u/QuackItOpen

I suggest you play these on console if you need these titles in your library that much. Check ProtonDB regularly to see if your games are compatible. Basically most anti-cheat is non negotiable for linux because it operates on the kernel level of windows machines. Its a divisive topic as most linux gamers prefer not to install something so intrusive to the computer its beyond even the underlying OS (depsite its dependency for windows). Its also a privacy concern as well. Personally im not a fan and have given up on COD as of late anyways. Stick to windows, give up on COD/major multiplayer games, or start spending more money on a console, subscription to play, and games needed. Its not the news you wanted to hear but most people will tell you to just "not play". Dual booting is also a sweet middle ground but might need some work if you are relatively new.

Jackify is amazing!

If these lines are here all the way from the bios, to boot, and to the OS itself then you need to request an RMA from valve.

Wouldn't it be a better approach to fetch a map of distros from a file rather than do a long "IF" block for the detect_disro() function? Then you can organize distros to a family rather than have so many cases. Just a thought for scalability or for like a V2 of the script but good idea non the less. As for running as root I agree with the comment thread, its best to be careful.

OP this comment thread has some solutions but I suggest you avoid Decky unless you want to do some learning. If you want to game with no fuss, just keep the SteamDeck as is without any plugins.

So much Decky hate for valid reasons but lots of misinformation. Its suited towards early adopters and people who tinker with the deck and are comfortable with their crap breaking from self driven errors. People who tinker are used to breaking shit and fixing it. Its not a big deal. If you dont like that sorta thing don't install decky but don't promote misinformation about it being "useless" like the comment thread is doing right now. Its more than simple themes and startup movies. Its more frames, more information, unfiying storefronts, storage management, and power user tools.

The software would be much better with if it had a rating system, metadata that states when the last time it was updated for starters, deprecated plugins, and just overall compatibility. Thats on the devs of DeckyLoader and the Plugins, not the end users. This still doesn't mean the software in itself is bad for the Deck, it just needs a few more updates.

Heres a few tips for Decky newbies out there. Update Decky and plugins before steam software updates. Research your plugins and ensure they are actively updated. Go to the plugin, peruse the docs, and check if it is updated or actively being worked on through Github. If this is too much to research, you dont even know what github is, or sounds too complicated, then dont install Decky. Simple as that. You will find much more benefits in stability and knowing valve can fix your problems if you cant fix them yourself, and thats okay!

This article explains it a bit more in detail but pretty much distros like Arch and by extension Arch based distros like CachyOS have dropped support for providing the driver via updates. This means the end user is responsible for updating the drivers via a separate package from a different repo.

Not too sure about the drives or antivirus. What I can help with is some of these questions:

LibreOffice is free but has a UI learning curve, its not 1-1 to O365 and even a MS Office theme doesnt help too much

Gimp is a free image editor and theres been some chatter about adobe working on linux recently with some workarounds

Gaming / Programming is fine just choose a gaming focused distro for easiest plug and play (Cachy,Nobara, and maybe Bazzite but IDK if mutable vs immutable is your thing)

Nvidia GPU's (even bleeding edge AMD GPUS on initial release) will take a performance hit when compared to windows so be ready, and drivers are more than fine for right now but my main concern is long term support given what happened to the 10XX series GPU's losing support.

Go CachyOS to get things out the box faster, most people post their gaming benchmarks are not great because they started of with mint. If you are willing to get Mint setup to game that is also fine, im just considering how to get you gaming as fast as possible. Theres no wrong distro just which is tuned for you to do the least amount of work most of the time.

Maybe also backup on the cloud or consider getting a MS focused used or mini PC if you still have some dependencies on MS. Dual booting is fine but to save a couple headaches having separated physical hardware makes life easier. You will find my post is biased towards ease of use. Theres no wrong way I just like the easiest approaches but it will come at financial cost most of the time. Many others dual boot too so hear them out as well.

I'm using nobara with my 9070xt. Its pretty good.

This is my main gripe. I hardly understand mo2 and use wabbajack. I can never get any wabbajack modlist to work with my games on steam and its always a 10 minute tutorial or 3rd party script off github. Viva new vegas worked after doing the manual install. I just want a little more synchronicity between the mod manager and the prefix file system from proton so im not always lost in 3 different directories. Im hoping vortex does this or wabbajack/MO2 teams start getting automated modlists working on linux (at least steam deck).

It really just takes time and patience when trying something new. I see linux and most distros as a bit more hands on for the OS but thats just because you own the computer more than you did with windows! Maybe its akin to learning a computer for the first time. After a while of using MacOS or Windows 7 when younger you really start to pick up speed and understand the OS. In addition to the hands on point I meant earlier its also some maintenance knowledge you will naturally pick up on but some distros are so easy its just a update button like windows. It could be as hard or as easy as youd like with the list of choices for distros available.

Its like getting into your first project car or new car you'd like to be more involved in. Maybe switching from your old Ford Fusion or Chevy Malibu to a project car you invest it where you know every single part and how it was made and maintained by your hands is more your flavor. Maybe you bought a brand new car off the dealership and you are taking things into consideration more than you did previously. Premium fuel, additional interior care, not eating inside with drive thru food, regular maintenance you never did and every little detail. Its a bit more work sure but you learned something new with either avenue! Getting into a new OS is rough around the edges but I promise once your PC works for you its worth it. I understood comparisons to windows 10 but windows 11 has been so inconsistent with identity I cant recommend linux enough.

Just disable watch history no additional apps needed. This fully removes youtube shorts.

For point number 1 I used moonlight (client to receive gaming streamed content from host pc), sunshine on my PC (Server which streams content to any connected client).

Optionally I used Decky Loader (steam deck focused plugins on quick access menu), Moondeck plugin (a plugin to start game streaming immediatley), Moondeck Buddy (Server PC app to work with moondeck button and Sunshine). Given you use arch I assume you will be fine with configuring applications for best possible streaming, but if you want plug and play streaming the native solution is good enough.

It wasn't a pretty setup but once its running its much better than using the native steam streaming. I would like to think that the native streaming will improve on all linux distros once steam machine / Frame arrive.

All of this was setup with Nobara as my main distro.

TLDR: It was a bitch and a half on linux and for noobs, almost not worth it since I hardly stream it. Native streaming will likely improve throughout 2026-2027 bc new steam hardware. Moondeck plugin / moondeck buddy / Decky itself are completely optional. Moonlight (client SteamDeck) + Sunshine (Main gaming PC as server host) will work just fine and better than native steam streaming.

I wouldn't recommend. You have so many dependencies that warrant the need of Windows or secondary devices.

Call of Duty? - PS5 or XBOX ($500-800)

Adobe? - get a second computer with windows or get a mac mini ($600+)

If this all sounds to redundant, complicated, or too expensive for you then consider staying on windows. Theres some hard truths you have to accept when switching to Linux and unfortunately these companies don't seem to provide their help in supporting it. I will say WinBoat is improving but not for the adobe product suite.

Make some hard choices, accept them, and most importantly try it out! Thank you.

I always found modding confusing and wine prefixing even more. I got it working at one point then one day my prefix broke (Fallout NV: Viva New Vegas). So yeah if you have patience I think its solid. If you are often tired of troubleshooting I hate to say it but windows beats it out. I could imagine mod tools working hand in hand with wine prefixes in the future!

Two things:

I have no other device when traveling so its my only thing to play and naturally you get used to it. If you are next to your home PC its pretty hard to play on reduced settings. Streaming is probably the best option at that point. I finished BG3 and Elden Ring on deck. Yeah it was sluggish but I had no other device when traveling for long periods during holidays.

Losless scaling helps (some games not all, but elden ring for sure). Its getting better every day but not ready for plug and play non tinkering users.

You need to follow the instructions on the tech blog and select the "prod_slim" version of the game from betas tab.

Settings icon > properties > betas > "prod_slim" and now the game should reinstall with smaller footprint. Good luck and make sure to read any other steps necessary and beware of bugs.

Yeah you are pretty much fine in my book. I play all those except Final Fantasy 14 You will enjoy everything working nearly out of the box or with switching proton versions (can be done in steam less than 5 seconds). Try something like Bazzite.

When wondering if a game can run or not try this site. I have Ready or Not and it ran 50-60 FPS but dropped to 30 on the new DLC maps. It runs pretty solid for the deck IMO. BG3 is tough but I played enough hours to say it runs well and they also got a native linux port specifically for steam deck so yeah its solid. Not 60FPS but amazing still. IDK what resolution or frame-rates you are targeting but I can tell you the games run and you can finish them.

I feel like you answered your own question and seem ready to try Arch! I always recommend a spare laptop with low end specs for learning when trying something that's not to stable (arch is actually really stable once you have your own flow, but you are doing a fresh install)

1. Stop tinkering (I know its fun)
2. Maybe install mint? Pretty stable
3. Again stop getting distracted maybe even get off reddit there's too much on this site.

If you have a spare beater laptop or can buy one used, do that first. Then try to figure out how to install a Distro on it with you tube tutorials. Finally practice the laptop everyday like you would learn how play an instrument or drive a car. If you don't know a word, google it or ask AI to explain it to you simply (dont let it fully guide an install IMO). You got this!

BONUS:

Use this website to try different Distros!

I always recommend this but you can try Desktop Environment (DE) flavors from various Distros from this site. Don't be so hard on yourself! Learning starts with being somewhat stupid at something then you end up being just a little less as time and practice kicks in!

Do some research on linux distros that work well with lowend hardware (almost all of them do), get a list, then use this website to try any Distro! This helped me when selecting. Also sorry about your limitations with Arch but if this is the spare laptop I would give it a shot!

I have a 9070XT/R7 9700x. I play 1440p with minimums around 80fps RT enabled. Strictly from my experience alone the PC works great and I'm willing to shell out marginal to potentially moderate performance gains to not use windows. Also it varies game to game. I would suggest using https://www.protondb.com/ to get an idea of how the game performs before making the jump. If you care about absolute best performance I would suggest sticking to windows.

Consider a car. Sure I can get better MPG's in a Prius, heck I can skip gas all together in a Tesla Model 3, but sports cars and large trucks look cooler with moderate fuel economy. Its all about what you want to own at the end of the day, including the negatives. Good news is drivers and performance for titles at or before 2025-2026 will likely age like wine or remain the same.

Finally its about drivers. Just stick with a gaming focused linux distro or do some research to see how drivers perform with your card since its on the bleeding edge.

Whats the MC setup if you dont mind me asking? Is it something like Prism?