I know gaming has gotten a lot better on Linux and I’m working on a new PC and I’m wondering which distro to try.
Nobara is based on Fedora and maintained by GloriousEggroll. It has a lot of kernel-level tweaks and pre-installed software that aims to make it easier to start gaming right out of the gate
This is my recommended gaming distro, its actually works from my experience unlike the 3 different arch based distros I tried.
I’m not a fan of the cult-like community. I’d rather not my distro hang on to the good will of one single person.
It’s probably the best option for gaming though if you’re not willing to dip into the AUR.
Nobara is a great suggestion by @el_gringo_loco@lemmy.one, but I’d also throw out a suggestion for Bazzite if you want the “SteamOS”/Steam Deck experience.
It does have the KDE desktop environment underneath to do all the non-gaming stuff as well, but if gaming is your number one focus, it’s a pretty cool setup.
It just boots to desktop unless you have AMD GPU and install the deck edition to a regular PC. Seconding the rec though. It has become my main.
IMO, the best distro is going to be whatever you’re most comfortable with (given it’s still getting updates blah blah blah). Some might be easier in the get go but if they do wonky things (compared to what you’re used to) an update might really screw you up and leave you in a situation where you’re doing a lot of research.
For the most part, you can make any distro do whatever you want, but if you understand one much better than the rest, use that.
Buy a steam deck
About to order an oled one. But still going to build a new PC.
There is such thing as “best” – all distros are Linux/GNU at heart.
“all distros are Linux/GNU at heart” – Alpine has entered the chat
Well having personally dealt with the Redhat and Ubuntu fiascos there are some that are clearly better than others 🤣
I would say that some are better dealing with certain hardware better than others. But you are right, it’s all Linux so any distro could be made to work.
Whatever you know best. My personal choice of distro is Gentoo, my gaming pc and my carry laptop both run it. My games run great in gentoo, and because I understand it best, I deal with few issues. For a long time it was Arch, and before that Ubuntu. I used Ubuntu for only maybe 2 months before moving onto Arch then Gentoo. My games always worked, but once I really understood Linux, they ran great.
I wondered the same thing a couple months back and settled on EndeavourOS. No complains so far :)
To anyone wondering why, it is because it is Arch linux with pre-configured drivers and also it is one of the few distros that are on the bleeding edge of updates and features. Bleeding edge because one update might cut you and break everything for no reason. That being said, I’ve used Arch for almost a decade for my gaming PC and never had huge issues that reverting to the previous kernel at reboot did not fix.
It’s Garuda Linux shilling time. Seriously tho the distro does not matter when it comes to gaming (at least not much)
Unpopular opinion but ubuntu.
You will eventually run into an error you have never seen before and and someone using ubuntu has already solved it and posted it online somewhere.
And they solved it by reading the ArchWiki 99% sure.
Arch, btw 🙄
Which is why you just use Mint Instead and get rid of all the ads and telemetry while using the same solutions.
POP!_OS*
About to get a new laptop, and it’s gonna Pop!
mint or lmde?
Counter point, Ubuntu specifically has so many old posts and answers that aren’t necessary in modern systems, deprecated, or straight up no longer correct. Also a lot of recommendations that can screw up a system in strange ways. I feel like many issues (ie. Bluetooth, USB, Wifi) are due to people stumbling on old posts with configs and tools that have changed and blindly applying them
Really unpopular opinion: Windows.
It’s not yet a Linux distro :3
Linux wasn’t /techically/ specified…
Personally if it were me and gaming was my primary focus, I’d go to the place that’s doing the most with gaming and Linux, SteamOS.
There are lots of sites that go through the process of building a Linux gaming machine using SteamOS.
Here’s just one random video I found (not affiliated with this at all) about using an old optiplex from eBay, some ram upgrades, and a RX580 GPU. Apparently they did this for $150 but take that with a grain of salt. Hope this helps.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/jFIgQ9zgXOk?si=ZR9VzF1YtFewcWIM
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Probably steamOS but I’ve never used it
Arch has been perfect for me but I wanna try void
Linux Mint
Bazzite ?
Probably Manjaro KDE.
Even Valve recommends it.
Manjaro is one of the few distros I’ll actively campaign against. They’ve made countless mistakes and questionable decisions in the past, and their repo/packaging lifecycle is known to cause a lot of issues: One, Two, Three, Four. Go for EndeavourOS or Garuda Linux if you want the idea of Manjaro but managed by competent people.
I disagree with this post being downvoted. Manjaro has had a number of issues, including forgetting to renew a cert a few times, accidentlly Ddosing Arch, holding back repo updates but not AUR updates breaking systems, and some allegations of missused funds.
If you’re searching for something, I would also personally reccomend against Manjaro, simpy for the reason that you are less likely to wind up with something broken on most other distros. I do know some people who swear by Manjaro though, and if you’re using it or set on it then that’s fine too (the best OS is the one that brings you the most value).
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To acutally answer the question above, though, the best distro is the one that you prefer. Platforms like Steam manages it’s own updates and software so the stable/rolling debate doesn’t really apply here. Same with anything installed with distro agnostic package managers (Flatpak, Snap, Appimages). As far as most gaming setups drivers are the only real difference between distros (and you can always change that yourself manually).
That’s nice. Have fun on your campaign.
Do you have an source ?
Its surprising because steamsos is build on Debian/Ubuntu so.
SteamOS has been built on Arch since version 3.
Thanks :)
Arch, not Manjaro.
I thought SteamOS was built on Arch. It uses pacman as the package manager like Arch does instead of apt like Debian/Ubuntu does.
Edit: Wikipedia answered it for me. SteamOS 1.0 and 2.0 were Debian-based. Starting with SteamOS 3.0, it is Arch-based.
Thanks for the update :-) I needed it XD
SteamOS 3+ is built on Arch.
no and no
Also what is it with Manjaro users always specifying the DE? And why is it always KDE?
