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Ubuntu would be the smartest choice. It's got the best support of any Linux distro, and you can install Steam on it just fine with the deb.

by hd4 9y ago

Jedd 9y ago
Would Debian be a smarter choice? Ubuntu's based on Debian GNU/Linux, and hardware support tends to come downstream from there. Steam based their OS on Debian, not Ubuntu. Do you know of any issues installing the .deb onto Debian?
- basemi 9y ago
  It works just fine!
- hd4 9y ago
  I haven't tried installing it in Debian, I only have it installed as a GUI-less server, but in theory it should be fine. The reason I mention Ubuntu is that the community is just much larger than that of Debian and there is more of a chance of someone already having solved any issues you may run into.
- flukus 9y ago
  Debian is ideologically opposed to things like closed source drivers that ubuntu makes easy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just makes it not a good choice for casual users and especially gamers.
- izacus 9y ago
  Installing proprietary drivers is harder and pretty much all game devs test only with Ubuntu so you might get issues due to slightly different versions of some libraries. Ubuntu is the distro everyone is targeting so for seamless experience you kinda need to stick with it. (That doesn't mean other distros won't work tho.)
- bblough 9y ago
  In my experience, steam works just fine under Debian. I previously ran it under Jessie with no problems, and currently run it under the pre-release version of Stretch also with no problems.
tehmaco 9y ago
I've been using Steam on Linux Mint for a few years, and generally everything Just Works(tm).
- apexalpha 9y ago
  Mint, in turn, is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
  - wideem 9y ago
    Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is based on Debian gnu/linux
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      Except that Debian lacks those precious closed source drivers.
      - YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 9y ago
        Except it doesn't... (See for example perhaps the single most relevant example: https://packages.debian.org/jessie/nvidia-driver https://packages.debian.org/jessie/nvidia-driver) Not that I'm saying that Debian is a better choice than Ubuntu here – Debian stable is Debian stable, and Ubuntu often contains stuff still considered experimental on Debian side – but unlike with, say, Fedora, many non-free drivers are included in the official repositories.
- loudmax 9y ago
  Same here, I have a Linux Mint desktop set up for my kids and overall I'm happy with the performance. It hasn't been 100% smooth though. In particular updating from Mint 17 to Mint 18 took some effort to get things working properly. Maybe proprietary Nvidia drivers were to blame, but it didn't Just Work until I sat down with it and sorted things out.
aquabib 9y ago
You can install Steam and NVIDIA proprietary drivers just fine on Arch Linux or any other distro, as well. Ubuntu is the only officially supported distro, as in mentioned in system requirements, just because it's the most ubiquitous distro. It doesn't actually mean you will have any less problems with the problematic Linux games on Ubuntu, than on any other distro. On Arch, with an NVIDIA card, getting this "all" up and running boils down to: sudo pacman -S steam nvidia This gives you the most recent NVIDIA driver, 378.13-5.

Ubuntu would be the smartest choice. It's got the best support of any Linux distro, and you can install Steam on it just fine with the deb.

by hd4 9y ago

Ubuntu would be the smartest choice. It's got the best support of any Linux distro, and you can install Steam on it just fine with the deb.

Jedd 9y ago

Would Debian be a smarter choice? Ubuntu's based on Debian GNU/Linux, and hardware support tends to come downstream from there. Steam based their OS on Debian, not Ubuntu. Do you know of any issues installing the .deb onto Debian?

basemi 9y ago
It works just fine!
hd4 9y ago
I haven't tried installing it in Debian, I only have it installed as a GUI-less server, but in theory it should be fine. The reason I mention Ubuntu is that the community is just much larger than that of Debian and there is more of a chance of someone already having solved any issues you may run into.
flukus 9y ago
Debian is ideologically opposed to things like closed source drivers that ubuntu makes easy. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just makes it not a good choice for casual users and especially gamers.
izacus 9y ago
Installing proprietary drivers is harder and pretty much all game devs test only with Ubuntu so you might get issues due to slightly different versions of some libraries. Ubuntu is the distro everyone is targeting so for seamless experience you kinda need to stick with it. (That doesn't mean other distros won't work tho.)
bblough 9y ago
In my experience, steam works just fine under Debian. I previously ran it under Jessie with no problems, and currently run it under the pre-release version of Stretch also with no problems.

tehmaco 9y ago

I've been using Steam on Linux Mint for a few years, and generally everything Just Works(tm).

apexalpha 9y ago
Mint, in turn, is based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
- wideem 9y ago
  Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is based on Debian gnu/linux
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    Except that Debian lacks those precious closed source drivers.
    - YSFEJ4SWJUVU6 9y ago
      Except it doesn't... (See for example perhaps the single most relevant example: https://packages.debian.org/jessie/nvidia-driver https://packages.debian.org/jessie/nvidia-driver) Not that I'm saying that Debian is a better choice than Ubuntu here – Debian stable is Debian stable, and Ubuntu often contains stuff still considered experimental on Debian side – but unlike with, say, Fedora, many non-free drivers are included in the official repositories.
loudmax 9y ago
Same here, I have a Linux Mint desktop set up for my kids and overall I'm happy with the performance. It hasn't been 100% smooth though. In particular updating from Mint 17 to Mint 18 took some effort to get things working properly. Maybe proprietary Nvidia drivers were to blame, but it didn't Just Work until I sat down with it and sorted things out.

aquabib 9y ago

You can install Steam and NVIDIA proprietary drivers just fine on Arch Linux or any other distro, as well. Ubuntu is the only officially supported distro, as in mentioned in system requirements, just because it's the most ubiquitous distro. It doesn't actually mean you will have any less problems with the problematic Linux games on Ubuntu, than on any other distro. On Arch, with an NVIDIA card, getting this "all" up and running boils down to: sudo pacman -S steam nvidia This gives you the most recent NVIDIA driver, 378.13-5.