The SteamDeck is showing people that Linux can in fact game. And while we’re always saying “ThE yEaR oF lInUx!” This is actually a huge step in the right direction.
Agreed. I have a deck and I’m now definitely gonna switch my main pc from Win10 to Linux. Steam deck desktop mode helped show me I could be comfortable using it, and the deck in general showed the gaming support is there nowadays.
I now see no reason to not put Linux on my desktop. Just deciding on which distros to check out. Probably mint. Maybe garuda…
I use Garuda and love it, but I also don’t think it’s the best for a first Linux distro, unless you’re good with needing to consistently use the command line for things, and you are interested in learning more about Linux and want a distro that requires you to occasionally get your hands dirty.
From what I’ve seen, Linux Mint is a great first distro. If you want something that’s more purposed to gaming, then Nobara is great. It’s made by GloriousEggroll, who makes Proton-GE. It’s not going to be as new-user friendly as Mint, but more so than Garuda.
I’m thinking about doing this as well. My Steam Deck runs fine like 99% of the time, so I don’t see why a gaming desktop with Linux wouldn’t work.
Plus, I’ve always been looking for a reason to use Linux daily. I’ve messed around with SUSE and Ubuntu here and there and use it for some homelab stuff, but Linux has never been my daily driver. Which means I’ve never really learned it the same way I’ve learned how to use and navigate Windows, or even Mac (I forced myself to learn OSX/MacOS several years ago when I bought a Macbook as my daily driver for productivity). This could be it.
I’d also suggest Linux Mint if you are just starting out. In fact, it’s still a great distro for advanced users as well. I use it as a fallback distro sometimes.
You could also check out Fedora or rather a gaming optimized fork of Fedora named - Nobara Linux.
I think you’re wrong. It’s showing that Linux has the capability to actually run these games. Some/most people won’t be able to equate the Linux on their handheld with Linux on a desktop, but those who do are welcome to the fold.
The Deck is basically a laptop in a handheld form factor, so no, it’s not just showing that Linux can game as a handheld.
Well, we can agree to disagree.
I have 2 friends who decided to switch their daily driver PCs to Linux after getting a steamdeck, that’s 2 out of 5. Not a single one of those 5 has put windows on their deck. shrugs
Your own friend group is the definition of selection bias, though - at the least, they know you and probably have similar interests/hobbies to some degree, and I daresay you’ve probably said something about Linux to them before.
And there’s a whole, active subreddit for people who put windows on steam deck - apparently the initial problems people had with it have been getting ironed out more and more.
I don’t know which is more common but I’d need to see actual data, either way.
Probably, though does that actually matter?
The SteamDeck is showing people that Linux can in fact game. And while we’re always saying “ThE yEaR oF lInUx!” This is actually a huge step in the right direction.
Agreed. I have a deck and I’m now definitely gonna switch my main pc from Win10 to Linux. Steam deck desktop mode helped show me I could be comfortable using it, and the deck in general showed the gaming support is there nowadays.
I now see no reason to not put Linux on my desktop. Just deciding on which distros to check out. Probably mint. Maybe garuda…
I use Garuda and love it, but I also don’t think it’s the best for a first Linux distro, unless you’re good with needing to consistently use the command line for things, and you are interested in learning more about Linux and want a distro that requires you to occasionally get your hands dirty.
From what I’ve seen, Linux Mint is a great first distro. If you want something that’s more purposed to gaming, then Nobara is great. It’s made by GloriousEggroll, who makes Proton-GE. It’s not going to be as new-user friendly as Mint, but more so than Garuda.
Thanks for the tips.
I’m a dev by day, and no stranger to bash/zsh and powershell. That said I don’t want to constantly be tinkering in the terminal just to use my OS.
Cheers for the pointer to Nobara, I’ll look into that as an option too!
I’m thinking about doing this as well. My Steam Deck runs fine like 99% of the time, so I don’t see why a gaming desktop with Linux wouldn’t work.
Plus, I’ve always been looking for a reason to use Linux daily. I’ve messed around with SUSE and Ubuntu here and there and use it for some homelab stuff, but Linux has never been my daily driver. Which means I’ve never really learned it the same way I’ve learned how to use and navigate Windows, or even Mac (I forced myself to learn OSX/MacOS several years ago when I bought a Macbook as my daily driver for productivity). This could be it.
I’d also suggest Linux Mint if you are just starting out. In fact, it’s still a great distro for advanced users as well. I use it as a fallback distro sometimes.
You could also check out Fedora or rather a gaming optimized fork of Fedora named - Nobara Linux.
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I think you’re wrong. It’s showing that Linux has the capability to actually run these games. Some/most people won’t be able to equate the Linux on their handheld with Linux on a desktop, but those who do are welcome to the fold.
The Deck is basically a laptop in a handheld form factor, so no, it’s not just showing that Linux can game as a handheld.
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Well, we can agree to disagree.
I have 2 friends who decided to switch their daily driver PCs to Linux after getting a steamdeck, that’s 2 out of 5. Not a single one of those 5 has put windows on their deck. shrugs
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Your own friend group is the definition of selection bias, though - at the least, they know you and probably have similar interests/hobbies to some degree, and I daresay you’ve probably said something about Linux to them before.
And there’s a whole, active subreddit for people who put windows on steam deck - apparently the initial problems people had with it have been getting ironed out more and more.
I don’t know which is more common but I’d need to see actual data, either way.