I already game on Linux because of Steam. It’s easy and works.
This 100%! Anything I can’t get running through wine I just get steam to run as a non steam game.
The Steam Deck and it’s desktop mode are why I decided to try jumping head first into a single boot of Bazzite on my main computer, it’s basically like using a Steam deck, just across four monitors, it even has HDR support built in. A year in and I haven’t looked back.
This is the exact kind of user interaction I’m looking for. I’ve wanted to switch to Linux but need something stable I can use for my Steam library, and web browsing.
I’ve been single boot on Fedora for a little over a year. The biggest issue for gaming that I’ve seen are because of anti-cheats that don’t support Linux.
You always need to mention that even that’s very uncommon. Most AC doesn’t have an issue. Kernel-level ones usually do (and I’d stay away from them anyway), as well as some Chinese ones. Maybe a few others. 99.9% of the time it’s fine though.
It’s gotten to the point I don’t even check Protondb anymore before buying a game.
Something stable to do that I’ve found in fedora, pop_os, and even arch.
I use fedora everyday now since version 31 or 32 and it’s honestly great. I have my few issues but it’s not like I didn’t have issues on windows.
I think Linux is ready for the desktop and has been. Every year it just gets better
Garuda Dragonized I really like. It’s set up for gaming out of the box, with a utility to help you add anything else you may need for gaming. It comes with a “gamer” aesthetic that I’m really not a fan of but it’s easy to modify. It’s Arch based, which may sound scary from what you’ve heard, but it’s really not bad. It comes with everything you need (which is where the trouble with Arch is), and Arch is one of the best supported distros, with the Arch wiki and AUR.
I use Garuda Dragonized as well and one of the best parts is using KDE Plasma 6 which can make your desktop environment look and feel however you like. I made mine more Windows-like because it’s more familiar to me, but you can easily make it look like Gnome or Mac or something else entirely using menu-driven settings.
Now if only we could get more Wayland native applications…
Linux on more devices and associated with gaming is great. If it gets to the point where they work together with AlienWare to make gaming rigs powered by SteamOS, or even produce something together with Lenovo, HP, or Dell, and make it available in retailers, maybe then we’ll finally see it enter more people’s homes.
Android is Linux, but it’s so heavily modified that it’s a case of Theseus’s ship.
Does SteamOS support non game programs, such as text, audio, modeling, and whatever other esiting software people use?
yes, it’s just arch linux under the hood, and there’s even a desktop mode which im pretty sure is kde
Yup, but to add on to what the other guy said you will have to find alternatives to some programs like adobe products, microsoft products, and some others.
Or run them in a Windows VM or potentially through WINE.
Yep. SteamOS has Flathub, which is a software repository (like software store) that has so many alternative of Windows software.
I want that so much.
That MB I just put in a box might be viable again? Wouldn’t upgrade to Win11 but worked great in every other way.
Just install Linux? SteamOS is just a Linux distribution based on Arch. My current distro is Garuda, which is also Arch based and has a gaming focused version with everything you need for gaming pre-installed.
How is CS2 working on it? I know I could just try to get it running myself on a spare pc, but I find that as I get older I dislike fiddling with things like this more and more. And while I’m fine with just playing games made to work properly on Linux, CS2 and it’s predecessors is something me and my real life friends have been playing for nearly two decades. It’s a way to keep in touch as everyone has kids and can’t come to the pub during the weekend.
I haven’t played in a while, but great! I assume this means Counter-Strike 2, not Cities Skylines 2, but both work well.
Basically everything works perfectly now. You can check ProtonDB to check specific games.
Haven’t tried that distro specifically, but I have been gaming on Linux for at least 4 years now and Counter Strike is not a problem at all. It is my most played game and it works great for me on Linux mint.
I imagine running it on a distro that has a focus on gaming will only make it run even better and easier.
Give it a try!
@hanke @DV8 Valve is highly unlikely to put a kernel-level anticheat that bans Linux users but as a piece of advice, don’t run competitive multiplayer games on Linux, I mean do not get accustomed to, that also should apply to me since I play Palworld which is MP only, even on SP, you can have someone join at any time
I would recommend anyone to play competitive multiplayer games on Linux.
Competitive games, and specifically CS, has been my go-to for about 10 years (I am still shit tho). As you say, Valve will most likely not put anti-cheat that won’t work on Linux in it. But if they would do that, I would just not be playing CS anymore.
I play what I like, and if they would make the stupid choice to break it for my machine I guess they just don’t want me playing it any more. In that event, I guess I’ll just have to find something else to play.
No. It’s perfectly fine to play competitive multiplayer games on Linux. I haven’t had any issues for the probably about two years I’ve been fully Linux now. Battleye and Easy Anti-cheat are both fully supported, and they’re the most common ones. There’s no need to worry about it. Every one I’ve tried works perfectly well, as long as it allows you to play at all.
I’ve tried Linux. I’m old now, and it’s not what I know. I need plug and play.
Linux is as plug and play as it gets now, if you choose the right distro. It’s easier than Windows at the very least. Again, SteamOS is just a Linux distro.
If you want something, Garuda Dragonized comes with everything you need already installed and a GUI tool to quickly add anything extra you may want. It’s as easy as it can be.
Also, I want to try to word this as politely as possible, but there are a lot of older people who continue learning new things. It’s actually good for your brain health to do so. Refusing to learn something new isn’t because of your age. It’s a choice. You’re free to make whatever choices you want though.
How does Garuda handle HDR and multiple monitors with varying refresh rates?
That and stuttering has been some of my gripes.
Multiple monitors with different refresh rates works great. No issues. No idea about HDR though.
Help dissuade (or confirm) a fear here. Could this be the first step to a sort of Androidization of steamos?
Probably not. Unlike Android, it doesn’t take away the Linux desktop features. It’s just Arch with a bunch of stuff pre-installed.
What do you mean by “Androidization”?
I don’t! 🙂
Also, did everyone just forget that Valve already tried this before? The people who buy prebuilt PCs do not want Linux and the people who want Linux do not want prebuilt PCs.
And some stupid piece of idiot in Microsoft made a tablet computer in 1995. Shows that idiot since tablets and touchscreens never took off.
I actually don’t think that’s an apt comparison for this. Valve isn’t inventing the wheel here, there are dozens if not hundreds of companies that sell prebuilt PCs. I’m a massive fan of Valve and Gaben by the way, I just don’t think this is a solid business decision on any front.
It’s not a pre built PC, it’s a gaming console that can also be a PC, if needed. That’s how the steam deck is marketed, that’s how the previous steamos PC was marketed, and clearly Lenovo thinks the marketing will work. A unified simple introduction to PC gaming as cheap as any console but with near infinite backwards compatibility is a pretty good sell to the normies who have nothing but marginal upgrades to look forward to in the console space.
The difference is that Proton wasn’t a thing the first time.
I’m on Linux and a prebuit PC would be a nice change. But at the same price or lower than Windaube, since I don’t want a licence for them.
I will prefer to build myself rather than paying an extra k…
yeah, I was looking into a laptop today and all came with Windoz preinstalled… that I’m gonna pay for :/
