Which distribution is the best for Steam?

[Akaii Panda]

I had some bad experience with Ubuntu. Once I had sound problems in game while I was in a Skype talk. It was better with openSuse, but I'm not sure if it's the best. Is there anything, that works very good with Steam?

[Benjamin]

I think this depends on your skill level. For example everything works flawlessly on Arch, but I wouldn't recommend it to a novice. I've heard good things about the newer OpenSUSE releases, so maybe stick with that if it's working out for you. Anything in particular you're looking for, besides no sound issues?

[Akaii Panda]

Well I should try it with my new hardware now. I had a four years old notebook before. I don't have installed Linux on my new PC yet. I think I'll try OpenSUSE first :D

[Hagymakarika]

I'm using Ubuntu 13.04 now. It's a stable OS and it's faster than ubuntu 12.04. At least for me.

[Flyhigh]

Good luck :-)

I'm happy using openSUSE (12.2 64 Bit with ATI-Card).

[sounds like a wooosh]

If you ask this way it will be Ubuntu (or one of its derviates).

Why? Just because they test Steam on this platform first as it seems. For most systems you can find a howto. You probably already found that out…

I don't know what kind of Ubuntu you used. Maybe for your own hardware/drivers KDE works currently better than Unity? But Suse is just fine as well! – It is just not the system that they use first to test their software as it seems… And other distributions should also work!

There are probably other things than drivers/hardware one can think about and take into consideration. But if you ask straight 'which distribution' - the first and general answer should be this simple: Ubuntu.

All other things should be specific to ones hardware or personal taste/needs/preferences I would say…

[ProChaser [Linux]]

Go for OpenSUSE, Ubuntu or Fedora if you are new to Linux. Ubuntu is the official distro which is supported by Valve right now. Sure everything is Linux and therefore, it will also work with other distros.

If you are new to Linux, keep always in mind that you have a total open system in front of you. You have to teach yourself the new way of working with your system. If you just don't care about all the stuff, you may be better of with Windows or Mac. In the end Linux will revard you greatly - for sure! Ideally you will also contribute to the whole ecosystem. And this is when you are really free. The others just charge you instead .)

[R3450N]

My experiences with Ubuntu are mostly positive, but I concur with what others have said here; other distros like openSUSE, Fedora and even Linux Mint may be for you since they include desktop environments that aren't as resource-intensive as Unity might be. Nevertheless, I use Unity and have experienced nothing flawed to say the least. All distros come with pretty much the same set of software, and from it you can install Steam on it too. Most of the criticism of distros tend to lie on the utility and the desktop environment used; otherwise Linux be Linux in the end.

[Eden]

Though you may not want to run them, steam runs very well on both Gentoo or Funtoo dirstros using the gamerlay overlay.

Ubuntu may have improved depending on when you last used it, but keep in mind your problems you experianced using skype are more problems becuase of skype being proprietory than anything else.

[Zyro]

I'm using Debian. It runs very fine with steam.

But the best distribution to be used with steam will always be Ubuntu, because it is the only one officially supported.

And now, poeple, please try one time not to have a distribution war. Thanks.

[ProChaser [Linux]]

No one has started a distribution war. And why should we?! The most of us changed distros while we were learning more and more of the Linux depths.

So, in the end everyone who is new to Linux just starts with one distribution and 12 months later probably changed to another one.

The important thing is, he/she is still a Linux user and probably will be for ever.

Even the most experienced Linux users change distros. There is no prefered way. And that's what makes Linux awesome, Everyone gets what he/she currently needs fitting with the current experience level and needs :)

[Zyro]

Oprindeligt skrevet af ProChaser Linux:

No one has started a distribution war. And why should we?! The most of us changed distros while we were learning more and more of the Linux depths.

Don't ask me. But it seems every thread asking about distributions has to end in dozens of war mails.

Oprindeligt skrevet af ProChaser Linux:

Even the most experienced Linux users change distros.

I'm using Linux for about 15 years now and never changed. :P

[ProChaser [Linux]]

Oprindeligt skrevet af Zyro:

Oprindeligt skrevet af ProChaser Linux:

Even the most experienced Linux users change distros.

I'm using Linux for about 15 years now and never changed. :P

Haha, then you are not an Arch user :) Anyway, it simply doesn't matter. We all use the same software (almost). It's just important to know for beginners, that if you don't like one distribution just move on to the next one. Even with simply changing distributions at the beginnig you will learn a lot about Linux. Just have fun .)

[Toquita]

Each user will report a different distro because each one of us have different hardware. What works well for me might now work for you, and what didn't work for you might perform very good for me.

Personally, the best out there should be Arch. No question about it.

I'm using Debian jessie (the testing branch) and it's a piece of cake to work on.

Try numerous distros and see which fits YOU the best. I like to have lots of controls over my system, so I never use Ubuntu or it's forks.

[Cybertao]

Oprindeligt skrevet af GNU/Linux - Junior s2 Camila:

Personally, the best out there should be Arch. No question about it.

Sure there's a question about that: Why?

[neo1275]

Well as others have said it pretty much comes down to skill level and personal taste. Also keep in mind if you use a laptop, does it have Optimus or not. Optimus is a gpu switching mechanism for nvidia based laptops. It is usable in Linux through a program called Bumblebee and is pretty easy to setup in Ubuntu based distros. However you will almost certainly see a performance drop compared to non-optimus laptops. Otherwise just decide what desktop environment you like and the rest is just experience and skill level.

P.S. Nvidia is currently working on native Optimus support but will not be available until Ubuntu 13.10, and probably 14.04 before it's really usuable in terms of performance.