cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14762903
I am switching to Linux for the first time.
I heard Mint is really good but am not sure exactly which distro is best to use with Steam, as well as with newer games, as I primarily use my computer for gaming.
I generally play games like Final Fantasy XIV, Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, Elder Scrolls Online, and Total War: Warhammer 3.
Any distro is fine.
At most you’ll maybe see a 1 to 3 fps difference due to a different DE, but that’s about it.
I would check Protondb to see if your favorite games actually run on Linux before making the change!
For people who just start out using Linux, pick something tjay considered stable and looks a bit like the OS you’re used to right now.
It’s probably worth noting though that the only distro Valve officially supports is the latest Ubuntu LTS running KDE/Plasma, Gnome, or Unity. That doesn’t mean you’ll have problems on other distros – and you probably won’t! – but Ubuntu is the distro they’re testing on. Valve also maintains Ubuntu-specific troubleshooting resources as well.
That said, Valve does not support the official Ubuntu way of installing Steam, which is via snap (‘apt install steam’ will install the snap). So you have to make sure to install the Steam way (manually via the deb) instead.
I find it so odd that they’re only testing on Ubuntu when Steam Deck runs on Arch.
SteamOS was Debian based with GNOME, until 3.0, which is Arch based with KDE Plasma. I think the important thing is that you use Plasma or GNOME with your distro, though I can’t say from experience how well it runs with GNOME. Fedora KDE Plasma spin has been flawless with Steam for me, even after upgrading to Fedora 40 and Plasma 6.
I don’t think you’ll have problems on other distros – it’s in everyone’s interest to have Steam work well and I’m sure they do a great job of it across the board.
But if you go to Steam’s linux client support page it says:
Currently, Steam for Linux is only supported on the most recent version of Ubuntu LTS with the Unity, Gnome, or KDE desktops.
So that’s the distro they’re testing on and they provide something kinda sorta like a guarantee that it’ll work there. Also note that it isn’t a guarantee that it won’t work elsewhere - if your heart aches for Arch, that shouldn’t keep you from the Arch wiki.
Note that ProtonDB covers Proton, which is Valve’s version of WINE, which is a reimplementation of Windows’ libraries. It’ll deal with Windows binaries running on Linux, but not Linux-native binaries. Some games have both Linux and Windows binaries, and some just Windows binaries. Steam calls running Windows binaries under Proton “Steam Play”, if you see that term.
Steam indicates which binaries are shipped for a game on the store page of a game.
Here’s Team Fortress 2’s Steam store page as an example.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/440/Team_Fortress_2/
You’ll note little white icons next to “Play Team Fortress 2”.
There’s a Windows icon, so they have Windows-native binaries. An Apple icon, so they have MacOS binaries. And a Steam icon, so they have Linux binaries.
By default, if a game has Linux-native binaries, Steam will download and use those.
You can also force Steam to use Windows binaries via Proton by going to the game’s properties under “Compatibility” and choosing – I’m not at my desktop at the moment, but something like this – “force use of a specific compatibility tool” and choosing a particular Proton version.
You can also force Steam to use Windows binaries via Proton
To complete that thought, doing this can be useful in cases like these:
- A developer released and then abandoned a bad Linux port of their game, but still maintains a Windows build that runs well in Proton.
- A developer took platform-dependent shortcuts in their networking code, leading to cross-play problems between their Linux and Windows builds.
- Your favorite game mod is a Windows DLL.
The way Steam works is that it contains a set of mini libraries, kind of a mini-distro, that Linux Steam games use, so it doesn’t matter that much. It’s based on Ubuntu. Games that are released on Steam targeting Linux normally “target Steam” rather than a particular distro.
Some distros tend to have newer kernels than others, which can help with video driver support for the latest cards for 3D games.
Also, some very specialized Linux distros won’t have a Steam package; that won’t be a concern with anything you’re likely to pick.
But in general, I wouldn’t worry too much as far Steam goes.
I use Debian. That’s the largest “parent” distro today, and many distros – including Mint – are “child” distros of that, and Steam is packaged for Debian, so they’ll have it too. Red Hat has a Steam package, and it and its child distributions make up the next-largest tree.
Check out bazzite.gg - it’s a gaming spin of Fedora atomic and I’ve heard nothing but good things.
Otherwise there’s always Arch, or a derivative like EndeavourOS, that’s where I do my steam gaming. I have, on occasion, had issues with the Nvidia dkms driver and have needed to fork the nvidia-dkms package to track a particular driver release to skip a buggy version. Aside from that it’s been pretty smooth sailing. I use flatpak steam and ProtonPlus to pull Glorious Eggroll releases and everything I’ve played has worked well.
As long as you don’t have an Nvidia card, choose whichever functional and complete distro (some people call these “beginner” distros).
MintLinux and Pop!OS are normally the two front-runners for new users. Basically, if you use Steam and you don’t play online-only games with bad implementations of anti-cheat software, you are good to game on either.
Make a USB that you can “live boot” from, so you can test out how they work with your hardware before you actually install the OS. Generally speaking, Mint works better with AMD, and Pop! works better with Nvidia.
Here’s the official basic guide for Mint:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
And here’s the official basic guide for Pop!:
https://support.system76.com/articles/install-pop/
Nvidia drivers are largely reliable these days. I’ve daily driven AMD/Nvidia hybrid setups since ~2020 and have only occasionally had Nvidia driver issues. I’ve actually had more breakage in amdgpu due to insufficient testing and code churn - I think I’ve reported close to two dozen regressions over the last 4y.
Nvidia can be tough sometimes with linux, but not impossible. Seems like Linux Mint has a Driver Manager program that can install Nvidia’s proprietary drivers for you. When you first install the OS, it’ll just use the open source drivers, but those usually don’t perform as well while gaming as Nvidia’s own drivers, so you’ll have to switch them after first boot.
protondb is a website that crowdsources how well specific Steam games work, and any workarounds that may be needed, if you’d like to check game compatibility. You can set it to show only reports from PC users, rather than PC and Steam Deck users.
Or if you hate yourself:
- You can Fedora on Nvidia
Basically any that appeals. My biggest issue when I last used Linux with gaming was getting non steam games working through bottles or lutris, I had no idea how to set them up. Steam and proton played almost all of my library and worked well.
