I'm a linux systems administrator and am running and maintaining multiple servers, desktops and notebooks using #archlinux
I found my way to linux years ago, when Microsoft introduced windows 95. I could never get my head into the concept of having an operating system integrated into a desktop environment. DOS and windows 3.11 were separate, start the graphical environment when needed, work from the command line when not.
So looking for an alternative I stumbled across slackware in a local bookshop.
I moved from slackware to suse , then
tried RedHat , ubuntu , sabayon , gentoo.
I really liked and enjoyed gentoo, but alas compilation times (in those days) were horrific. And if after a day or so you have an error and have to start over again ..
Then I stumbled across archlinux and have been using it ever since.
I like it because it is highly versatile. Small. Configurable.
You decide what you want. Which desktop environment, which bootloader, which logging tool, which network management .. etc.
Which is great, having that kind of freedom. Everyone has a favourite. As an example I enjoyed the simplicity of lilo, and of grub later on. I never liked grub 2. Now I use syslinux on most of my systems.
An archlinux install is a minimal install. Then the packages need to be added.
It can easily be used for scripted and remote installs: boot, enable ssh, set root password, do the rest remote.
A great thing about ArchLinux is that it is a rolling release. So no worries about life cycles and support ending.
Granted some updates might take more user intervention and thus more time. Yet still less time then reinstalling and a new system.
On a desktop computer, I like to have the latest versions or available software. Most of the Archlinux packages are only days behind the upstream packages. Which obviously results in bugs being fixed very quickly.
I run different desktop environments depending on need and hardware. I like lxde, I use KDE, for administration purposes I use awesome.
For servers I like the minimalistic system. Only those packages I need are installed. I run webservers, databases, kvm-hosts and storage systems using Archlinux LTS Kernels. I like zfs. it is great. And that is an understatement.
Do I still use Windows after all that time? Yes .. for gaming.
The recent years have seen an increase in (native not wine-interpreted) linux games on the market. Which I was very happy about. I make a point of purchasing the ones that interest me, even if I don't have that much time to play, merely to show that I support a company that supports linux.
Unfortunately many games are still not available for linux. If I really like the game and want it, then yes, I have one dual-boot system with windows 7 .. to play with.
