I use Om'arch'y, btw.

It’s kinda funny that my first ever blog post is about a Linux distro. Never have I thought there would come a day when I’d get to say the phrase “I use Arch, btw.” Well, here I am.

To be fair, I’m using Omarchy, which is an Arch + Hyprland setup that also comes with some pre-installed apps and a bunch of cool themes. So, I guess I still get a pass, though I never had to spend my days cooped up inside my room trying to install Arch on my system. That said, setting up Omarchy wasn’t exactly a breeze for me.

Part of the challenge was that I was installing this on a refurbished Lenovo ThinkCentre, which I picked up from their store specifically for this purpose. Unfortunately, it didn’t come with WiFi or Bluetooth, so I had to buy an extra adapter. As it turned out, the adapter came with a RealTek driver that Omarchy didn’t support out of the box. I had to bring the machine downstairs to connect via Ethernet and install the appropriate drivers. While it was a bit of a struggle to get started, it wasn’t time wasted. I got to know more about Pacman, Arch’s homegrown package manager, and its commands.

Learning Ruby

There was no particular reason why I chose to try Omarchy in the first place. I got curious one day and decided to learn Ruby, out of the blue. And it was inevitable that I’d bump into David Heinemeier Hansson, better known as DHH, sooner or later. I came across this snippet of his on YouTube, got curious, and ended up watching the whole thing. I was really impressed with the guy, so I checked his website and then his blog… and I wish I didn’t. But I digress.

Long story short, I learned about Omarchy from his website. Off the bat, I was intrigued. I had never seen a Linux distro that looked like it before. I was pretty much locked into a single OS ever since I switched to macOS, mostly because it just worked. And gone were the days of trying out different distros on your D drive while Windows XP occupied the C. Seeing screenshots and different workstations on Omarchy’s website brought this almost nostalgic feeling back. That’s how I ended up buying the ThinkCentre.

Initial Impressions

Using Omarchy turned out to be much more pleasurable than I initially expected. This was my first encounter with Hyprland, and I found the tiling approach to managing windows really cool and intuitive. Sure, it could get tricky at times, but I managed to make it work for me. I think part of the reason I didn’t have many frustrations was because I was already used to Vim motions. Knowing how to navigate without needing a pointing device can really help flatten the learning curve.

That said, it will still take you a while to get used to all the handy shortcuts. The UI is largely TUI-based, so if you’re not accustomed to it, there’s a learning curve. But everything’s nicely arranged and grouped into different categories, which helps. You get a lot of pre-installed applications, including Basecamp and Hey (surprised?) web apps, which can be good or bad depending on your preferences. Personally, I didn’t mind most of them, though I did remove a few after figuring out how.

Development Experience

The development experience has been solid so far. I’ve been using Omarchy for over a month now and exclusively on the side project I’m working on. I initially installed Zed for writing code but switched back to NeoVim because I found it more fitting and pleasant to use in this case. My NeoVim experience via Neovide on my Mac was hit or miss, so I was primarily using Zed there. But here, things got turned around.

The DX has been genuinely good. I’m already thinking of getting another laptop (Yes, I should’ve bought one instead of my ThinkCentre in the first place), so I can use Omarchy on the go.

Bottom Line

I found using Omarchy generally satisfying and pleasurable. And yeah, I finally get to say “I use Arch, btw” now.

Would I recommend this? Yes, but only if you’re comfortable using the keyboard as your primary means of getting around. If you’re comfortable with Vim motions, then yes. You are very likely to enjoy working on this distro.

So if you have any extra hardware (could be old) lying around, give Omarchy a shot.

Till next time.