You can still use the default Ubuntu and install Play on Linux, Wine and Steam or any other game you’d want to, but it would not be as optimized for gaming as Ubuntu GamePack is. It’s not the default Ubuntu, but it’s a distro based on Ubuntu. Let’s move on to the next distro on our list: 2. Visit their official website for download/installation instructions and FAQ: Support for many graphic cards, controllers and other gaming-related hardware.Free and open source (apart from Steam itself, which is proprietary).Ready to play games without needing to install any additional software.However, if you have an older machine, SteamOS is not recommended, as it has quite a lot of hardware requirements: It has everything set up out of the box, so you don’t need to install or configure anything to play on Steam, which is why this is the most recommended distro for beginners and Linux gamers. By default, SteamOS only has Steam installed, but you can activate the “desktop mode” and you’ll get a fully-featured desktop OS where you can run other applications besides Steam and games. SteamOS is built, designed and maintained by Valve. It comes pre-installed with Steam and it’s based on Debian. There’s a reason why SteamOS is always the first on every Linux gaming distro list. Here’s a 8 examples to help you choose the best Linux distro for you: 1. Did you use an LXDE distro? Go with a gaming distro that uses LXDE. If you’ve used CentOS for your server, go with a Fedora-based distro for gaming. Have you used a Linux VPS before? Which distro did you use for your server? If it was Ubuntu, then you should choose the desktop version of Ubuntu since you’ll be more familiar with it. Previous Linux experience should also be a deciding factor.If you’d like to stick with what you know and use a more stable OS, go with a point release distro.
That way, you’ll always get the latest driver updates and you’ll most likely already have the latest drivers for your new GPU/CPU. If you prefer to always use the latest versions of any software and apps, go with a rolling release distro. Is it a rolling release distro like Manjaro (very frequent updates without a schedule, always the latest software)? Or is it a point release distro like Ubuntu (scheduled updates, not always the latest software).
Second most important feature is update frequency.If you’re really unsure, you can just google some info for your hardware and see if the distro supports it out of the box. Even if they don’t, you can still manually find and install the driver yourself on any distro. Most distros support the latest (and even oldest) hardware out of the box. The main feature that matters when choosing a distro for gaming is support for drivers.Watch some videos, check some screenshots, read some reviews… Use a live CD (flash drive) image and test it out without even installing it. At the end of the day, it all boils down to which one you personally prefer. You can install Linux games on any distro or you can use tools like PlayOnLinux, Wine, Steam and a bunch of other emulators. Any Linux distro can be used for gaming.Here are a few guidelines you can use to help you choose the right one for you:
Go to Newegg How to choose the best Linux distro for gamingīefore we start listing out the best distros, you’d still need to choose one of them. Shop for Gaming Computers, Hardware, Gear and More at Newegg.