Here is a common trap that many new Arch Linux users fall into: Immediately after booting into their brand-new Arch Linux installation, they find that they have no Internet access and are stuck on what to do next.
You might want to amend this to suggest installing the packages from the beginning. The pacstrap command doesn''t have to be limited. The user can simply append dhcpcd (and anything else) to it and it will be installed. I use a long list of additions that I use whenever I install Arch on a system. I find it much easier.
My own approach to wifi is to add dhcpcd and wpa_supplicant to the pacstrap command. Enable dhcpcd from arch-chroot. Link dhcpcd's 10-wpa_supplicant file to /usr/lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks/. Create a wpa_suppplicant.conf for /etc/wpa_supplicant folder. Once that's done, the installed Arch will always automatically connect to the wifi SSID, including on its first boot.
I understand that that approach may be too difficult for a newbie, but I think that using pacstrap to install dhcpcd (and anything else) is easier than going through the steps you've outlined.
Yes, in an ideal world, the Arch Linux install guide would tell you to append `dhcpcd` to the `pacstrap` command. However, my impression is that the Archwiki is loath to recommend a specific package when there are multiple alternatives, so we're stuck with the situation where there are multiple alternatives, and thus the wiki is "forced" to list all of them. And so a newbie who is just copy-and-pasting commands without really understanding what's going on will easily miss this step.
This post is mainly intended for people who have already done the installation but forgot to install `dhcpcd`, so I don't think "redoing" the `pacstrap` command is appropriate here. That said, you're right that if we're doing an installation from scratch, the steps you outlined are probably much better than what the wiki instructs you to do.
I'm reluctant to ask a newbie to deviate too far from what the wiki tells them, because I don't want to be the sole person responsible for supporting them if they run into problems. But, on the other hand, if the newbie follows the instructions in the wiki, even if those steps are suboptimal, at least any support they ask for (e.g., on Reddit or elsewhere) will have a pretty good idea of what steps they followed.
Fair enough. There are no 'right answers' to this kind of discussion. For anyone who has already installed Arch using the wiki, referring to the possibility of installing dhcpcd as part of pacstrap makes no sense. I mentioned it only because you spent some part of your blog talking about pacstrap.
I also understand the reluctance regarding newbies and recommendations that deviate from the wiki. The wiki actually does have a line about being able to include other desired packages as part of the pacstrap command, so I don't see it as a deviation. Frankly, I have my own problems with the Installation wiki, which I think could (at a minimum) refer users to some of the ways to get things done. For example, the installation wiki doesn't even tell a user about users and groups. Nor does it offer a link to that. So users are booting into a root environment, without even knowing anything about what that is, what a user is, or how the two are different.
As we all know, Arch is proudly about giving people control over their systems, and learning about linux as you go through the installation and customization process. Often, forums about Arch have responses from veterans that are nearly abusive of newbies who haven't taken the time to read every resource about the subject in question. But given all that, I think Arch would be greatly improved by a wiki that does a better job of pointing the way to learning.
This post is an effort at that. I respect and thank you for it.
You might want to amend this to suggest installing the packages from the beginning. The pacstrap command doesn''t have to be limited. The user can simply append dhcpcd (and anything else) to it and it will be installed. I use a long list of additions that I use whenever I install Arch on a system. I find it much easier.
My own approach to wifi is to add dhcpcd and wpa_supplicant to the pacstrap command. Enable dhcpcd from arch-chroot. Link dhcpcd's 10-wpa_supplicant file to /usr/lib/dhcpcd/dhcpcd-hooks/. Create a wpa_suppplicant.conf for /etc/wpa_supplicant folder. Once that's done, the installed Arch will always automatically connect to the wifi SSID, including on its first boot.
I understand that that approach may be too difficult for a newbie, but I think that using pacstrap to install dhcpcd (and anything else) is easier than going through the steps you've outlined.
Yes, in an ideal world, the Arch Linux install guide would tell you to append `dhcpcd` to the `pacstrap` command. However, my impression is that the Archwiki is loath to recommend a specific package when there are multiple alternatives, so we're stuck with the situation where there are multiple alternatives, and thus the wiki is "forced" to list all of them. And so a newbie who is just copy-and-pasting commands without really understanding what's going on will easily miss this step.
This post is mainly intended for people who have already done the installation but forgot to install `dhcpcd`, so I don't think "redoing" the `pacstrap` command is appropriate here. That said, you're right that if we're doing an installation from scratch, the steps you outlined are probably much better than what the wiki instructs you to do.
I'm reluctant to ask a newbie to deviate too far from what the wiki tells them, because I don't want to be the sole person responsible for supporting them if they run into problems. But, on the other hand, if the newbie follows the instructions in the wiki, even if those steps are suboptimal, at least any support they ask for (e.g., on Reddit or elsewhere) will have a pretty good idea of what steps they followed.
Fair enough. There are no 'right answers' to this kind of discussion. For anyone who has already installed Arch using the wiki, referring to the possibility of installing dhcpcd as part of pacstrap makes no sense. I mentioned it only because you spent some part of your blog talking about pacstrap.
I also understand the reluctance regarding newbies and recommendations that deviate from the wiki. The wiki actually does have a line about being able to include other desired packages as part of the pacstrap command, so I don't see it as a deviation. Frankly, I have my own problems with the Installation wiki, which I think could (at a minimum) refer users to some of the ways to get things done. For example, the installation wiki doesn't even tell a user about users and groups. Nor does it offer a link to that. So users are booting into a root environment, without even knowing anything about what that is, what a user is, or how the two are different.
As we all know, Arch is proudly about giving people control over their systems, and learning about linux as you go through the installation and customization process. Often, forums about Arch have responses from veterans that are nearly abusive of newbies who haven't taken the time to read every resource about the subject in question. But given all that, I think Arch would be greatly improved by a wiki that does a better job of pointing the way to learning.
This post is an effort at that. I respect and thank you for it.