Another reason is that I just want to try a systemd-free distros to gain some experience. Artix is the one. Artix offers a choice of OpenRC, runit, s6, or dinit as part of its core system.
After installation, I found Artix has the following performance benefits:
Faster Boot Times: It takes only about 8 seconds to startup.
More Responsive:
The absence of systemd and its associated overhead has led to a more responsive system, especially when running multiple applications.
Reduced Memory Usage:
A system without systemd dependencies had resulted in lower memory usage, which can be beneficial for users with limited RAM.
Gaming Performance:
Gaming performance on Artix is excellent due to its lightweight nature and ability to fine-tune the system for specific needs.
Of course Artix is not flawless. There are issues that I found quite annoying.
On starting up, the Numlock is not turned on; the system sound is muted; hotkeys for window tiling and switching of virtual desktops are not ready. The following is what I will do after installing Artix linux to suit my needs.
After installation, the firest thing is to update the System:
sudo pacman -Syu
Installing my favourite Applications:
sudo pacman -S yt-dlp smplayer firefox libreoffice-fresh
There are other applications needed to be installed from AUR with yay. But yay is not in the Artix Linux system, so it is to be installed first:
sudo pacman -S --needed git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/yay.git
cd yay
makepkg -si
After that, my other Apps from AUR can be installed using the following command line:
yay -S gparted noto-fonts-cjk freefilesync gnome-disk-utility qmplay2 stacer-bin 4kvideodownloader google-chrome losslesscut-bin stremio tv-lite celluloid ibus ibus-table-chinese
As Artix is systemd-free, acestreamplayer cannot be installed. In order to enjoy acestream videos, I can only rely on acestream-engine and acestream-launcher.
yay -S acestream-engine acestream-launcher
Numlock issue
To turn the Numlock on when system starts up:
System Settings --> Keyboard --> change the option for 'NumLock on startup' to 'Turn on'
System Sound muted issue
Using the Terminal the sound level can be set to 50% with this command line:
amixer -q set Master 50% unmute
But, in order to run this command line on startup we need to create an executable file containig the above command.
First, make sure that the command 'amixer' exits by typing ‘amixer info’ in the Terminal.
If amixer dose not exist, we then need to install alsa-utils with
sudo pacman -S alsa-utils.
Create a run file (set-alsa-volume) with commands
sudo nano /usr/local/bin/set-alsa-volume
in the file add these commands:
#!/bin/sh
#Set volume to 50%
amixer -q set Master 50% unmute
The result should look like this:
Then make the file, 'set-alsa-volume' executable with this command line:
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/set-alsa-volume
In order for 'set-alsa-volume' to run on startup, we need to add it to the Autostart List.
Autostart --> Add New --> Application --> type set-alsa-volume in the space provided
--> Click Terminal options --> Click Run in terminal --> OK
Tweaks for window tiling hot keys:
System Settings --> Shortcuts --> Kwin (System Settings) --> look for Quick Tile Window ...
Quick Tile Window to the Bottom Left --> Meta+End
Quick Tile Window to the Bottom Right --> Meta+PgDown
Quick Tile Window to the Left --> Meta+Left (Arrow)
Quick Tile Window to the Right --> Meta+Right (Arrow)
Quick Tile Window to the Top Left --> Meta+Home
Quick Tile Window to the Top Right --> Meta+PgUp
Hot Keys for switching between virtual desktops:
System Settings --> Shortcuts --> Kwin --> Switch to desktop 1 --> Ctl-F1
--> Switch to desktop 2 --> Ctl-F2
and son
