“Linux” is not an operating system, it’s the kernel: the layer between applications and hardware that manages CPU time, memory, devices and other resources.
What we actually use is a Linux distribution. Linux plus the tools, libraries, package manager, desktop and decisions around it. That is why Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Red Hat and Arch can feel so different while sharing the same kernel. Windows has the NT kernel; macOS uses XNU.
Arch is attractive because it gives you relatively little by default. You start with a minimal foundation and a package manager, then decide what the machine becomes. Desktop, services, applications, workflow: you build it yourself. That difficulty has even become part of the culture. Installing Arch manually can feel like a rite of passage.
There is also a common claim that Arch is somehow “pure Linux” while Ubuntu or Red Hat modify Linux. I would not put it that way. Every distribution makes choices and carries configuration or patches. What I like about Arch is that it generally stays close to upstream and keeps many of those choices visible instead of hiding them.
And this is where Omarchy became interesting. Raw Arch gives me freedom, but freedom also means spending time assembling everything. Omarchy takes Arch and turns it into a much more opinionated developer desktop: curated tools, a coherent environment and sensible defaults, while keeping Arch underneath. It is essentially an attempt to preserve Arch’s control without forcing me to build every part of my workstation from scratch. Omarchy is an Arch-based project created around DHH’s vision of an opinionated Linux environment. (GitHub)
That also explains why Arch is such a good foundation for Omarchy. A minimal system is easier to shape into a specific experience than a distribution that already arrives with layers of assumptions.
For me, that is the real attraction of Linux. Windows and macOS give me finished products. Linux gives me building blocks. Arch pushes that freedom further, and Omarchy makes strong choices for me without taking the underlying control away.
That is far more interesting than simply saying, “Linux is better.”
