My advise is to take the easy way and install raspbian on it. I’m running ubuntu, and while it works for me, I still scour launchpad for firmware updates and information on bugs and patches they’re working on. For example, the ubuntu image at first wouldn’t allow usb devices to be connected on the amd64 kernel. It required a firmware patch, or telling it in the /boot/firmware/config.txt to have a lower maximum RAM. Meaning that on first install if things aren’t working properly such as connecting to a network, you can’t just hook on a keyboard and a screen and set it up directly.
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I have to agree with Lena, raspbian. I wish Manjaro would do a Pi port though.
Not heard of Manjaro before you mentioned it, but looking at the website it looks very interesting.
You have now offered me yet another route - thanks.
Dave, I am using it on my laptop, I cannot vouch for it on a PI as I don't have a Pi4 to test it on. But I am very happy that they have ported it to the Pi4.
Just to chip in here, I would avoid buster for now. There are still lots of things that don't work, I hadn't realised how big a change v9 to v10 really was. And I'm running Debian (minimal) on a PC.
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What doesn't work Julian. I'm using Raspbian Buster and not had any problems. Or are your issues in relation to RP4b/Buster?
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Actually, my issues not related to Pi but to Debian and software running on it. Don't get me started on the bizarre decisions made by the MongoDB team about what they do and don't support. Nor about the very annoying decisions made by Ubiquiti about how their WiFi controller works. Then there is the amount of time I've spent over the last week or so trying to track down how things need to be changed to make them work on Buster. I'm clearly not the only person having issues.
But then again, I'm hardly your average user so it may well be that a straight-forward HA focussed Pi with Node-RED and Moquitto just works without issues. Though I know that we've seen people having problems with nodes that needed some rework to allow them to work on Buster.
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I think Manjaro is designed to be bleeding edge (ie updates are always pushed out fairly rapidly and I don't think you get a choice on which updates you take, all or nothing I believe, or maybe even all or undefined 
I was using Manjaro for a while but didn't like the above so moved to a derivative of Ubuntu.
Mint is supposed to be very good for desktop. Not used it for a long time now but still hear good things about it.
My repurposed laptop (replacing my Pi's) has no desktop and I've used Debian as this is perhaps one of the most used server OS's outside industry. I'm also, after many years, about as familiar with it as I'll ever get with any Linux system.
However, Buster reminded me strongly why I've tried and given up with Linux on the desktop many times in the past - Linux can be such hard work to do the simplest things sometimes.
So can Windows 10.
I can forgive certain (perhaps most) Linux distros being difficult within the desktop sphere, but I can never forgive Windows because its roots are firmly planted in the user desktop. And after all these years it still manages to screw up many things.
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That is very true of course - but the range of things that "just work" is much larger.
Not wanting to get into an us/them discussion here. I'm not trying to imply which is "better" just that, as with any OS, if you drift outside anything that "just works", it can be hard to sort it out.
With Windows, typically there is either a relatively straight-forward set of steps or it can't be fixed at all. With Linux, there are 10,000 different web pages - most of which have partial answers or answers to slightly different problems.
Let's not start an OS war here anyway, really not worth it!
Generally Windows is "better" for desktops simply because it gets shed-loads more money invested in it than Linux desktops do.
I already use 2 different desktops: Windows 10 and Mac OSX. I've also invested plenty of time trying different Linux desktops over the years. I prefer Windows, mainly because I've worked with it or its predecessors since it first existed. So if I have to mess with it, I'll probably know how or know not to bother.
For servers though, it is a totally different matter. I'd much rather work with a Linux server than a Windows one.
Where the 2 meet can be painful with Linux - getting my Lenovo X240 laptop to do the basics with Debian Buster was a breeze. Install and go, no problem. Getting sound to work (command line only) - different matter completely.
Just my experiences over the years. Will be different for other people.
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Hi guys & gals - just a quick update on my progress.
I installed manjaro-ARM-xfce-rpi4-19.12.1 on my new RPi-4B with 4GB of ram.
All very straightforward until (in my haste) I selected the wrong 'locale' and ended-up with Russian language. I ended-up reflashing the SD card as I couldn't find the menu option to reset the 'locale'.
It all seems to work very well - just getting used to where all the various tools and options are located.
At the moment everything is running off of the SD card but I intend to connect a SSD via a powered 3.0 hub and modify the boot-sequence (once I'm happy with the desktop). I've done this on the other two RPi-4Bs I have running 'buster' as that certainly gave the system a performance boost.
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What version of python is manjaro using?
I tried Manjero and several others when Ubuntu moved to "Unity" which I hated. Manjero had promise but I recall that an update hosed it.
When Ubuntu-Mate came out it was like an old friend returning, but I'm happy with Raspbian on the Pi. I tried an early version of Mate on the Pi2B, while it was "familar" it didn't perform all that well and I only saw downsides to being out of the Pi "mainstream". YMMV
I want a GUI on the Pi for setup, testing and debug, but once its "done" it becomes a headless "appliance". SD cards are cheap these days, so space wasted by the GUI pales in comparrison to the value of my time wasted fighting a "minimal" system.
I like the idea of running off an SSD, but the cost of the hub and SSD significantly exceeds the cost of the Pi.
For the last 15 years I have used Linux exclusively, admittedly, in the beginning Linux required a little "tweaking", but today I can honestly say that Linux "just works". I installed MX Linux last weekend on a 10 year old laptop and it booted, it asked for the WLAN password and just worked.
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Sorry Dave to take the P, but you've got to see the funny side....
I can still remember experimenting with 'sudo', and deleting /home/pi....
And therein was the problem for me as well. Their concept of rapidly pushing updates which were possibly unstable.
Please come back with some mini-reviews on how it's going, as I'm sure many of us are very interested.
Thanks.
Hi @wb666greene,
Just tried 'python -V' and it returns 3.8.1
Hope that helps.
Just a quick update...
I'm slowly getting familar with 'Manjaro' and where all the menus & options are located.
I've got Firefox, Thunderbird and a music player working (Manjaro found my NAS quite quickly).
Browsing the web seems quite fast and very acceptable (I have a 250Mb/s broadband connection with CAT-7e cables as well as WiFi in my home).
Next step (this afternoon) is to get a couple of printers connected.
Installing new programs seems fairly easy. I've installed a firewall and NotePad+, and will be looking for a desktop publishing package and web design package this afternoon.
As I mentioned before, my initial requirement was to build a "secure" platform in order to do my home banking (as my PC and laptop are running end-of-life Windows-7). However, I might decide to do some of my e-publishing work (for my IoT Club) on the new set-up.
One thing to note... and a thumbs-up for The Pi Hut...
I ordered the RPi-4B, heatsink and PSU from The Pi Hut (here in the UK) on Friday morning and the whole lot arrived Saturday morning just before 10:00am. The 4-port USB 3.0 powered hub also arrived Saturday - I'm just waiting for the SSD then I can have a go at modifying the boot-sequence.
This afternoon I'm planning on showing the wife the 'set-up' and explaining how to do all the things she currently does on her laptop with 'manjaro' - wish me well on that one.
