Danathar

Why is the Arch Wiki so good, yet the Debian Wiki is generally out of date, not as useful, and Debian users don’t seem to care about it as much?

There are so many occasions when I needed to know something, and the Arch Wiki just had an awesome page that explained it and what I needed to do. The Debian Wiki? Not so much.

#arch #debian #linux

Aug 6, 2025 at 7:06pmWeb
Show threadseism0saurusAug 6, 2025

@Danathar

As a Debian user, I often look into the Arch Wiki. Most problems are already explained there.
Maybe there is not so much Debian specific to solve but more general problems or problems with specific hardware or tools. Just a guess.

Show threaddrhoopoeAug 6, 2025
@Danathar I've wondered about this too. I think part of it is that the arch wiki is just so good that why replicate the effort. The gentoo wiki is also excellent, though they often focus on gentoo-specific issues and refer you to the arch wiki for other details. So I guess in their case it's explicit that you should be using them in tandem.
Show threadrspAug 6, 2025
@drhoopoe @Danathar I know I'd not be interested in duplicative work. But different groups have different personalities, motivations, etc due to historical trajectories and current membership.
Show threaddrhoopoeAug 6, 2025
@rspfau @Danathar Yes, of course, and different communities prefer different tools too. It may be that debian folks gravitate more toward mailing lists or a forum or something. I've only ever used it for simple servers, so I've never had to figure where you go when serious questions arise.
Show threadJuan MartíAug 6, 2025
@Danathar I feel the same way. It's horrible and only thinking of the current users, not new ones interested to hop into their distro.
Show threaddrhoopoeAug 15, 2025
@Danathar Speaking of which: https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/1032604/73596e0c3ed1945a/
Arch shares its wiki strategy with Debian

The Arch Linux project is especially well-known in the Linux community for two things: its roll [...]

LWN.net
Show threadDanatharAug 16, 2025
@drhoopoe well THAT is just AWESOME!