A friend is due for a gaming PC build. But he’s super pissed it needs to run windows 11. I told him just run something else. He said his job needs something that runs windows-only and on the odd occasions where he needs a desktop to do something he’s not buying a second computer just to run windows.

Dual booting exists but Microsoft likes to clobber boot loaders. So I reminded him he could just run windows 11 in a VM when he needs to, everything else in bare metal Linux.

He’s now sold on moving to Linux.

The question is where should he start? It used to be as simple as “if you aren’t sure, use Ubuntu.” But his use case kinda seems like what everyone has been crowing about using bazzite for.

I have zero experience with bazzite but the page does describe something built for his use case. There are 3 concerns I have though.

  1. Is it common enough that he can Google an answer?
  2. it’s an atomic distro, so classic Linux answers he might find online won’t always be applicable here.
  3. selinux, ugh.

What’s a good gamer Linux distro? He’s not super into tinkering. He just wants it to do the thing without Microsoft’s invasive bullshit.

  • dajoho@sh.itjust.works
    2·
    4 days ago

    So, I’m an all-around Bazzite fan, but it does have a bit of an odd learning curve. It’s easy to use for a beginner, child, or grandma. However, if you’re used to fiddling with your system, it might be a little harder to get into because you have to navigate the immutable nature of the OS, which can complicate some online tutorials and potentially lead to frustration for an intermediate/experienced user migrating from Windows.

    So my suggestion would be:

    Child - Bazzite

    Grandma - Bazzite

    Gamer - Bazzite

    Experienced Windows user - Fedora or Mint, then once you’re used to Linux, Bazzite

    Developer - Bazzite

    I personally use the Gnome version. It’s really polished and pretty.

  • kieron115@startrek.websiteEnglish
    8·
    7 days ago

    I’m throwing in my vote for CachyOS. Not because it’s the easiest to use (though it isnt difficult imo) but because it works out of the box, then they have nice wiki to guide you through simple things (like using Lutris and Proton). It’s also Arch based so there’s the arch wiki to fall back on. I ran Windows for 35 years and just switched to Linux in like October, fwiw.

  • shadshack@feddit.onlineEnglish
    5·
    7 days ago

    Echoing what others have said, a “gaming distro” really isn’t necessary. I have used Ubuntu for years on and off. When I switched my gaming PC to Linux earlier this year I went with Kubuntu, because it’s just Ubuntu and I like KDE Plasma better than Gnome. I do feel like Ubuntu is one of the easiest to find support for when you’re looking online.

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      2·
      7 days ago

      While I generally agree, the benefit of it being gaming focused means if he has to look something up any community or support he finds will already be familiar with exactly what he’s trying to accomplish. It will help the newbie when I’m not available to.

    • Tiuku@sopuli.xyz
      1·
      4 days ago

      This. I use Arch myself so to my friends I just recommend one of the downstream distros. Might not be the most stable things ever but it’s just easier for me to help them.

    • muusemuuse@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
      1·
      6 days ago

      I’m using fedora server right now and my daily driver is still a Mac at the moment. I’m still transitioning.

  • nutbutter@discuss.tchncs.de
    41·
    7 days ago

    If not Bazzite, Nobara is an option. It is based on Fedora, but is not an atomic distro, and iirc, it replaces selinux with apparmor, but unless you’re getting into development, docker/podman etc, selinux will never be an issue.

    Nobara is maintained by Glorious Eggroll, who also maintains proton-ge. Is also comes with an iso with built-in nvidia drivers, and also comes with an HTPC iso.

    I have been using it for a few years, now. The documentation is also well detailed. And anything that works on Fedora will work on Nobara.

  • IsoKiero@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    2·
    6 days ago

    I don’t really follow what’s going on between different distributions as Debian has been my workhorse for decades, but a few weeks ago out of curiosity I threw bazzite on a desktop which was left ower due to work changes and that hardware is now just for gaming. Installation was pretty much just next-next-next and it after boot there was a steam login window ready to go. Every game in my library so far has been just as flawless experience than with windows, if not even better. I don’t have any the new AAA-titles and I’m not a fan of any online-multiplayers, so YMMV. For Epic I installed Heroic-launcher and (atleast games I’ve tested so far) everything works.

  • Fell@discuss.tchncs.de
    1·
    7 days ago

    I can’t speak about Bazzite, but I installed Mint for a friend about two months ago and he was totally able to web search himself through a few problems. I didn’t have to intervene at all.

  • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
    11·
    7 days ago

    For gaming, start with Bazzite. It “just works” and is almost impossible to break.

    If your friend wants more control, switch to Fedora KDE.

    If your friend is very technically inclined — comfortable on a command line — and wants even more control, switch to CachyOS.

    Whatever you choose, I strongly recommend using the KDE Plasma desktop environment.

    I do not recommend Mint, even though it is very popular here, since it does not support the KDE Plasma desktop environment, the Cinnamon DTE is ugly and outdated garbage, and Mint has more hardware problems than other distros on newer gaming hardware.

    Fortunately, switching Linux distros is fast and easy, unlike Windows. So you can quickly and easily try different things to see what you like. Consider putting Ventoy on a USB drive, since it lets you copy ISOs straight onto it and you can boot directly to whatever you want. It’s a handy way to test drive any distro you want that has a “Live” image.

    If you absolutely must keep Windows around, install it to a separate physical drive to prevent it from destroying your bootloader. Then configure BIOS to boot to your Linux drive.

  • Veraxis@lemmy.worldEnglish
    46·
    8 days ago

    Side question: his job is asking him to run work programs on his personal machine? If they are not willing to provide a work laptop or if it is something that does not require powerful hardware to run, I feel like in that situation I would buy a burner laptop off ebay to run the work thing on.

    That’s just my personal preference, but I do not mix work and personal things on the same computer.

    • osaerisxero@kbin.melroy.org
      11·
      8 days ago

      So I can address this from my experience, their mileage may vary: sometimes it’s about saving yourself time. Say if your normal daily driver is a desktop for some reason, but you’re on call to do a task. You can (in theory) do that task from your home PC or you can drive in to the office for (arbitrary round trip time) to do it ‘properly’. Even when I used windows at home /and/ had a work laptop I still maintained a VM (an ersatz air gap) for work shit on my personal PC for convince sake.

    • FoundFootFootage78@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      7 days ago

      There’s also the security concern. A workplace should not have an employee run work software on a machine that isn’t bound by group policy.

  • BartyDeCanter@lemmy.sdf.org
    376·
    8 days ago

    Just install Mint. Honestly, “gamer” Linux is a pretty silly concept. You can install Steam and Lutris on any distro which gets you access to basically all modern PC gaming. Even something as slow to embrace change as Debian has recent enough drivers and kernels available.

    • melfie@lemy.lol
      10·
      7 days ago

      I have a mini PC for gaming and originally installed Mint, but switched to Bazzite to see if it would fix an issue with my XBox controllers cutting out. It didn’t, and I also didn’t notice any better performance in games. After coming to the conclusion I’d have to rebase to uninstall Steam (I only use Lutris), I decided immutable is cool, but I’ll stick with Mint.

    • ashughes@feddit.uk
      6·
      7 days ago

      Fact. I game on Debian (mostly through Steam flatpak) and it works great. I tried the so-called “gaming” distros and eeked out 0-5% fps gains while also experiencing paper cuts or bugs in other areas of my daily driving that weren’t present on Debian. I’m not into e-sports so so long as I’m not hitting a 30 fps floor I’m fine. The time I save not having to navigate paper cuts I get to put toward fun things, like actually playing games.

      (Edit: typos)

  • ashughes@feddit.uk
    211·
    7 days ago

    I don’t have a recommendation other than don’t recommend something to your friend for which you’re not willing to provide tech support.

    • Aurora Chrysalis@lemmy.mlEnglish
      6·
      7 days ago

      ^This is the answer.

      Mint still does not work well with Wayland from what I can tell, and if you need features like HDR, you’re gonna have to stick to something that runs Wayland well.

      While Bazzite seems fine, it is an atomic distro. If you were to try installing certain software natively, like another Firewall for instance, it might not work. And if you continue to layer such software, the update times can take longer.

      Cachy(with KDE) seems very stable to me. You’ll pretty much find every software through the repo. If not, you’ll have to manually install flatpak yourself. Never had to do it myself though. But it shouldn’t be a hassle, I think.

      It has its own proton variant and they recommend that you disable Steam preshader caching and increase maximum shader cache size when you’re using Proton-Cachy or GE.

  • rmerc@lemmy.ml
    14·
    8 days ago

    Mint (LMDE). It might actually be easier to use than windows. My dead dad could use it and he was a moron. I held out for quite a while to try out ‘cooler’ distros but yeah, Mint is what I’m telling anyone moving from windows to use now.