Linux is still for nerds but I hate windows 11 more than I hate being uncool so I’m just going to have to step down my rizz and learn more computer stuff.

  1. My 3 concerns are, in order, gaming (mostly through steam or fitgirl), playing TTRPGs through Foundry Virtual Tabletop and Discord, and image editing (but really simple image editing. more paint.net than GIMP). What distro would be best for this? What are the actual differences in distros beyond appearances? Is it worth installing the Steam OS, or is that still really only useable with handhelds?

  2. Can I just shove all the data I want to save on an external drive, install my chosen distro, and transfer stuff back on? Will the external drive need to be formatted in a specific way first? can I just slot stuff like program settings back in the new system or will I have to convert them to a different file format?

  3. Do I have to buy the thigh highs or do they just appear? Will it still work if I don’t wear them? I don’t like wearing socks so I’d prefer a distro without them if possible.

If it helps I’m running a Ryzen 5 2600 and RX 7600, and my favourite colour is purple.

Edit: Thanks for the answers everyone, I’m going to do a bit more reading on distros before choosing one, but I have a better idea what I’m looking at now.

  • flamingos-cant@feddit.ukEnglish
    5·
    9 days ago
    1. Any reasonably mainstream distro will handle Steam just fine, I use Fedora. I don’t do much Fitgirl stuff myself, but apparently managing it through Heroic Games Launcher is relatively simple. Discord irrc works fine, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve used it and I don’t use FVT, but they list Linux install instructions so you should be fine? I personally just use GIMP, it starts up much faster on Linux but I’ll admit to being accustomed to the UI. Something like Pinta might be more your speed. You shouldn’t install Steam OS, it’s only meant for the Steam Deck and has poor hardware support. Bazzite is very gaming focused, based on Fedora and comes with Steam pre-installed so you don’t have to faff about with RPMFusion.
    2. Should be fine, Linux generally has decent support for NTFS. Programme setting will be a headache with how different apps store stuff, but some (like GIMP) you might be able to get away with.
    3. It’s either thigh highs or a neckbeard, choose your poison.