To be clear, this question is for general PC use, and not only gaming.
Desktop mode on my Deck has easily become my favorite PC experience in a very long long time. I’ve used Windows and Apple my entire life before now, so I have zero experience with Linux, other than the Steam Deck, but the OS is incrediby friendly to newcomers, and I’d say it’s essentially a modern and polished version of Windows 95.
So what would you recommend as a similar experience for desktop?
If you haven’t looked at Garuda yet, it’s the system I switched to after Bazzite. It’s Arch based and user friendly.
I used to work with a guy who would wear what liked like a band touring tee shirt, but the “band” was “Grants March to the Sea” and the locations were every town he razed to the ground.
Fedora Kinoite
I agree, really anything with KDE Plasma will feel basically the same because the Steam Deck’s desktop is basically stock kde.
Ehhhhh
No. Absolutely not like Steam OS it’s made for gaming, yes, but that’s it for the similarities.
Well I’m not aware of any Arch-based immutable distro besides SteamOS so it’s kinda hard to give a perfect answer.
Adobe and Linux isn’t a thing unfortunately
Except substance painter and designer, weirdly enough
And not via adobes suite, but via steam
It’s the only way to get an official Linux version of those tools
Are these tools being bought buy Adobe more recently ? That could be an explaination why, but that’s good to know thanks for sharing.
A couple years ago from allegorithmic. But a Linux version was never around
Wine/Proton’s magic
Nope. Native Linux. And wine/proton didn’t work very well before
Since desktop mode is basically just KDE but without the ability to install software packages you could try Fedora.
They do a version just like desktop mode that has you install everything through the store, or you can get the regular variety to get a bit more flexibility.
Personally I’d steer clear of anything special as your first Linux install. Go with standard Fedora, then you can experiment and branch out if you’re interested, but you don’t have to if you like what you’ve got.
Alright, y’all, I really appreciate all the feedback, I believe I understand the gist of most of it. Bazzite is sounding really nice, I just have one big concern: Can I put Adobe on it, so I can dropkick Windows out of my life? I did find this.
I would definitely recommend trying WinApps first, which that guide seems to be for. Never tried to get it running on Bazzite/SilverBlue/Universal Blue though, so can’t help you there.
Is this an alternative to Wine?
No. If something runs in Wine, still use that. WinApp is basically a Windows VM combined with some other tools to allow Windows apps on the VM to run more seamlessly and native feeling. It makes picky apps like the Adobe and Microsoft suites happy since it’s using full Windows to run them, but this means there’s more overhead than running an app through Wine or natively.
Man, this has been the most helpful and informative internet post I’ve ever made in my entire life, lol. Thank you.
So it is an alternative in that it’s a different way towards the same goal, but it’s not a replacement, right?
I’ve been liking MX Linux.
Fedora.
A lot of people are going to recommend you mint, I honestly think mint is an outdated suggestion for beginners, I think immutability is extremely important for someone who is just starting out, as well as starting on KDE since it’s by far the most developed DE that isn’t gnome and their… design decisions are unfortunate for people coming from windows.
I don’t think we should be recommending mint to beginners anymore, if mint makes an immutable, up to date KDE distro, that’ll change, but until then, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place for beginners.
The mere fact that bazzite and other immutables generate a new system for you on update and let you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
Cinnamon (the default mint environment) doesn’t and won’t support HDR, the security/performance improvements from wayland, mixed refresh rate displays, mixed DPI displays, fractional scaling, and many other things for a very very long time if at all. I don’t understand the usecase for cinnamon tbh, xfce is great if you need performance but don’t want to make major sacrifices, lxqt is great if you need A LOT of performance, cinnamon isn’t particularly performant and just a strictly worse version of kde in my eyes from the perspective of a beginner, anyway.
I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
Cinnamon supports fractional scaling, mixed dpi, pretty sure it handles mixed refresh rates, and wayland support was added in mint 21.3 as experimental. I feel like you havent touched mint in 5+ years.
This is not actually true, mint supports x.org hacks for those things, not natively and properly, for example, the way mixed refresh rates work is like this: lets say you have a 60fps and 120fps monitor, both will actually run at 120, but half will be culled on the 60, meaning much worse performance and battery life… this becomes exceptionally bad if they are not clean multiples, say a 144hz and 60.
fractional scaling works in a similarly hacky way, it renders at 2x and then downscales, as does mixed dpi, meaning you’re paying the full rendering cost.
they kinda work, but these are terribly hacky workarounds that are impossible to avoid due to the fundamental nature of x.org. This is not something they can fix without wayland support, which will take forever to mature into usability because their dev speed is so slow.
The problem with using Bazzite as the solution to new users bricking they’re Linux installs is I’ve had Bazzite’s update utility break itself 3 times now. I couldn’t possibly recommend this distro to someone after that. I literally switched my desktop back to Arch for reliability reasons. Ridiculous.
There are stories like this for every distro, unfortunately.
Same. I gave up on Bazzite (for the time being) the second time it just stopped updating. The first time, I had to rebase it entirely to get it to work for a while again. I wouldn’t want to put a new person through that. I’m not sure why everyone has a hard-on for immutable distros “for beginners” suddenly.
If you want to get started with Linux, I’d recommended Mint. It’s very easy to install and will run on just about anything. The Cinnamon desktop is pretty similar to Windows and you’ll feel right at home. Install Steam and start playing your games, it’s that simple. There are of course plenty of other excellent options but for ease of getting started, I don’t think anything beats Mint.
A lot of people are going to recommend you mint, I honestly think mint is an outdated suggestion for beginners, I think immutability is extremely important for someone who is just starting out, as well as starting on KDE since it’s by far the most developed DE that isn’t gnome and their… design decisions are unfortunate for people coming from windows.
I don’t think we should be recommending mint to beginners anymore, if mint makes an immutable, up to date KDE distro, that’ll change, but until then, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place for beginners.
The mere fact that bazzite and other immutables generate a new system for you on update and let you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
Cinnamon (the default mint environment) doesn’t and won’t support HDR, the security/performance improvements from wayland, mixed refresh rate displays, mixed DPI displays, fractional scaling, and many other things for a very very long time if at all. I don’t understand the usecase for cinnamon tbh, xfce is great if you need performance but don’t want to make major sacrifices, lxqt is great if you need A LOT of performance, cinnamon isn’t particularly performant and just a strictly worse version of kde in my eyes from the perspective of a beginner, anyway.
there is not one thing that is easier about the setup process on mint and since bazzite offers a nvidia image it’s actually easier.
I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
Well i haven’t tried Bazzite, but you’re selling it really well. I agree that Mint is a bit behind in Wayland support and they should get on with it. On the other hand, none if those things are really very relevant for day to day use. As long as you stick to the software center and update manager in Mint, you won’t have any trouble installing software or applying updates.
sure, day to day it might not matter if you don’t do anything weird, but when it does matter… it matters a lot
and you’re not gaining anything by sacrificing these additions.
For some reason CachyOS hasn’t been mentioned. Like others said basically any distro can do what you’re describing, and this one is also one of those “with gaming in mind” distros. Didn’t mean you can’t do anything else on them, but anything making should “just work”. They also have a dedicated image/installer for “handheld” PCs like the steam deck that come preconfigured for that interface combination (but don’t use this special image on a normal PC/desktop).
Like SteamOS, it’s based on Arch, but unlike SteamOS or Bazzite it isn’t immutable. That’s a matter of preference. Being a rolling release means frequent and direct updates of new releases of any kind (kernel, software, everything, …). KDE is the default install option, like on the steam deck, but of course basically all other options are also available is you want (additionally or instead of kde).
So being not immutable, are there more options for installing typical Windows software, like Photoshop and illustrator? And would you recommend it to someone who’s not tech illiterate, but also not an IT person, as evidenced by my previous question?
Windows software is always the same (immutable distro or not), as it is run with “wine”. To run Windows programs they are installed in what’s called a prefix, which is basically just a folder containing stuff related to Windows. Things like “program files” and all the other folder structures a Windows program would expect, and will then appear as a drive letter. The prefix is generated inside your home folder (typically) anyway, which is always writable, and one can house multiple windows programs (or just the one if that needs special settings).
Immutability matters more for the actual Linux system and how you install Linux native software. Normally, you install software using a package manager (pacman on Arch, apt for Debian, …), and each package knows what else is needed to run it, and that gets installed as well. Many programs needing the same library means that library will be installed once. For an immutable distro this is basically fixed, and programs get run using “flatpacks” (there are similar solutions with other names, same idea). These are similar to packages from a package manager, but instead everything needed to run a program it’s always contained. That means they are bigger, but this will run on any distro, as it doesn’t have to tell the package manager what else to install. There are other technical details, like flatpacks are somewhat isolated, but nothing critical.
I would suggest finding a YouTube video or article to go into more detail if this matters to you, or if you just want to know more about the differences and reasons for using each of them.
Basic idea: immutable distro has stable base, updates are rarer, but system harder to modify. Regular distro is easier to tinker with, and a rolling release means frequent updates (doesn’t mean you need to install them frequently, btw), but occasionally things do break and might even require a manual fix.
Edit: somehow I forgot to answer your actual direct question. Generally anything from Adobe is a real pain to get to work. It can be done, but from what I heard it’s rather involved (I never have, don’t use Adobe). If you absolutely need that software and alternatives (paid it not) are just not an option, check first what is involved. There’s might even be a specific distro recommended to make it easier, or some distro might have better guides or more up to date ones.
Ok, thanks for that explanation, that’s all really helpful, and starting to make sense. Im sure I could figure out Wine, or get help from friends, so Bazzite is sounding really good. I am excited to Uncle Phil Windows.
Heads up if you’re eyeing Fedora or its progeny like Bazzite, Nobara: https://news.itsfoss.com/fedora-32-bit-support/
The proposal has been dropped
The proposal has been dropped
That was fast! Will update, suh.
Unsurprisingly so. The feedback has been overwhelmingly negative.
That being said, it’s still a matter of time until it happens
I vouch for Kubuntu. It uses KDE Plasma, which is the exact same UI as SreamOS desktop mode. It’s based on Ubuntu, which is a very popular distro, so there’s a lot of support and apps that are packaged for it
don’t do kubuntu, it is a terrible place to start for beginners. I don’t think we should be recommending ubuntu at all, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place.
The mere fact that bazzite and other immutables generate a new system for you on update and let you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
theres also the fact that ubuntu ships very out of date software… among other things regarding privacy concerns, snaps being terrible, just don’t.
I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
I generally think the most important thing when you’re not yet very experienced with Linux is to just pick a distro that is relatively popular, since these are usually very googleable.
My personal favorite is probably still Fedora. Pick Fedora Workstation Gnome if you want something that has the most online support and Fedora KDE if you want something with a similar workflow as Windows.
I also generally think that using a normal Linux Distro is a better choice if you don’t want to do only gaming and nothing else, since Steam OS actually makes some things a lot more difficult (you cannot easily install many programs due to its immutable nature, it only has AMD GPU support, doesn’t include even basic things like print functionality, the installation process is not the easiest, …) These things will be pretty big hurdles to overcome for a newcomer. The only real thing that is probably easier on Steam OS is that Steam is already pre-installed, but considering that you can literally install Steam on Fedora without using the terminal probably less than 10 mouse clicks, I wouldn’t consider this a very big advantage.
If you do end up going for a normal distro (like Fedora), I would btw highly recommend installing Steam not as a flatpak but as a “normal” application. This is not very difficult and will provide a much more stable experience than if you just use the Flatpak (which may be the first thing you come across in the software store). There are short tutorials available for: Fedora, Ubuntu, …
Note you should probably switch to recommending aurora because it’s identical with some tweaks for beginners, for example on stock fedora twitch doesn’t work because redhat is an american company that respects patents that aren’t enforced elsewhere and you have to manually install an ffmpeg version that’s a whole annoying process. It’s essentially identical.
Cool, that is very helpful, and yes one main reason for this is I can’t install Adobe, and Blender3D has no GPU rendering support. I have yet to come across the lack of printing, lol. But what I like is just everyday usability, and also the lack of bullshit from Microsoft, Apple, and also Android that gives me literal anxiety at this point. I dont know, it just feels like the zen garden of the computer world for some reason, but yeah more support would be grand, as well as playing Cyberpunk with mods and 60fps ultra.
This and Kubuntu are sounding good, and probably better than Bazzite for everyday and art stuff.
don’t do kubuntu, it is a terrible place to start for beginners. I don’t think we should be recommending ubuntu at all, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place.
The mere fact that bazzite and other immutables generate a new system for you on update and let you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
theres also the fact that ubuntu ships very out of date software… among other things regarding privacy concerns, snaps being terrible, just don’t.
I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
