I’m putting together a gaming system for the kind of person who needs help if their TV is set to the wrong input. Obviously I’m committing myself to providing a certain amount of tech support no matter what, but I’m wondering if any of these modern Linux distros can provide a user experience at least on par with Windows in terms of ease of use and reliability for someone who doesn’t know how to do much more than check their email and log in to Steam.
So far, I’ve looked at Bazzite, Cachy, Nobara, and PopOS based on what I commonly see recommended here. I’m leaning toward Bazzite based on its stated goal of being friendly to Linux newcomers, and the quality and amount of available documentation. Are there any other distros I’ve missed, or other considerations that might sway my preference?
I’d also like to hear about your subjective experiences with Linux gaming:
- What distro are you using for gaming?
- How long have you used it?
- How often have you had issues that require Linux knowledge and/or searching the web to solve?
- Have you had any other minor/annoying complaints?
If you’ve used a Steam Deck, you’ve used Bazzite (for all intents and purposes). If you can use a game console, you can use Bazzite. That’s pretty much the entire purpose of SteamOS; making PC gaming stupid easy.
Caveats:
if you want to use anything other than Steam, it quickly becomes more complicated.
If you want to play competitive multiplayer games, many of them block Linux users.
If you want to use any peripherals besides KBM or controller, such as flight sticks or steering wheels, that also can be complicated.
The person in question loves their Steam Deck, but occasionally wants to play a game that requires a little more processing power. My first thought when I started researching was to check whether SteamOS was generally available for PCs (sadly, it’s not).
Have you used Bazzite for long?
I’ve been using Bazzite for about a year and ChimeraOS for a couple of years before that (very similar but Arch-based). It’s great.
If they like how SteamOS worked, then go with Bazzite. I’ve used Linux for nearly 3 decades now. At the end of the day, we could nickle and dime the differences and the pros and cons. I don’t think it’s worth it. Bazzite will be familiar enough, and you can add Bottles to handle other game launchers. That will give you the most kitchen appliance like device.