What makes Arch unique amongst other “minimal” distributions?
A few distributions may provide minimal installation methods sharing some similar aspects to the Arch installation process. However, a few points must be noted: • Arch has been fundamentally designed as a lightweight, minimal base environment upon which to build. • Whether the Netinstall or Core images are used, the only way to install Arch is by building up from this minimal base. • The installer, base system, and the entire distribution are inherently a K.I.S.S. design approach, which makes it uniquely suitable for its target base of users. • Arch packaging is designed to be minimal and optional package dependencies are never automatically installed. Rather, the user is simply notified of their existence during package installation, resulting in a slimmer system. • AIF, the simple Arch installer, is designed for a high level of transparency, and the base system is manually configured by the user to their needed specifications. • Arch provides excellent, thoroughly complete documentat
