Back in 2020 I pointed out what were the best Linux distributions for gaming, so here's the current state and what you should go for in 2023.
The thing is: not a lot has changed since my last article. Linux is still a minefield of many different distributions for people, and it can be very confusing. There's a lot of articles out there recommending really random and outdated distributions in lists too, so here's the real thing.
Without getting bogged down into packaging issues, and just giving you the basics of "this will work just fine" — go and install Ubuntu. People will (and I expect them to) argue for others, and people are free to, but a lot of people suggest other distributions for the wrong reasons. Manjaro has too many problems both technical and management, Arch can and will break things if you don't know exactly what you're doing, Fedora is messy with NVIDIA drivers and SELinux on Fedora is a nuisance and so on. Ubuntu is still to this day, the most simple distribution of Linux to install and get gaming.
Ubuntu isn't perfect by a long shot, but it remains as my number 1 choice to suggest to people both new and old to get into Linux and get gaming. It's one of the most used on desktop by any statistic you can find, which also means troubleshooting it is generally easier too.
With the Ubuntu LTS (long term support) releases, you also get support for at least 5 years, so you don't have the hassle and potential breakage of major system internal updates for quite a long time.
Valve's own stats show Ubuntu as one of the most popular too and it has been the same since Steam came to Linux.
As a user of Fedora myself, take it from me if you're in any way new to Linux: just go with Ubuntu. If you ever decide you "really know Linux now", then you can think about using something else. Don't make it difficult for yourself.
How might this change in future?
Well, Valve are here with the Steam Deck and SteamOS. Eventually, Valve will release SteamOS 3 so anyone can download it and install it. That might end up being a good pick, but right now it's not on the table as it's not released and anyone making their own version of it (like HoloISO and others) are too small to recommend serious use of them.
If you need help and support, specifically for Linux and also Steam Deck gaming, you can try asking in our Forum, Discord, IRC and Telegram.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
mr-victory Dec 2, 2022
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualIf you're wondering why H.265/HEVC (and now VVC) never got much adoption compared to its predecessor, this is why.I converted all of my videos to H265 back then with VLC and saved around %80-95 disk space. Do you think I should convert them to AV1, would I reclaim even more disk space? I don't care about patents because both Arch Linux and VLC just ignore their existence and ship all the codecs.
Quoting: Liam DaweI won't ever recommend people use something like Nobara. Regardless of who runs it, the point is pointing people towards tiny random distributions that could vanish at any point is not going to help Linux and Linux Gaming in the long run. If I'm going to put my reputation on a recommendation for a distribution, it's going to be one with a long history of support and good backing. Hopefully that makes sense.
Nobara user here. 🙂 I was about to recommend Nobara but your point is absolutely valid. Nevertheless I have to say that my experience with it is very good. I tried Ubuntu and POP.OS with both I had problems with gaming.
Abedsbrother Dec 2, 2022
Quoting: iiariNo idea how many people are currently running ReBorn, but its webpage recently got overhauled around the same time there was a large update with a new post-install configuration app called ReBorn OS Fire.Quoting: AbedsbrotherUsually run RebornOS (Arch) but am currently preparing to give Nobara a try. As time has passed, am less interested in cutting edge and more interested in stability (being a Patient Gamer helps).Good to hear Reborn OS is still around. I was on it a few years ago but was very hesitant to put all my eggs (especially my work laptop) in the basket of a fringe, "one man" distro. When the at the time college aged (I think) founder/dev was openly pondering in the forums about whether he'd be able to keep everything going during his upcoming compsci grad school, I moved on. Is he still the primary driver or is there a larger team?
Anyway, there were always some good ideas at Reborn. Glad to hear it's still going.
Quoting: GuestI really don't get people supporting Manjaro: ok, you are not good enough to install Arch but why Manjaro?
Apart from their various security screwups over the years, and that shady thing with Asahi, their approach to packages management and the AUR is weird... also they hold packages back for two weeks for no actual reason.
Why people don't use something like archinstall or EndeveourOS instead of Manjaro?
This is tangential, but I thought that it's interesting to explore, so here's my couple of cents.
I'm somewhat lazy in regards to tinkering/fixing/modifying stuff on my home system despite being a programmer for many years. I have a couple of things that I care about that I modify/patch (the dreaded "on release, not press" xkb bug that is 18 years old and will never be fixed), and that's basically locks me in the Arch territory, Ubuntu may have some PPA with this xserver patch still, but I'm not sure now. Also it locks me in the X11 dinosaur-land forever, because it's not even considered a bug in Wayland projects. Sorry for this tangent, but I need to cry about it, even programmers have feelings.
So I'm lazy, but I may have a slight obsession with doing something right and proper as you can see. Because this xkb thing is not right and a travesty of a protocol. As is some Manjaro's team moves that are critiqued everywhere around the globe (some of that you've already pointed out). So it sets me up for a move to Arch-proper or any other derivative, naturally, and I thought about it multiple times. The thing is - I'm not sure that I will get much more by doing this move, besides some new headaches and pains along the way. I will move definitely if Manjaro's team will do some major f-up that will really piss me off, but not in the near future I believe.
Also, trying to answer this question from a different perspective: I think there's a PR problem going on. Manjaro is positioned as a newbie friendly distro with some caveats. They are very effective with their collaborations (in Arm space for example) and their PR. Arch is not only shouts everywhere that it's not newbie friendly, it somewhat prides itself in that. Installing Arch is a rite of passage of some sort and the absolute majority of people will stay far-far away from this, of course. Do you want to experience a nice meal in a restaurant, even if there's some comments that this restaurant's management and courses may be dodgy or not as good as they seem, or maybe you want to experience the thrill of hunting a wild boar that may break your leg and bite your hand off if you're not up to task? The average user is not ready for the hunt. He's already sold on the idea that Manjaro is a packaged meal while Arch is Gentoo in disguise with poisoned darts and spike traps from Prince of Persia. Something like that.
Also, I think that it may be more productive to ask this question in another way: why is it, given that Manjaro's team are such amateurs, their distribution got so popular? How did they managed to secure the backing, sponsorships, maintainers and users? What could be learned from them?
mr-victory Dec 2, 2022
Quoting: Guestthan playing russian roulette when updating software on Arch😂😂
My PC hasn't killed me! Yet...
However: I'm aware that this distro is almost never mentioned, so i guess there is a very little userbase. Can anyone explain to me how they manage to be #1 on distrowatch.com? (which is how i became aware of them)
Quoting: Deleted_UserHowever: I'm aware that this distro is almost never mentioned, so i guess there is a very little userbase. Can anyone explain to me how they manage to be #1 on distrowatch.com? (which is how i became aware of them)
Simple: distrowatch doesn't count usage, downloads, etc. Just how many page views were there. So people seem to be interested. That's the only thing distrowatch can tell you. You could be number one for a whole year there without having any active users!
Last edited by peta77 on 2 December 2022 at 11:48 am UTC
Quoting: Deleted_UserCan anyone explain to me how they manage to be #1 on distrowatch.com? (which is how i became aware of them)Distrowatch only measures the number of times that people look at the distro information on Distrowatch. Distros that people actually use don't need to be looked up on Distrowatch.
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