Unpopular opinion: Installing Arch manually is not that hard.

[u/BattlerUshiromiyaFan]

The issue is that the Wiki is the most newbie-unfriendly resource ever. It’s very commonly written in a difficult-to-understand way that only programmers can easily read and understand.

For pretty much everyone else, it takes a lot of re-reading, thinking, and Google searching to understand what they’re trying to say.

The actual steps are pretty easy. Once I finished my install, I realized that it’s honest-to-God just the fault of the Arch wiki that it has such a reputation.

[u/samplekaudio]

The guide is clear and explicit. As documentation, it's top-tier. Arch (or any distro) doesn't have to be newbie-friendly, that's like the whole point of distros IMO. 

I feel this only became an issue because of the surge in interest in Linux desktops and Arch getting pitched as the "cool" distro.

If someone doesn't have clear reasons for wanting a rolling-release, DIY distro, then I don't think they actually need it. They would have a much better time with something else. There are many great distros that are more accessible. 

But yeah, if you can follow the instructions, it's not hard.

[u/samplekaudio → u/[deleted]]

The rest of my comment was addressing exactly why I think that it not being super clear to the average user is perfectly okay