Whats your favourite Linux Distro?

[Super Firm Tofu]

That is what I thought, but Steams OS site still says that it is based on Debian.

So, what is SteamOS?​

SteamOS is a public release of our Linux-based operating system. The base system draws from Debian 8, code named Debian Jessie. Our work builds on top of the solid Debian core and optimizes it for a living room experience. Most of all, it is an open Linux platform that leaves you in full control. You can take charge of your system and install new software or content as you want.

I think they need to update the page information and the download version currently is 3.5.7.

They moved to the Arch based version with the release of the Steam Deck. That version isn't available for download so far.

The original Debian based version was for the co-branded machines they released 10 or so years ago.

 

[InVasMani]

@SchumannFrequency thanks for the acknowledge here, I have setup my different uses for linux, fileservers, ovpn server (CentOS, Ubuntu, RaspOS and such) heck even had some of them running as a router but not much anymore we changed to opnsense which is just easier to administrate because in the end customers pay and I am not a big network guru. (I can do switches, cables and basic setup from experience but I am not educated no degree on my life sadly).

All the linux I done I can thank my boss for he is a big on linux it's frustrating from time to time since I am more Windows but it doesn't hurt with linux.
But with the way MS is going with Windows and the release of the Steamdeck well Linux is becoming more of a subject to discus than in the past for me.

I do not really talk about Linux but after trying Arch and I enjoyed it, I think about it and if I should go Linux but properly not for my personal server because I want it to be what I know and been running Windows for over 20years now.

I am late into Linux yes, I read about unraid and docker, specially a docker sounds interesting but the reason is I do not want do a lot of tinkering on my server this is why I rather change my Plex to Jellyfin to get the hw encoding than buying a pass for Windows because I am lazy

What about pfSense though that is FreeBSD so Unix-like I think? I don't really know how exactly how they compare and key differences though pfSense is intended to be a hardware while unraid is maybe more aimed at just network storage, but not necessarily traffic filtering!!? There is probably some advantages to having both technically, but probably not really worth it for most. I'm too tied down to Windows software to really switch over to Linux as a primary PC setup though as a spare secondary PC not so much lots of reason to consider Linux or BSD in general.

 

[AusWolf]

That is what I thought, but Steams OS site still says that it is based on Debian.

So, what is SteamOS?​

SteamOS is a public release of our Linux-based operating system. The base system draws from Debian 8, code named Debian Jessie. Our work builds on top of the solid Debian core and optimizes it for a living room experience. Most of all, it is an open Linux platform that leaves you in full control. You can take charge of your system and install new software or content as you want.

I think they need to update the page information and the download version currently is 3.5.7.

Does anybody here have any experience with this? Is it any good?

 

[Space Lynx]

Does anybody here have any experience with this? Is it any good?

steamOS on steam deck is amazing 10/10

on the 10 yr old one when they tried steam machines, pretty sure those flopped for a lot of reasons, but the software wasn't there yet

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

They moved to the Arch based version with the release of the Steam Deck. That version isn't available for download so far.

The original Debian based version was for the co-branded machines they released 10 or so years ago.

chimeraOS is about as close as you get to the Steam Deck feel. If you're gaming first and foremost, then it's an easy start. I tried it, and it was really easy to get going. Gaming is a secondary function of my rig, so it's not a DD for me.

 

[Solaris17]

What about pfSense though that is FreeBSD so Unix-like I think? I don't really know how exactly how they compare and key differences though pfSense is intended to be a hardware while unraid is maybe more aimed at just network storage, but not necessarily traffic filtering!!? There is probably some advantages to having both technically, but probably not really worth it for most. I'm too tied down to Windows software to really switch over to Linux as a primary PC setup though as a spare secondary PC not so much lots of reason to consider Linux or BSD in general.

It is, I also much prefer opnsense to pfsense. Pfsense general scumbagery aside I much prefer the newer UI.

Shou Miko is not new to it, he says he has been working with CentOS, Raspberry and Ubuntu for at least 11 years.
For someone with a basic knowledge of Linux, what is the advantage of Ubuntu over Devuan? You can say that Ubuntu is easier to configure, which saves you time.
But that time gain is only during the first few days of installing and configuring the system.
Usually after a few days you achieve a configuration that requires little maintenance, this is also the case for Devuan.
But from that moment on, Devuan has the advantage that the operating system boots almost twice as fast as Ubuntu every time. (OpenRC)
OpenRC is also more reliable (fewer bugs) than systemd from Ubuntu. You have a less reliable system with Ubuntu.
In the long run, Ubuntu will waste more time than Devuan if you boot the system frequently.
Ubuntu also has more bloatware than Devuan. Ultimately, I don't see any benefit to Ubuntu.

What is the rating of Ubuntu and Devuan on DistroWatch?

Im glad some of the people here like Linux as someone who has also literally used it forever though I guess I’m just done my distro hopping phase. I don’t chase the next big thing so I have no need to jump on super unstable distros led by like 3 people and no documentation because they use a sick default wall paper.

You’re generally a big proponent for Linux which is great but you have blinders on sometimes. Recommending difficulty for the sake of it hurts this industry imo and while it doesn’t apply in Shiros case if they have used Linux for awhile it’s something you should probably be aware of.

 

[AusWolf]

steamOS on steam deck is amazing 10/10

on the 10 yr old one when they tried steam machines, pretty sure those flopped for a lot of reasons, but the software wasn't there yet

How about on PC? Is it any better for gaming than for example, Ubuntu or Mint?

 

[Space Lynx]

How about on PC? Is it any better for gaming than for example, Ubuntu or Mint?

to my knowledge SteamOS can't be installed on desktop yet, you can try, but it just won't work yet. it's coming in the future though Valve said.

ChimeraOS is very similar as mentioned a few posts up.

 

[SchumannFrequency]

Im glad some of the people here like Linux as someone who has also literally used it forever though I guess I’m just done my distro hopping phase. I don’t chase the next big thing so I have no need to jump on super unstable distros led by like 3 people and no documentation because they use a sick default wall paper.

Clear Linux --> the Intel open source team can be larger than the number of Ubuntu (Canonical) devs
PCLinuxOS --> maybe the most reliable rolling release distro
Calculate Linux --> more reliable than Arch Linux (and Gentoo has many competent packagers)
Void Linux (glibc) --> very reliable system and competent devs
ALT (stable branch) --> more stability than Ubuntu and more competent devs
Devuan --> it's more stable than Debian, it's better than Ubuntu in terms of stability
OpenRC is a pretty active project, they have 155 contributors on github.
Alpine Linux --> they used to patch issues before Ubuntu in the past, they have (very) competent devs because they are used by Docker

user-friendliness
Clear Linux --> 10/10 (easiest installer in the Linux world)
PCLinuxOS --> 8.5/10
Calculate Linux --> 8.5/10
Void Linux (glibc) --> 7.5/10
ALT KWorkstation 10 --> 9/10
Devuan (testing branch) --> 7.8/10
Alpine Linux --> 8/10

Often only the installation of these systems is a bit more difficult. I've noticed that many packages are easier to install in FreeBSD/OpenBSD than Ubuntu.
It is also a fact that the firewall of BSD systems (PF) has easier syntax and is easier to configure than any Linux firewall.

Ease of use is a complex concept because an operating system has many aspects.

 

[VulkanBros]

That is confusing.....are they Arch or Debian based?

 

[Solaris17]

View attachment 352456

That is confusing.....are they Arch or Debian based?

Didnt seem very confusing to me. Its all arch now. They stopped debian when they stopped making those little boxes. Though proton (which they make so you can play games) is agnostic in the sense that its bundled with there client. Arch is just what they chose to use on there hardware.

 

[VulkanBros]

View attachment 352466

Didnt seem very confusing to me. Its all arch now. They stopped debian when they stopped making those little boxes. Though proton (which they make so you can play games) is agnostic in the sense that its bundled with there client. Arch is just what they chose to use on there hardware.

Valve own website says this:

 

[Solaris17]

Valve own website says this:

Thats super old, Debian 8 isnt even a thing anymore. We are on 12 now and Debian is a slowww cook cycle. Debian 8 was released in 2015.

If you go to there site on a PC you can even see this. All of there links bring you to the deck recovery images. Even the one that says

"NOTE: This image is not compatible with Steam Deck. If you are looking for the Steam Deck Recovery image, visit"

But the links are:

https://steamdeck-images.steamos.cloud/recovery/steamdeck-repair-latest.img.bz2

SteamOS

store.steampowered.com

for the "non-deck" version.

It even still says "Unzip the SteamOS.zip file to a blank, FAT32-formatted USB stick."

But the file is literally: steamdeck-repair-latest.img.bz2

For the deck version is still obviously links you to the deck recovery specific page.

Steam Support :: Steam Deck Recovery Instructions

help.steampowered.com

which points you to the same file:

https://steamdeck-images.steamos.cloud/recovery/steamdeck-repair-latest.img.bz2

The debian builds are no more.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

Yeah, SteamOS was Debian, now it's Arch. That's pretty apparent to me, since I have way better success running games on Proton in Manjaro (Arch) vs Ubuntu (Debian). So far, running Manjaro has been a pretty dull experience, which is just how I like my OSes these days.

 

[Super Firm Tofu]

Yeah, SteamOS was Debian, now it's Arch. That's pretty apparent to me, since I have way better success running games on Proton in Manjaro (Arch) vs Ubuntu (Debian). So far, running Manjaro has been a pretty dull experience, which is just how I like my OSes these days.

I would guess that the problems in Ubuntu you experienced were probably related to their proprietary Snap version of Steam. I had been running 24.04 until recently without any issues, but I downloaded and installed Steam direct (via the .deb from store.steampowered.com).

 

[Sithhy™]

Whats your favourite Linux Distro?

My favourite Linux distro is Solus. I love it a lot & have been using it as a daily driver on me laptop since 2019. Despite some of the issues it had last year with the staff, they have rectified everything & since then the distro has been better than ever; regular updates more than once a week, solid snappy performance thanks to some Clear Linux code & despite the somewhat limited amount of packages in the repo, it has everything I need, covers my needs perfectly & never let me down with an update. It stopped my distrohopping after I tried around 20 distros & I didn't need to look elsewhere since then

 

[Space Lynx]

I would guess that the problems in Ubuntu you experienced were probably related to their proprietary Snap version of Steam. I had been running 24.04 until recently without any issues, but I downloaded and installed Steam direct (via the .deb from store.steampowered.com).

I am going to take note of this. I plan to try manjaro and ubuntu in a week or two, want to see if I can get FFXIV Dawntrail running through Lutris. if its too complicated i am going back to windows, but we will see.

 

[Solaris17]

My favourite Linux distro is Solus. I love it a lot & have been using it as a daily driver on me laptop since 2019. Despite some of the issues it had last year with the staff, they have rectified everything & since then the distro has been better than ever; regular updates more than once a week, solid snappy performance thanks to some Clear Linux code & despite the somewhat limited amount of packages in the repo, it has everything I need, covers my needs perfectly & never let me down with an update. It stopped my distrohopping after I tried around 20 distros & I didn't need to look elsewhere since then

Man I love the budgie desktop. The budgie version of ubuntu is my favorite flavor of it.

I am going to take note of this. I plan to try manjaro and ubuntu in a week or two, want to see if I can get FFXIV Dawntrail running through Lutris. if its too complicated i am going back to windows, but we will see.

I will be honest, I dont use lutris at all. It was so hard for me to contextually use it. All of you must be gods. XIV works fine though.

 

[Space Lynx]

Man I love the budgie desktop. The budgie version of ubuntu is my favorite flavor of it.



I will be honest, I dont use lutris at all. It was so hard for me to contextually use it. All of you must be gods. XIV works fine though.

FFXIV has two options, steam native if you bought the game on steam, and then original client (which is what I have)

i don't even know where to begin to download the original client for linux since its windows only download on the website, i wish i had bought the game on steam, but its too late and im not rebuying all the games. steam it works easy on linux i hear, as simple as click play.

i know you already know all of this, but I am guessing you have the steam store version of FFXIV?

 

[Solaris17]

FFXIV has two options, steam native if you bought the game on steam, and then original client (which is what I have)

i don't even know where to begin to download the original client for linux since its windows only download on the website, i wish i had bought the game on steam, but its too late and im not rebuying all the games. steam it works easy on linux i here, as simple as click play.

i know you already know all of this, but I am guessing you have the steam store version of FFXIV?

No I have been playing longer than the steam version has existed. I use the normal launcher.

 

[SomeOne99h]

Linux Fedora and Nobara are my favourite.

I will be honest, I dont use lutris at all. It was so hard for me to contextually use it. All of you must be gods. XIV works fine though.

That is right. Heroic Launcher is the actual friendly app but somehow many still recommend Lutris instead of Heroic for everyone which is only better than Heroic if you are a power user who studied and memorized hundreds of pages for Lutris parameters arguments and commands. If I can recall how many, they are around 400 pages.

Recent versions of Heroic Launcher implemented winetricks which are mostly picked scripts and configs for certain games that refuses to work with vanilla wine.
It doesn't hurt to have both in case one failed to run a game for some reason. There is also Bottles, which sits between Lutris and Heroic friendliness-wise.

 

[AlejoZ]

Manjaro
Fedora
Linux Mint

 

[Space Lynx]

Linux Fedora and Nobara are my favourite.

That is right. Heroic Launcher is the actual friendly app but somehow many still recommend Lutris instead of Heroic for everyone which is only better than Heroic if you are a power user who studied and memorized hundreds of pages for Lutris parameters arguments and commands. If I can recall how many, they are around 400 pages.

Recent versions of Heroic Launcher implemented winetricks which are mostly picked scripts and configs for certain games that refuses to work with vanilla wine.
It doesn't hurt to have both in case one failed to run a game for some reason. There is also Bottles, which sits between Lutris and Heroic friendliness-wise.

I thought Heroic Launcher only was for Epic Games Store and GoG, how will it help me with FFXIV original windows client?

 

[VulkanBros]

Found this on Twitter, made me laugh so hard

 

[Space Lynx]

The Linux Mint 22 Beta is almost here as ISO testing gets underway

Linux Mint 22 is finally near with the Cinnamon ISO undergoing testing. In a few days, if the tests pass, we should get a beta release followed two weeks later by the final version.

www.neowin.net

Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon should be out within a month or two... I will probably switch over to that, or at least dual boot it and spend vast majority of my time there. I just hope it supports my laptop camera, cause I just need Zoom for work sometimes.

Probably will be my favorite.