Hello everybody! I want to escape Microsoft and windows, and I am looking for a Linux distro. I have some experience with Unix and a very old Ubuntu distro. But that’s quite some years ago. I am looking for a Linux distribution where i can play World of Warcraft on. I mainly use Nvidia graphics (RTX 3070).
I have found some distributions that are supposed to be good for gaming. I suppose, as i am still a Linux Noob, I am also looking for a distribution which is easy to get into. Especially for an older gamer ;)
I came with these distro’s myself. What does the Linux community say?
Bazzite
- Based on Fedora Atomic
- Pre Installed Steam
- Nvidia drivers and support https://bazzite.gg/ https://docs.bazzite.gg/Gaming/index.html
Developer: Universal Blue (US?)
Drauger OS
- Based on Ubuntu LTS using KDE Plasma
- Pre for AMD https://draugeros.org/
Pop!_OS
- based on Ubuntu
- Optimized for gaming on Nvidia GPU’s https://system76.com/pop/
Developer: system76 (Denver, US)
SteamOS -based on Debian 8 (Jessie) -designed to run steam and steam games -set to auto update their OS from Valve repo’s https://store.steampowered.com/steamos
Developer: Valve (US)
Manjaro -based on Arch (rolling release model for latest software/drivers) -KDE plasma desktop (Pro-tip: enable flatpak and install ProtonUp-QT) https://manjaro.org/products
Developer: Majaro (EU - Austria, France, Germany)
Ubuntu: -the go-to linux distro for millions of users, incl gamers -best for beginners and gamers who want stable well supported distro -works seamlesssly with steam, lutris, wine (pro-tip: install the gamemode package (sudo apt install gamemode)) https://ubuntu.com/download
Developer: Canonical ltd. (UK)
Nobara -based on Fedora -optimized for gaming on newer Nvidia graphics (drivers come installed) https://nobaraproject.org/download-nobara/
Developer: Thomas Crider (Denver, US)
Mint -based on debian and Ubuntu -friendly OS, works out of the box, extremely easy to use https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php
Developer : Linuxmint (French, Dutch, UK)
At the end of the day, any Distro that you pick will be essentially the same, as far as handling WoW. I have played WoW over the years on the multiple Linux Distros that I have used. The best way would be via Proton from within Steam. I tend to like the custom Proton version - Glorious Eggroll’s version.
For Linux Distros, pick one that is heavily documented like Ubuntu / Mint, both Debian based and tons of troubleshooting articles in case you need to reference them. Tend to prefer Mint between these two, personal choice. I tend to prefer Arch based ones, since they have what is called the AUR (Arch user Repo) which allows more complied apps to be downloaded and used on the system.
Thnx for your answer! Mint is very high on my list!!
Any reasonably modern, well maintained desktop distro should be fine; whether they’re “for gaming” or not shouldn’t matter. I’ve successfully run WoW on both Debian Stable and Arch.
Thnx for your reply!
As long as all of your drivers working fine, I don’t think it matter all that much on which distro you choose
Thank you!
I would personally recommend popos or mint. I have varying amount of experience with the others.
Bazzite is very hyped on Lemmy, I don’t quite understand how it works, it seems good for what it is, but I don’t know if I would recommend it as someone’s first Linux daily driver.
Manjaro seems great most of the time, until the maintainers mess something up and royally screw up your system. But that’s just things I’ve heard, your milage will vary.
Nobara worked really well for me, but ultimately I wasn’t very comfortable to use a distro maintained by one guy, even if that guy is glorious egg roll.
I personally use popos. I wish it was fedora based like Nobara, but you can’t have it all. Wow works straight out the box. There are appimages or deb packages for warcraft logs and curse as well, so they work fine.
Thnx for your answer. I am hearing good stuff about Mint, and the distro looks very good for a beginning linux user!
Popos also is very interesting to me. Too many choices 😃
Admittedly, I’m probably not the best person to ask for recommendation of a noob-friendly distro, but I feel people are overthinking this. If someone produces a list which includes distros I’ve never heard of, I think they spent too much time on ‘Top 10 Noob Friendly Distros in 2025’ websites.
If you really care about my recommendation, just start with Mint.
PS. I should also add, this isn’t criticism of you or any other new user who does search online for recommendation. This is more a comment on state of the Internet where there are so many websites which seem to pad their list with obscure distros where really all such articles should give recommendation for one of the same three distributions. Which three I don’t exactly know.
Thnx for your reply! And don’t worry, i didn’t see your reply as some criticism, i am fairly new to Linux, that’s why i did some researching, and might found some unknown distro’s ;)
Avoid small “made for [something]” distros. Use something as mainstream as possible. Debian/Ubuntu/RedHat. Select something that you like from these.
Thank you!
Reason: big distros have big communities and support is easier to get or find.
Yes, i get that!!!
Do Bazzite. It will be unbeatable for just working and ease of use.
Stay away from Manjaro for anything.
SteamOS that Valve offers is not the same as what’s on the Steam Deck. It’s extremely dated and is what it used to be. A real distro from Valve has yet to be released.
The best way to install WoW is using Lutris, which also comes with Bazzite. You search for and install Battle.net, then you can install WoW normally. Lutris can also add a WoW shortcut once WoW is installed, too.
You can also just copy and paste the WoW folder from your Windows Program Files folder. It keeps all your settings and addons.
For addons use Wowup-curse. It’s a open source addon manager that is just straight up better than all others.
Currently, WoW needs Proton-GE to work. Using wine-staging, or the dated wine-ge, and Battle.net will have problems starting. It’s something weird with authentication and connecting online. Proton-GE contains a patch specifically for this.
The easiest way to get Proton-GE is using Protonup-Qt if using KDE plasma, or Proton Plus if you’re using Gnome. For Protonup-QT, you select Steam, then install Proton-GE for Steam. Lutris will also be able to use it.
Just general advice, I’d use the latest Proton-GE as the default for all Steam games.
In Lutris set the runner for Battle.net to Proton-GE.
Source: I’ve tried all but Drauger OS, and currently play retail WoW.
Wow! Thanks for taking the time to answer me with so much info! Its very much appreciated!!!
I personally wouldn’t look for a distro made just for gaming. I’m currently using Fedora 41 on my PCs and I’ve just closed Red Dead Redemption 2 a few minutes ago, also played baldurs gate and resident evil 4.
Fedora works great for me using it for everything
Nice! Thanks for your answer!
wow is one of the easiest things to run and has ran pretty much fine since it came out in 2004 lol
The newer battle net launcher is more difficult to run, but lutris auto installs all that for you.
Thnx!!
I’d say stick to what you know. So one of the Debian or Ubuntu based distros. Like Ubuntu, Mint or Pop OS.
Stay away from Valve’s Debian based SteamOS. That is horribly outdated and has nothing to do with what people nowadays mean when they say “SteamOS”. I’m always surprised to learn that it’s still available.
In the end it doesn’t really matter which distro you choose. All of them should have no problems with running WoW.
Valve’s Debian based SteamOS
Not to confuse with the Arch based SteamOS running on the SteamDeck which is very functional.
Thanks for your reply, very helpful!
I play both Classic and Retail on Pop!_OS using Lutris. Chose Pop! because my machine has an RTX 3090. The setup was super easy, and I actually get better overall performance than I did on Windows.
Awesome! Thnx for your reply!
Anytime, feel free to dm me if you get stuck during setup.
I can also recommend getting a Steam Deck for WoW. Install the ConsolePort addon to easily play with a controller. Its great for casual levelling :)
Will do that! Thnx a lot, very kind of you! Been thinking of a steamdeck to play wow on. That way my wife will see me downstairs lol
You can install battlenet with steam, just add it as a non-steam game and proton does everything for you. I did it yesterday.
@Lanske
If you have Docker knowledge. May check #GameOnWhalesYou could access these Installed Games with #MoonlightClient
Thnx for that. I don’t really have much docker experience. But will look into it. Thnx!
I personally (I’m sure others will disagree) would recommend skipping Manjaro and maybe Pop.
If you want to try Arch based pick Endeavor instead of Manjaro.
It seems like new folks have a lot of trouble with Pop to me. Out of the Ubuntu-based side I’d choose Mint over the rest.
Also don’t discount base Debian, people sneer at it because of the speed of the update cycle but the other side of that is it being the least likely to blow up on a new user.
Full disclosure: My devices are currently split between endeavor and Debian, depending on my tolerance for things breaking. I know fuck all about Bazzite/Nobara/Fedora.
Thanks for your reply. I never heard anything about Bazzite before, but what i’ve read, it seems to be good.
I run bazzite (kde version), and before I upgraded to an AMD GPU I used an nvidia 3060 without any issues. As someone else mentioned, use Lutris and use the battle.net wizard to install. WowUp-CF is a linux native addon manager for WOW, and works great. If you use TradeSkillMaster, you can either install it in the same wine prefix as WOW or run it in it’s own prefix, just make sure you point it at the right WOW directory.
Awesome! Thnx for your comment!
You may need to try a few to make the most of your hardware config. Make a few bootable USB drives, and spend an evening trying your options I’d say at least pop!os, manjaro and nobara to cover the main distro bases. But everything is pretty good these days and everything has corner cases that cause trouble.
Thank you!