I often hear folks in the Linux community discussing their preference for Arch (and Linux in general) because they can install only the packages they want or need - no bloat.
I’ve come across users with a couple of hundred packages installed (likely fresh installs), but I’ve also seen others with thousands.
Personally, I’m currently at 1.7k packages on my desktop and 1.3k on my laptop (both running EndeavourOS). There might be a few packages I could remove, but I don’t feel like my system is bloated.
I guess it’s subjective, but when do you consider a system to be bloated?
I’m asking as a relatively new Linux user - been daily driving for about 7/8 months
I love a bloated Linux system. Zeitgeist running in the background? Sweet, that means when I search for the file I was editing 3 days ago I’ll find it fast. Tracker busy indexing my files? Nice, next time I search for something the results will be near instantaneous.
That’s why I bought the ram, CPU and disk. To work for me, not the other way around. I’m daily driving a PC, not a server.
Let me tell you, FSearch is available for Linux distros. Yes, that Everything Search tool from Windows. You do not need heavy indexer tools thrashing your system.
FSearch is an indexed search too.
But it does not thrash your system all the time, and utilises the same partition indexing technique as WizTree on Windows, which makes it lightning quick at indexing. If you have an SSD, it takes seconds, with HDD, <5 minutes.
Ok, I’m not advocating for any particular indexing service, I’m advocating for all. You’re advocating for this one in particular. We’re in agreement.
If you frequently use the software and there’s no easy alternative, is it really bloat?
Are you sure you’re answering the right comment? If you are, you lost me.
You said you love a system with lots of useful processes running in the background. My comment questions if these useful background processes are really bloat, at least in your system.
I am not about to descend into a philosophical discussion of the nature of bloatware. There’s a definition somewhere, but I’d rather use the tried and true “I know it when I see it.”