Hello!
I am currently trying to preemptively run away from windows before they force all that AI in their OS.
I am quite new to Linux (only use Debian for work) and trying to find a proper distro to use as a daily drive.
I am interested in a simple to use (though I don’t have any problems with using CLI) distro which will allow me to play the latest games (via Proton) and develop my own via Godot.
I also enjoy modding my games, but as I am seeing, nexus mods still does not have a linux software.
I have heard that a distro based on Arch is one of the best, but don’t really vibe on their approach to “do it all yourself”. That’s how I ended up here.
When it comes to hardware, I do not think I may have many problems, since I am using an AMD processor and Graphics card
I wanted to know if Endeavour OS does adapt to my requeriments or not.
Sorry if this isn’t the place to ask, but I wanted some news from users instead of the generic ones in reddit.
first one needs to understand there is a difference between
Based on Arch and Arch Based.
Example
Manjaro is Based on Arch but does not follow the arch way. Manjaro holds back packages and this can cause problems for many using the AUR.
Endeavor is an Arch Based meaning that it comes with a minimal set of tools to get one started.
With that Said Arch and Endeavor are what one would call a Do it Yourself Distro. Unlike Manjaro which tries to be closer to a Silver Platter distro like Ubuntu.
It sounds like your looking for something that is more on the Silver Platter side while Endeavour is more a foundation to build upon.
I don’t play games so I can’t be much help for recommendations however I think its necessary you understand the major difference between a distro like Ubuntu (Silver Platter) to Endeavour(DIY) In context of what it will offer you.
I think that if you are somewhat familiar with Debian, you probably would like Linux Mint. It’s really good Linux to start and games are easy to run with it via Steam (and Proton).
@thefrog said it very well. Although this will surely be met with dissenting voices in the forum, I think that EndeavourOS is by no means a distribution for people switching from Windows and therefore beginners. If that’s what you’re looking for, Linux Mint might be more for you. It does a lot of the work for you and gives you a lot more guidance. It’s a fairly carefree starting point in the Linux world, but the opportunity to learn Linux is also much less. Manjaro does require a little more willingness to learn, but it still can’t really be compared to EndeavourOS or even pure Arch. I experienced that myself when I switched from Manjaro to EOS.
And if something doesn’t work as expected when testing EndeavourOS, people quickly say: Linux sucks…
EndeavourOS is certainly capable of doing all the things you describe. But…so are most other distros.
What it comes down has nothing to do with being a “beginner” or being “experienced”. What matters it what you enjoy and what you expect from an OS. There is no right answer here.
My advice to you would be to try it out and see if you like it. There really is no other way to find out if it is right for you.
The only way to know is to try and see, but I can write my experience regardless.
I can’t help in terms of developing games. But I can say that in terms of experience playing games since others have already suggested good information already. My comment may make it seem complicated but honestly most games have been 4 click setups just to enable proton or a WINE prefix, and any games with more complexity have been less than 5-10 minutes to sort out.
At least on Arch and Arch based (EOS) I haven’t had any issues. I don’t play too many games but I have managed to play over 10 games just fine in the last 8 months, some are from 2008, some from 2002, 2003, and some even as far as the 90s. The newest games for me are between 2017, 2021. The 2021 game in particular I played in 4K raytracing, all settings on Ultra except for Raytracing which is on Very High and was playing at around 60fps (Limitation of the monitor). My CPU is an AMD Ryzen 5700x and AMD RX 6800XT GPU so you will be good to go with your AMD setup.
I personally use heroic games launcher for non-Steam games (Which is most of them), and steam ones I just use Steam proton.
protondb is a useful website to know if a game will work or not, I don’t know which games you play but this website may help. From what I have heard, any game that uses AntiCheat implementation will likely not work (From any Linux distro) as that is windows kernel level software but I don’t play online games so I don’t have any anti cheat games to verify this for you.
I have used EOS back in June, and since November now use a manual installed Arch installation and games have been fine on both (They are both Arch). But games will work on any distro such as Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu, and Ubuntu is based on Debian). I am unsure about the development tools you use though so this may be more complicated to use but I don’t know.
Whether beginner or experienced any distro is possible, EOS was my first Linux OS I ever used for a live system I use day to day but Arch based will require a bit more reading and learning as Arch is usually regarded as a DIY OS so you start off with minimal packages and install what you need as you go along, EOS helps a lot because it contains a lot of pre-installed packages (If you don’t deselect them during installation) to make starting the system easier with more quality of life additions and common packages to have many softwares working out of the box.
I forgot to mention mods. But what games do you mod or how complex are the mods you install? What is the Nexus software you use? Is this Vortex.
Either way I can answer with general information in terms of modding. I have some games that use mods. Depending on the type of mod it can be easy or more complex. If it’s something simple, like Stardew Valley where it’s a more drag and drop operation and you run the game with a separate launcher to enable mods then this has been fine for me no issues. A lot of modding tools will run through WINE just like the games themself, although I haven’t used Vortex. WINE is a translation layer so windows software can be accessed and used by linux just like how the game runs, rather than an emulator which creates a virtual system.
In terms of modding tools what I can say is some of the more complicated ones will work but may need additional WINE packages to work for their dependencies. For example one of my games worksfine with proton or WINE prefix (Proton is a type of WINE prefix by steam) straight away but the mods are not. Sometimes this means there are dependencies those tools/mods need that the base game doesn’t need, usually in the form of additional software such as a Visual C++ Redistributable or d3d compiler or directX. For example one of my games from 2002 works straight away, but a graphics mod tool for it needs dotnet framework 40, Visual C++ Redistributable 2022, and Directx9. Once these are installed the modding tool works in the game as intended, these other dependencies would be installed via winetricks or protontricks (winetricks for Steam games).
One other game I have installs physX as part of installation setup but the game still didn’t work, through Winetricks (Or Protontricks) I installed physX from there and then the game worked, just something to keep in mind as this one actually took me a while to figure out as I thought when the game installed physX it would work but didn’t until I installed it separately through Winetricks.
But that is it though, and the only reason I consider this part is more complicated is because mod tools is installing another software with the game and not every mod tool is transparent about all the dependencies they use as some of them expect them to already exist by default on a Windows system.
Yes, I can confidently say that most games that don’t involve anti-cheat technology work great. I’ve played Dragon’s Dogma 2, Veilguard, Baldur’s Gate 3, Solasta, and a lot of older games under Linux completely successfully this year. I’ve used mods, which for the games I play are built-in directly to the game.
But I do agree, it’s not can you play (technically), but do you want to learn how to maintain a system (that’s different) as to where you should go. There’s not much setting distros apart but perhaps a philosophy and a bit of top dressing.
The Arch philosophy overall is learn how to fix your own problems, though we certainly don’t say you can’t ask questions. Is that for you ?
At least for me I go by the fix my own problems but ask the forums if everything else fails but try to provide troubleshooting and information first, but this is only because I naturally have a tendency to learn everything I can about stuff and note it all down in a file for future reference. This is just me though, I have no issues if people ask in the forums though as a load of the information I found come from prior threads and discussions I found here on EOS forums and some other forums as people asked my question before me. And other information came from the Arch Wiki and EOS wiki.
The main rule I would say though is to not copy/paste codes or commands without knowing what you are about to do though or use information that may be too out of date and best to verify first, especially for Arch based distros. Even if something breaks at least you know what was last done or what you tried to do.
Thanks for all the replies. I will be trying in my free time which one adapts better to my needs, EOS or Manjaro.
I don’t usually have a problem with having to install everything, but sometimes it becomes tiring when I have to spend a whole week troubleshooting for a stupid problem after spending a whole week troubleshooting for other problems in my workplace.
Well, since you do gaming and game modding, you might want to know the difference between static release and rolling release.
When it comes to static release distros, they don’t push updates very often. Debian Stable is the great example, they release new version every two years (I guess 2025 is the year of Trixie), besides there’s only critical bug fixes and security patches.
Rolling release distros, like Arch and Endeavour, get new updates constantly, so regardless how often you update your system, once you do you are always on the latest and greatest. However, it’s good to have a regular update routine. Debian can run very long without updating and almost nothing bad can happen, on Arch-based environment it is good to run updates at least once a month (golden mean is once a week).
So, if your primary goal is to do gaming comfortably, you might want to go with Arch. EndeavourOS, tbh, lies not far from Arch. In fact, once you install, it is mainly Arch with more inclusive community, purple imaginery, a few helpful scripts and AUR on board.
If you wanted to install Arch, but you don’t have the mind to type the commands to get your basic system up and running, then Endeavour is definitely way to go.
Welcome here.
I was in the same place like you, few times. I thought there is always better distro than previous. But yes and no. I used Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, Fedora,OpenSuse and all other similar.
And most of them are good. Someone will say Fedora is the best, no issues,it is stable. Yes, it is, but i had there problems, some graphical glitches and few others.
But most of the time I spent here. First this is the best Arch based distro. Second this is the best over the best and i mean best community ( well known is Arch community for unfriendliness, but this is totaly different story). So friendly, so warm, so helpful. You can ask really stupid questions and still you will get reply so spare your free time, take 10 min , make a bootable usb, install Eos and thank us later
Endeavour is great for gaming and I find I get around a 5% performance increase over Linux Mint and other Debian based distros. However every Arch based distro has more of a tendency to break more often than a Debian/Ubuntu based one (I’m rather hoping that’s not a controversial point), so it all depends if you’re willing to get your hands dirty at some point. Saying that the community are really good at solving problems and you will have greater access to drivers and software through the AUR.
I’m also AMD based and I’ve only had one small issue since I installed it 5 weeks ago (Timeshift wasn’t automatically running scheduled tasks as I didn’t realise the cron service wasn’t started by default and only took 2mins to fix). And I’m super happy and use Endeavour as my daily driver.
If you want something that is rock solid and Debian based, I’d recommend Linux Mint as @Dinomonster recommended.
so spare your free time, take 10 min , make a bootable usb, install Eos and thank us later 