Let me start by saying I think Linux Mint is one of the top 5 greatest distros of all time. It is an absolutely essential starting point for many people and their work is responsible for much of the user-friendliness you see in the world of Linux today. It is stable, has a nice aesthetic, “just works”, and doesn’t make you update constantly.
These things are great but they are the very things that make Linux Mint unsuited for online gaming. Is this a bad thing? No!! It’s just not a distro made for gaming purposes. It’s like showing up to a monster truck drag race in a Ferrari. I cannot count on my two hands how many times I have provided support to a user, to find their issue was outdated libraries due to using Linux Mint. It happens all the time. Go look at any game on ProtonDB that is currently working, and you’ll find 1-2 “not working” reports and they are always on either Debian on Mint.
I understand why we see it so often, because Linux Mint is awesome and users want to play their games on it. But if I suggested Hell Let Loose to a friend using Linux Mint right now, the first distro suggested for gaming in our FAQ, he wouldn’t be able to play because of his choice of distro. Making rolling distros look like a fortress in 2023 and suggesting Mint for gaming will only set new Linux users up for disappointment.
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Debian on Mint
I guess you meant “or”, but what ever, I just wanted to say It’s probably a flawed argument, because if everybody recommends it and a lot of people use it, then of course that group will have the most error reports.
What would you suggest if not Linux Mint (or LMDE) ?
As I said in threads before, Mint is the only distro that has video codecs preinstalled / easily set up and working properly.
For me, that counts a lot. If you are a normal person trying Linux, that’s the first hurdle to overcome, and most people wouldn’t want to deal with that and dig through forums and FAQ of the distro.
But if you are willing enough to do gaming on Linux, you probably are determined enough to figure out what to do to make it work and at that point yes, the distro probably doesn’t matter much, so you can also just stay on Mint.
PS Kernel upgrade on Mint is pretty easy to do.
Well said.
name me one game that i wouldn’t be able to run on my mint machine ?
you do ofcourse need to keep your system updated (says the guy currently running 1 dot-release behind), but if you do that… pretty much never an issue.
also don’t forget you have mint and you have LMDE which are both very much different in how they treat updates and packages.
you should throw in ubuntu and almost all ubuntu-based distro’s in that pot as well if you’re shooting down mint for gaming, as most of them will be in the same boat.
that debian itself is not suited for the latest and the greatest is known, as they favor stability above all else, meaning the stable debian versions are usually a long way behind.but mint has never given me an issue, especially not since steam.
(my previous distro’s include ubuntu, debian, deepin, elementary, solus, and probably some other ones - yet after a cycle of several years where i hop and stay with a distro 1 to 2 years, i usually end up back at mint, and yes, i also used LMDE but returned to regular mint)
All I know is back when I used Linux Mint, I had HORRENDOUS mouse lag in games if I ran them at 60FPS or lower. No idea why.
?? If you are relying on distro’s packages to run games you are doing things wrong. use Steam Flatpak and stop worrying.
Mint is for who likes Kernel Panics with Mint flavor.
Realistically, people think of it for new user gaming because of the “just works” thing. Of course they also tend to recommend using the Steam flatpak, though it’s easy enough to screw up and install the native package instead and have issues. But there’s nothing wrong with suggesting a stable, “just works” distro as a base for gaming. You don’t want said base breaking after all.
I have yet to have issues with Ubuntu based OSes, Fedora and Arch have been a pain in the ass for Gaming, flatpak saves some of this.
LMDE has some issue’s if you don’t know what you’re doing, Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, one of the most well supported Desktop Linux OSes in the world.
Also now you can get Linux Mint Edge with Kernel 6.2 or just upgrade the Kernel in the package manager with a few clicks, also Mint has a Driver Manager for Nvidia based GPU’s.
Ubuntu Base is the Top OS for Gaming other then SteamOS 3 that does not have a Desktop OS yet, also SteamOS was Using Kernel 5.15 if you want to talk about outdated.
Ubuntu’s core is to well supported by Intel, AMD and Nvidia, etc for me to recommend anything but a Ubuntu based OS.
Once Valve releases SteamOS Desktop i will most likely recommend it for Gaming over Mint/Ubuntu.
I have Intel Arc, RX 580’s to AMD RDNA, and Nvidia Pascal to Ada Lovelace GPU’s, Nvidia’s support is just ugly outside of Cuda, AMD’s Drivers are Good depending on what Mesa and Kernel, etc you’re pairing up, Intel ARC is a work in progress maybe Q2 2024.
The Linux Desktop Drivers for Sound, GPU, Etc. are not well supported like Windows is, this has been a weak point of the Linux Desktop, and Gaming on Linux for 15 or so years the People working on Flatpak, etc and the People working for/at Valve has been the best to happen for Linux Gaming, also the hobbyist who make stuff like package mangers for Wine, write patches, test stuff etc.
As others have been saying Mint can be used for gaming. Older packages may make playing online more difficult though for sure. Using the Steam Flatpak will probably resolve this but older kernel versions likely leave performance on the table as well.
However, I do think we should look at Mint a bit differently. Mint and the Cinnamon desktop isn’t really a replacement for Windows 10. It should be viewed as more of a replacement for Windows 7. Keep in mind I am not nearly as familiar with Mint/Cinnamon as I am with GNOME, KDE, XFCE, and even Pantheon.
I installed Linux Mint for my grandfather on an old Lenovo laptop where the Win7 install on his HDD was corrupted. Instead of bothering to get a Win7 installer I just put Mint on there to see how it would do. Immediately it felt reminiscent to me of XP and 7. For users with more Windows experience, but don’t want to deal with Microsoft, I think Mint should be their go to. I was impressed with the GUI tools available. It was the first time in years where I didn’t feel the need to open the terminal.
Edit: punctuation
bro act like he invented linux ahahahahah