auto configuration systems

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 14 Apr 2017 08:25:04 -0400, Tom H wrote:
>Anyway, whether on Arch or Ubuntu, if a service is installed and not
>enabled and another depends on it, it'll be auto-started (unless you
>mask it, but the latter's an extra step).

That is wrong! This only happens for Ubuntu and not for Arch Linux. I'm
customising Linux of several distros since more than a decade now.
Apart from this service example, Arch provides features that are an
advantage when customising a Linux install, OTOH Ubuntu has got an
advantage, if somebody expects an OOTB install that fits to the needs of
many users.

Simply compare the Ubuntu package management with the Arch package
management. What you can do easily with pacman.conf on Arch Linux
requires much more effort, when doing the same for Ubuntu. The basic
prerequisites for Arch packages are completely different, to the good
and to the bad, it all depends on the users requirements. An example,
Arch packages usually don't include the versions of the required
dependencies, but just the dependencies without the version information.
However, to explain why it is good and bad at the same time is
off-topic, resp. it requires a deep understanding of the different
policies to understand this and to explain all this is too much for
this thread.

Ask at a distro independent list or forum, what distros users prefer to
customise their installs, you'll notice that Arch and Gentoo are the
most used distros, for very good reasons.

Even if you ask what distros are used for some domains, pro-audio comes
to mind, you get clear answers.

There was a query on the Linux audio user mailing lists. Most users in
Linux pro-audio prefer either, Ubnutu or Arch Linux over all other
distros and most of the experts who tailor their installs prefer Arch
over Ubuntu.