The three base distros mentioned are ones that most other distros use as their base
E.g.
Debian -> Ubuntu, Mint, Pop_OS!
Fedora -> Bazzite, Nobara
Arch -> EndeavourOS, Manjaro, CachyOS
While you can customize the base distros however you want, think of these derivate distros as various prebuilts.
Most distros come with a package manager that allows you to download (software) packages from a centralized repository. Similar to say Microsoft store. Ubuntu was dissed for Canonical (the creators of Ubuntu) forcing their own package manager into it, which had various issues, while there were already well established package managers available.
Desktop Environment (DE) is what you see on your screen. Various elements control how the task bar or app bar behaves or what it looks like, what windows are stylized like, and how they behave etc. For someone coming from Windows, Linux Mint’s Cinnamon DE or any distro with KDE will likely be most familiar experience, while those switching from MacOS, Gnome DE as the Fedora default is very similar.
Bazzite is a gaming focused distro based on Fedora.
Arch. Use cachyOS which is arch it’s just what steamOS is but with a focus on also being a normal desktop on top.
Seriously do not understand why people push bazzite when it’s just a more complicated less supported option compared to cachyOS. For the exact same work load.
You keep saying this, but then do not elaborate very much. A lot of your comments in this thread have been something about Bazzite being bad/complicated/slow. Bazzite is not necessarily more complicated, it’s actually a lot less complicated in most ways and is difficult to break by design, as are other immutable distros. This is precisely why it is pushed to new Linux users. It’s a good starting point to have something that just works and not have to worry about much. I think a lot of long time Linux users are used to having full control over every piece of the OS, and have (like yourself) come to expect all distros to work that way. That’s fine and I totally understand that, but you should also consider that those who have not built the same habits from non-immutable might prefer a more hands off approach. I’ve used Linux for almost two decades, and I daily drive immutable because it’s so stable. I’m able to scratch the itch of wanting to mess with stuff by using distrobox, and if I’m really messing around, just using rpm-ostree. Sure, it’s different than normal distros, and it’s not for everyone, but it got my partner to use Linux on their own without any issues.
It’s okay to suggest other options for sure, but don’t get snarky when people are suggesting what works for them. The main benefit of Linux is that you have a choice in the first place, and you aren’t going to be stuck with whatever distro you’re using if they decide to do something catastrophic.
The three base distros mentioned are ones that most other distros use as their base
E.g.
Debian -> Ubuntu, Mint, Pop_OS!
Fedora -> Bazzite, Nobara
Arch -> EndeavourOS, Manjaro, CachyOS
While you can customize the base distros however you want, think of these derivate distros as various prebuilts.
Most distros come with a package manager that allows you to download (software) packages from a centralized repository. Similar to say Microsoft store. Ubuntu was dissed for Canonical (the creators of Ubuntu) forcing their own package manager into it, which had various issues, while there were already well established package managers available.
Desktop Environment (DE) is what you see on your screen. Various elements control how the task bar or app bar behaves or what it looks like, what windows are stylized like, and how they behave etc. For someone coming from Windows, Linux Mint’s Cinnamon DE or any distro with KDE will likely be most familiar experience, while those switching from MacOS, Gnome DE as the Fedora default is very similar.
Bazzite is a gaming focused distro based on Fedora.
Any questions remaining?
Can you install your own package manager? Are there established quality ones?
Thanks for this btw
Which distro is the steam deck based on?
Arch
Arch. Use cachyOS which is arch it’s just what steamOS is but with a focus on also being a normal desktop on top.
Seriously do not understand why people push bazzite when it’s just a more complicated less supported option compared to cachyOS. For the exact same work load.
I think maybe you just don’t know how to use Bazzite…
You keep saying this, but then do not elaborate very much. A lot of your comments in this thread have been something about Bazzite being bad/complicated/slow. Bazzite is not necessarily more complicated, it’s actually a lot less complicated in most ways and is difficult to break by design, as are other immutable distros. This is precisely why it is pushed to new Linux users. It’s a good starting point to have something that just works and not have to worry about much. I think a lot of long time Linux users are used to having full control over every piece of the OS, and have (like yourself) come to expect all distros to work that way. That’s fine and I totally understand that, but you should also consider that those who have not built the same habits from non-immutable might prefer a more hands off approach. I’ve used Linux for almost two decades, and I daily drive immutable because it’s so stable. I’m able to scratch the itch of wanting to mess with stuff by using distrobox, and if I’m really messing around, just using rpm-ostree. Sure, it’s different than normal distros, and it’s not for everyone, but it got my partner to use Linux on their own without any issues.
It’s okay to suggest other options for sure, but don’t get snarky when people are suggesting what works for them. The main benefit of Linux is that you have a choice in the first place, and you aren’t going to be stuck with whatever distro you’re using if they decide to do something catastrophic.
There is no such thing as a one-fits-all distro.
Thanks. It seems like there’s three OS’s on the Deck, the way it’s set up.