Alright guys, I’m going to do it. Today I’m ditching Windows and trying to run Linux exclusively as my daily driver.

Over the past few days I’ve been reading up a lot about different Linux distros and DEs with their unique quirks and update philosophy. But since I’m more drawn to some rather niche distros that might suit my needs, I still have some questions, because a lot of more in-depth information has been nuked in the reddit fallout.

Basically, I’m looking for the best out-of-the-box experience for my specific needs, because I don’t really have the time to customize my OS from the ground up and have little Linux experience outside of docker. I also don’t want to spend months distro hopping, because I need to get some productivity done.

So anyway, here’s what I need from the distro out of the box:

  1. Gaming:
  • Bleeding-Edge Nvidia driver support
  • VRR support for Multi-Monitor-Setups
  1. Programming:
  • mostly web development, so no real needs other than an intuitive DE with a good workflow
  1. Media Server:
  • I’m running Plex with Sonarr, Radar etc. with multiple streaming devices around the house and VPN remote access, since I’m doing this in docker anyway, this should hopefully not cause any problems no matter the distro
  • I’m using GameStream/Moonlight and Steam Link for streaming vidya to my living room, which I’m worried might be more of an issue
  1. Tinkering:
  • while I want something that just works out of the box, I want freedom. My goal is to tailor the system to my needs and keep learning for months to come.

So, what it has come down to is that I’m currently looking at the following distros with their pros and cons, let me know if I got anything wrong here:

1. Pop! OS:

Pros:

  • it’s pretty and feature-complete out of the box
  • I actually like their spin on Gnome DE and its productivity features
  • probably the closest I’ll get to “it just works” coming from windows

Cons:

  • it’s not bleeding edge, drivers might not be the newest and bugs might persist for long periods
  • their own version of Gnome has no VRR support
  • seems to be more of a locked-down environment and less “open” than other distros. Getting heavy Apple vibes

2. Nobara:

Pros:

  • Everything I need for Gaming OOTB
  • Dev seems to have an insanely good reputation
  • It seems to be pretty open and basic, as it doesn’t brand itself and is basically just fedora with pre-installed packages so you can just get going
  • VRR support for Gnome out of the box
  • As far as gaming and Nvidia support goes, probably closest to Bleeding-Edge you can get without going Arch

Cons:

  • Fedora appears to be more limited for tinkering with a smaller selection of software and extensions
  • I don’t really like the default customizations or lack thereof

3. Garuda:

Pros:

  • everything I need for Gaming OOTB
  • even more gaming and file system optimisations than Nobara does offer
  • It’s Arch. I’ll get the new and shiny stuff way before other distros
  • most open environment of the three with endless amounts of customization
  • useful features to roll back problematic updates
  • most aesthetically pleasing of the bunch

Cons:

  • does come off as “too playful” and bloated and thus untrustworthy, dunno how to explain. Seems more like a playground than a serious OS

4. EndeavourOS:

Pros:

  • Basically lets me do whatever the removed I want and doesn’t hold my hand while at least providing a basic UI

Cons:

  • Basically lets me do whatever the removed I want and doesn’t hold my hand while at least providing a basic UI

So basically, I’m looking for a distro that just lets me game with all the features (especially VRR) and do my work straight away but is as open as possible to customize and learn about Linux environments. It’s going to be Arch (btw) isn’t it? 😬

Edit: I dug deeper and it seems there is no way to get VRR with an Nvidia card and multiple monitors, unless there’s been a new driver recently. The newest discussions I can find about that topic are roughly 1 month old. Is there some work around? Otherwise Linux gaming might not be there yet for me after all :(

UPDATE: Went with Garuda Dragonized KDE first and while it’s pretty, I just couldn’t get docker running and the console would just keep getting stuck on almost every process I tried to run. After a couple hours I also got tired of the color scheme which started to look like someone vomited fruit loops on my desktop. Went with Nobara after that and was impressed with everything but Nvidia support on Wayland. There was just too much that was unsupported like even basic fan speed controls and going back to Xorg and dealing with all the jank around VRR is not an option. Back to Windows it is until I can get my hands on a new AMD card :(