I figured with all the talk of Linux recently, steam pushing Ubuntu, and people asking for games to release on Linux, I was curious which distros people use for gaming. I have Ubuntu and it seems pretty nice but I'd like to try some other good ones. I'm also curious about drivers because its a pain to get my Logitech gear working, and sometimes the video drivers can be finicky. (AMD HD 6870) though that's mostly with the downloads.
I'm a Slackware user. It's definitely not a distro for the casual-minded, but the stability, speed, security, and overall control you get over your system is more than worth it. The installer is non-graphical, but that means it's simple to set up, especially on a headless machine. Configuration is mostly done through text files, but again, it means you get the most control and stability out of it. (Though if you're running a DE like KDE, it will cover much of the configuration with a nice gui.) Best of all, once it's all set up, you can have it running for years without needing to reinstall, not even for upgrades. Not even if you completely botch your system. Fun story: I once upgraded to the latest version on my 32-bit laptop with the 64-bit version (Double sided disc, I put it in upside down. Fail.), and ended up with a system that couldn't even boot. The fix was as simple as popping in the disc on the correct side and doing some quick command line wizardry to reinstall all the packages as their correct 32-bit counterparts. Speaking of which, the package manager is very basic in comparison to most other distros. The first-party packages are easy enough to update or install, but getting 3rd party packages requires a few extra steps. (Usually a visit to Slackbuilds.org, downloading the Slackbuild and source, and compiling it. There are scripts that simplify this enough that it works as easily as something like apt-get, but with more control.) I use it on every computer I own: My main desktop, my netbook, my work computer, and even my old laptop from 2002. All my hardware works flawlessly, though on the desktop I have to use proprietary drivers for the videocard (AMD 6870, just like OP) for gaming. Overall, excellent distro (the best, but I'm biased), though I'm not sure I'd recommend it for those who want their distro to work with the minimal amount of effort. However, there is a popular saying in the Linux world: "If you use Ubuntu, you'll learn Ubuntu. If you use Red Hat you'll learn Red Hat. If you use Slackware, you'll learn Linux."
I'm using Linux Mint 14, which is based off of Ubuntu. I was using Linux Mint Debian Edition for a while, and I got started with Linux with Kubuntu back in, oh, 2005 or so.
I liked the look of Mint back when I tried it. Ultimately, Mint runs the same code base as Ubuntu. Anything you can do in Ubuntu, you should be able to do in Mint without any hassles. So it's probably a good choice if you're interested in Steam on Linux.
As BulletMagnet said, Mint shares the same repositories as Ubuntu, so all the tweaks Ubuntu has made show up in mint. However, they have the added bonus of using Mate and Cinnamon for the desktop environment, as opposed to Unity or Gnome Shell. (Unity and Gnome Shell have been somewhat controversial in their implementation.) On the downside updating to a new version tends to require a reinstall, as opposed to Ubuntu's live update. (Though Ubuntu's update system isn't known for being flawless.) Currently, Mint is rated highest on Distrowatch, as people seem to prefer its more conservative approach as compared to Ubuntu.
The new Ubuntu version coming in April should have a headache free driver support for AMD and Nvidia GPU's.
Linux Mint for me. I used Ubuntu until they came up with Unity. I gave it a shot again with their 12.04 LTS and after like 10 days I gladly replaced it with Mint again. For me the bonuses of Linux Mint? Its Ubuntu without Unity .
Ok cool, I haven't minded the GUI in Ubuntu so far. Slackware sounds like an interesting challenge, do you know if steam will work there? I assume I might just have to do some wizardry to get it to go?
Officialy there's only a DEB package built specifically to integrate with Unity. But that's just the official version. I have Steam on my Linux Mint Mate and Cairo Dock picks all the Unity integrations. Although as it was said Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. As for Slackware. If this footage is legit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsTmnzIqseI then it is possible to run Steam on Slackware. However expect dependency problems as at the moment Steam will want to install the dependencies for games through apt I believe. EDIT: corrected the dependencies paragraph
Steam works nicely on Slackware. Eric Hameleers, one of the primary Slackware maintainers, keeps the slackbuild here: http://taper.alienbase.nl/mirrors/peopl ... eamclient/ Originally you had to install a specific set of dependencies to get it working, but since then the dependencies have mostly been eliminated. (Disclosure: I don't use the Steam Linux client myself, as I dislike Steam. However, that may change as the few games I do own for Steam start getting ported over.) As for giving Slackware a try, just be aware of what you're getting into. You will have to configure things, and you will MOST DEFINITELY need to use command line. If anything, I would suggest installing it on a second machine and getting familiar with the process, so you're prepared before you do it to your main computer.
Mint 12 on my main machine, but I'll always install the latest version (14 atm) on new machines as they come. Haven't bothered updating my computer from version 12 so far, as it works well so what's the point
