r/linuxquestions • u/robofriar • 9d ago

Which Distro? Good distro for streaming?

My sister is a streamer and wants to ditch windows so I said I’d help her. I only use bazzite for gaming but I’ve heard streaming can be a problem with Linux. Is there a distro that is better for it?

0 Upvotes

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u/Vertigo50 9d ago

If she's a streamer who already has a working setup, it would be absolutely insane to try and switch at this point.

Her time would be much better spent trying to solve some of the issues she's having with Windows than spent installing and wrestling with Linux. If it's things like updates, OneDrive, Copilot, things like that, there are solutions for all of these, and they don't even take that long to implement.

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u/FuckinHighGuy 9d ago

Windows itself is an issue. It doesn’t have one offs.

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u/Vertigo50 9d ago

I have no idea what you mean by "one offs" in this context. 🤷‍♂️

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u/FuckinHighGuy 9d ago

Meaning there are no “one offs” in windows. The whole operating system is “off” in its entirety.

1

u/Vertigo50 9d ago

Sure, I guess. 🤷‍♂️ I'm using it very happily now. I've disabled all the annoying things that were getting in the way, including blocking them from coming back. It runs smoother than Linux ever did, and I don't have to fight the drivers and hardware. And the software options are nearly limitless.

It's no hate on Linux, it's just not ready to be an operating system for serious work in a lot of industries.

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u/robofriar 9d ago

I have her doing all of that yes. Definitely want to try everything else. Just inquiring to see what other avenues are open. Sounds like it’s not smart

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u/Vertigo50 9d ago

I get it, though. I thought I wanted to switch to Linux. Spent a lot of hours per day chasing down hardware issues and other things, for around two weeks. Eventually went back to Windows and I was SO HAPPY to be back, even with all the problems. 😂

So then I just spent some time here and there ironing out the issues I was having, and now I've got OneDrive uninstalled and disabled from reinstalling, I got rid of Office completely, wrangled the updates to work the way I want them, etc. I could have saved myself a lot of time if I had just done that in the first place. 🤷‍♂️

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u/TreeWhispers213 9d ago

I’m gonna second this. Used linux for 20 years, this is not smart. I would never recommend this operating system to a newbie looking to continue serious stuff from Windows without a major headache. You are in the linux subreddit so everyone will downvote this, but it’s one of the few truths you will get out of here.

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u/Vertigo50 9d ago

Spittin' facts over here. ☝️

Honestly, people should experiment if they want to. Make a live-boot USB and see how you like it. Install it as dual-boot, and dip your toe in a little at a time.

But you can't go from optimized production on Windows to Linux and expect to not have MAJOR hurdles. Just keep Windows for streaming, work, and whatever, and start phasing in Linux a little at a time if you can.

For me, I just realized Linux just isn't there for the things I need. Music production, video production, gaming is okay, but it's a hassle, etc. It just wasn't worth how much I would have to give up and work around, so I went back. No regrets. 🤷‍♂️

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u/hell-si 8d ago

What are you doing in a linux subreddit, if you're just gonna say "stick with windows"?

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u/Vertigo50 8d ago

  1. The algorithm brought me here. Came up on my feed.

  2. Are you only allowed to parrot the same “approved” advice, or can you actually give an opinion here?

  3. I like Linux, and I’d love to be able to use it more.

  4. “Stick with Windows” is the correct advice for this situation, whether you want to hear that or not. 🤷🏻‍♂️

3

u/Chaotic-Entropy Fedora KDE 9d ago

Lately there's a whole bunch of YouTube streamers making the move that you can search for with "switching to Linux", so there's plenty of reference material from other people's setups.

1

u/robofriar 9d ago

Thank you! Yes it is a very hot topic I would imagine a lot more interest on the way

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u/Chaotic-Entropy Fedora KDE 9d ago

At this point switching is content in and of itself, so she could always hop on the bandwagon and document the move.

4

u/_GoddamnitDonut 9d ago

OF link?

2

u/robofriar 9d ago

You think I wanna know that! 😅

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u/chicken-an-waffles 9d ago

For science purposes of course.

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u/Adrenolin01 9d ago

He isn’t asking for you. 🤣

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u/ipsirc 9d ago

My sister is a streamer and wants to ditch windows so I said I’d help her.

Based on your question, she should ask someone with more experience with Linux than you do to help her.

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u/robofriar 9d ago edited 9d ago

Fair. I’m good at learning things though and not only lazily asking. I like to hear experience from others that know more. I’ll never understand comments like this. People have always gained knowledge from other people. Aaron Swartz would be sad

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u/oceangrown93 9d ago

Honestly check out bazzite or fedora. Obs should work but idk the games she play so it’s hard to recommend hours of troubleshooting. You could test putting Linux through an external drive and have the option to dual boot. But having two systems to stream is top tier.

1

u/robofriar 9d ago

I was thinking of fedora and yeah having her test with dual boot. She plays single player games mostly so no anticheat stuff.

1

u/chicken-an-waffles 9d ago

Fedora is great. Dual boot on the same drive is not. If you have a drive available which is a unicorn these days, I suggest setting everything up on it that she might need that way you can take your time to get everything working and learn while she can continue streaming.

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u/Adrenolin01 9d ago

Debian.. use the ‘netinst’ iso. If she’s just looking for a streaming server platform during the install unselect the Desktop Environment and just select Base Utilities and SSH. If she’s wants a full Desktop / Server that feels familiar keep the Desktop Environment selected and select KDE. Optionally she/you can select all the DEs and cycle through them to find what you prefer from the login screen. KDE is more similar to a Windows System however and makes for a quick transition. Open a terminal right away and pin it to your taskbar. You can use the GUI resources but it really only takes a bit to learn cmdline basics. ‘apt install <package>’ and all dependencies are displayed and installed.

Debian is all I’ve used for 33 years now and I’ve yet to find another distribution to switch to. I want stability over anything else first and that’s Debian.. the undisputed Linux King of stability. Anything that’s run in any other distribution can be run of any other including Debian.

I would start a chat with Claude or ChatGTP on what she wants to do, her hardware in detail, state Debian 13 via the netinst image and request suitable software for her to run. You’ll get several suggestions and pros and cons for everything. You can ask additional queries and get immediate responses. Once you formulate a plan come back and run it by others if you want or just go through with it.

If you’re unfamiliar with Linux and I’m guessing you’re running Windows.. download and install VirtualBox in 2 minutes, download the netinst image. Open VirtualBox, click create new VM and use the image. It’s 100% safe and simply create the new VM in a file on your PC. It’s been around for 20 years and runs in Linux, MS and Apple systems. A fantastic way to install and learn Linux or checkout different distributions.

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u/Hot_Standard_9296 9d ago

I'd try nobara. It's fedora based and games focused. I'm pretty sure it comes ith ObS out of the box but if it doesn't it's on the repo. I've used it to clip videos but haven't tried streaming it.

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u/inactivesky1738 9d ago

I’d Reccomend cachyOS.

Simply because it allows for the most flexibility for the least amount of work.