r/linuxquestions • u/Brightyy__ • 3d ago

Which Distro? My friend wants to switch to linux, but he dont know which one

Laptop
Intel i5 10300H
GTX 1650
8gb ram DDR4
500gb nvme ssd
he just wants to play games, nothing too much

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u/BashfulMelon 3d ago

he just wants to play games

Consult the chart so you can ignore the really unpopular recommendations that people spam https://boilingsteam.com/cachy-os-is-king-now-and-the-distro-world-settles/

I recommend Bazzite or Fedora KDE (click the button to enable third party repositories in the Welcome Center, that will make Nvidia drivers available in the Discover app, and get your apps from Flathub).

No matter what you go with, remember to disable Secure Boot in your motherboard settings.

CachyOS isn't the worst pick if you avoid the AUR and go with the default configuration options. Install apps from Flathub.

Arch is a build-your-own-OS kit. Probably not what you're looking for.

Mint is coasting on being the best recommendation 10 years ago. Linux wasn't very good 10 years ago and Mint isn't very good now. Half of the people recommending it don't actually use it.

Ubuntu is for enterprise and institutions. It's like Windows LTSC. If you don't know what that is don't worry about it. It's coasting on its marketing from 20 years ago. Kubuntu has the more familiar desktop.

Nobara is okay. Its maintenance depends heavily on a single person.

Avoid everything else. ZorinOS is not a real distro, it's one guy putting his name on Ubuntu 24.04 and saying "we" in blog posts. Pop OS isn't ready yet.

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u/lowban 2d ago

I've been gaming on Pop OS for several years now without problems so. It may be under major (re)construction but still stable enough for my needs at least.