I used Ubuntu once a few years ago but had compatability issues so I went back to windows. Not a great programmer but I’d like to learn. I’m not looking to do much gaming beyond DOOM2 and factorio. Mostly looking for privacy and a way to get back into programming (I have this pipe dream of learning Assembly). I’m not to particular on UI, I can use whatever.

Edit: https://distrochooser.de for anyone who stumbles upon this post with the same question

  • Paragone@lemmy.ml
    44·
    1 year ago

    IF you want Steam, THEN you want one of the Ubuntu family: Steam doesn’t support any other kind of Linux distro.

    openSUSE gave me compatibility-issues after I had it running properly, both Tumbleweed AND OpenLEAP versions, when they broke my wifi-driver, early in 2023, so I’m kinda leery of recommending them.

    If you want the most Unix-like system, Slackware used to be that, haven’t used it in years, though…

    Funtoo should probably be the go-to distro for compute-oriented machines, like Blender renderers, or such… optimize to use ALL the hardware-advantage you can…

    Many enjoy Void Linux.

    just some opinions & experiences…

    ( :

    • Aatube@kbin.social
      61·
      1 year ago

      Excuse me??? I use Steam on Arch with Endeavour and it works perfectly fine after uninstalling xdg-desktop-gnome.

    • stargazingpenguin@lemmy.zip
      51·
      1 year ago

      SteamOS is Arch with Steam components on top, so I would hope they support other distros! :-) It works great for me on Fedora as well.

      Depending on their previous experience, a new user may be overwhelmed with any extra configuration involved in getting their computer running. In those cases a Debian/Ubuntu based distribution such as Mint or Pop is a stable foundation to learn what they want out of their system.

      • Paragone@lemmy.ml
        11·
        1 year ago

        When I complained to them about Steam being broken on my ( either openSUSE Tumbleweed or LEAP, or Void Linux ) system,

        they told me they only support Ubuntu, period.

        I’m not talking about rumors, or feelings, or heresay, they put it in text/“writing”, through their Steam support system, in a message to me, that they only support Ubuntu.

        People downvoting me for stating fact is stupid ( I’ve no idea if you were one of the people who downvoted my comment, I’m presuming that statistically, 1 of the others who commented against my factual-reporting did. ).

        If people have a problem with Steam not being the way they want-to-believe, then ought tell Steam to make a statement contradicting what they told me, and making explicit that they support Arch.

        I’ve seen enough comments on various Lemmy communities, to know that I do not want to try running Steam on Arch: I’ve had enough obstacle-induced migraines in my life.

        IF they tell you something contradictory to what they told me, fine: you get more-recent information that what I got some months ago!

        Salut, Namaste, & Kaizen, eh?

        ( :

    • BolexForSoup@kbin.social
      3·
      1 year ago

      I would love to pick your brain as well if you don’t mind! I have a 2016 MacBook Pro, Intel processor one of the last ones, that is actually in pretty great shape but I just don’t use a lot these days. I’ve been thinking about turning it into a Linux machine. I would like steam to run on it, but mostly it’s to teach myself Linux/experiment. Steam is definitely not a requirement so if that’s really bogging down my options I’m down for some versions that don’t have steam. I’ve got a steam deck and a Mac Studio that pretty much covers my PC gaming bases.

      • Paragone@lemmy.ml
        1·
        1 year ago

        Decide, 1st, on the point of your installing Linux on it:

        IF you want the most-fundamental-understanding,

        THEN you want the book “How Linux Works”, the most-recent edition of that, and maybe you want a Debian/Ubuntu in order to guarantee that any problem you encounter will already have been encountered by somebody else, while you are getting competent in the fundamentals… There are 2 Linux System Administration books to consider, after you work through that one, 1 is from OReilly, the other … I can’t remember who published it, but it has several authors, & a cartoon on the front cover, and it is huge, and it is the one you want.

        Neither of those books are cheap, but try comparing them with a university-year of a course, and the competence you can earn through those 2 books is at least that level.

        You also are going to need, around the time you get partway through the 2nd book, a book on Linux Security.

        IF you are just a crazy hack-at-things person who likes technical toys, then maybe Void is more likely to be fun for you…

        Linux From Scratch is how you get the every-last-step-of-the-way understanding, but I haven’t done that one yet, because I want to keep using my computer for things like writing, and LFS might make me avoid my machine ( I spent years burnt-out from geekery, several times, and am leery of getting myself that way, again, but LFS really is the way to get truly-competent as a sysadmin. ).

        You will need the same books listed above, though.

        Do well!

        ( :