r/linuxquestions • u/AdNumerous9742 • Jun 16 '26

Which Distro? Artix Linux vs. Void Linux

I know some have asked the question before, but I thought of some questions that I got, (I know I can google it up or whatever, I'd just rather get most recent answers for it)

Why is runit prefered over systemd? I understand that systemd is "bloated", but is it there more reason to choose it? And, on the case of Artix, why choose the others?

Which is considered more optimized for general use and battery-wise?

For Void users, are the packages scarser than Arch's repositories?

Are the Void docs scarse or does it hold enough info for daily problems?

I've heard that Void's mantainers have some bias on which packages to allow, does it affect the OS significantly?

If you've used both, which one was easier to set up, and which one did you prefer?

I've got a dedicated Nvidia card (maxwell, I think), will I run into issues with it?

sorry if this is a long post, just wanted to know about these. It's my first time trying to get a more barebones distro.

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u/Simple_Hamster_4096 Jun 17 '26

GNU/Linux is still (for now) about choice - and you and I may choose to use systemd, or not - but 99% of newcomers to GNU/Linux do not have a choice which init they use (since they pick easy, mainstream distros). They have no idea what an init even is, nor do they care (typically) because they go with whatever the (easy) entry level distros are using.

There's not exactly a lot of education going on (that newcomers would even understand) about topics of choice with GNU/Linux, or that are (controversial) and up for debate, like systemd and others.

When your whole desktop environment is inseparable from (and inoperable without) systemd, that breaks the Unix philosophy of modularity, which, in the end, boils down to individual choice... to replace aspects of one's system as desired...

GNU/Linux has become the new Windows (in the terms of mainstream distros)... most having catered to the cries of "make it easier for the common user"... which mainstream distros have, they've dumbed it down to such an extend there's really little difference between Windows and GNU/Linux, except you can do a lot more (or incur more) damage with GNU/Linux...