February 14, 2026
ArchWiki vs Google: KO in round one
I love the work of the ArchWiki maintainers
Everyone’s cheering ArchWiki—the tech help we actually trust
TLDR: ArchWiki maintainers got big love on Free Software Day, with fans—many not using Arch—calling the site the most reliable tech guide. Comments praised its accuracy, readable manuals, and even offline downloads, stirring playful shade at Google and a feel‑good push to donate to the docs heroes.
On “I Love Free Software Day,” the Arch project leader and ArchWiki maintainers were showered with gratitude (and literal hacker chocolate) at FOSDEM, the big open‑source meetup. Fans flooded in with love notes, echoing Edward Snowden’s viral line that modern search results are “garbage”—except the ArchWiki. The mood? Pure adoration, with a side of “how is this free?” disbelief.
The strongest take came from a non‑Arch user claiming the Wiki is “never incorrect.” Cue dramatic gasps and nods so hard screens shook. Others flexed their survivalist energy—“you can download it,” shared one user, linking an offline hoard for apocalypse‑proof tech help. Meanwhile, power users hyped man.archlinux.org as more readable than man7.org, praising extra pages for popular tools. The classic Linux distro wars? Put on pause, as even people who don’t run Arch admitted they rely on the Wiki daily to fix family laptops and discover hidden features.
The article’s heartfelt thanks to maintainers landed perfectly: unsung documentation heroes keeping tech understandable for everyone. FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe) was in the mix, and readers were urged to donate. The community turned it into a feel‑good mob: a rare internet moment where everyone agrees the ArchWiki is the internet’s tech cheat sheet.
Key Points
- •The article thanks Free Software documentation maintainers, especially ArchWiki maintainers, for their contributions.
- •ArchWiki is described as a broadly useful resource for understanding and configuring software across Linux distributions.
- •The author met Arch Project Leader Levente, ArchWiki maintainer Ferdinand (Alad), and FSFE vice president Heiki at FOSDEM 2026.
- •Edward Snowden is quoted praising the ArchWiki’s reliability compared with typical search results.
- •Readers are encouraged to thank ArchWiki maintainers and donate to Arch.