Hello everybody! I want to escape Microsoft and windows, and I am looking for a Linux distro. I have some experience with Unix and a very old Ubuntu distro. But that’s quite some years ago. I am looking for a Linux distribution where i can play World of Warcraft on. I mainly use Nvidia graphics (RTX 3070).
I have found some distributions that are supposed to be good for gaming. I suppose, as i am still a Linux Noob, I am also looking for a distribution which is easy to get into. Especially for an older gamer ;)
I came with these distro’s myself. What does the Linux community say?
Bazzite
- Based on Fedora Atomic
- Pre Installed Steam
- Nvidia drivers and support https://bazzite.gg/ https://docs.bazzite.gg/Gaming/index.html
Developer: Universal Blue (US?)
Drauger OS
- Based on Ubuntu LTS using KDE Plasma
- Pre for AMD https://draugeros.org/
Pop!_OS
- based on Ubuntu
- Optimized for gaming on Nvidia GPU’s https://system76.com/pop/
Developer: system76 (Denver, US)
SteamOS -based on Debian 8 (Jessie) -designed to run steam and steam games -set to auto update their OS from Valve repo’s https://store.steampowered.com/steamos
Developer: Valve (US)
Manjaro -based on Arch (rolling release model for latest software/drivers) -KDE plasma desktop (Pro-tip: enable flatpak and install ProtonUp-QT) https://manjaro.org/products
Developer: Majaro (EU - Austria, France, Germany)
Ubuntu: -the go-to linux distro for millions of users, incl gamers -best for beginners and gamers who want stable well supported distro -works seamlesssly with steam, lutris, wine (pro-tip: install the gamemode package (sudo apt install gamemode)) https://ubuntu.com/download
Developer: Canonical ltd. (UK)
Nobara -based on Fedora -optimized for gaming on newer Nvidia graphics (drivers come installed) https://nobaraproject.org/download-nobara/
Developer: Thomas Crider (Denver, US)
Mint -based on debian and Ubuntu -friendly OS, works out of the box, extremely easy to use https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Developer : Linuxmint (French, Dutch, UK)
I play Starcraft 2 through Proton, it works pretty well. These days pretty much all distros are perfectly fine for gaming, maybe with the exception of Debian stable. If you’re new, I’d recommend staying away from Arch and derivatives like Manjaro. Also try to keep things simple for yourself and avoid flatpaks, snaps, and appimages.