I’ve been using Linux Mint for the last…eight years? I think? Anyway, it’s been great for gaming and if you want a minimum of fussing about, I would just install Steam and use Proton for compatibility. It’s by far the easiest and most tinker-free gaming experience for Linux - at least in my experience. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had to really research and tinker with any annoying issues. protondb.com has been extremely helpful in checking the compatibility of a certain game for Linux and even offers tips and tricks to make the fussier games work.

1. CachyOS
2. More than a year
3. I had to setup snapshots and timeshift
4. A bug between kdrive app and key wallet from KDE (I can still not auto log in the app on Wayland at start.)

I decided to set the snapshots in order to recover in case of bad update. Then I decided to update the system at least once a week brainlessly, just to see how much time it takes to break. so far, I’ve never used the snapshots.

If you’ve used a Steam Deck, you’ve used Bazzite (for all intents and purposes). If you can use a game console, you can use Bazzite. That’s pretty much the entire purpose of SteamOS; making PC gaming stupid easy.

Caveats:

1. if you want to use anything other than Steam, it quickly becomes more complicated.

2. If you want to play competitive multiplayer games, many of them block Linux users.

3. If you want to use any peripherals besides KBM or controller, such as flight sticks or steering wheels, that also can be complicated.

1. openSUSE Tumbleweed
2. 5+ years; Arch for 5+ before that
3. A few times per year? Then again, I do check ProtonDB before all starting most games just in case (i.e. before buying or while installing).
4. Nvidia was annoying a few times per year, but now I upgraded to an AMD card and no issues since.

I’ll second Linux Mint Cinnamon. My understanding is it is designed to look/function as close to Windows as possible to help people transition away from Windows.

It was my first Linux distro migrating from Windows, and overall it’s been a fairly decent transition.

1. Linux Mint Cinnamon
2. About 2, maybe 3 years. Time’s a bit fuzzy.
3. There was some, I’ll leave some tips below.
4. Nothing specific.

-Check out Protondb.com. It’s a website where you can search for games to see their compatibility rating with Linux OSes, along with any tinkering/troubleshooting tips other users have done.

-Once you install Steam, go to the Settings menu, select Compatibility, and select an option for “Default compatibility tool”. This global setting means you would not have specifically select a Proton version for each game you play.

-I found that sometimes Steam would not launch from the toolbar. I have no issues launching it from the terminal window (literally launch Terminal, type the word ‘steam’, and hit Enter)

@grueling_spool@sh.itjust.works

OP! Please don’t do this! Someone who doesn’t even know how to change their TV input will definitely not survive on Linux for a long time! Also they only use their PC for very basic stuff like checking their emails. Gaming on Linux will need to work compability programs like Proton and Wine. You’ll get calls from them everytime! Please just install debloated Windows 10 21H2 LSTC IOT version for them!

What distro are you using for gaming?

Gentoo

How long have you used it?

Nearly 2 years now

How often have you had issues that require Linux knowledge and/or searching the web to solve?

Pretty often. I often need to go to Gentoo forums for help.

Have you had any other minor/annoying complaints?

Gaming drivers are the biggest issue in Gentoo

Personally I’d say none of the above for newbies. I have had experience with Nobara and it’s OK but I literally had problems with GPG certificates for updates for the second time in 3 months, and yesterday the update engine crashed during an update and my plasma desktop only showed a black screen with a cursor on it when I logged in.

I can problem solve that but it’s annoying as hell and not suitable for someone who doesn’t want to do that.

Pick a more mainstream distro and not something that is rolling release. They don’t need that - they need something that is rock solid. The gaming modifications on distros are overrated - they only matter if you really want to push things to the limit.

I’d probably go with Mint for your scenario. It’s stable, and the 22.1 is a long term release up to 2029 - so it’s unlikely to break with a major update.

I’d personally go with KDE over cinnamon - it’s user friendly but its slicker than the default desktops in Mint and will make the machine feel more high end as a gaming machine. There is also scope to customise it if the person using that wants to go down that route or has something they’re already familiar with (KDE very flexible - feels like a nicer version of windows GUI by default but can make it look like MacOS or even Gnome, or whatever you want tbh). Cinnamon and Mate have flexibility too but KDE has a whole ecosystem of software to draw on and doesn’t suffer from Gnomes rather marmite design philosophy.

In terms of games - use Steam where possible. It’ll “just work”. There is almost no configuration required and personally I have a huge games library and haven’t had to troubleshoot anything so far. I don’t play competitive games or the highest end fps games though. But I’ve just completed cyberpunk 2077 on my desktop, which is a 3070 and had no issues.

Some popular games like Minecraft have their own clients and set up but it’s not difficult to set up once and leave it going.

Lutris is a good games client if they do have games in other stores like GOG or Epic, and it works well with steam too. Heroic is also a good multi store client - slick and easy to use if that’s preferred, good for gog, Epic and amazon.

Whatever you chose to do, keep.ot simple. I’d honestly avoid the gaming distros and go for something stable and widely support like Mint. Definitely avoid pure Ubuntu, and avoid rolling releases of anything and you should be fine support wise.

My son, 14, is on Bazzite now after using Pop!_OS for 5 years. He specifically requested it after using it at my office and seeing how well the Logitech steering wheel he uses works in Forza Horizon 5. He’s decent with tech, to the point that his teachers called on him to help with their problems during middle school, so maybe not the best example.

My daughter, 11, is on Pop!_OS. She’s currently at the tech level you describe, though sometimes she forgets to turn the power strip on, making me think she may be slightly below that. Her PC has been on that distro for a good 2 years, though she really only plays Minecraft, watches YouTube videos, and does her homework with OnlyOffice. Zero tech-related complaints from her, once she’s logged in she’s able to do what she needs with little to no assistance.

After stints in EndeavourOS and AlmaLinux I’ve settled on Kubuntu 24.04 LTS. I needed something stable with zfs in its official repo, so I don’t risk losing access to the big volume that contains all my raw video footage after a kernel update. The experience has been about as unremarkable as possible, which is exactly what I was looking for.

All three of us are using nvidia GPUs, and have had no trouble with drivers in the slightest. I use mine for gaming and video editing using DaVinci Resolve Studio, and while I was looking for as unremarkable an experience as possible, I’ve been using Linux since around 1996, so my tech experience doesn’t align with what you’re looking for; however, if this means anything, I’d switch my 85-year-old father with dementia to Linux Mint without worrying that he wouldn’t know his way around.

Bazzite is awesome!

• => Documentation <=
• => Frequently Asked Questions <=

On it since Beta ~2+ years. It’s “Dad Linux”. It’s “Chromebook-easy Linux.” Like a smartphone it keeps 2 OS images at all times. If an update ever goes bad, just rollback to the previous image.

Also let’s you roll with bazzite-testing more confidently, without worrying about your system breaking.

You can even install Kinoite and Rebase to Bazzite alternatively!

JayzTwoCents:

“I FINALLY listened to you and tried Linux… Why did I wait so long?” GardinerBryant: “Bazzite just had a HUGE UPGRADE! (And more Linux Gaming News)”

Checkout the new Bazaar Flatpak Store app! Super easy to manage applications.

No more messing with Gnome Software or KDE Discover.

I am very non-technical and I have ended up with Linux Mint Cinnamon which was the first thing I tried, with Steam dealing with the few games I have played the past four years or so. It has been mostly non-Steam Fallout 4, No Man’s Sky, Baldur’s Gate 3, Guild Wars 2, and Steam version of Lord of the Rings Online. Stability varies but I think it is mostly my hardware being old.

Overall I have used Mint for maybe eight years, at first only for internet browsing. I still played LOTRO and Guild Wars 2 with my trusty (well okay, the games started to be rather crashy) WinXP around 2020. Hm… a year or two, here or there. I don’t actually remember when they started to drop support for XP. I originally tried Steam on Linux for LOTRO.

Just as a background info I’m going to be a little bit dramatic and claim that I don’t like Linux, I use it out of necessity. Even if I am generally fine with it, as far as I can manage it.
I just don’t like the command line at all. I also don’t like the program “shop” like system. I think I can see it on my current Mint as Software Manager, now that I check but I don’t want to start it. It is that I don’t like them “calling homes” or managing things which is how I see the command line and the manager being like.
I can download a Steam installer from the website and then it sets itself up, with command line type window, downloading what ever it likes from somewhere, managing things… fine, I have to deal, I want to play games. For general computer use I can download Firefox and some other Linux software from websites, they start when I click the executable and that’s the way I would like things to work way more. I do let the driver manager set graphics drivers when I make a new Mint installation as I can’t even begin to understand other options.

My favorite thing would be the possibility to easily set up a Linux computer for offline games without ever connecting it to internet.
Once, maybe 4 years ago I did somehow install wine on Debian which I think I didn’t connect to internet in the process. The one game I tested did launch but didn’t really display well because no graphics driver.
Another experiment, on Mint last year, was to install wine with command line (the horror!), I could launch the non-Steam games I installed but didn’t try playing them. I can’t remember for sure but it may be that the games just didn’t run as well as they did on Steam’s Proton on that same Mint installation. Based on when I sometimes read about Linux, wine does seem to need plenty of config which I really don’t want to do.

Just… don’t. Non-technical people should consider consoles, not PCs. Not even with Windows (which is actually harder to use than some Linux distros). If you want to game together with them, just get them an Xbox. It has much more games with cross play than a PlayStation