Edit: Tumbleweed and bazzite are currently the most attractive options based on what I’ve learned from the comments. I will trial run those and 1 or 2 others.

I am currently on Pop OS.

I am dissatisfied with the DE/UI and I’ve been playing with others but half the point of this distro is it’s custom UI. So I figured I would try another. I have several criteria that may narrow it down.

  1. I am going to use KDE or KDE Plasma (preferred). This is the only non-negotiable criteria.

  2. I will be gaming. This means I would like relatively up to date kernel and software. Rolling or semi-rolling releases are preferred.

2.5. I also work from this pc. This mainly entails using discord and Firefox though so no special requirements. I do have 4 different sized monitors with 3 different refresh rates that I use for work. Only one for gaming. One is vertical. I can tell I’m pushing x to its limits with that setup.

  1. I would prefer Debian-based as that is what I’m used to and because .deb packages are so common.

  2. I don’t want it to be a ton of effort to set up. Pop OS worked out of the box with my Nvidia GPU and all other hardware. I am willing to put in some effort though.

  3. I have been using and very much like apt and flatpak. This is not a requirement, just an observation.

  4. Wayland is neat

  5. Active community with lots of support to search through. Pop OS has been good for this as it’s Ubuntu based and has its own great community.

Ultimately I want an easy to use desktop OS that uses some sort of KDE, supports up to date packages and drivers, supports most games and isn’t a pain to maintain.

Here are some contenders that fit at least some of my requirements.

KDE Neon user edition

Opensuse tumbleweed

Kubuntu

Endeavor OS

Debian

Manjaro

Bazzite

Mint Debian edition

Right now I’m leaning toward KDE Neon, Kubuntu, or Debian (whatever the rolling release version is), but the others all have their draws. I’ve heard the aur is great but I have come across several applications only available in website downloads of Deb packages so I’m hesitant.

I have been using pop as my first desktop distro after Windows and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I barely run into anything I can’t solve with some effort and headache and not a single game I can’t play. I’d like to keep it that way.

Now that that’s out of the way, does anyone have suggestions? Am I looking in the wrong direction? Am I asking the wrong questions? Should I just install arch, live in the terminal, and throw away my mouse? /s

Thank you all for your advice in advance.

  • Alk@sh.itjust.worksOPEnglish
    4·
    2 days ago

    Yeah I’ve heard that pop OS has great Nvidia support out of the box, more so than most other distros. I do like your idea of mint Debian edition though. I’m already a fan of mint but didn’t want their slower kernel and software releases. I eventually want to build a new pc with amd hardware instead of intel/Nvidia. Maybe the right play is to stick with pop until that happens.

    • entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      For what it’s worth, I use Mint with the Xanmod kernel installed and the kisak-mesa PPA. This means I get the stability, strong UI, and “just works, no fuss” factors of Mint, but a cutting edge kernel with an optimized build and gaming-specific tweaks to it, plus the latest release of Mesa. Every individual app I want to guarantee is fully up-to-date I just get the flatpak, which mint will offer to update through its gui updater tool, right alongside native packages. Steam and Heroic keep the games up to date and ProtonUp-QT lets me keep the Proton-GE versions up to date as well.

      Anyhow, just putting that out there. I’ve used every major distro over the past 16 years and this is my personal “I just want it to always work and be up to date” solution for my gaming PC. Everyone will have different compromises for what they consider best.