Arch Linux for gaming?

VLDK@lemmy.world to Linux@lemmy.ml – 57 points –

I've been using fedora but I would like to try something new and I think about arch linux but I don’t know if it’s good for gaming. What do you think?

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Arch is perfectly fine for gaming. I use EndeavourOS with KDE and Steam + Lutris (as Flatpaks) on top. Quite similar to the setup you would have on Steam OS, but I would highly recommend using btrfs as your file system and setting up snapshots.*

While I have had little to no problems so far, compatibility issues can still occur on rolling release distros, and it's extremely convenient to just be able to undo an update.

*This is quite simple btw., you just need to install snapper, snap-pac and btrfs-assistant. The latter serves as a GUI for btrfs setup in general. Create a config for your filesystem root ('/') under 'Snapper', and under 'Snapper Settings' enable 'Snapper cleanup'. You can also set the number of snapshots to retain there, but note that two will be created per system upgrade by snap-pac. I would suggest to also enable balances and scrubs for '/' and '/home' in the maintenance-tab.

You’ve just reminded me that I need to get snapshots setup on my EOS install, thank you!

Is there a Arch with Installer that delivers this as Standart for rollbacks? I use Fedora Silverblue thats really great but only in my Laptop.

Is there a Arch with Installer that delivers this as Standart for rollbacks?

Yes, Manjaro. It will set everything up for you if you choose btrfs for the root partition. It will take snapshots before every upgrade and you will find them in a Grub submenu.

Obligatory disclaimer, Manjaro is a super-opinionated and customized Arch derivative, to the point some people don't consider it Arch. It uses the Arch binary packages but delays and curates them into a "stable" branch which doesn't exist on Arch. It basically requires you to stick to this stable branch, to use a LTS kernel, to install drivers through their driver manager etc.

Personally I like it because I like the idea of a rolling distro with a safety net, and it's been working great for me over the last 4 years (daily driver for work and gaming). But it's not everybody's cup of tea.

Garuda Linux has a setup where you can even boot into the snapshots from GRUB, but it is a little more bloated than EndeavourOS and I feel like it's also less stable. Still definitely worth a try.