Bazzite - A Gaming Distro Done Right

It's no secret installing and using Linux can seem like a daunting task for many, with gamers being one group where the Linux experience has been very hit-or-miss. Because of this, many distributions focused on Gaming have cropped up, and today I'm reviewing one such Distro: Bazzite.

Why Bazzite?

Bazzite is a gaming-focused Distro based on Fedora Atomic. This means it has a strong, stable, and immutable base based on the Fedora ecosystem. Some of its features include...

• A custom kernel with patches for various gaming enhancements like Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and High Dynamic Range (HDR)
• Many QoL features and preinstalled tools; Steam, Flatpak, Lutris, Homebrew, Waydroid, Distrobox, helper scripts galore, and many other tools come preinstalled.
• Helper Menus on install to download many other tools like Bottles and various emulators.
• Steam Gaming Mode; Want your Bazzite install to feel like a Steam Deck? This is possible (so long as you have a compatible AMD APU/GPU). This also means Bazzite is well suited for Home Theater PCs (HTPCs) and gaming handhelds.
• An intuitive ISO selector on the website. The ISO file will bundle your selected driver, Steam Gaming Mode (if you want it), and your preferred Desktop Environment (between KDE and Gnome)

Why NOT Bazzite?

Like any other Linux Distro, Bazzite has limitations:

• Inflexible System - Due to its immutable nature, you are meant to interface with the "rpm-ostree" api when making system changes, and not every single manual system change will work or behave as expected. The limited DE choice may put off some users as well.
  
• Bloated - Preinstalled programs are, of course, a double-edged sword. I can easily idle at 5-6gb ram use which is quite a lot for desktop Linux. I certainly recommend a minimum of 16gb installed ram if you choose to try this Distro.
• It's still Linux - Games with Anti-Cheat, PCVR Titles (especially if you have a Meta/Oculus headset), and many applications may not work well under Bazzite (like many other Distros). It gives you the tools necessary to do what you can but you may only get so far with certain apps and games.

To Conclude...

Overall, I am happy with my experience on Bazzite. For a lot of things, it simply just works. VRR and HDR out-of-the-box support are great, along with all the tools and things it comes with to ensure a smooth experience. I should mention I can't really comment on its performance on handhelds and such, only as a daily driver. However, for that, I certainly recommend if you want to take full advantage of a high-end system while going through the Linux experience. Bazzite is truly a gaming Distro, done right.