https://github.com/ublue-os/countme/blob/main/growth_global.svg
Graphs can be found here on their github. Since around mid November the active user count for Bazzite has gone up by around 16k active users.
Personally, my only wish for Bazzite is a Cosmic version 👼 I tried it out recently and it seems fairly impressive
It’s amazing. Everything works perfectly, all my favorite games run smooth and gnome is amazing.
I left Linux 10 years ago because I didn’t have the time to maintain a system.
Now it’s less work than Windows to set everything up
Many had cool presents it seems 🤭
I’ve been using Bazzite for a while and mostly happy with it. So from 2026 and on, I’ll start donating a Windows license amount of money to Bazzite and other fundementals every year. Because fuck Windows, that’s why.
Is this counting people who installed it and then left out of disappointment? I installed it once, and then I couldn’t navigate through the menu as mouse-less-ly as Linux Mint can, and Steam wouldn’t show any windows at all despite updating (only right-clicking the system tray icon would bring up that menu, but then clicking those entries or double-clicking the icon did nothing). It was just a really disappointing experience so I returned to Mint Cinnamon.
Which desktop environment did you do
bringus studios referense??///?
im in that chart! i just built my wife a gaming PC, she is not a PC person and knows exactly nothing about linux as a whole, but she loves her steamdeck and bazzite means she never has to worry about opening a terminal (or even the desktop if she doesnt want to)
Heh, I guess I was one of those downloads. I wanted to set up an old PC I had lying around for gaming over the holidays at my parents place.
In the end I forgot that I maybe would need an internet connection and didn’t have a long enough ethernet cable to actually use it but I did install the distro at least. No idea how well it works though since the PC has a GTX 1050 ti and officially the image only supports RTX cards and the GTX 16xx series.
I’m one. I set up a Windows/bazzite dual boot situation and I’ve never booted windows since.
what’s bazzite like? might experiment with it when I get my caseless frankenstein floor computer to work lol
think steamos with all of it’s goodies (and more bazzite-exclusive features), but on a more standardised linux base so you can run it on any pc and handheld, not just the steam deck. bazzite is also just as unbreakable as steamos, since it is an immutable (read-only system files) os, and updates the same way as a phone does (downloads an update in the background, and uses it on next boot with a rollback option in the super rare event that it breaks something).
Someone else could explain better than me I’m sure but, it’s a Linux distro that is gaming focused. It comes pre-loaded with steam and video card drivers so that someone has a decent chance that their games will just “work”.
hell yeah! linux for the win! I’m working on a computer and might try that one out when I get it to work. hopefully the hdd isn’t dead
I ended up with CachyOS over Bazzite but I’m looking into the latter for my dad since I’m guessing it’s more stable and easier.
I just… Idk, I like Arch over Fedora. I blame the little pacman eating my progress whenever I install stuff in konsole. Desktop mode to desktop mode it’s the same KDE Plasma I’d be using, though. Are there any other striking differences between Cachy and Bazzite?
Edit: it was good to bring it up here, y’all are very knowledgeable on these things. It sounds to me that I need to get bazzite for my dad mostly because he won’t want to fuss or work on it and that I made the right call for myself since Cachy (and Arch in general) gives more flexibility. Frankly I might not even give him desktop mode default, he strictly wants something to play from bed in full on retirement mode.
AFAIK CachyOS still demands a little involvement in the OS. Like, you have to watch the logs when you update, you need keep context in mind, like knowing you’re running KDE and an Nvidia card and so on. But I feel like Bazzite would be more usable to someone who doesn’t know (and doesn’t need to know) what a filesystem or a discrete GPU are.
But in terms of stability, CachyOS has been rock solid for me. The cadence that Arch + CachyOS devs fix stuff has been utterly perfect.
So I say if your dad is more ‘software curious,’ give him CachyOS. If he doesn’t like messing with computer stuff, give him Bazzite.
It’s unfortunate that years as a tech guy at his job has made him less software curious, so probably bazzite then. Rather, I guess when it’s your job to fix things, tinkering isn’t fun anymore.
i’d recommend aurora, it is from the same team that made bazzite, and is literally just bazzite but without the gaming apps preinstalled, focused more on average pc users
I second this, it’s why I went with Bazzite on my main rig - it just needs to work and be reliable. The last thing I want to be doing in my spare time is funking around trying to fix anything that happens to break.
All my other devices run whatever I feel like so I can scratch that curiosity-itch but they get reinstalled if anything major breaks and I can’t fix it in a reasonable amount of time
Ah.
Well one catch I’ve found outside of CachyOS is that if something isn’t working right, it’s easy to create a ton of work for yourself trying to fix it. An example would be fighting your system trying to roll a package forward for a fix, which then gets out of sync with your distro, which requires more manual fixing since you’re the one maintaining it now…
The Arch/Cachy ecosystem, on the other hand, tends to encourage more usage of system packages, and fixes stuff quick. Usually waiting a day or a few days + a
pacman -Syyuufixes what was wrong.If your Dad is a software engineer, it’s possible he might fall into that trap with Bazzite. It kinda just depends on his habits/personality, though from what you describe this may not be a huge danger.
Him 20-30 years ago probably would have. This is a man who, when I was a kid, made a custom UI for msdos so my brother and I could play games easier. He wouldn’t just tinker, he’d probably be contributing.
Old age and alcoholism has kind of robbed him of that, though. At this point he’ll probably just ask me to fix it if it goes wrong, lol
I went from Arch to Fedora idk, I think over a decade ago and haven’t looked back, not sure how things are nowadays, but I switched again this year from Fedora to Bazzite and I love it. Sure, you’ve got to learn to do things a little differently, but so far it’s been great. And it forced me to use distrobox, which honestly I should have done sooner, it’s absolutely great.
I’m in the same boat, my main gaming pc is still bazzite for now (I use it like a HTPC) but eventually when i can be bothered I’ll be on cachy os as I’ve really enjoyed being able to use the arch-iness on my other devices that have it.
I’ve been using Fedora for while but I decided to try Bazzite and for the most part it’s been a great out of the box experience. I didn’t have to mess with NVidia and Wayland as much as I did with vanilla Fedora.
It is a little wonky compared to other distros. I don’t like the way some features are managed, but for a new non-Linux user, they won’t know the difference. I highly recommend it for people that just want to jump on Steam and go.
The problem with a new user is they need more documentation and more resources which atomic distros like bazzite have less of. Making them worse.
Bazzite is for knowledgeable users who don’t want to tinker much anymore or children who aren’t allowed to modify their computer.
Most people don’t want to tinker. They just want a machine that works without hassle or need to think much about how everything works, or risk breaking something… But also without the bloat or the walled garden of Apple.
That’s a good point overall and definitely something to consider.
However, I don’t think it applies to Bazzite specifically because they’ve had such a meteoric growth rise in popularity over the last year. They have more resources to make that stuff.
But, I don’t think most people in modern hardware need to do much for Bazzite to get going. I think unless they want to play Windows games, they shouldn’t need to do anything weird.
Bazzite handled all the annoying setup for Wayland and the Nvidia drivers. Bazzite also manages the updates without a user needing to know how the terminal works. (I personally don’t like that, but it’s probably good for new users).
Bazzite also has fairly robust documentation, which is probably not the case for most Atomic Distros. They also have pretty decent support on social media and in their discord server.
Bazzite also manages the updates without a user needing to know how the terminal works. (I personally don’t like that, but it’s probably good for new users).
Should be noted that this is entirely optional. I update manually through the terminal with “ujust update”
Honestly it’s pretty easy to decide if you should use cachy or bazzite.
Do you use your PC for anything more then office PC or console? If yes pick cachy. If no pick bazzite.
Atomic is great till you have to do fucking anything then it’s more effort then it’s worth basically instantly. And iv seen more people break bazzite trying to do basic shit then iv seen cachy randomly explode because “arch is unstable”.
Bazzite is not a home user desktop os, no atomic os is. The entire concept is basically designed for locked down office PCs and consoles where you don’t actually do anything with the PC but use it.
If your giving a PC to a elderly family member, a child, you do actual business on it that’s mission critical. Bazzite is fucking fantastic, so long as you also never give the admin password to the user.
Seriously the entire atomic concept really is… Baffling tho… Its best use case is one that doesn’t really exist in the same context as gaming unless it’s a console. It’s baffling that bazzite is as popular as it is. If not for the simple fact there is an absurd amount of misinformation around arch and really Linux in general.
Because people cling to out of date knowledge from a decade ago because of memes.
Really 9 times out of 10 normal fedora is better for most avg users then cachy or bazzite.
Just not true. You can do nearly everything on Bazzite that you can do on other distros, there’s sometimes just a different (often easier) process to do it.
I’m no expert but I didn’t have any trouble compiling and running a native Linux FPS game in an Arch distrobox on bazzite to test a bugfix.
I’m just good enough with Linux to know my way around and to break stuff when I have unfettered access to mess with the base system. Bazzite saves me from myself.
I think the most important advice is to use a separate disk/SSD for your home directory so if you screw something up or if you want to change directions, you don’t lose your files. Some of my vendor contracts actively require that I do just this.
HTPCs are why bazzite is as popular as it is
handhelds are really great with it too. i use it on my main pc tho because bazzite-dx simplifies a lot for me
If someone has to try and break into Bazzite to do anything (if they’re not a developer) then they’re doing something very wrong.
What the hell were they even trying to do!?
I’ve recently dove back into Linux and my last try was on Mint. After a few issues I went back to Windows. With the recent Microsoft news I wasn’t happy using a system that could start spying on me.
It’s been close to a month and aside from some specific game issues likely due to running a nivida GPU I’ve been enjoying my time so far.
Copy paste did take a while to get used to. Also the default screenshot tool doesn’t automatically put the snip on the clipboard.
My main focus is gaming so this has been a solid operating system to use.
Always good to try out a few distros before settling in for the long run. As much as I love Mint, there are always cases where one distro has issues with your hardware where another doesn’t.
Copy paste did take a while to get used to.
Which part, the highlight-middle click part or something else?
Also the default screenshot tool doesn’t automatically put the snip on the clipboard.
In Mint? You’ve made me realize that would be convenient for me so I looked into it, I believe copying straight to clipboard is a default keyboard shortcut option I didn’t know about.
Sometimes ctrl c / v doesn’t work and it’s a combination of ctrl, super and C.
Que confused “what’s the super key”Turns out that’s what the windows key on my keyboard is called. So far only when I was messing with the terminal.
The screenshot tool in Brazzite. I think it’s called spectre.
Ctrl C doesn’t work in the terminal because that’s how you terminate programs. You need to use Ctrl shift c, control shift v etc.
Yep. Learning a lot of common inputs on Windows does and does not apply with Linux. Lots of muscle memory to retrain myself on.
I was very happy with Bazzite on my Ally X but version 43 (them or Fedora) broke my WiFi. Then the USBC port has a physical problem as it seems to only deliver power.
My only option without LAN atm was a cloud recovery to Win 11. Uuugh.
Very cool. I am still running Bazzite as my reintroduction into Linux as a daily and it’s been great for gaming but I will say that as more and more familiarity rolls in, I do get frustrated with it being an immutable distro and having to jump through hoops to get it do what I want.
Still I think it’s a great distro for those who don’t want to deal with MS bullshit anymore and a great friendly, works right out of the box while you learn or relearn Linux, and gets you gaming without a lot of hassle and having to deal with less than friendly Linux users.
I found, as an experienced Linux user, that with Bazzite you’ve got to forget the complicated approaches you’re used to, and go for the easy one, it usually works. Lots can be done from KDE’s system settings, or from the bundled utilities. Also I disagree with the order they chose for the application installation methods on their wiki, I think distrobox should be right after Flatpak.
As a normie, I love Bazzite because it’s as intuitive as Microsoft without the intrusive and monopolistic proprietary features, and Bazzite is also built for gaming.
Sample size of 1, here.
Bazzite was my initial entry-point into Linux, but I bounced off it within 48 hours as its immutable nature made it impossible for me to install the native PIA VPN client and for the life of me I couldn’t get the OpenVPN to play nice.
Currently on CachyOS, and seems to run just fine - giving an end user just enough rope 😅
Plus it’s Arch underneath the hood too, so I can still cheekily say that I run Arch!
ETA: I wonder if/how long I would count as part of this Bazzite cohort?
A worthy watch about vpns, obviously just one opinion. https://youtu.be/vQmLMGcCO3I
Yeah I struggled with reading my rom library over SMB so also had to install something else.
Yeah, getting PIA running without the native client has been a bit rough. These days I’ve just gotten use to starting a terminal as soon as I log-in, but I probably need a more permanent solution. maybe it’ll be switching to cachy as well.
PIA has OpenVPN or IPsec profiles (I forget which) that can be imported into NetworkManager. You just have to put in your account info.
I don’t think every location has one…but a lot do.
There are apparently OpenVPN profile you can import, but as I said in my earlier comment - I just couldn’t get it to work (connection attempts would just time out).
I still have like ~18 months of PIA left (joined under a 100% cashback offer), but will likely switch to Proton or Mullvad afterwards - as they both seem to work better under Linux from what I’ve read.
I’m sure over time I’ll tinker more under the hood over time, but for now - I’m just trying to ease myself into Linux with pre-configured installers when particular apps aren’t available through the Cachy Package Manager.
30-odd years of Windows usage has dulled my IT skills!
Proton has a client app as well, doesn’t it? If it doesn’t have OpenVPN/Wireshark config support I would avoid it
you can layer vpns via rpm-ostree install [.rpm location]
I don’t think PIA uses RPMs
mullvad is a better choice anyways. you can also download a wireguard config and load it directly into the network manager
While I agree, it’s a pretty lame thing to say “This doesn’t work for your use case? That’s because your use case is wrong” If the distro doesn’t support PIA, then that is an issue with the distro, not the user.
Nah, it’s an issue, full stop. PIA isn’t responsible for making its shit work everywhere (tho it would be a more responsible approach to use an universal approach) and Bazzite isn’t responsible for making sure every program works on the distro.
Yeah, I agree
PIA VPN
Holy mother of blob, Batman
I barely know what I’m looking at! 😅
Pretty sure I tried poking around that file on Bazzite also to see if I could locate the RPM to try and do a manual terminal install - but gave up after a few minutes.
sudo rpm-ostree install foo.rpm
Should work. I’ve been doing this with the mullvad VPN client. Only annoyance is that I have to manually install when there’s an update (the app notifies me)
