Any other Linux users here? And has anyone fully migrated?

[DragonMals]

Is it full of pre-installed latest versions of open source games, emulators and Wine wrappers, or something?

Pretty much. Nobara and Bazzite are perfect examples of Gaming focused Linux Distros. They just make gaming on Linux more feasible

 

[FateLanegod]

Pretty much. Nobara and Bazzite are perfect examples of Gaming focused Linux Distros. They just make gaming on Linux more feasible

I wonder how they hold up over time…
I mean take emulators like PCSX2 or Dolphin, those versions released virtually every day, even few times. I doubt they follow to redistribute all of that.
Of course you can impress your buddies with “I play on Linux” kinda thing right away, but in long run I’d recommend to stick to common popular variant and simply download latest stuff directly from their project pages. Most likely you get fixes and performance improvements right away.

Anyway, commercial gaming channels like Steam or GOG are absolutely decoupled from specific Linux flavor.

Also by using “non-gaming” OS you most likely receive updates to drivers, firmware, security patches and latest tools to help you tune and optimise your experience.

 

[Leon]

Just out of curiosity, what’s “gaming focused” distro? Is it full of pre-installed latest versions of open source games, emulators and Wine wrappers, or something?

I’ve seen some fan made LiveCD/DVD ISO images, like you burn it and boot it up and ready to play anywhere. Is it like that?

Pre installed or makes it easy to install gaming related programs such as wine, proton-GE and various emulators, you can do this on your own but having it pre-installed makes initial setup easier and take less time, as the saying goes, time is money.

I wonder how they hold up over time…
I mean take emulators like PCSX2 or Dolphin, those versions released virtually every day, even few times. I doubt they follow to redistribute all of that.
Of course you can impress your buddies with “I play on Linux” kinda thing right away, but in long run I’d recommend to stick to common popular variant and simply download latest stuff directly from their project pages. Most likely you get fixes and performance improvements right away.

Anyway, commercial gaming channels like Steam or GOG are absolutely decoupled from specific Linux flavor.

Also by using “non-gaming” OS you most likely receive updates to drivers, firmware, security patches and latest tools to help you tune and optimise your experience.

I've been on garuda for a year as of i believe december 28th, no issues that weren't my fault.
If i had picked a fedora or debian based one the chances of something breaking (though it's already pretty damn small) are even less as they have longer update cycles, the biggest problem with arch is also it's biggest pro, it get's bleeding edge updates as soon as it can hit the pipeline, meaning if a update is bugged then you might have a problem with the program.

As for emulators, they update along with the package update, provided they aren't a source installed package or applimages, update through a syu update, if your on the canary branch of let's say pcsx2 and it updates daily, then it will update daily, though whether you update or not is up to you.

I don't necessarily agree with sticking to popular distros as some of them do not deserve their popularity at this point (looking at you ubuntu) but in the long run it really depends on what you intend to use denuvo for, i wouldn't suggest garuda or bazzite to someone making a server pc for example.

Uh no, gaming os distros are just designed to make the process of setting up a linux gaming setup easier, they otherwise are no different than any other distro and the aur update schedule is usually maintained by the emulator developers themselves with a few exceptions (azahar prefers flatpak, though there is a aur build), most linux versions are no different than the others at the end of the day, it really comes down to the update schedule, unless your manjaro which is a pain in the neck for all arch linux based distro users due to their changes to their own update scheduler while still using the arch linux core, most distros follow the update path of their "root" distro.

 

[DragonMals]

some of them do not deserve their popularity at this point (looking at you ubuntu)

Genuiely asking why? I can assume it's similar stuff to Microsoft, but I'd like to know since a lot of modern Linux peeps seem to have a personal grudge against standard Ubuntu

 

[Leon]

Genuiely asking why? I can assume it's similar stuff to Microsoft, but I'd like to know since a lot of modern Linux peeps seem to have a personal grudge against standard Ubuntu

As a basic distro it's fine, the problems are more tertiary problems that imo, go against what linux is supposed to stand for, the 2 that come to mind especially is the privacy issues as ubuntu sends usage data back to canonical, now you can turn this off but this shouldn't be something that's on by default.

The second is how militantly they try to force the use of snap packages, snap packages aren't bad on their own, but it's basically trying to make a proprietary system on a operating system that is designed to avoid that.

Basically, ubuntu and canonical made ubuntu too similar to windows.

 

[DragonMals]

the 2 that come to mind especially is the privacy issues as ubuntu sends usage data back to canonical, now you can turn this off but this shouldn't be something that's on by default.

The first one shouldn't be much of a problem nowadays if you're able to turn that off, but I do understand how this was an issue when it wasn't able to be turned off previously. I assume becuase of that, it definitely hurt their reputation by doing such.

how militantly they try to force the use of snap packages

This... I actually thought that anything that uses Ubuntu you cannot get rid of the snap packages that came with it, and the worst part is that I want(ed) to use an ubuntu based distro that didn't come with them, and the only ones I could think of is the Cinnamon Linux Mint and the KDE Plasma KDE Neon.

 

[pinetreeneedle56]

Genuiely asking why? I can assume it's similar stuff to Microsoft, but I'd like to know since a lot of modern Linux peeps seem to have a personal grudge against standard Ubuntu

I think it's because Ubuntu goes against the grain when it comes to Linux's philosophy of giving the user the freedom to choose how their system is configured. Maybe you could say it's a worse clone of MacOS?

 

[Leon]

I think it's because Ubuntu goes against the grain when it comes to Linux's philosophy of giving the user the freedom to choose how their system is configured. Maybe you could say it's a worse clone of MacOS?

That's actually a good way to put it, same as chrome os, it's a locked down os that goes too far down the "walled garden" path to the point of making it unjustifiable to use it.

The first one shouldn't be much of a problem nowadays if you're able to turn that off, but I do understand how this was an issue when it wasn't able to be turned off previously. I assume becuase of that, it definitely hurt their reputation by doing such.

This... I actually thought that anything that uses Ubuntu you cannot get rid of the snap packages that came with it, and the worst part is that I want(ed) to use an ubuntu based distro that didn't come with them, and the only ones I could think of is the Cinnamon Linux Mint and the KDE Plasma KDE Neon.

Well technically, ubuntu is based on debian, some distros are based on the ubuntu branch, but overall they are all debian based, canonical seems to be trying to make ubuntu different but they are going the wrong way about it.
As for the privacy thing, the problem is it's opt out, NOTHING on linux should be "opt out" when it comes to privacy, for people who know what they are doing it's not a big deal but for the beginner that's a gotcha and probably catches alot of people who aren't as tech literate as we are, basically the entire idea comes off as a way to scam people to me.

 

[Rylioli]

I made the switch to bazzite because windows was nice enough to not let me into my computer due to the bitlocker bs that i never set up. It was the perfect excuse to make the switch and im quite happy with it. Fuck windows

 

[FateLanegod]

I made the switch to bazzite because windows was nice enough to not let me into my computer due to the bitlocker bs that i never set up.

That’s perfect and quite common reason to choose Linux, since we wanna play our games, not dealing with OS broken by malware
Anyway, it doesn’t mean you can just run blindly anything that comes down from The internets, even if that looks legitimate.
There was big incident in AUR with distributing CHAOS RAT (TBH I just discovered it accidentally myself), but other user repositories might contain virtually anything hidden by “cutting-edge” packages.

That’s why I’m usually sceptical about niche distros, if they provide binary packages with neither archived source nor tracing how they made. Who knows motives of maintainers or who pays them or who may enforce them to do “small patch”. Regarding gaming stuff I’d trust original developers more than third party packages in general.
Yes, I’m a bit paranoid. Stay vigilant, brothers.

 

[Leon]

That’s perfect and quite common reason to choose Linux, since we wanna play our games, not dealing with OS broken by malware
Anyway, it doesn’t mean you can just run blindly anything that comes down from The internets, even if that looks legitimate.
There was big incident in AUR with distributing CHAOS RAT (TBH I just discovered it accidentally myself), but other user repositories might contain virtually anything hidden by “cutting-edge” packages.

That’s why I’m usually sceptical about niche distros, if they provide binary packages with neither archived source nor tracing how they made. Who knows motives of maintainers or who pays them or who may enforce them to do “small patch”. Regarding gaming stuff I’d trust original developers more than third party packages in general.
Yes, I’m a bit paranoid. Stay vigilant, brothers.

One of the reasons why i suggest using the chaotic-aur over the base aur when possible is that, besides the fact they are precompiled saving you time, they had to go through a compiler first making it less likely for a malicious package to get through, it's not perfect but it's better than nothing.

That being said it's easier to just use official packages whenever possible, alot of programs are actually distributed by the software maker directly, i believe google chrome for instance is a official repo program (though base chrome itself kinda defeats the purpose of using linux, it exists), basically the aur for me, i only use for extremely niche things as it's unlikely they'd be messed with.

 

[FateLanegod]

I keep saying, if something I need fresh related to gaming, like emulators, and it is not available in OS or it is far outdated there, I always go to author’s page.

The best option would be if they provide native packages or use trustworthy repo hosting and build service, like opensuse. That means my local libs and configs are respected and everything will very likely to keep work in optimal way through update cycles. And it is easy to update from repo too.

If native packages are not available, next preferred choice would be appimages. They cannot be updated automatically of course, you need to check for updates and fetch them manually. But usually I download it once and update only in case of issues. Since all dependencies are included it will always work regardless of what else is installed.

The last resort would be snaps and flatpacks. Although they could be easy updated too, and even provide some sort of isolation from host, I don’t like it because of extra service needed and it might break in obscure ways… Anyhow, that’s better than nothing. If possible I prefer to build or rebuild appimage myself.

 

[Konatalzumi]

Currently on my steam deck. I got my gaming windows laptop back and it works but I prefer using my steam deck since it's gnu/linux

 

[DragonMals]

Anyone who practically has a Steam Deck can say that they have used Linux here lol since it uses Arch (or Bazzite for those that changed it)

 

[Leon]

Anyone who practically has a Steam Deck can say that they have used Linux here lol since it uses Arch (or Bazzite for those that changed it)

Bazzite uses a red hat/fedora core, but yeah, it's still linux.

 

[DragonMals]

Bazzite uses a red hat/fedora core, but yeah, it's still linux

Yep! And that what makes it even better. :D

 

[Konatalzumi]

Anyone who practically has a Steam Deck can say that they have used Linux here lol since it uses Arch (or Bazzite for those that changed it)

It's awesome really, even if it's not exactly how windows used to be, I can still play all the games I want and bring my steam deck with me everywhere

 

[PupinDaTurd]

I'd love to be, but in the end I go back to Windows. I think primarily because most times I'm dropping a Linux install on something it's in an effort to rescue it after a fatal failure.
I've never built a PC that was Linux from the beginning. It's always something I try as a last resort to keep a machine going a little bit longer until I replace it.

Update on this actually, I probably jumped to Nobara like days or weeks after posting this and have been on it ever since. Daily driver gaming PC. There's been like two or three issues I couldn't figure out with some Phoogling and asking around the Discord but they weren't major. Really like it and encourage anyone even remotely curious to try out at least a live boot version. It's basically a demo on a USB drive.
You'll see it's a very tenable process to jump ship from the invasive tyranny of Windows.

 

[DragonMals]

Changed my College Laptop from Windows 11 to Fedora Cinnamon to Fedora KDE to KDE Neon to Linux Mint Cinnamon.

 

[TruthandConsequence]

I be usin that Nobara 43. Been jumping between it and Windows for a couple years now but finally gave up on 11 after it's been proven to drop your frames in games. I just can't deal with that. Not to mention this ID stuff that may or may not fully go into effect. I just won't use computers at that point tbh.

 

[DragonMals]

Not to mention this ID stuff that may or may not fully go into effect.

I still don't believe that the one with the OS level variant would pass through since if were talking about the likes of Linux, I always imagined implementing something like that would be impossible since there's so many workarounds to such that it would be effectively useless

 

[TruthandConsequence]

I still don't believe that the one with the OS level variant would pass through since if were talking about the likes of Linux, I always imagined implementing something like that would be impossible since there's so many workarounds to such that it would be effectively useless

Yeah, for sure. I don't think it'll actually get passed anyway, but it is a worry for me.

 

[ibbie]

I wish. Right now I am still on the look out for any good distros that I want to use in the future and settle from there. Got my eyes on Linux Mint considering how it is one of those ready-to-go operating systems, but still unsure. What distros would you recommend that would be good for everyday work, gaming and hobby stuff? Sorry if I sound vague here.

 

[SpikeSlania]

I wish. Right now I am still on the look out for any good distros that I want to use in the future and settle from there. Got my eyes on Linux Mint considering how it is one of those ready-to-go operating systems, but still unsure. What distros would you recommend that would be good for everyday work, gaming and hobby stuff? Sorry if I sound vague here.

Fedora

 

[Jdan-S]

I've been on Linux Mint since the 2010s.

In fact, I'm about to install it again to a new system. I just bought an MSI Modern 15 this weekend while it was still in stock for a reasonable price. I'm going to set it up like my current work laptop (Ideapad 3, which is showing signs of wear after 3.5 years of daily use).

I plan to dual-boot as usual, but maybe I don't have to this time around. I no longer use the Windows partition on the Ideapad, and I can do all my work on open-source software (Firefox, LibreOffice, MyPaint, GIMP, Krita, Audacity, etc.). If necessary, I still have access to Windows 11 on the two mini PCs that I use for gaming/entertainment. Going all-Linux on the new laptop would eliminate any concerns about Windows Update messing up the partitions.

I also own a Steam Deck, and it has shown me how viable gaming on Linux has gotten. At this point, I could ditch Windows completely if I wanted to. It's just that it comes preinstalled with the computer systems I buy, and I'd hate to just get rid of something that's part of what I paid for. It's like buying a new gadget and keeping the box stored somewhere.