Manjaro
Arch-based Linux distribution with a rolling release model and preconfigured desktops.
HN commenters like Manjaro as a daily driver1234 and as an easy, convenient way to run Arch, with one user reviving a low-spec laptop with it.567 Complaints are few: a former user warns that its layer on top of Arch adds new ways for things to break,8 and a fan mentions certificate issues.9
Why people recommend it
Daily driver · 3
Several commenters use it as their main everyday system.
“I love Manjaro too much, use it as daily distro”
“Always wanted good defaults and landed on Manjaro as a daily driver.”
Show 1 more
“I resucitated and saved from the landfill a laggy and almost unusable laptop with Window 10, 4GB RAM and a Celeron processor, how?... Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
Easy Arch · 2
Recommended as a convenient, beginner-friendly way to get Arch.
“I'd also check out Manjaro which runs arch in the background.”
“as easy as using Endeavour or Manjaro and those are very convenient distros for Arch”
Laptop friendly · 2
Reported to run well on laptops, including one designed for Linux.
“Even running a rolling release distro (Manjaro) has been fine on a laptop”
“I resucitated and saved from the landfill a laggy and almost unusable laptop with Window 10, 4GB RAM and a Celeron processor, how?... Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
Revives old hardware · 1
Turned a slow 4GB Celeron Windows 10 laptop into a usable daily machine.
“I resucitated and saved from the landfill a laggy and almost unusable laptop with Window 10, 4GB RAM and a Celeron processor, how?... Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
Good defaults · 1
Chosen by a user who wanted sensible defaults out of the box.
“Always wanted good defaults and landed on Manjaro as a daily driver.”
Nvidia support · 1
Noted for direct Nvidia GPU support.
“as easy as using Endeavour or Manjaro and those are very convenient distros for Arch”
Caveats and dissent
Extra abstraction · 1
A multi-year user says its layer over Arch introduced new failure modes.
“A layer of abstraction on top of a stateful legacy system often doesn't result in a simpler system, it just introduces exciting new failure possibilities.”
Certificate issues · 1
A daily user is uneasy about the project's recurring certificate problems.
“I love Manjaro too much, use it as daily distro”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Manjaro website off-line again due to lapsed certificate 2 mentions
- NixOS is making me less afraid 1 mention
- Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra 1 mention
- NetBSD 11.0 Released 1 mention
- Systemd Linger 1 mention
- Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive? 1 mention
Data: manjaro.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 11
“Even running a rolling release distro (Manjaro) has been fine on a laptop”
“I resucitated and saved from the landfill a laggy and almost unusable laptop with Window 10, 4GB RAM and a Celeron processor, how?... Installing Manjaro (Arch), XFCE and kernel 6.18.”
“OpenBSD has also been my daily driver in the past, though that's currently Manjaro”
“I am currently using manjaro which uses systemd”
“I'd also check out Manjaro which runs arch in the background.”
“I love Manjaro too much, use it as daily distro”
“A layer of abstraction on top of a stateful legacy system often doesn't result in a simpler system, it just introduces exciting new failure possibilities.”
“after using Manjaro recently”
“as easy as using Endeavour or Manjaro and those are very convenient distros for Arch”
“I may use Manjaro typically these days, simply because it is the closest to a modern slackware variant”
“Always wanted good defaults and landed on Manjaro as a daily driver.”