Looking for a Linux distro for steam games.

[K-tel Records]

I have just about had enough of Ubuntu. I don't like the direction they are going in.

I am now looking for a distro that works well with steam games.

suggestions?

[rawWwRrr]

Nobara ?

[Spawn of Totoro]

The Steam Deck uses the SteamOS with Arch Linux as the base. Arch is used because of the way it deals with updates, from my understanding.

I use Linux Mint on my laptop.

Debian is a good one, but you need to add things to it for Steam to work, let alone other common usages for a computer. A good distro for a power user though.

[Yujah]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

The Steam Deck uses the SteamOS with Arch Linux as the base.

Yes, but Valve-vetted/blessed specific "snapshots" of Arch Linux whereas you'd on a general Arch based distribution be on a full rolling release.

But yes, there'd still be some expectation that e.g. EndeavourOS (with KDE) would be relatively close to SteamOS -- at least if your hardware is also somewhat close. Arch Linux itself, EndeavourOS, Manjaro maybe, KaOS maybe, ...

[Elucidator]

It depends on how much you want to customize / control yourself basically. Most if not all will run Steam just fine.

Instead, I guess you want to look at the desktop's appearance and tools mainly.
Do you want GNOME or KDE, or maybe Cinnamon, XFCE, etc?
I think you should look into that instead.
Which appearance / interface looks most appealing to you?

Do you like the more MacOS styled desktop? or maybe more like Windows?
Do you like High Quality, a bit more costy desktop environments (dolphin for example), or do you want more simplistic, low ram usage desktop?

Also, consider how much time effort you want to put into learning how to use your new computer.

Recommendation:
Look up videos about an OS you may be interested in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXvBhiIxQlk

[ナルゴ]

Anything based on arch and debian should work fine, or can be fixed to work fine.

[D. Flame]

I use Linux Mint. It is based on Ubuntu, but it is for people that think Ubuntu is going in the wrong direction.

I also use a Steam Deck, which is based on Arch.

Mint uses CInnamon. The Deck uses Plasma. I much prefer Cinnamon of the two DEs.

[Crashed]

If you are using Linux only for Steam, Arch is likely the best choice since it is what the Steam Deck runs on.

Not sure what's so bad about Ubuntu? It is also quite compatible with Steam as long as you run sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 then sudo apt install steam.

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by Crashed:

If you are using Linux only for Steam, Arch is likely the best choice since it is what the Steam Deck runs on.

Not sure what's so bad about Ubuntu? It is also quite compatible with Steam as long as you run sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 then sudo apt install steam.

Steam Deck isn't Arch; it is Arch-based. Valve makes a ton of their own changes and modifications to it.

[Stormer]

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos No idea how well it works but I’d assume valves own operating system can run steam well

[Yujah]

SteamOS (the current incarnation, 3.x) hasn't yet been released to the public for general PCs. It should be eventually but your link leads to retired versions once intended for "Steam Machines".

[Wolfpig]

Originally posted by Stormer:

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos No idea how well it works but I’d assume valves own operating system can run steam well

Just as a side note.
As far as i know "steam os" is only a debian (?) install with a few customizations and the bpm set as standard startup.

[Gnome]

Bazzite is a great SteamOS-like distro:

https://bazzite.gg

It also just got updated today. More info: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/07/bazzite-linux-36-out-now-bringing-full-asus-rog-ally-x-support

[Zyber]

I have been using Linux Mint with Mate for years and have had no issues with steam. I stopped using Ubuntu long ago. Linux Mint has a great team and a great community.

[N3tRunn3r]

The early SteamOS was built upon Debian, latest SteamOS is built upon Arch. So I recommend just these 3 to you:

1. Debian[www.debian.org]
   
   
2. Mint Debian[linuxmint.com]
   
   
3. Arch Linux[archlinux.org]

Helpful: Arch compared to other distributions[wiki.archlinux.org]

Barebones and stable !!

Of course there are a handful of other great and stable Linux Distributions, but these aint be built / compatible for gaming, more for a secured environment for office work . . . as Fedora, popOS, SUSE, Red Hat. However these aint Open Source though . . .

So I recommend Debian or Arch !!

[K-tel Records]

Originally posted by Zyb:

I have been using Linux Mint with Mate for years and have had no issues with steam. I stopped using Ubuntu long ago. Linux Mint has a great team and a great community.

I keep hearing good things about Mint. Ubuntu crossed a few lines with me when 24 came out.

They are acting more and more like microsoft with each new edition.

It is my understanding that much of what Mint has done has been in response to the direction that Ubuntu has gone.

Right now, this machine is on Ubuntu 23. I might go back to 22.04 because it is supported until 2027. However, I am going to do some more research on this Mint thing, because I have only heard good things about it.