I am waiting for SteamOS Desktop to be released before switching. I want the support of an 800lb corporate gorilla, that prioritizes gaming. I use mods and play niche games, so I need a Linux that balances casual users while allowing for some power user stuff.
I already know about Bazzite and Cachy, but again, I want the support of a focused giant who won’t die or change hands.
‘won’t die’ ? I mean Gabe is great, but I don’t think he’s immortal.
Granted. I really hope he is raising a protege to take the helm when the time comes, or divides up the Steam Kingdom and lets the best folk win.
I respect that. Tho do remember this is opensource instead of a traditional system.
Any improvement to steamos will improve bazzite and any improvement to bazzite will improve steamos.
Which is good. It is just that I don’t have much patience for troubleshooting, I prefer to just game or work. For me, I would stick to Windows if it weren’t for Microsoft likely being a bad actor.
I have doubts that Valve will officially support SteamOS on anything but their own hardware (and maybe some partners’), in which case unless you plan on buying a Steam Machine you’re going to be stuck for a very, very long time.
Linux use on steam has also passed mac use. The three most popular mac versions are still used by more than the 3 most popular linux versions, but the total for macs is under 3%.
And for me personally, I didn’t even have to give anything of value up to make the switch. I kept my old windows machine in a running condition as a backup, but I think I’m about ready to start retiring that machine entirely, at least as a windows machine.
3% is insane.
I am not a “year of linux” huffer. The majority of the population doesn’t even know what a filesystem is, much less (for example) how to get to the BIOS setting they need to even install linux.
But 3% is absolutely a threshold for “viral social spread” amongst those that can.
I think it really depends on your definition of what counts as year of Linux. Will Linux usage ever beat Windows or Mac? Of course not. But it can definitely get popular enough that companies have to think really hard about whether they need to support Linux or not. And meanwhile, Linux isn’t going to get popular overnight (or in a year, for that matter). So do you consider the year of the Linux to be the end of growth? Middle of growth? Or beginning of growth?
For me, I think year of the Linux desktop already passed in 2021, with the launch of the steam deck (where I’m defining year of Linux to be the point where Linux usage picks up and will hopefully end at a point where companies have to take Linux seriously)
I consider the “year of linux” when OEMs ship it in laptops and desktops, in volume.
In other words, it’s when I see several linux laptops in Best Buy.
Sadly, we might ‘miss’ that window. It seems like regular folks are moving to tablets, phones, and Android PCs for home use. Business will be stuck on Windows forever. So it appears the future we’re barreling to is iOS/Android for the masses, laptops (mostly) as pure workplace machines, and then the PC gaming sector essentially depreciating Windows and migrating to (in delicious irony) Windows APIs on linux.
It’s like damn look how good the general Linux desktop got with barely any general consumer adoption for about 30 years. Imagine what it could get around ~10%. 20 years ago Mac’s were only around 5%. I love gaming on Linux but my main thought is how this is the trojan horse that brings users and some funding and developer attention to open source applications. Kdenlive needs love. Ardour needs love. Darktable. Get them all the Blender treatment someday
It’s okay openSUSE Tumbleweed. I still stan for you. ;P
Really wanna try a perma switch from Fedora just cuz they include a nice grub theme lmao.
Plus I like that its proper rolling instead of staged releases.
Even though I think it’s generally frowned upon to use, I use GRUB Customizer from the Discover Store, and change the theme to a Fallout style one, if that would be easier for you to use!
I’ve had one or two hiccups when updating openSUSE Tumbleweed. Once was just a normal update, back then I was doing it weekly since I basically only game on my desktop, but it completely broke my graphics for whatever reason. I have an NVIDIA GPU, so I attribute it to that.
Luckily, Tumbleweed has that snapper component, and I used it for the first time. Absolutely amazing I could just run that and then be back in a working state at the shake of a lambs tail. I just started updating monthly after that, and so far, no hiccups!
openSUSE is GOAT.
I’m a CachyOS shill, and I’d recommend Tumbleweed to anyone. It’s criminal that folks use stuff like Ubuntu or Manjaro over it.
I chuckled when I saw Manjaro of all things on there, and not my beloved OS of choice! lol
For real, though, openSUSE is truly something to rave about, as far as I am concerned! :)
Now that zypper has been pulled into the modern age with parallel & faster downloading, the only complaint remaining I have for it is the installer itself
I kind of liked the installer, but that is because I am a huge Fallout fan and liked the black with green theme you could use when I installed it about a year ago… I am but a simple person… lol :P
It was gaming all along guys
I feel like the number of “I switched to Linux” videos on YouTube have exploded recently, although it might just be some algorithm thing.
All of the major gaming youtubers have made at least a couple videos featuring Linux over the last couple months, which is definitely a big change from the windows-only (except sometimes servers) content of years past.
I think there is a real change in people’s mind . Windows is at it worst since forever. Just this month 2 people in my inner circle just ask me how can they Make the switch and which distro should they use for there needs. Those 2 were hardcore Windows fan and gamer.
I am seeing a lot more Linux in the mainstream outside the tech bubble. It makes me happy.
I like how all Arch based distros are in “quotes” by the way.
Right? It’s oozing with sarcasm, like—ArCh LiNuX
lmao
I think it’s because they’re including steam os which is an Arch derivative.
Linux mint 21: loses a little
Linux mint 22: wins a little
my brother in christ. they just updated their pc
Importantly, there was a net increase in Linux users and a net decrease in Windows users.
Still increases in other areas ☺️👍
This vacation I finally decided to ditch Win for EndeavourOS, it has it’s quirks sometimes, but I can mostly play without issues, so refreshing to not rely on M$
EndeavourOS is nice. I’ve been using it for 10 months.
Only issue I had was that my windows dual boot messed up the booting. Plenty of tutorials about fixing it tho, so wasn’t too hard
GamingOnLinux estimates >7% of English language install base for Steam is using Linux (if I’m understanding this correctly): GamingOnLinux Steam Tracker
That chart shows what I would interpret as really strong Linux growth. Somewhere around 200% growth in the last 4 years, and seems to be significantly accelerating.
Yeah, indeed. Steam language breakdown is about 40% English, 30% Chinese, 10% Russian, 5% Spanish, 15% other. Chinese speakers overwhelmingly use Windows rather than Linux, so choosing ‘English only’ basically doubles the Linux percentage.
I’d be interested to know why Linux has such bad update in Chinese-speaking regions. (It’s the lingua franca for much of Asia, so not just China, just largely China.) Obviously, inertia plays a part - easier to move to Linux if you know someone else that can help you, which if there’s no-one then you might be a bit stuck. Are the fonts crappy? Are the input methods greatly superior in Windows?
I’d be interested to know why Linux has such bad update in Chinese-speaking regions.
I wonder if language in particular may be a factor hindering Linux adoption there?
- How does the documentation for Linux (including forums, how-tos, blogs, etc) available in Chinese dialects compare to what is available in English, and how well does machine translation work for translating the English sources?
- The documentation available online for Linux very often involves the command line. How much of a pain is it for people who only speak Chinese dialects to use an English command line? If the commands are available in Chinese, how well do the machine translations of the English documentation sources work for that purpose.
I feel that there are probably significant language barriers that have an effect here, and effectively create a chicken-and-egg problem for Linux adoption, possibly limiting Linux usage to Chinese people who are relatively proficient in English.
For reference, here’s an article about what proportion of Chinese people speaks English (it seems to be around 5%?): https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/how-many-people-in-china-speak-english
they do not care about many of the things that people in western societies care about. they do not care about privacy. they want to use the same type of computer their friends and coworkers are using. 11 is a higher number than 10.
unless there’s a chinese linux distro that gets pre-installed at the factory, along with a government ban of windows (it could happen), they will be the last society to adopt.
I would put it down to censorship. Not of Linux directly but of information about noncomformity. Windows is the default OS for desktop PCs and I imagine it is easier to get exposed to the idea of searching an alternative in the west than in China. If you never question the oppressive bullshit corporations are doing to you, you will not think to break free and use Linux.
i find this a little difficult to believe when china develops and promotes their own linux distro and desktop environment
Guessing Linux is associated mostly with the government attempts to make their own distribution. I think in their context windows may feel safer.
Why would you run Ubuntu core? Are they only running steam?
I have one machine where I run steam as a headless instance as I just use it for remoteplay to the TV.
Oh shit, that’s smart
To add another layer, I actually run it as a container - Steam Headless
this is steam as snap package, just like how they count flatpak steam
I was wondering who’s gaming on their thermostat.
i’m presuming people are using a just enough os (JEOS) distro to install a gui of their choice and steam and not much else.
That makes sense. Pure gaming machine
Thanks for the users, Microsoft!
I’m surprised Bazzite isn’t higher on the list, here, it really seems like the OS I hear about whenever Linux gaming comes up.
That list is just weird and only shows a few specific distros. If you go to the Linux only results you get way more info. It shows Bazzite as used by 5.53% of respondents, +1.29% from last month.
Ah, that makes way more sense. Nearly 6% of the gaming Linux market for such a new distro, and rapidly growing, sounds much more like where I would’ve expected Bazzite to place, based on my own experience and the tune of most recommendation threads here.
Agreed. Ive been active in a lot of Linux communities for a good while now, and I’ve never seen a single distro being recommended as much as Bazzite. Mint was probably the closest, but it’s always had detractors due to its stable base affecting hardware support.
I switched to Bazzite based on a recommendation and it’s been a fantastic OS for me (gaming and light development/home labbing) and I no longer have any desire to distro hop.
Took a bit to figure out the immutable stuff for some very niche things I needed done, but other than that ezpz
Without having tried it, I think Bazzite fits a certain user group very well, but is less suited for other users. Which is fine.
I don’t really see how it’s particularly good for homelabbing, but use whatever works for you.
The person who replied to you is correct. I meant as a machine to write scripts on, manage servers, etc. I do agree though Bazzite probably isn’t the best for everyone, but that’s what is great about Linux, there is a OS for everyone
I don’t really see how it’s particularly good for homelabbing
I’m assuming by that he meant as a distro for his personal PC that he uses to SSH into his home lab or access the web interfaces. Not to run on the servers
This is correct.
I didn’t pick it for home labbing as a primary as I mostly use that machine for gaming, but just to show how well it works overall as a general purpose OS. I did end up switching over to their Dx branch for updates so that helped for some of that stuff as well.
I think it was more of a fad for a short while, but there are a lot of other much more entrenched and mainstream distros
This graphic is just a bit misleading, and the more detailed results show the opposite story. Bazzite is as 5.53% of Linux users, up 1.29% from last month and one of the most used single distros, behind SteamOS, Arch, Mint, and CachyOS.
bazzite is bringing in new users, not converting old ones.
Source?
The page linked in the post. Click the drop down to filter by Linux only.
Bazzite has been one in a LONG line of Trendy Distros Of The Month. People have been trying to make CachyOS happen, Zorin has made a couple appearances, ElementaryOS and Pop!_OS traded blows for awhile, Nobara was in there, a long while ago there was Peppermint, I’m forgetting a lot of them.
Feels like youre really diminishing Bazzite’s popularity here. Ive seen it regularly talked about here and in a lot of YouTube videos for around a year now. Its also currently used by 5.5% of the Steam Linux player base (you can see by filtering the results by Linux only), making it one of the most popular distros for gaming right now. Also, CachyOS is just ahead of it at 6.74%. Definitely not flavor of the month numbers imo
CachyOS is attempting to fill the same workcase as bazzite and does it better. Which is the real problem for bazzite.
And cachyOS is basically just a gamer preset for endeavour. Since all the arch based distros kinda suffer from the same problem in differentiating themselves by just being glorified presets of all of the same thing. Which is both actually a rather good boon but also a bit of a problem with being a gimmick or a flavor of the month. You just kind of pick an arch preset to start with and go from there.
Of course manjaro being the weird one out.
Like if you’re just looking for a straight up preset up one button, go gaming distribution. Cachy and baz both are trying to be that same workload. But cachy just does it better with less weird quirks and issues.
Not to mention they’re both trying to be distribution so you can just put on a steam deck. And again the cachy option just has less issues and quirks.
But cachy is fighting against stupid outdated memes about Arch so it just won’t ever really catch on. So even as a flavor of the month distro, it struggles to really ever reach true fad territory.
While bazzite easily can reach it since it doesn’t have to deal with a decade of misinformation spreading memes.
I honestly think for most people atomic systems should become the default, so I’m team bazzite right now.
It just feels like they need to get over decades of bad app/file hygiene to improve.
I’m convinced Atomic systems are going to be useful in a lot of applications but I’m not giving up a typical Linux system for my main computer yet.
Atomic distros should replace Chromebooks and managed work/school computers. They shouldn’t replace personal all-purpose computers.
I have just run into such an insane amount of problems with atomic distros. The thing is that you don’t know it will be a problem until you start having a need for the functionality
I still daily drive bazzite, but embedded programming, wireshark (constantly breaks upgrading on atomic fedora), any VM that had to connect to the LAN, any sort of document signing, key management, using any sort of government ID software like Belgium’s EID to log in on a web browser, and much more is very difficult with most of the examples being dead in the water and will apparently never be attempted to be fixed.
It works great for most people, until they need to do 1 thing outside of the mainstream and it falls apart. Hell, there is literally no documentation at all on how adding a user to a group is fundamentally broken (fedora’s fault, not bazzite) and you have to copy groups manually from a non-documented file to /etc/group.
I’m on Bazzite because I use my PC at the TV with a controller these days. It’s simple to use for that. That’s pretty much it.
Also Mint gets a ton of traction here too.
It’s a fad at best. And immutable distros are awful outside of extremely ridged use cases.
It basically is just a worse version of normal fedora or cachy OS.
It tries to both and successfully does neither job as well.
It gives the "it just works"Ness that a Linux gaming distro for Linux noobs needed. (So far anyway)
Immutable distros are perfectly fine for 99% of use cases and are far less likely to be broken by and end user following poorly made guides on the internet.
Why do you not like immutable distros?
I’m asking as a long time Mac user, just tried Linux this year, and have settled on atomic fedora and bazzite, so looking to learn not imply I know more than you or anything like that. I’m just very sold on them and the ostree idea.
See the problem is that you’re a normal computer user and not one of the 3% that actually like the experience that is the traditional Linux desktop.
Somehow that does not help me know what I’m missing.
My point is you’re not missing a damn thing.
Basically, traditional Linux allows you to mess around every part of it and even completely break it if you weren’t careful enough. This is really great and powerful for people that knows what they’re doing, but for 99% of users, the ability to change the underlying operating system is not really necessary.
Thanks. That’s fair, I mostly don’t want to deal with that most of the time (I would if I had a spare computer)
Is that not possible while still having an ostree, or is that just because the ostrees are all basically just fedora?
Gatekeepy bullshit.
Bazzite is great, and immutable just means some things are done slightly differently, that’s all.
