/disabling the VPN.
2. Minor annoyances need advanced fixes: For example, the Caps Lock behavior is different from Windows/macOS (the key gets disabled when is liberated, and in Win/Mac when it's pressed, so in Linux, I was WRiting LIke THis SOmetimes, and people online recommended just getting used to use shift key and "it is what it is", the fixing isn’t straightforward and I only found it in a random GitHub post here. Also, touchpad scrolling is too fast, and I haven’t found a good fix yet.
3. Potential security concerns: It’s easy to install unofficial software by mistake if you don't know (e.g., Mullvad Browser flathub seems packaged by some random guy instead of officially by Mullvad), add untrusted repositories (more when using guides or software instructions), or run noscripts you don’t fully understand ("now trust me, run this: sudo bash .sh noscript", ie, WinApps installation guide). Some security features (like UFW) are disabled by default, and there’s no easy way for beginners to audit installed software for safety or any kind of software that tries to audit the system to avoid strange things from happening like in Windows. Here, you as user are