Been using an install from 2012. Cloned every time I moved laptops or internal storage drives. Two surviving clones, one main laptop and older laptop as home server and backup.

Haven't had to do much, really. Just regular package updates (including AUR ones) and cleanup of stale packages. The main laptop gets updates applied frequently, but the backup only once every six months / a year, except security updates (e.g., ssh, OpenSSL, the recent xz backdoor was a no-op because I hadn't ever updated the backup to a vulnerable version). Then there was the KDE 6 release recently.

Every once in a while I go through the list of every package installed and see if I should remove any. This is a no-op for most packages, since they are usually mandatory dependencies of another package, but there's always some packages I'd installed for some limited purpose that no longer applies.

I've cleaned up dead config files a few times. Especially around KDE major version updates. Not that it took up too much space or broke anything; just that I didn't want those files around.

I've kept around a bootable USB key for emergencies, but now that I think about it, I'm surprised I've never had to use it for a system rescue. There was that one time I changed my password and promptly forgot the new one. But it's been such a long time since I've used it.

I installed `paccache` which can automate package cleanup. I configured it to retain only the latest version and only for about a week. Everytime I update I'm notified of how much space had been freed. I don't understand why the default is to retain everything. The likelihood that I need to perform rollbacks/reinstalls without internet access is very low.

Beyond that: `pacman -Rsnc` is my "yeet" command. Check the dependent packages carefully. Safer to run this regularly to avoid a build up.

I use `paru` for an AUR helper. Cache cleared manually but could probably be automated too.

I have been running the same install for a couple years and despite my early Linux ignorance and complete abuse of my desktop by experimenting with everything I've only ever had one failed Grub boot that wasn't my own fault.

Mine is running just fine since 2022-03-10 (just checked with `btrfs subvol show /home`).

The only maintenance I do is for btrfs, which I learned the hard way one year after running the system without caring.

It's just a regular `btrfs balance` to ensure the system never run out of metadata space.

Other than that, just `pacman -Syu` and `flatpak update` whenever I feel like I want to.

I rarely clean Pacman's cache because I've been through some cases that I needed to downgrade some packages, and I always uninstall with `pacman -Rs`, so no leftover dependencies. And anything that `paru` installs as build dependencies, I uninstall right after.

Pikaur -Syyu every couple days, dot files managed with yadm, replace computer every 3 or 4 years to get a fresh start.

It won't be a popular answer, but the truth is nuke and pave every so often. The problem isn't Arch itself, the problem is that I like to try new things pretty regularly, and occasionally install junk that I don't want long-term, but that I forget to clean up.

Quite a few years back I just started a bash script that stays in my dot files repo, that has all the base packages and configuration in it that I need for a new system. When it's time for a fresh install, I can run that script and have 95% of my system set up. I even include gnome settings and stuff in there using the CLI tools.

I just do `sudo pacman -Syu` more or less daily.

Thanks for posing this question, as it should prove instructive.

>been a happy Arch Linux user for many years

>how long have you managed to keep your system running smoothly without needing to reinstall?

I'm baffled as to how someone could be a happy user of a system that requires regular reinstalls to be usable/stable.

Is it that installing Arch is itself a hobby for some people?

Your question is partly why I moved to Nix after many years with Arch -- a perpetually clean install

  pacman -Syu

That’s it. :)

i keep a list of installed packages and the package manager I used to install them. I don't track dependencies that I didn't manually install. This is manual, every time I type "pacman" or "yay" or even "pip" I write it down in a text file.

Other than that pacman -Syu every couple of weeks.

I'm probably going to start using paccache.

I've never had an arch system explode on me. I've had Debian systems do that. Using arch has been smooth sailing for me for the most part.

My learning is that using the lts kernel improves the situation with arch big way.

I just do `yay -Syu` every week or so. What does `-Qtd` do?

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