Linux Gaming @lemmy.ml SynopsisTantilize @lemm.ee 4w ago

New machine: Which distro?

Okay I have a case coming in to shove my junk in it. 8500t (temporary until I get a 8700k) -16gb ram -1060 6gb -2 2.5ssd -2 3.5hdd

I'm partial to Mint and Debian commands. Anyone have a suggestion before I go balls deep into a Mint distro build?

30 comments

Why not Mint? Just use what you like. It doesn't matter nearly as much as people say.

Personally I like OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
- +1 for tumbleweed. Swapped to it from Ubuntu a few years back and it's been great. Up-to-date everything, very stable, built in recovery just in case the last update had some regressions. Highly recommend
- I've been a Linux user for nearly 20 years and my main gaming rig is Mint because it's convenient and gets out of my way when it's time to game.
- I think you're right, but if I don't ask and see what else is out there I'll stay stagnant and it isn't going to help me find anything new.
  
  I fully second the sentiment that there is no good reason to switch distribution once you have found one that you like.
  
  However, if your goal is to learn something new, and you don't care about having to nuke the install and start over, then you could go the crazy route and install Linux From Scratch. It is unlikely to yield a maintainable result at first try, but if learning is your goal, this is your best shot at it.
  
  Or you could go the not-that-crazy route and use Gentoo, which is basically Linux From Scratch, but automated. Setting it up is way quicker (couple of hours - except if you configure the kernel by hand), and you will with near certainty get a maintainable system on first try, but it is also far less educational, given that the automation does most of the work for you. (I have switched from Debian to Gentoo 10 years ago, after trying it on my netbook for some time, and I could not be happier. It only does what it should, is rolling release, and only very rarely has issues.)
  
  I would only recommend those two approaches on a second PC though, without immediately switching the main PC over. Linux From Scratch is, as said, unlikely to yield a maintainable installation on first try, so you will likely nuke the install again. Gentoo, while perfectly usable as a daily driver, is certainly not everyone's beer, and you might simply want to switch away again because you don't like it.
If you care only about gaming: Bazzite or Nobara.
- I am using Bazzite with Gnome as a first linux distro after windows and its been a pretty seamless transition. I did run into some trouble with the bazzite packaged installer so I installed fedora, then rebased to bazzite but since then its been great as a dd.
Mint because shit is easily labelled on the programs and shit just works. Tons of info online.
Keep in mind that 1060 will give you a lot of headache for games using DirectX 12. If you can, get an RTX 20 series or GTX 16 series card, or dual boot with Windows.
- Yea my laptop is running Linux mint with a 1060 and it's kinda a pain to run. I just flat out don't want to use windows at all.
@SynopsisTantilize

Just install @archlinux and be happy for many years 😌.
- Man. If I had the time to maintain arch I would
  
  YMMV... but in my experience that whole "time to maintain arch"-idea is overstated.
  
  I defintiely spend less time on issues like "oh, there's a bug. let's role that update back and try again in 6-24 hours when it's fixed" or "defaults changed in a new version, let's take a quick look at the changes" on arch than on annoying bugs persisting for years in fixed distros. And that's before calculating the whole "distro upgrade every otehr year"-stuff. Which likes to kill a whole weekend at least and barely ever works (followed by the same "oh, defaults changed" but now on dozens of components at the same time).
  
  And because of that second point in particular even if archlinux wouldn't be my choice I could never go back to a non-rolling release.
  
  You could get an arch based distro and let the distro maintainers handle it. I use EndeavourOS and its been great for the past 3 years
Fedora! It’s great
- Thinking about making the move from Pop!_OS. Pop has been good, and it's not like I need to be on the latest thing, but it's still on Gnome 42 I think. Pop is starting to feel a bit long in the tooth.
  
  Why? isn't it 22.4? And five versions old Gnome. Have you tried the new alpha?
Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). It, with Cinnamon, is what I use for my home servers.
Bluefin is nice.
- I use it too. I am too old to tinker with my OS, Bluefin has some nice defaults and stuff just works (mostly)
Debian get it from the source
For gaming and having it work out of the box ?

Based on Debian : pikaOS

Based on fedora : Nobara

Based on Atomic fedora : Bazzite

Based on Arch : CachyOS

Based onUbuntu : PopOS (not so sure about its current state, their cosmic desktop isn't released yet)

Beginner friendly : Mint, most of gaming distro (cachy might be a bit more advanced )

I do not know much about the current state of snaps, so I won't recommend Ubuntu and derivatives (kubuntu, Xubuntu...). I guess it is easier to use .deb now, but I can't call beginner friendly a distro that require terminal or tweaks to change packages you can install on it.
OpenSUSE Tumbleweed

Install a tool called opi

Then run opi codecs to install the codecs you need.
If you want an out of the box ready to game experience with no maintenance, then I suggest Bazzite.
Rhino. it is a new, but very promising distro, ubuntu based and rolling, which is great for gaming
- I'll try some VMs tonight. Never heard of it
  
  just search ut up on youtube, there are many great summaries about what is it.
I recsntly set up my PC again and had fomo when selecting a distro. First ai helped to choose, just tell it what your requirements are. Second, its Linux. After the installiert you can do whatever you want with it. Just pick one if the 3 best fitting ones

30 comments