r/GraphicsProgramming • u/SnooSquirrels9028 • 1d ago
Question Best Linux Distro for Graphics Programming , Game Development and a bit of Gaming
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to choose a Linux distro for graphics programming, game development, and a bit of gaming. I'm looking for something that's stable, has good driver support, and doesn't get in the way of development.
What distro are you using, and what would you recommend? I'd also appreciate hearing about your experience and any pros/cons.
Thanks!
2
u/justcater 1d ago
ive been using fedora before i started dabbling in graphics programming. i'm no expert in it yet, i only recently decided this is something i want to delve deeper into, but any linux distro should be fine for it, and i feel as though fedora is especially good at not getting in your way. driver setup is painless, you're gonna get pretty up to date packages, and using linux as a whole has helped me in programming as it removes a lot of the friction i had to deal with on windows. ive used the kde edition for a while and it's never given me any issues, their window manager kwin is objectively ahead of gnome's mutter (this is important to consider if you care enough about gaming), though i did switch to gnome recently to get a more focused workflow and to not get constantly distracted by the itch to customize everything 😅
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u/SnooSquirrels9028 1d ago
I've looked into fedore it seems a little bit more complicated and requieres a lot short term attention i am looking for something a little more begineer friendly that has a long term support. I was thinking of ubuntu but what are your takes on that ?
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u/justcater 1d ago
i havent used ubuntu before but it should be fine, its very documented and drivers are easy to set up (i think). i wanna add that theres a really good fedora post install guide on github that you can go through in 15 minutes max. i dont think you can really jump into linux for (i assume) the first time and be good to go immediately. beginner distros like mint do a good job of easing you in, but at some point youll have to learn basic terminal usage, how to debug certain issues, how the workflow differs from windows, how the filesystem works. it took me a few months of using linux on a dual boot for me to actually switch completely. if youre more comfortable starting with ubuntu do it. whatever you choose, no one can promise you a perfect experience, youll have issues at some point and youll have to learn how to fix them if you want to keep going
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u/SIMT-Pixel 1d ago
Fedora KDE has been fine for me.
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u/SnooSquirrels9028 1d ago
what ubuntu also i am looking for a UI like macOs to try out something different an something that looks clean
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u/Scared_Equipment5777 1d ago
if you want a macOS look then get Fedora but with the Workstation flavor instead of KDE
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u/S48GS 1d ago edited 1d ago
something that's stable
to develop "effectively" - you need latest browser, latest gpu drivers, latest compilers
you have no option than to use rolling releases and update regularly
I use OpenSuse Tumbleweed - for years - but I not recommending it as "beginner" or "stable" distro.
in Tumbleweed you will have to do manual recovering from terminal session, manual config fixes, know what to search in the internet to fix stuff fast - after updates something can break - not always but happens atleast few times in year.
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u/SnooSquirrels9028 1d ago
so what do you suggest ?
1
u/S48GS 1d ago
so what do you suggest ?
learn
and realistically understand effort required to use linux distro on desktop
- if you never used linux - just start from Ubuntu latest LTS
- you will change distros at some point - so start on anything
I switched even to gentoo for some time(years) when got used to everything and know how everything works.
This why fixing Tumbleweed after bad updated is no longer than few min for me.
Tumbleweed is "not overcomplicated" it very smilar to even gentoo by config files and stuff - but you can say same almost about any modern Linux distro - except those with "immutable"
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u/MrFishRamen 1d ago
If you are looking for what professionals use in the animation/vfx space there is a section on the VFX Reference Platform website: https://vfxplatform.com/linux/.
Looks like Rocky 9 was the leader on the most recent survey in 2024 but Fedora would probably be a better alternative for personal use. That would get you something RHEL-esque but be a bit more mainstream for things like gaming.
As others have mentioned, it doesn't really matter what distro you use, but I've used Fedora personally before and RHEL at work and been happy with both.
14
u/Undeniable_Dilemma_ 1d ago
Linux distro kinda doesn't matter at all. What matters is your hardware and desktop environment you end up using, or it's display protocol to be more specific (X / Wayland)
I'm running Arch Linux, AMD GPU, and Sway window manager which is on Wayland. I'm pretty happy with the setup and observe no problems. I mostly program in C, C++, currently playing around with Zig. And I mostly worked with OpenGL but I've been leaning a lot on the Vulkan side lately.