Basically, I have a 2014 computer with 4 GB of RAM, and I’m wondering whether to use Arch, EndeavourOS, or openSUSE. I really want to try Rice and use Hyprland, but that will be my second distro. The computer is a secondary one, so it’s no big deal if it breaks.
EndeavourOS if you’ve never used Linux before.
Arch if you’ve played around with Linux, but want to learn some more basic terminal stuff so that in case your Desktop Environment breaks down, you know what to do to get it back up again without a full reinstall.
OK, by that logic, it should be arch then 😃👍 (I think that to get the system working again if the DE crashes, I have to install a new DE through the terminal, control + shift + t I think, and then start the DE session through the terminal.)
If your truely going the endevour route, here some tips on recoving from a broken state:
The archwiki is your friend, read the relevant pages before asking on forums
Install arch manually (no archinstall) and thoroughly read the wiki to understand how your system is put together. Then install endevour, just from doing a manual arch install you should have the knowlage to fix like 90% of issues
Learn the basics of systemD, will also help you on 99% of mainstream distros
Keep your /home directory on a seperate partition, useful for doing a system rescue and for distrohopping
Should note EndeavourOS is just Arch with an easier installer and slightly pre-configured with common dependencies installed out the box.
EndeavourOS + KDE is what got me daily driving Linux and even after using vanilla Arch for 2 months at one point, I went back to EndeavourOS because it was just less hassle.