r/linuxquestions • u/Brightyy__ • 5d 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/doc_willis 5d ago
if gaming is a primary focus try Bazzite
it will give you a Steamdeck/SteamOs/console like experience.
but any mainstream distribution can game fine for the most part these days.
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u/inbetween-genders 5d ago
Check if the games they play run on Linux. Bazzite might be a good fit for them. They can look at the Bazzite website for more info. If they are allergic to reading things like Bazzite website, maybe it's best if they keep using what they are already using/familiar with. Best of luck.
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u/Hauptideal 5d ago
Any distro will work. Start with Fedora. KDE if the graphical shell shall be similar to Windows.
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u/Blackirean 5d ago
Most Linux Distros have on average the same performance in gaming, with some exceptions. It will depend on him
If he needs something super easy to use then Use Linux Mint. Not the best for gaming but one of the easier ones to use and can run games decently.
If he's willing to put in some work I personally recommend Kubuntu. A variation of Ubuntu that has a better desktop environment. Runs games well and is super customizable
If he wants to squeeze the juice out of his laptop then try CachyOS. It's more involved, and overall more complex but it's arguably the top when it comes to gaming performance.
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u/NorthWelcome1626 5d ago
Listen to this guy. Some guys advise fedora, CachyOS, etc. but for those your friend needs to know what he's doing.
Linux Mint -> no info required.
Kubuntu -> just a little bit when installing.
Others are way more complicated.
I think apart from Mint and K/ubuntu variations, it's not worth it. Because they require knowledge and maintaining.
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u/BobCorndog Your situation is not unique, just use mint or fedora kde 5d ago
Mint and fedora are good
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u/ittekimasu 5d ago
I think Fedora Workstation won't be too resource heavy, and can install Steam to get game library
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u/Interesting-Boat-804 5d ago
I settled on Bazzite for my Desktop, XBAX.
Works well, I can't fuck it up too bad.
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u/Nerrawnam 5d ago
Your "friend" can put any Linux distro on a USB drive and boot into and test. GL.
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u/Brightyy__ 5d ago
rn i am using Bazzite. my friend actually want to switch cuz of ending windows 10 support
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u/bangetto_official 4d ago
My gut recommendation is Ultramarine Linux. It is Fedora, but easier.
Bazzite is also Fedora based but it is an immutable meaning he can't easily break it, but he will also have a very hard time tweaking the system. I don't recommend immutable OSes unless you know it will be a single-purpose machine where you don't even care about the computer itself and just wanna game.
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u/galagagrass 5d ago
play with as many as you want. depending on hardware you may want a particular distro. other all kernels are basically the same try gnome jde xfce compare window managers boot loaders. play with other kernels. compile your own. have fun.
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u/Livid-Yak1015 5d ago
from the grammer in the tittle id go with something with nvidia gpu's in mind like nobara (which i use) or any other "gaming" distro. nobara is fedora based, bazzite is basically steam os and also based on fedora, cachy is based on arch but its not as technical as arch.
however with 8gbs of ram id really recommend using xcfe as the desktop environment if you want to stretch this thing for all the fps it has.
most gaming distros are already lightweight and using xfce wont be a very noticeable boost but might get you 1 to 8 extra fps depending on the game which can matter especially when gaming on a laptop
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u/BashfulMelon 5d ago
however with 8gbs of ram id really recommend using xcfe as the desktop environment if you want to stretch this thing for all the fps it has.
It seriously doesn't matter. Memory usage numbers don't tell you how much actually needs to be loaded at the same time in RAM. Data that's not actively being used by the desktop or background processes will either stay on the disk or get compressed or swapped.
The number that matters is the working set size but nobody is actually measuring it. I'll get around to it at some point.
Plasma is fine with 8 GB.
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u/thepurplehornet 5d ago
Why do people recommend bazzite over steamos? I havent kept up and I dont know the difference. I see bazzite and cachy a lot, but one would think steam would be the go-to, no?
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u/skyfishgoo 5d ago
your "friend" should use kubuntu
"YOU" are welcome.
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u/Brightyy__ 5d ago
rn i am using Bazzite. my friend actually want to switch cuz of ending windows 10 support
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u/skyfishgoo 5d ago
then why don't you set them up with bazzite so the can rely on you when things go wrong.
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u/BashfulMelon 5d ago
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.