For gaming and having it work out of the box ?

• Based on Debian : pikaOS
• Based on fedora : Nobara
• Based on Atomic fedora : Bazzite
• Based on Arch : CachyOS
• Based onUbuntu : PopOS (not so sure about its current state, their cosmic desktop isn’t released yet)

Beginner friendly : Mint, most of gaming distro (cachy might be a bit more advanced )

I do not know much about the current state of snaps, so I won’t recommend Ubuntu and derivatives (kubuntu, Xubuntu…). I guess it is easier to use .deb now, but I can’t call beginner friendly a distro that require terminal or tweaks to change packages you can install on it.

Murena ? as the murena foundation that develop /e/OS ? If yes, their OS is based on LineageOS microG edition with a great ad/tracker blocker and an app store that is kind of a fusion between the aurora store and fdroid (without the ability to add repositories unfortunately, in the version I used at least).

So you can install whatever apps you want with it(Except maybe android auto, I guess). I had my banking app and it worked well (until it detected I was root).

I used it with my oneplus 7, It had some big trouble these last months as their servers were outdated and they needed to update their whole infrastructure. Now, everything seems to be back to normal.

I can not say for their phones (murena 1 and 2), but their OS is solid to me.

What I love the most from bazzite team, is their work with distrobox . Install the distribution you love, follow their tutorial, boom, you get access to the AUR, and it has a minimal impact on your system.

Bazzite felt great to me, but too slow on my computer to enjoy it, so I hopped. But still, I love what they do.

7 months distro hopping sober here ! All thanks to CachyOS.

The installation is seamless thanks to calamares, there are some graphic tools that can help for beginners on arch. Their kernel might be one of the most optimised one to have a smooth experience while gaming. I do not play ressources hungry games, so I can not really tell.

After setting snapshots, I decided to experience it totally blind folded, just to see how long I can last on it. I update the system around 2 times a week, never read any changelog, just like any of the other distro I used… And for now, I’ve never had any trouble.

My system seems to be way smoother and more responsive than with fedora or tumbleweed.

I use my computer mostly for steam, heroic, librewolf and LibreOffice.

I use lawnchair as a replacement of the launcher from /e/OS. It is fast and customisable and has a more android type look. Fossify could be another option, maybe lighter than lawnchair.

The original one is smooth, but I do not like IOS launcher and icons type.

I use /e/OS on my OP7.

• Their tracker/ad blocker is great.
• Their app store has a rating about privacy/tracker for each apps.
• They implemented tor in the OS, and you can choose if you want to activate it and for which application.
• They have a mock location feature.
• I get monthly update, and it works smoothly.
• You do not need to use murena account to use the OS

For the drawbacks :

• They have an app store that can install both applications from the play store and from Fdroid, but it isn’t very convenient as you can’t add Fdroid repos, nor uninstall applications with it. (and I’m unable to use it to install applications from the play store for more than a month, I’ve installed the aurora store )
• Most of their system applications are open sources applications available from Fdroid but with a different icon and name.
• Their navigation application named “Maps” is a rebrand of magic earth.

It’s all I have in mind at this moment.

When I’ll change for a fairphone, before turning to /e/OS, I’ll probably try iodé OS. It seems they have similar privacy /anti-ad features but the OS might be less bloated and the system app are not rebranded, they keep their original name and icons.

Vanilla gnome isn’t for me so I used to install some extensions when I used it.

After a few hopping, I stopped using Gnome, because I find that painful to :

• install the extension app (the one that allow you to download and manage the extensions, and that is usually not the one installed, it might have changed, as I stopped using Gnome for a year or even more)
• install the extensions I want
• configure the extensions

On KDE, I just have to set it as I need it.

If you do not change distributions everyday, then it’s not a big issue I guess.

But it might be troublesome for beginners trying distributions that have vanilla-close gnome to know that extensions exist. My needs are not complicated, so I only used extensions that allow me to have a dock on both of my screens, and to have the minimize button.

What an horror ! What are you gonna do ? Use your working system ? That’s sad…

It will create a default profile in your home (games/heroic/Prefixes) where everything will be installed, and if you have steam installed, it will detect the proton version of steam, and use it.

If some dependencies of the game are not installed, you’ll be able to run winetricks and install it in the profile of the game or to use steam runtime.

Using Windows-only games on Linux is getting better at an impressive rate those last years. There is more and more games working out of the box with steam or heroic. But yeah, sometimes, you just have to give up (or use Windows ).

Try the heroic game launcher. It usually works well. It let you log into gog, epic and prime account and games easily.

If the game doesn’t run well, try your luck on protondb to see if there is a way to fix it : https://www.protondb.com/app/22380

I’ve install the gog version of fallout 1 with the heroic game launcher, it worked out of the box. Maybe you’ll have some luck with new Vegas.

Linux has been the biggest rabbit hole I’ve been in. There are too many distribution for me to choose one without testing as much as I can. It made me change what I wanted/needed. I went from “I don’t want to use CLI at all” to “man, GUI is too slow for that”.

I tried many Debian children and grand children distributions, Fedora based ones (Nobara, atomics bases,…), Opensuse, NixOS, Solus, arch based distributions…

Now, I’m on cachyOS, that seems to be the good balance I need (for now), between GUI/already configured and “I can do it the way I want”.

One year after starting using Linux, I’ve switched from a 3060ti to a 6700xt, just because it made hopping easier.

If you exclude me not being able to settle down on a distro, Linux is a funny experience to me. My needs are not that big, as I just play some games, have a light need of an office suite. I can do anything I used to to in windows, but without Microsoft and his friends looking above my shoulder.

I guess there is an option to activate to read DRM content (it exists on librewolf, not sure if it is there on Firefox too). it is activated ?

KDE : it’s the only DE where I can have 2 identical panels (app pined+ full system tray) on each of my 2 screens without installing extensions.

KDE can do what I want without having to look for extensions. Breeze theme is good enough for me, I don’t need to look for something else. So far it’s the best out of the box experience I had.

I prefer Gnome look, but I distr’hop too often to have the courage to setup the desktop every time.

That’s great !

R and T should have a different android base, so, It would be safer to wipe everything while upgrading.

They advert for a support between 8 and 10 years (at least 5 major version of Android, and security patches after that). I don’t know their politic about the availability of the repair parts, but if it’s for the same amount of time, I’ll be happy.

I changed the battery and the usb port of my OP7 last year… the oneplus site didn’t sell them anymore, I had to go on aliexpress to have both … That’s quite frustrating for a device that is 5 years old…

It has a confidentiality notation system based on exodus privacy. It makes it more visible than on the aurora store. It has the possibility to install app from fdroid, well, at least from the main repo as it is not possible to add more.

There is a high chance that they forked the aurora store, as, most (if not all) of their app are based on open source app. (but if so… why did they remove the option to uninstall app…).

Their app “maps” is just magic earth with an other name and icon.

edit : phrasing

I like /e/OS, but the app lounge bothers me a lot. There is no uninstall button and it is not possible to add Fdroid repos… So I have Fdroid installed in addition to it.

I do not see an added value as if I had the aurora store installed + Fdroid.

IMO, the best addition of e/OS compared to lineage is clearly the tracker /ad blocker app.

Which version and phone are you on ? I’m on “t” version on a Oneplus 7 et I have none of these issues.

I first installed the “s” version and got annoying bugs, then switched to the “t” one and everything was OK. I now all the version aren’t available on every devices, I hope you can switch on a more stable one.

That’s why Fairphone choose a QCM6490 for the fairphone 5. It’s far from being the best, but it has longer term support than mainstream oriented SOC.

Since the SOC will probably be enough for most of users, it’s not a bad option I guess.

GNOME with dash to panel. It allow you to clone it I guess. dash to dock allow you to copy the dock, so only the applications, not the systray.

KDE allows you to create panels on every screen, with the systray. You’ll have to replicate them manually (pin the applications or whatever you put on your first panel).

Others DE I tried had flaws for that :

Cinnamon cannot have all the systray on the second panel.

Budgie doesn’t allow you to have a panel on the second screen (but you can clone the panel on the same screen).