[Enginerrrd]

This has been exactly my experience as well. Ubuntu would have fewer issues initially, and almost no setup, but after setup it would break more often and always find ways to break in new and interesting ways that were very difficult to resolve, and I never could understand what was wrong.

With Arch, I was able to fix every issue that came up, full stop. But it required much more setup. It also breaks way less often. Prior to Arch, I never really felt that "full-empowered linux-user" feeling. It was always voodoo. Now I DO get that feeling and I really feel in charge and in control of my system. Interestingly, I still run ubuntu server for a couple servers, (I generally prefer debian for servers, but that's a separate discussion.) and I still find the occasional issues that come up to be difficult-to-resolve voodoo, despite having a much greater level of understanding of how linux works and does things.