Bazzite attempts to imitate SteamOS to achieve an out-of-the-box Linux gaming experience. But I think one problem with this kind of atomic distro is that the system is too bloated. And this still makes users who jumped ship from Windows 11 feel that their computer performance improved? That shows what kind of monster Windows itself is.
These Microsoft developers live in a future vision but forget present needs. They only care about realizing what they think is the best design, valuing ideals over reality, which makes them contemptible.
After using Linux for these few years, I have become a user who likes picking my own dishes www I can install the software I want and remove the software I do not want through a package manager.
Maybe my mental state has already left the realm of normal people.
Users should not fear their systems. They should know how to adjust things themselves, rather than having someone else shove something at them and decide what they must do.
I do not really like that kind of “opinionated” Linux distro, just as I do not understand why a bunch of people recommend DHH’s Omarchy. You are not going there purely because the author is anti-woke, are you? Or because of some macOS-like vibe? This is a Frankenstein mashup of Hyprland plus the author’s own dotfiles.
Bazzite’s bloat mainly lies in having lots of preinstalled software, not that the kernel and system services are packed with too much. The developers preinstall a pile of Flatpaks that gamers may need, plus a pile of scripts beginning with ujust, treating you like an idiot and forcing you to swallow their system design. The level of domineering is close to ChromeOS. Since installing Bazzite, I have already removed no fewer than 10 packages.
Although my impression of Bazzite is not that bad, at least it is not deepin with a pile of spyware, I still lean toward the faction that configures things myself.
Because of their system deployment mechanism, immutable distros always have to stuff one huge lump into you, and users have a hard time changing the system structure themselves. I believe GNU/Linux has never had the kind of best “defaults” that Android AOSP has. Even with LineageOS, I have some dissatisfaction, so creating an immutable system that claims to be “standard” does not have much meaning. This is especially true for x86 desktop computers. We do not have as many bizarre drivers to coordinate with as ARM mobile devices, so pursuing a system optimized for one piece of hardware is really unnecessary.
So I prefer the system installation model of Debian and Arch Linux. Traditional Fedora is not bad either. After installing from the ISO, you can pick the dishes you like. They are also bigger names and have more users.
I am too lazy to customize an ISO with debootstrap or deploy a system with bootc. I install everything according to whatever the distribution’s ISO provides. You may say, if you like assembling systems, why not use Gentoo? My skills are too bad.
The only thing that might constrain me is package dependencies. Non-Arch distributions often handle dependencies terribly. You install one small piece of software, and other bloated software gets pulled down with it. But I can still tolerate that.
Ubuntu is also not bad. The preinstalled things are just about right, but after Snap appeared, the tone changed. It strongly pushes things useful to server users and looks down on desktop users. Although aggressively pushing Snap has drawn criticism, Ubuntu is still a system with a relatively normal mental state.
Although Linux Mint also preinstalls quite a bit of software, why do I not feel it is as bloated as Bazzite? Because they really understand what desktop users want. They slowly carve the product with the spirit of a small workshop, conservative and stable, rather than hastily forcing users to accept immature new technologies!
If you choose a Linux distribution by looking at websites like Reddit, it is easy to fall into a fallacy: using systems recommended by tinker-happy players. I have to say an unpopular opinion: people who recommend Arch to others are harming them. The same goes for Arch-based EndeavourOS, Manjaro, and CachyOS.
Most importantly, Rolling-distro is always a no-go for average Linux users.
If you really want to use Arch Linux, start from the source and learn how to assemble the system!
Linux desktop user communities always like chasing systems with shining new features. First it was Bazzite, recently it is CachyOS. They do not love boring Ubuntu and Mint, but they do not think about the cost brought by this kind of rolling release. Is it endless debugging? Is it the pleasure of being one or two years ahead of others?
After trying Fedora, Arch, and openSUSE TW, pairing them with the KDE desktop was always unstable. I feel… hmm, I would rather use stable releases like Ubuntu with slightly older software than constantly fight minor random breakage. Rolling-release experiences are fine to play with, but if you need to do serious work, forget it.
