Mastodawn

Due to the raining amount of #linux opinions regarding newbies. I shall subject my dear competent friend to a test where he is to install Linux and a game from steam with minimal help from me. What #distro do you people think will do best? Please start a war in the replies.

No, I won't subject him to Nix.

Goal is to create a blog post with the shortcomings to HOPEFULLY help a few linux newbies on their way to success.

Retoots appreciated

some more details for those curious:
1. Minimal help will be that I will be in a call with him to answer questions, but I won't have access to the device he is installing the OS on. He will have to take photos of issues and send screenshots as well as hunt for some info himself
2. I am prolly going to present him with distro choices from this thread, but I am trying to be at least a somewhat good friend and guide him to not start out with arch linux, gentoo or NixOS
3. I am not sure where the blog post will be posted, but I will let fedi know once I am done

terms of service

@[email protected] this may be slightly mean but i'd personally like to see how fedora fares in this, as even if it isn't specifically gaming focused (compared to something like bazzite), it still aims to be a competent all-round operating system for desktop use (where gaming is one of said usecases!)

@thermia It is on the list!

N33R ➡ Easterhegg DECT 6337 ⚸ 🩸

@mander how about letting him pick? like a any newbie would have to

Webber-e-bop Mar 9

@N33R @mander Don't let them do a Linus Sebastian

@webbop @N33R The goal is to see if he does fall into LTT issues and see how they can be better mitigated!

@N33R I will based off of this thread. I want to give him the best shot at this, so I am trying to be a bit more guiding

Latte macchiato

ablobcat_longlong

@[email protected] PopOS. Keeps it simple.

this avali will trap ur plasma Mar 9

@[email protected] @privateger meanwhile...

FINE! I’ll Try Linux ONE MORE TIME….

YouTube

@zaki @privateger guess what gave me the idea :P

Latte macchiato

ablobcat_longlong

@[email protected] @zaki This video is proof to me that Linus knows just enough to be dangerous
This is not a mistake a normal person would make

@[email protected] Fedora Workstation/KDE if some smaller technical tweaks are fine/wanted as challenge, otherwise maybe mint or bazzite

@[email protected] Fedora is a great distro once you have a few smaller things fixed (think enabling rpmfusion for software with "problematic" licensing or setting flathub as default), but those are still some minor technical hurdles that have to be overcome first. So I would recommend it only if the target is fine with handling those small things first

@mstar that will be up to him! I will hand him this thread and the idea is he gets to pick based off of the inputs from people here

The 500 Hats of LambdaCalculus Mar 9

@mander Pop_OS!, because System76 gives good support for it, and also because it's very easy to install, isn't super heavy, has an intuitive GUI, and will also make sure all dependencies are properly met.

thedæmon (Clay Ayers) [he / him]Mar 9

"Valve officially supports the latest Ubuntu LTS running KDE/Plasma, Gnome, or Unity for Steam." So Ubuntu LTS is the only option there.

@mander Bazzite or CachyOS if the goal is just gaming and not much else.

@sumo goal is mainly gaming but also to just get the experience of "I have never used linux and want to install it"

@mander Either would be a good choice then. They are both game focused and the install is meant for someone new to Linux.

Bazzite https://bazzite.gg/ is what I would lean towards for this exercise. Steam is included. It's pretty much a Linux gaming distribution.

CachyOS is cool too but it's not as games focused.

Bazzite - The operating system for the next generation of gamers

Bazzite makes gaming and everyday use smoother and simpler across desktop PCs, handhelds, tablets, and home theater PCs.

Evelyn Estelle Mar 9

@mander If your friend likes to read documentation and knowing what they are doing: Arch Linux.

If your friend is not particularly tech-savvy and want something that works out of the box: Linux Mint.

The only caveat is that the more up to date your packages, the easier it is to run games (in Wine, Steam or otherwise). I had some issues with older packages on Linux Mint (and Ubuntu) when I tried to run windows games, or play VR.

@dragonfi I will discourage arch, I use it myself, and I don't think it is a good starting point

Evelyn Estelle Mar 9

@mander I see where you are coming from, and agree with it in your context, but to be pedantic:

It depends on what you want to get started with.

If you just want the computer to work out of the box, it is a bad starting point.

If you want to understand how to maintain it, it is an excellent starting point.

@mander Over on Bluesky the Linux lot there have coalesced on Linux Mint or Bazzite, depending on what the purpose is (former for pretty much general use, latter if gaming is the primary focus)

Mïkê 💚 👑🐉🗡️🏳️‍⚧️Mar 9