this post was submitted on 02 Jun 2024
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Linux Gaming
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What's interesting is Arch surpassed Ubuntu prior to the Steam Deck release. They were neck and neck for a bit after that, then the Steam Deck helped it push past.
https://boilingsteam.com/distros-used-for-gaming-ubuntu-recovers-a-little-pop-os-sinks-further-down/
It would be interesting to see a breakdown of how many people ended up installing other gaming distros after purchasing a Deck.
A lot of Linux enthusiasts use Arch, but it's far from the most popular among regular Linux users. So we're seeing early adopters since Arch users are probably more likely to tinker to get things working than Ubuntu users.
So if we start seeing Ubuntu take over Arch, that means we're seeing Linux gaming reach the mainstream.
I would also like to see a survey about Linux adoption after using the Deck.
I figured most of that crowd would go to Mint.
That's what I recommend, and I'd expect Mint to eventually be #2 or #3 once it hits mainstream.
I use something else though (openSUSE Tumbleweed), but I think Mint has way better community support without a lot of the nonsense that Ubuntu has. Mint Debian is my recommendation 9/10 times.
No snark intended, but what do you mean by "hits mainstream?" It's been around for a long time, and it still hasn't surpassed Ubuntu, as far as I am aware. I genuinely don't understand what you mean.
I agree that it's generally user friendly, but many distros like Elementary and Manjaro are trying to become more user friendly, too. Couple that with the gaming community likely being the first larger group of adopters, and they'll be looking for gaming-oriented distros like Bazzite, Pop, Chimera, and Garuda.
Linux gaming is still an "early adopter" thing. Many popular games don't work, so the people who are willing to give those up care more about running Linux than playing those games, which means tinkerers and stubborn people.
The more Linux is compatible day 1 for popular games, the more attractive Linux gaming will be. At a certain point, mainstream users will move to Linux and they'll probably use Ubuntu and Mint more than other distros.
But that's not where we are. Ubuntu is probably the most popular distro for regular users, and those users seem to not play games much on Linux. That means they're either dual booting Windows, or just not playing games.
Maybe, but none of those are showing up on top of lists.
I think most mainstream users will use Ubuntu because that's what they already associate with Linux. People are aware of it by word of mouth, so it seems "safer" than using a gaming-specific distro. They'll likely naïvely think that gaming-specific distros are "gaming only" and want something "general purpose" if they're going to bail on Windows.
But these new users aren't going to be using Arch most likely, so seeing that at the top tells me that Linux gaming is at the "early adopter" phase.
That being said, I've been a Linux gamer since before Steam came to Linux and I remember signing up for an account back in 2013 or whatever when they did come (I think I was on Arch at the time, go figure). Before that point, I mostly played Factorio, Minecraft, and a handful of games I got from Humble Bundle back when they were new and indie-focused (Humble games mostly worked on Linux back then).
Anyway, that's my 2¢. I'm on openSUSE now, so I'm not really contributing to any of the top distro stats.
Fedora recently hit top three for most installed gaming distros, and that's likely because of Bazzite (which just a Fedora Atomics Spin).
But I appreciate your explanation, and I think it's well thought. Only time will really tell what happens, but having the Steam Deck out there only helps adoption in the long term.
Oh absolutely. People can easily see what's officially supported on Linux and try games on their Steam Deck before committing to a desktop install.
I have a Steam Deck and three of my coworkers either have one or want one, and only one of them is interested in Linux itself. Every time they complain about something on Windows, I casually ask if Steam Deck does that. :)