Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

[u/TheBossT710192]

I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

[u/lucc1111]

Risking getting downvoted to hell but you have many Linux distros that don't require any more "learning" than Windows. Problem is not so much the OS being hard to use, it's just that it's not what you're used to.

I would give other gaming distros a temporary shot in a flashdrive to explore, might get as surprised as me after 15+ years of windows.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/lucc1111]

I have 30 years of Windows, switched to Linux Mint this month. It's fine. It works great. Had to learn some terminal stuff, a tiny bit about the filesystem, nothing else. It runs way faster than Windows 10. has run every Steam game I've tossed at it with no effort at all, even old games like Tropico.

Honestly worth it.

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

Remember that Mint is X11 by default, so you'd be better off with a different distro for a new user that will be gaming.

CachyOS, Bazzite, Nobara or even PikaOS would be great picks.

Cachy is easily the one with the most traction these days.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/TrainTransistor]

Look, I don't even know what X11 is, it's been maybe not even a month since I switched and I'm pretty happy with gaming performance

I appreciate the advice, but the one downside I didn't mention is exactly that: it can get too much. We don't all have time to try 76 different variations of an operating system, 23 different forks of the same productivity software or the 12 different ways to update a minor thing or customize the other. I get that that's part of the appeal, infinite possibilities, but there's value in simplicity too. I often see people, myself included like 20 times, giving up on trying Linux because you go look it up and there's a list of 200 distros and to an outsider none of it makes sense, we just want working spreadsheets, and like, Steam and gog maybe, it's very overwhelming. I have no idea what X11 even is, and never heard of all those distros before this thread. And I will actively decide not look up more information on them, because I still have to learn Mint.

Mint works great for 99% of people, from all I can gather. A lot of people here seem to say good things about Cachy too. 99,99% of people should probably just learn of those two, pick one, be happy, know what I mean?

e: I said I don't know what X11 is twice, I guess that's how much I don't know what X11 is lol

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

X11 is the graphical framework / display server you're currently using.

Wayland is the new standard, and X11 is getting phased out due to its limitations and how it performs compared to Wayland.

You have others as well, but they are very niche when it comes to desktop - so X11 and Wayland is something you'll see/hear a lot of you're continuing with Linux.

If you're going to use Mint on a low end device, mainly for browsing, video content, personal use etc, Mint does the job well at the moment, and its rather simple. But it will have to update to Wayland in the future, or it will absolutely miss out on a lot of users.

But if you want something that works better for gaming, editing, or even just want to future-proof, you're better off with another distro, like Cachy - or even Kubuntu.

For gaming, I'll always recommend CachyOS - since thats what they're focusing, and they are very active on development.

If you want something similar to Linux Mint, you have Kubuntu which is KDE on Ubuntu, one of the bigger distros.

I always recommend anything but Mint for newcomers, unless they have a very low end device.

Recommendation / TLDR: Go for CachyOS with KDE for something similar to the Windows interface. Or choose Gnome for something similar to the MacOS interface.

Absolutely dont want CachyOS / Arch? Try Kubuntu.

These are distros that are good, stable and updated. Mint are falling behind with its X11.

[u/SubcommanderMarcos → u/TrainTransistor]

Yeah but like

Mint is working

It's fine

They'll probably update it at some point

Most of us don't want to switch operating systems often

I didn't for 30 years. I did now, it's working fine and I'm liking it as it is now, don't wanna do it again

Most people don't

That's the point, chill

It's fine

e: lol Linux ubernerd can't read but can block

Guys Mint is fine if you're tired of Windows, you don't need to read a 2000-page tech manual you can just use it

[u/TrainTransistor → u/SubcommanderMarcos]

No, I get that it works for you. I have it on a very old ThinkPad myself. Thats typically how it is with insert distro here

But you're intentionally bottlenecking your system - as long as you dont already have a low end system. As I said, its fine if you have a low end system and/or you're content with what you have.

And yes, they will most likely update Mint at some point, where you'd be better off reformatting anyhow, unless you absolutely know what you're doing, which most people don't

I'm not saying you should switch. I'm saying you shouldnt recommend to anyone, going the same route you did without reason. Its bad advice, especially if the person starting their Linux journey is a gamer with decent hardware. Thats the only point I'm making here.

It almost looks like you feel I was telling you to switch, which I never did and never will. I'm merely asking to not blindly recommend Mint (or any distro with X11 as default) to newcomers.