I am freaking out on how well distrobox is working for me. I buy a lot of games on itch.io and GOG, and neither have a flatpak. However, installing an Ubuntu container (max compatibility) and launching games from there just works. Okay, I have yet to install a GOG game, but it the Itch client works then what won’t?

I am so excited. Containers are so fun. I guess arch would be easier, but whatevs.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      That would be so fun I am buzzing with excitement. I am not talking facetiously either. I am out in the cold as I type this, happy and quivering.

      I cannot wait to get home and try it out!

      • alt
        9·
        1 year ago

        I cannot wait to get home and try it out!

        Please consider reporting back after you’ve tried it; I’d love to read your experiences.

        • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          5·
          1 year ago

          So it turns out, I cannot use my NVIDIA card using distrobox. I guess it only works with AMD?

          Anyways, gaming using Bazzite is a dead end for me. I still find Fedora Silverblue super fun to use, and I think I will just run Steam + Lutris using Flatpaks. I was wondering if distrobox would somehow allow better performance, but I don’t understand the technology well enough to even make those presumption. I see that this image is used a lot on Steam Deck, which I also don’t understand why (as opposed to having everything native).

          Anyways, I can still game well on Silverblue. Baldur’s Gate 3 runs okay. So, that means I am fine, hah!

          The only gripe I have, which is just my stupidity, is that I have way of using Mozilla VPN. I tried to run it on an Ubuntu container, but I must be doing something wrong because it does not launch. Maybe I need to look into podman more closely, or maybe I am missing some graphical dependencies that is assumed to exist on a DE. I shall keep trying.

          • alt
            5·
            1 year ago

            Thank you for reporting back! Much appreciated!

            So it turns out, I cannot use my NVIDIA card using distrobox. I guess it only works with AMD?

            Interesting. Unfortunately, I don’t own an Nvidia device. Therefore, I can’t tackle it myself. Distrobox should allow the use of Nvidia, but I’m unaware if this applies to the bazzite-arch container as well. The picture you shared and the link to its FAQ-page (found below) do suggest otherwise, unfortunately…

            I was wondering if distrobox would somehow allow better performance

            FWIW, I’ve always experienced better performance inside the bazzite-arch distrobox container, at least compared to Flatpak*.

            I see that this image is used a lot on Steam Deck, which I also don’t understand why (as opposed to having everything native).

            Because the distro image it’s used in conjunction with, Bazzite, is Fedora-based, while Steam OS is based on Arch. Bazzite is Fedora-based in the first place, because Arch doesn’t officially have any plans for ‘immutable’ distros yet. As for the remaining distros, only Fedora and NixOS (see Jovian-NixOS) have a sufficiently mature and suitable platform at this point in time.

            maybe I am missing some graphical dependencies

            This happens way more often than you might expect. Even the so-called ‘toolbox’ containers from Distrobox miss a lot of packages required to support software graphically. Consider running it inside a terminal and pay attention to error codes etc; those might/should help you resolve the issue. Sometimes it helps to explicitly use the -v or --verbose option to ensure that the program actually communicates what’s happening.

            • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
              4·
              1 year ago

              Thank you for your feedback! I am learning a lot. This is the first time I have run into issues where I was not tempted to abandon ship and go back to what works. I actually care about this system and want it to succeed. I think this is a super cool path forward.

              The only other time I felt this interested in a new paradigm of linux was GoboLinux with its compartmentalized installation of programs, so you can have every version you need, but I got confused with the recipe system and I don’t know if it is still active.

              One problem I had is that I was trying to download an image for linux mint, because it gives me access to PPAs without needing to use SNAP due to Ubuntu, but I could not get an image to download, no matter what combination of linux + mint + version I used. I finally realized I could search podman, now I can go forward!

              • alt
                2·
                1 year ago

                Thank you for your feedback! I am learning a lot.

                Glad to be of use 😜!

                This is the first time I have run into issues where I was not tempted to abandon ship and go back to what works. I actually care about this system and want it to succeed. I think this is a super cool path forward.

                I wholeheartedly agree!

                GoboLinux

                Wow, I almost forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me!

                One problem I had is that I was trying to download an image for linux mint, because it gives me access to PPAs without needing to use SNAP due to Ubuntu, but I could not get an image to download, no matter what combination of linux + mint + version I used. I finally realized I could search podman, now I can go forward!

                Good job learning about podman search! I’m sure you’ll manage 😉!

            • capital@lemmy.world
              1·
              5 months ago

              Interesting. Unfortunately, I don’t own an Nvidia device. Therefore, I can’t tackle it myself. Distrobox should allow the use of Nvidia

              THANK YOU.

              I’ve been searching for a few hours how to get distrobox to utilize my GPU and that link got me there.

            • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
              3·
              1 year ago

              I think I am using Wayland since that is the default.

              Also, I once made the mistake of running on DX11, which was worse.

        • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          5·
          1 year ago

          Also, what is nice about this somewhat failed experiment is that it was easy to just rm the container and everything went with it.

          Yeah, I am not going back to regular linux.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      4·
      1 year ago

      You may be happy, or perhaps dismayed, to learn that I finally installed Bazzite on my desktop.

      I did a bit tonne of sampling, with BlendOS and Vanilla, trying things out, but Fedora wins.

      I have Fedora Silverblue on a usb in case Bazzite does not like my computer, but I think I have done enough hopping for a lifetime.

      I swear I will just jump onto the NIXOS (or guix) bandwagon if I ever decide to switch again.

      • alt
        3·
        1 year ago

        You may be happy, or perhaps dismayed, to learn that I finally installed Bazzite on my desktop.

        Well played! Welcome to the cool kids club! I’ve actually used Bazzite myself for a short while a couple of months ago. It felt like a holiday destination with lots of cool stuff, but it was more opinionated than what I’m comfortable with. So I returned back home (read: custom uBlue image) afterwards, where I am in command for what’s found inside and where I am free to do whatever I will. Though, I did pick up some of the things I liked from Bazzite 😜, so it was not for naught 😉.

        I did a bit tonne of sampling, with BlendOS and Vanilla, trying things out, but Fedora wins.

        Very interesting! I’ve got my own reasons for preferring Fedora *cough* security *cough*, but I’m very interested to know your findings! I’d have to admit that Vanilla OS’ upcoming 2.0 Orchid update is very tempting though.

        I have Fedora Silverblue on a usb in case Bazzite does not like my computer,

        Hmm…, perhaps consider the following:

        1. Rebase back to Silverblue with rpm-ostree rebase fedora:fedora/39/x86_64/silverblue (assuming you’re already on Fedora 39).
        2. After you’ve booted into Silverblue, pin the Silverblue-deployment with sudo ostree admin pin 0.
        3. While still in the Silverblue-deployment, rollback to Bazzite with rpm-ostree rollback.
        4. Reboot, and you should notice that you have one additional entry in the GRUB-menu. That’s the Silverblue-deployment where you can always fall back on; just in case*.

        The above steps do assume that you haven’t pinned any prior Silverblue-deployments; as you don’t necessarily need multiple Silverblue-deployments 😅. Furthermore, they assume no additional steps involving Nvidia; but that’s mostly because I don’t have any experience dealing with that (thankfully).

        I swear I will just jump onto the NIXOS (or guix) bandwagon if I ever decide to switch again.

        FWIW, you can install both Nix and Guix on Silverblue.

        • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          I super appreciate all of the tips! I thought I was good installing Bazzite with a fresh install using an ISO, made sure to pick the NVIDIA option… it just failed to load the drivers, and showed a gray screen switching to open drivers. I know what I am not buying when I uprade in like 5 years.

          That usb become necessary.

          Anyways, before falling unconsious (finally going to sleep… and waking up early damn) I played with NixOS in a VM. I have sooooo much to learn… so I think I will just install the package manager, and gorge on the cake I get to keep.

          • alt
            3·
            1 year ago

            I super appreciate all of the tips!

            It has been my pleasure 😊!

            I thought I was good installing Bazzite with a fresh install using an ISO, made sure to pick the NVIDIA option… it just failed to load the drivers, and showed a gray screen switching to open drivers.

            Very strange. Consider reporting this as a bug on their Github or ask assistance on their discord server.

            I played with NixOS in a VM. I have sooooo much to learn… so I think I will just install the package manager, and gorge on the cake I get to keep.

            NixOS, while excellent at what it offers, is indeed very different from almost anything else. I wish you the best of luck if you wish to conquer it, but I’ve personally put it on my backlog; I hope to return to it eventually, but not now. Perhaps consider using Fleek, which would be Nix-made-easy. Obviously, it isn’t as powerful, but perhaps a new user doesn’t need that much power in the first place 😉.

            • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
              3·
              1 year ago

              Okay, fleek is looking like everything I need to be happy. Learning about devbox made me excited too.

              Damn, I am about ready to start doing some actual work, hah. Get back to programming actually start making things.

              No, Silverblue + distrobox is enough for me. Fleek will probably help solve some of my package edge cases I have been struggling to resolve.

              Computing is fun.

              • alt
                2·
                1 year ago

                Silverblue + distrobox is enough for me.

                Aight. Hope to meet you next time your hand and fingers start tingling and itching 😜.

    • DidacticDumbass@lemmy.oneOPEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Honestly, it is making my like using linux more. Flatpak made not having the app I wanted available and up to date, distrobox allows me to use a distro that has it up to date natively. Nothing is more dope than that. Except nature? But for computing, I adore it.