I used Ubuntu once a few years ago but had compatability issues so I went back to windows. Not a great programmer but I’d like to learn. I’m not looking to do much gaming beyond DOOM2 and factorio. Mostly looking for privacy and a way to get back into programming (I have this pipe dream of learning Assembly). I’m not to particular on UI, I can use whatever.
Edit: https://distrochooser.de for anyone who stumbles upon this post with the same question
IF you want Steam, THEN you want one of the Ubuntu family: Steam doesn’t support any other kind of Linux distro.
openSUSE gave me compatibility-issues after I had it running properly, both Tumbleweed AND OpenLEAP versions, when they broke my wifi-driver, early in 2023, so I’m kinda leery of recommending them.
If you want the most Unix-like system, Slackware used to be that, haven’t used it in years, though…
Funtoo should probably be the go-to distro for compute-oriented machines, like Blender renderers, or such… optimize to use ALL the hardware-advantage you can…
Many enjoy Void Linux.
just some opinions & experiences…
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SteamOS is Arch with Steam components on top, so I would hope they support other distros! :-) It works great for me on Fedora as well.
Depending on their previous experience, a new user may be overwhelmed with any extra configuration involved in getting their computer running. In those cases a Debian/Ubuntu based distribution such as Mint or Pop is a stable foundation to learn what they want out of their system.
When I complained to them about Steam being broken on my ( either openSUSE Tumbleweed or LEAP, or Void Linux ) system,
they told me they only support Ubuntu, period.
I’m not talking about rumors, or feelings, or heresay, they put it in text/“writing”, through their Steam support system, in a message to me, that they only support Ubuntu.
People downvoting me for stating fact is stupid ( I’ve no idea if you were one of the people who downvoted my comment, I’m presuming that statistically, 1 of the others who commented against my factual-reporting did. ).
If people have a problem with Steam not being the way they want-to-believe, then ought tell Steam to make a statement contradicting what they told me, and making explicit that they support Arch.
I’ve seen enough comments on various Lemmy communities, to know that I do not want to try running Steam on Arch: I’ve had enough obstacle-induced migraines in my life.
IF they tell you something contradictory to what they told me, fine: you get more-recent information that what I got some months ago!
Salut, Namaste, & Kaizen, eh?
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Excuse me??? I use Steam on Arch with Endeavour and it works perfectly fine after uninstalling xdg-desktop-gnome.
Worked perfectly fine out of the box for me too
They told me, when I complained about it not working properly in the distro I was using at the time, either openSUSE Tumbleweed, or openSUSE LEAP, or Void Linux, that they only support Ubuntu.
That was their statement to me, on the Steam support system.
I’m presuming they know what their policies are.
Sorry if this doesn’t fit what people believe.
SteamOS is based on arch, and there are alternatives based off of steamOS, and more targeting gaming and Steam generally.
I would love to pick your brain as well if you don’t mind! I have a 2016 MacBook Pro, Intel processor one of the last ones, that is actually in pretty great shape but I just don’t use a lot these days. I’ve been thinking about turning it into a Linux machine. I would like steam to run on it, but mostly it’s to teach myself Linux/experiment. Steam is definitely not a requirement so if that’s really bogging down my options I’m down for some versions that don’t have steam. I’ve got a steam deck and a Mac Studio that pretty much covers my PC gaming bases.
MacBooks are amazing for Linux. Dope hardware. You can use Proton w Steam to game, works nice.
Maybe one day when I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll boot Linux onto my Mac Studio!
Doooo ittttt ❤️ I’m still on OSX 12 for my work PC. I’m iffy about 13+
Decide, 1st, on the point of your installing Linux on it:
IF you want the most-fundamental-understanding,
THEN you want the book “How Linux Works”, the most-recent edition of that, and maybe you want a Debian/Ubuntu in order to guarantee that any problem you encounter will already have been encountered by somebody else, while you are getting competent in the fundamentals… There are 2 Linux System Administration books to consider, after you work through that one, 1 is from OReilly, the other … I can’t remember who published it, but it has several authors, & a cartoon on the front cover, and it is huge, and it is the one you want.
Neither of those books are cheap, but try comparing them with a university-year of a course, and the competence you can earn through those 2 books is at least that level.
You also are going to need, around the time you get partway through the 2nd book, a book on Linux Security.
IF you are just a crazy hack-at-things person who likes technical toys, then maybe Void is more likely to be fun for you…
Linux From Scratch is how you get the every-last-step-of-the-way understanding, but I haven’t done that one yet, because I want to keep using my computer for things like writing, and LFS might make me avoid my machine ( I spent years burnt-out from geekery, several times, and am leery of getting myself that way, again, but LFS really is the way to get truly-competent as a sysadmin. ).
You will need the same books listed above, though.
Do well!
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