Omarchy Linux Review: A Fresh Take on Arch for Developers

When I first heard about Omarchy, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It initally caught my attention when David Heinemeier Hansson (co-creator of Ruby on Rails) shared it on social media. It is essentially a customized Arch Linux distribution designed to make onboarding developers at Basecamp easier.

Having already experimented with Arch Linux and Hyprland, I was curious to see if Omarchy could deliver a smoother and more practical experience.

Concerns About Hardware Choices

It seems like most people run Omarchy on either a Framework laptop or a Beelink mini PC. Personally, I am hesitant about Beelink hardware because of where the company is based. While it is true that nearly all modern electronics are manufactured in the same region, I have had similar reservations in the past when shopping for home security cameras. Hikvision, for example, is often regarded as a budget-friendly option with decent specs, but reviews frequently highlighted weak customer support, security concerns, and inconsistent firmware updates. That made me cautious about Beelink as well, especially after reading or watching accounts from users whose Beelink PCs failed prematurely.

For my own testing, I have been running Omarchy on an MSI Cubi ADL. Originally, I used this machine as a Proxmox server, but it began shutting off randomly and failing to power back on. After some trial and error, I found that scaling down from 16 GB RAM to 8 GB and switching from a mixed NVMe plus SATA setup to a single SATA SSD stabilized the system. Since most of my workloads had already moved to a NAS, the Cubi was freed up to experiment with Omarchy.

Why Arch (and Hyprland) Caught My Eye

I have been primarily an Ubuntu user, with occasional stints on Fedora, but Arch Linux has appealed to me for several reasons:

  • Rolling Release Model: Arch provides continuous updates instead of waiting for major point releases. You always have access to the latest kernel, libraries, and software.
  • Minimal Base: Arch starts with a lean installation, giving you full control over what gets added.
  • Documentation: The Arch Wiki is one of the most detailed Linux resources available.

The AUR (Arch User Repository) is another major strength. The AUR is a community-driven collection of build scripts that allow you to install software not available in the official repos. It often delivers access to:

  • Applications that are unavailable on other distros
  • Older software maintained by enthusiasts
  • Niche developer tools
  • Faster packaging of new releases compared to Flatpak or Snap

For instance, Amarok’s recent revival appeared on the AUR well before it reached other distribution channels. That kind of responsiveness makes Arch especially attractive for developers and power users.

Hyprland has impressed me with dynamic tiling, quick workspace switching, and extensive customization. What really caught my attention were the incredible setups shared on r/unixporn, ranging from clean minimalist desktops to complex futuristic environments. I initially leaned on dotfiles from projects like JaKooLit and Stephan Raabe’s ML4W to get Hyprland running smoothly.

Still, Hyprland has quirks. Tiled windows can shrink into unusable slivers when too many are open. In my previous attempts at using Hyprland, it was one of the only things that bothered me about Hyprland’s dynamic tiling setup. I wish that it would contain functionality to limit the number of apps per workspace and automatically push extra windows to a different workspace. There is another Wayland composed, Niri, a which appears to include such a feature, although it is based on a completely different paradigm for dynamic tiling. Niri arranges windows in infinite horizontal strips. Each monitor has its own strip, and windows never overflow. Brodie Robertson covered this in a video a few months ago.

Omarchy’s Philosophy

While many Hyprland setups chase flashy aesthetics with tools like Quickshell, Omarchy takes a more pragmatic approach. Its philosophy is simple: focus on productivity.

Out of the box, Omarchy includes:

  • A clean TUI configuration menu for accessing apps, themes, keybindings, and settings
  • Quick removal of bundled apps or web apps
  • Straightforward access to system tweaks without digging into dotfiles

It is not barebones, but it avoids unnecessary visual gimmicks. Omarchy makes it easy to get started and lets Hyprland shine without the distractions.

The auto-tiling feature continues to be the standout for Hyprland. There are quite a few features or applications that are present on Linux that I wish were available on macOS, which is my primary operating system for work. A tiling system like Hyprland on macOS would be at the top of my list of Linux software I wish was on macOS.

There are a variety of third-party tools on macOS which attempt to replicate Hyprland on macOS: Yabai, Aerospace, and Amethyst are the most common.

Having used Yabai on macOS, I find Hyprland is far smoother and more intuitive. Although Yabai does implement its own interpretation of dynamic tiling, sometimes it doesn’t work as one would expect which leads me to occassionally disable Yabai.

When it comes to packaging, I also wish macOS had something similar to Flatpak. While Homebrew exists, it does not offer the same isolation or range of applications. Flatpak feels more robust for application management.

What Makes Omarchy Different

So what separates Omarchy from other solutions out there to tune Hyprland? Essentially, Omarchy feels like Arch Linux without the painful post-install grind to configure everything to work at a minimal level, which makes it the most approachable Arch-based system I have tried.

Highlights:

  • TUI configuration menu for keybindings, monitor layouts, themes, and apps, without needing to edit config files.
  • Alternative repository to reduce reliance on the AUR and mitigate security concerns.
  • Quick removal of both apps and web apps.
  • Simple and direct access to system-level changes.

My only complaint is that it defaults to Vim/Neovim as the text editor. I prefer Nano because it is quicker to use without learning modal editing.

Issues I Have Encountered

Omarchy is not perfect, and there are a few issues I faced, although not all of them are due to Omarchy:

  1. Power Management: Preventing sleep was not straightforward. Editing hypridle.conf and adjusting the values did not fix it. A caffeinate-style tool or toggle has been requested, however in that same request another user mentioned that CTRL+META+I might already be a shortcut used, or that there is a script that toggles hypridle on and off, to prevent the computer from going to sleep.
  2. Passwordless sudo: Pacman prompts for a password, as expected. I had to create a custom file in /etc/sudoers.d to achieve the behavior I wanted.
  3. VLC codecs: The pacman version of VLC refused to play MP4s due to missing codecs. Installing VLC via Flatpak solved the problem.
  4. Disabling Wi-Fi: On Omarchy there does not seem to be a simple way to disable Wi-Fi, the only option available is to use the rfkill utility to soft-block Wi-Fi, however, when clicking on the related Wi-Fi icon in the top right corner of waybar (the top panel) it opens up a utility that indicates that Wi-Fi is on. Bluetooth on the other hand is simple to disable in Omarchy.
  5. Controlling volume: While Omarchy does have the option to click on the speaker icon and adjust the volume in a TUI-like app, it would be nice if the interface was more like what you would find on macOS or Windows, where you click on the volume icon and a slider appears that a user can adjust for the volume of audio played on the computer.

Aside from these, Omarchy has been solid. With Flatpak and Flathub enabled, I quickly added the apps I needed.

The Bigger Picture

Omarchy may be one of the Linux desktop’s best opportunities to attract new users. With Windows 10’s security updates ending soon, many people will be looking for alternatives. Omarchy lowers the barrier to Arch while preserving its biggest strengths: customization, up-to-date software, and Hyprland’s powerful tiling features.

What Is Holding Me Back

The biggest factor keeping me from going all-in on Omarchy or Linux in general or my primacy computer is software and the dictation capabilities of Linux. Apple’s built-in dictation is not perfect, but at about 80 percent accuracy it is good enough for writing and fine tuning any errors afterwards. On Linux, alternatives exist but none appear polished enough for everyday use and I don’t want to rely on using Microsoft Word via the web1 to make use of their dictation.

I have been tempted to try Omarchy-Mac on my MacBook Air, especially since macOS feels sluggish lately since I have installed macOS 26 Tahoe2. I would like to try it via a Virtual Machine (such as with UTM), before installing it on bare metal. Only reason I am hesitant is that each time I have installed Asahi Linux, I am never fully successful when removing it and in the end I need to use Apple Configurator to completely restore macOS on my MacBook Air. Storage is another concern. My MacBook only has 256 GB, and Apple’s refusal to allow booting from external NVMe drives over USB-C is frustrating, especially if the SSD fails.

Final Thoughts

Omarchy is exactly what I have always wanted from Arch Linux:

  • Easy installation
  • Built-in customization tools
  • A preconfigured Hyprland environment that works immediately

If you have struggled with Arch in the past or found Hyprland intimidating, Omarchy is worth a try. It is opinionated, polished, and most importantly, it lets you focus on using your computer instead of endlessly configuring it.

References

  1. While this is a solution that works, I would imagine that the dictation is handled on the cloud as opposed to something locally like Apple claims happens with its dictation software. ↩︎

  2. Although this could also be due to using Firefox and Floorp, where the later I have noticed can sometimes consume more memory than expected. ↩︎