I’ll add one more grip: Amazon integration. It’s been resolved for like 7 years now, but I still hold it against them a bit for placing Amazon search results in my desktop all those years back. Not that I don’t have an Ubuntu server running as we speak, but it still does taint them a tad in my eyes (and probably acts as an anachronism to the “it’s a corporate distro” theme of dislike around here).
Is it wireless? If so, and the controller supports it, try using it in wired mode. Sounds pointless, but have had issues with wireless controllers that worked fine when connected via USB.
Bringing back memories of my own. Mandrake in 2004 was a but before my time, but I’m sure I’ve still got my Ubuntu discs I downloaded at the local library and burned myself almost a decade after this Mandrake disk.
69 … Nice.
I hope this doesn’t end badly for VMware. I use VMware exclusively in a professional setting, and partially in a personal setting. With everything I’ve seen it’s by far the most stable (Qemu seems to be close to bare metal in ideal conditions, but can get a little quirky at times to say the least) and beats out virtualbox in both performance and stability.
If it’s mostly in cash & stocks hopefully from my layman’s view they’re buying a valuable asset and not going to enshitify it for a quick buck when the debt bill comes in with an uncertain economy.
As others are saying, that’s not really an option unless you’re really dedicated. IF it has an unlockable bootloader you could technically get to compiling and tinkering to get everything built, but in order to get a phone all set you’d need to get the right drivers and do a whole lot of tinkering (like full time job levels of building and tinkering) kind of deal to get it built. Phone’s aren’t so plug and play like computers.
If you there’s no rom support and/or a permanently locked bootloader but you want an OS without x y and z you can always try to fire up ADB bridge and disable stuff. You could also accomplish the same by rooting, though it’s a bit of a security risk (though not as overblown as some people say IMO).
If you have the time + know how to keep up with Arch, and want the latest packages or need the latest drivers, then go for it.
If you only want an Arch install experience, then fire up a virtual machine and stick with Endeavor or switch to a stable release like Debian on bare metal.
But most importantly, if it brings you value (in productivity or experience) then whatever you decide isn’t a stupid decision.