For the first time in about 8 years an Arch update rendered my OS unbootable last week. I'd had graphics issues once or twice but this time it just hung in systemd somewhere. Still don't know what happened. Rolled all packages back about a month and that worked, but I'll need to update eventually.

I'm considering Nix but don't like the custom language. I wish Guix were. more popular and less extreme on the freedom side. Chances are I'll just do a fresh Arch install or maybe try Debian rolling.

These days I like to install almost all software and libraries by hand in my home directory. All I really want is a solid system that basically boots fresh then loads my home directory. Maybe I should do a net boot of some sort?

Any other suggestions?