/games/ - Video Games

That's the old version of Steam OS. The one you find on Steam decks is based on Arch, I believe. It doesn't really matter what distro you choose to game on though, because the experience is mostly going to be the same unless you're on a distro that only allows you to install free and open source software or has some other purpose. For a complete beginner, I'd recommend Mint or Debian, personally I use Debian. Just stay away from Ubuntu, Steam on Ubuntu and any of it's flavours (Xubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Kubuntu, etc) is absolute cancer.

Another thing to keep in mind, and I can't stress this enough, is that ==LINUX ISN'T WINDOWS==. You will have to eventually learn how to do things differently, and that means using the command line. There's GUI tools for most things now, but the CLI is the best thing about Linux. If you use Linux like people use Windows, it will eventually break.

Try the non-GUI version of Steam

>>61929
>SteamOS

Ubuntu is the first option, specially if you have old hardware. Both Debian Pop OS and Mint have given me trouble recently with old hardware (Basic shit like an old IDE hard drive, probably due to no compatible drivers found for the motherboard's chip set).

Both Pop OS and Mint have good reviews specifically for gaming, that is why I was trying to install those. If you have new hardware you can try them out.

I have never tried SteamOS.

Just use Bazzite.
It's SteamOS but for a desktop.
>But I never heard of–
Yes you did. They used to call it Steam Deck OS.
>Did Valve really
No, Valve KINDA and then the Fedora Project and therefore IBM took ownership.
>Do you use this thing–
No, of course not.
>Then why
It's literally Steam OS but for a desktop. Including not just your Steam nice-to-haves but also important desktop nice-to-haves such as normal usable fucking RPM support which you're not going to get from SteamOS because SteamOS proper is an immutable version of Arch, which are words that should not be used together.

>>61939
This.

Ubuntu is the Linux distro that's best at being a "just works" OS. If you like MacOS use the regular version with GNOME as the DE, if you're more of a Windows user then use either Kubuntu for KDE or, my personal favorite, Ubuntu Cinnamon, which is the better of all Linux DEs in my eyes and feels pretty close to a Windows experience, before Windows started to suck with 8, 10 or 11.

Isn't it nearly impossible to pirate games in linux because nobody bothers to crack it and upload it? Thats the only reason i have a windows installation.

Linux is hard to learn, you will need to study read wikis and learn to use Linux's forums.
Steam os is based in Arch, some of the hardest linux distros, I use Arch Btw.
I recommend you install Manjaro, because is Arch based.
This isn't an easy journey, better upgrade hardware and use W11.

>>62524
You are grown Linux brother, I recommend use old crack from the pirate bay, I use this for al my 2000s and early 2010s games.

>Windows 11 is too annoying to use
Did you try? I like Windows 11 - it is quite usable and pretty out of the box. I wish I could edit context menu, but I don't think I have any other grievances with it.

>>62536
what the fuck are you trying to say?

>>61929
The only 2 games keeping me on Windows: League of Legends and Skyrim. You might say they are garbage games, but I have yet to find games that can satiate me in the same way that those 2 games can. LoL has kernel-level anticheat. Skyrim I might be able to Wine, but it becomes more complicated when I want to run big modpacks.

How about windows 10?
It's pretty good when you remove the bloat.

It's definitely janky and who knows how it'll last, but Steam still works for me on Windows 8.1.

>>61931
>If you use Linux like people use Windows, it will eventually break
not really true. i set up kde neon for my dad and while he's using it just for watching videos and shit it still does it's job (watching shit on youtube or whatever else he's watching). point is that even someone like him can use linux as if it was windows - it's just a matter of configuration of ur system.

>>62567
Agreed, i think it is actually easier than windows. The only issue is that when there's a big version update it's always a bit of a gamble whether it breaks or not.

>>61929
Or you could just instal ltsc but proton just works well nowadays.

>>61929
I use EndeavourOS, it's Arch based and I do recommend it to people.

Checkout the following sites to see if your games of choice will work.
https://areweanticheatyet.com/
https://www.protondb.com/explore

But considering your post is over a month old, I think you've probably made the jump to Linux+GNU already.

>>62542
Nobody says Skyrim is a garbage game.

>>61929
dodge the current steam os.
that is steam os 2.0 and doesnt get love from Valve.

*apparently* there are plans for steam os 3 (the steamdecks steam os) on desktop but there is never word on that in version updates from valve.
I would be on steam os 3 on my desktop if it was out. for now, creaminstaller/ screamAPI are enough of a reason to keep me on windows for free DLC

>>62524
There's plenty of Linux cracks on the web, especially on trackers used by tech savvies like on the I2P network.
Or just learn how to crack game.