Recommended Linux Distribution

[cHicKen]

Which Linux distribution does Valve prefer for Steam Linux client ? (for server and for desktop)
Thanks

[blackout24]

The client targets Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. It doesn't matter that much, since steam-runtime abstracts away any differences between the distros. If you start the Steam client on some other distro it will automatically enable steam-runtime which is basically a copy of the Ubuntu 12.04 libraries which are shipped with the client. Never used Ubuntu for Steam and never had any issues getting my games to start.

[cHicKen]

32bit or 64bit ? Do you think that Valve does any tests on Ubuntu distribution?

[blackout24]

What kind of tests do you mean? If You have a PC that is not older than 10 years and has a 64 bit capable CPU use 64 bit. There is not a single reason to run a 32 bit OS on a modern PC.

[Penguin_Player]

I agree with blackout24, 64 bit is the norm now.. I use Linux Mint, havent had a single problem with Steam, is really stable.. is really a question of which desktop enviroment you prefer and which drivers are the best for your hardware..

[Adi]

I for one install 64 bit OS only on machines that have 4GB of Ram and above.
Ubuntu
As stated from here->http://store.steampowered.com/about/, Ubuntu is they're preferred Linux distribution, but you can choose whatever distribution you want.
I am a Ubuntu user and very pleased with it, it is also the most popular Linux distribution in steam's hardware survey.
But as every Linux distro it is suited for those that like it and think that it fits they're need and there are more great distros out there that do not need to be neglected: Debian(the root from which Ubuntu and SteamOS come), Linux Mint(Ubuntu derivate), Fedora(other linux branch),OpenSuse(same family as Fedora) and the list goes on and on.

A full list you can find here->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

[Aoi Blue]

Out of the most popular distros (other distros not mentioned due to lack of popularity, nothing to do with how good they are.)
Good distros for Home-Desktop beginners are:
Ubuntu (and varients), Linux Mint, OpenSUSE, PCLinuxOS

Good Distros for Small Business users are:
Ubuntu (and varients), OpenSUSE, CentOS, PCLinuxOS

Good Distros for Medium Business users are:
Ubuntu (and varients), Debian (and varients), OpenSUSE, SUSE Enterprise, RedHat Enterprise

Good Distros for Large Business users are:
Ubuntu (and varients), Debian (and varients), SUSE Enterprise, RedHat Enterprise

Good Distros for uber-user experts are:
Debian, Gentoo, Arch, CrunchBang, Slackware

Again, I'm noting that there are tons more Linux distributions out there, but I'm only listing the most popular ones for desktop and workstation use that have the requirements to run a good gaming machine.

For a more complete list of Linux distributions, check out http://distrowatch.com/ (This is the most comprehensive list of Linux Distributions I know of, and it is still not 100% complete or accurate.)

[Nan]

+

[Ulfrinn]

ubuntu is garbage.. highly bloated, overweight, canonical pile of crap, id avoid it entirely, at the very least use linux mint, my recommendation would be something more directly based on debian though as steamos will be

[Penguin_Player]

Long are the days when Ubuntu was my favorite + Debian, will after 9.10 and all when to canonicals head and became super bloadted and ♥♥♥♥♥... went back to Debian..
+ Desktop Enviroments are a freaking joke..

[Ulfrinn]

im using LMDE now, which is geared towards being a basic, simple, desktop.. you dont get 20 of each type of app, you get one, so you dont get firefox, chrome, konqueror, opera, and 5 others, you just get firefox to start for example... it uses the same package manager as ubuntu (synaptic or apt-get), difference is LMDE is based directly off debian and is fully compatible with debian repositories

ive been using linux since 2005, using slackware, debian, gentoo, redhat, fedora, ubuntu, mint, and about 10 others and ive settled on LMDE.. why?.. because debian is probably the best family of distributions out there and mint makes installation easy for anyone to install and has everything you need to get started, and as mainstream debian is more of a basis to base so many different types of systems off of, be it desktop, servers, whatever, LMDE uses a default list of packages best suited for general desktop use

[Penguin_Player]

Originally posted by BurntByHellfire:

im using LMDE now, which is geared towards being a basic, simple, desktop.. you dont get 20 of each type of app, you get one, so you dont get firefox, chrome, konqueror, opera, and 5 others, you just get firefox to start for example... it uses the same package manager as ubuntu (synaptic or apt-get), difference is LMDE is based directly off debian and is fully compatible with debian repositories

ive been using linux since 2005, using slackware, debian, gentoo, redhat, fedora, ubuntu, mint, and about 10 others and ive settled on LMDE.. why?.. because debian is probably the best family of distributions out there and mint makes installation easy for anyone to install and has everything you need to get started, and as mainstream debian is more of a basis to base so many different types of systems off of, be it desktop, servers, whatever, LMDE uses a default list of packages best suited for general desktop use

+1

Same reason why I use Linux Mint, best of worlds..

[Ulfrinn]

Originally posted by David Kozat:

Originally posted by BurntByHellfire:

im using LMDE now, which is geared towards being a basic, simple, desktop.. you dont get 20 of each type of app, you get one, so you dont get firefox, chrome, konqueror, opera, and 5 others, you just get firefox to start for example... it uses the same package manager as ubuntu (synaptic or apt-get), difference is LMDE is based directly off debian and is fully compatible with debian repositories

ive been using linux since 2005, using slackware, debian, gentoo, redhat, fedora, ubuntu, mint, and about 10 others and ive settled on LMDE.. why?.. because debian is probably the best family of distributions out there and mint makes installation easy for anyone to install and has everything you need to get started, and as mainstream debian is more of a basis to base so many different types of systems off of, be it desktop, servers, whatever, LMDE uses a default list of packages best suited for general desktop use

+1

Same reason why I use Linux Mint, best of worlds..

and its nice that you can get it compatible with your choice of ubuntu (making it a complete 100% compatible alternative) or cast aside the canonical stuff and make it compatible with straight debian (with LMDE)

[Aoi Blue]

The bloat of the default desktop on Ubuntu is why I said "and varients" Personally I recommend Xubuntu or Kubuntu. However, some people prefer Lubuntu. XFCE in Xubuntu and LXDE in Lubuntu gives you a complete desktop without all the clutter and bloat, and KDE in Kubuntu gives you a full-featured desktop with nearly infinate customization with about half the bloat of Ubuntu's standard desktop.

Also, we must note that we are trying to recommend distros that someone new to Linux can use. That's why I separated out all the expert distros. Gentoo, Arch and Slackware are excellent distrobutions, in many way superior to the distributions targetted towards your average desktop user, but let's be honest, they are very intimidating to someone who doesn't know much about Linux.

[Ulfrinn]

i dunno, i used arch, slackware, and gentoo, i dont really see them superior for anything to be honest. of these i liked arch by far the most, but mostly for its rolling release.. however, debian testing branch is essentially a rolling release as well and there is far more support for debian based packages, so in the end i think debian based distributions are closer to superior than anything else

however, not many people use regular debian, it seems to be more like an "engine" that distros use, much like the gaming engine many games base their titles off of.. linux mint however is about the simplest you can get to install and use, by far the shortest learning curve for people coming from windows, and the MATE desktop is as light weight and fast as LXDE and XFCE, but is nearly 100% compatible with gnome 2 applications

so my recommendation is LMDE (linux mint debian edition) with the MATE desktop.. and even myself who would be considered an expert in linux, prefers the simplicity of linux mint.. i mean, why not?.. sure, slackware they say is for experts only, but its a pain in the ass to install, takes up tons of hard drive space, you have to compile everything from source.. who has that kind of time?..

[Aoi Blue]

Arch and Gentoo are superior when it comes to performance because they compile with optimizations individual system. (Not by much but it is a measurable difference.) Basically, when they say it's for experts, it's for people that actually can multi-task between three and four computers and actually enjoy compiling their system. It's a pain in the neck, but if you want to control every aspect of your system, it's the way to go. For instance, Gentoo and Arch are probably the only two distributions that allow you to install GNOME or KDE without PulseAudio these days. You can also pipe all output through JACK if you wanted. (Not exactly good for gaming, but great for an A/V system.)

All three are superior in the aspect of ability to accept drastic changes to the user configuration files.

And yes, I agree on Debian. Even people that use the regular Debian distribution, don't use the debian default install. I don't think the Debian default installs are designed for anything other than generic office servers and desktops. It's not exactly an install profile you would use for a workstation or a home computer.

As of MATE, yes it's a very good Desktop, and the only reason I didn't mention it is that it isn't quite mature yet. (Although it's getting there.) Cinnamon is also good, although not nearly as flexable as MATE.

As of old-style window-manager core desktop-environments, your OpenBox derivatives are all prety good, if not a little dated. Most of them contain the updates to include support for the various desktop.org standards.