Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Updated With Propeller-Optimized Kernel
Arch Linux Powered CachyOS Updated With Propeller-Optimized Kernel
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I've been using CachyOS for over two years and the same install/partition for over a year.
100% recommend, it’s my distro to end all distros, and I can’t imagine anything else being (for me) easier or more performance/efficient, while having the critical mass of the Arch community behind it and being relatively stable. It’s not like Manjaro, just screwing everything up with its changes and throwing away Arch's work, yet on very rare occasions the CachyOS devs fix something that breaks in vanilla arch.
I'm not even gaming on it or following all the tweaks, but it’s amazing for dev work, servers, or anything really, and configured great ootb.
I just got a new, cheap, fanless micro computer that advertises itself as running Linux, and I spent today looking at Arch-based distros; Cachy made my short list, although I've never run it.
Is it suitable for running a headless, fanless mini-PC that's raspy just going to be a snapclient host?
Is there a "Server" option in the installer? Once I get this set up, it's going to be running entirely headless and without any peripherals (except the AUX out), and I'd like to strip out all of the unneeded software.
I've installed bare Arch before, and it's a PITA I'd rather avoid; it's easier to just install Garuda or Endeavor and then uninstall X and Wayland, and everything that depends on them. I'm wondering how Cachy fares in this situation.
Before anyone suggest I use a different, non-Arch distro for this: no. I understand pacman and yay, and I know where Arch puts files that every distro has a different opinion on locating. I'll play with other distributions and switch when I find one I like more, but this is a device I just want to set up and forget about except for periodic upgrades.
Anyway, what are your opinions on CachyOS? I've been pretty happy with Endeavor for desktops, but I wouldn't put it on a headless server.
They have a CLI installer, but honestly I’ve never installed it headless before. There is also a “barebones” image that’s closer to stock arch.
The main tweaks I’d recommend for a minipc server are enabling the power saving mode and rcu lazy: https://wiki.cachyos.org/configuration/general_system_tweaks/#enable-rcu-lazy
Also, if it’s somehow not already automated, be sure to select the right packages for your CPU level. For instance, if it’s older (AVX2), you want the v3 packages, but if it’s zen 4+ there are packages specifically for that.
Huh. I wonder who gave you a downvote for this. It looks like good advice, and TBH in all the years I've been using Linux, since I stopped building the kernels myself I haven't messed with targeted builds or any of the newer power saving options.
Good advice, thanks
Yeah, CachyOS is like all those custom builds and performance tweaks you used to do shipped by default, or offered as easy options.
Another good example is the kernels. You can choose between schedulers that prioritize responsiveness or not, opt for features like core compaction (which try to keep other cores asleep in light loads) or sharing core cache, among other things. They’re all precompiled for different architectures and officially supported.
That sounds pretty neat.
I looked into it; it looks like they've got placeholders for server-oriented installs, but no ISOs yet; only for desktop and mobile at the moment. But it's a cool project, and I'm keeping my eye on it - thanks!
Ah, yeah, shows you how long its been since I looked at the ISOs. The CLI installer is ancient.
Looks like there's a new one here, but is a WIP: https://github.com/CachyOS/New-Cli-Installer?tab=readme-ov-file
Oh, yeah; I'm fine with a GUI boot USB, and a GUI installer... but if possible, having a target use is nice. Having a "server" target often means they skip installing X/Wayland, window managers, DE, and a bunch of applications - which means a far shorter installation and fewer post-install clean-up hoops of removing crap that's not going to get used.
I like the convenience of the GUI installers; I just like the option of saying "don't install a desktop GUI."
I've been on Bazzite for 6 months or so, and have been considering giving CachyOS a try (not that I have any reason to, Bazzite has been wonderful).
Has anyone tried both and can speak to their similarities/differences? My (admittedly basic) understanding is that they are both immutable distros, and that Bazzite is based on Fedora while CachyOS is based on Arch. Are there other big differences?
I started my Linux journey with EndeavourOS, so I know a bit about how to use Arch already. Does CachyOS have something similar to rpm-ostree, but for Arch? Is it already basically pre-configured for gaming out of the box like Bazzite?
Edit: not sure why I thought CachyOS was immutable... Isn't there an immutable distro built for gaming, similar to Bazzite, but built on Arch instead of Fedora?
CachyOS is not immutable. It’s basically like a more optimized and fleshed out EndeavorOS.
Backups and rollbacks are done as they are done in vanilla Arch, and I’m not sure if there’s any analogue.
I did use Fedora Kionite for a hot minute (which was immutable), but… found it to be too much of a hassle? I dunno, I just keep anything important on a separate drive/mount that’s easy to back up, and there was just too much fuss dealing with apps so needed, so I don’t see the point. CachyOS is preconfigured really well, so even if I had to nuke the whole partition, it would set me back like 30 minutes until I reinstall it. But if you need an immutable distro, this is not the place to look.
CachyOS is very much focused and optimized for gaming, arguably more than any other distro. There are many performance tweaked versions of popular packages in their distros, no need to reach out to the AUR.
Huh, I wonder why I thought it was immutable.
Bazzite felt like a hassle at first, but it was really just about learning some new things and once I did, I really like it. Just use flatpaks for everything that you can. Otherwise, "rpm-ostree" does almost everything else you might need (and "ujust" makes it even easier). Read the man page on that and you should be good.
As someone who did too much tinkering on EOS (time shift was a god send), the ability to not have to worry about breaking anything is very comforting.
Breaking shit and fixing it is how I learned how to use Linux in general, but that doesn't mean I don't want to avoid having to do it if I can.
The problem I had with flatpak is that I needed to screw with a lot of individual apps anyway, and the containerization was a headache. It took up a lot of ssd space too, and in some cases, performance is an issue and I’d prefer system packages.
I think my biggest issue that flat pack could alleviate is system python updating and me having to redo my venvs, but I probably need to do that anyway…
I've had zero issues with containerization or disk space personally.
I think you're maybe thinking of blendOS, which is immutable Arch, but it's not specifically gaming focused. Afaik, there's no gaming-focused immutable Arch distros, excepting the obvious SteamOS.
If you really wanted to, you could install
ostreeon CachyOS, though I have no clue how you'd manage things like updates. PikaOS is based loosely on both CachyOS and Nobara, but it uses a Debian foundation, taking advantage of the same GitHub Actions that Bazzite uses; if one was so inclined, seems like you could roll your own immutable Arch gaming distro that way.Ah you might be right...