this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2025
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Linux Gaming

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[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 164 points 6 days ago (3 children)

As reiterated by the OP, the proposal is just a proposal and was proposed with heaps of lead time probably because they expected it to be controversial.

As also mentioned, heaps of volunteer time is spent maintaining the packages where most are barely used (even for gaming).

However, it does not seem like there is a viable alternative. Many comments say the suggested alternative, WINE's WoW64, does not work for all games.

I can see both sides here. Fedora maintainers says "this is so much work!" and (mostly) gamers saying "But older games will stop working!".

The response from the Bazzite guy does seem overblown to me. I would think the first step is to work out the impact, as I haven't seen anyone quantify what proportion of games are affected and if there are alternatives like emulation.

[–] UnfortunateShort@lemmy.world 31 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

I'm wondering what the problem even is. I mean, can't you just put all the stuff relevant to 32 bit gaming into a 'retro-gaming' package and be like "there, now if you want updates, better find maintainers"?

If you have an old game, chances are you won't need many new features. Only problem could be other packages or the kernel becoming incompatible. I don't know how relevant that is in this instance.

[–] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 19 points 5 days ago

only problem could be other packages or the kernel becoming incompatible

Yea dependency management without updates is like 80% of the work that goes into package maintenance

[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Older games? What are you talking about? They say in that thread that Valve doesn’t release 64bit versions of Steam. That means any games through Steam using the official client would be unplayable.

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[–] The_Decryptor@aussie.zone 21 points 6 days ago (6 children)

WINE’s WoW64, does not work for all games.

Ok but is that because of fundamental limitations, or just because of bugs?

One's easier to fix than the other.

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[–] WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 42 points 5 days ago (1 children)

For those that think the response is overblown, from the thread:

These images are intended to be a drop-in replacement for Steam Deck OS for handheld console-like gaming PCs like the Steam Deck (Lenovo Legion Go, ASUS ROG Ally, MSI Claw, and other hardware in the same space).

These are also to be used to create gaming theater PCs, for streamlined use on a living room television.

The issue with “just using Flatpak or a container” is that the gamescope compositor simply does not work in those situations, when paired with Steam’s Gaming Mode, as it has the same concerns as a desktop environment. There would simply be no way to serve Gaming Mode as an environment.

As such, moving to this would essentially force Bazzite, as a project, to abandon its primary reason for existing - alienating 2/3s of their userbase. The remaining 1/3s would be served a lesser experience for a variety of more paper cut reasons, and VR is already a complex topic which would get even worse.

It's a big deal because disallowing the native steam build would make it nearly impossible to run bazzite in a SteamOS-like experience (which accounts for 2/3s of bazzite's users)

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[–] Bieren@lemmy.world 42 points 5 days ago (1 children)

See. This is why I game only on Windows. There’s never any controversy or issues there. /s

I’ll see myself out now.

[–] Dr_Vindaloo@lemmy.ml 5 points 4 days ago

I was this 🤏 close to a reflexive downvote

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 18 points 5 days ago (4 children)

God fucking damnit, I finally find a Linux OS that gels with me and I find this shit....

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 19 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Note that this is just a proposal that the Fedora community wants feedback on.

Even if it does go ahead, this is minimum 1 year away from happening.

Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if this was meant as a "hurry up and move away from Steam still being a 32-bit app, Valve!" bit of brinkmanship.

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[–] aim_at_me@lemmy.nz 23 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Hear me out... But should we be asking why there are so many things, steam included, that are still on 32b libraries?

[–] Hawke@lemmy.world 35 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I mean the answer is pretty easy: video games generally have a long shelf life and no maintenance at some point after they’re released.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago

Your compatibility layers can be 64b, however, and support those 32b games that don't even run natively on that hardware anyway.

[–] aim_at_me@lemmy.nz 9 points 5 days ago

That explains the games, but not the steam binary right? If the steam binary didn't break, and 32b games did, that'd be a lot less of an issue.

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[–] Zedd_Prophecy@lemmy.world 47 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Dammit - found Bazzite one week ago and love it - now its embroiled in a controversy.

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[–] chaitae3@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

We shouldn't be talking about stuff like this here. It spooks the noobs.

[–] mrcleanup@lemmy.world 27 points 6 days ago (25 children)

After Bazzite I went to Garuda, is also gaming focused and has a handy helper app that helps you install common software, run updates, and more.

If you need a new distro it's worth a look.

[–] Sturgist@lemmy.ca 23 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I went to Garuda

THERE'S DOZENS OF US, DOZENS!!

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[–] joyjoy@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago (3 children)

How feasible is rebasing bazzite onto a different distro?

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[–] mimic_dev@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago (2 children)

I think I can hear Bringus sobbing somewhere

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[–] Mwa@thelemmy.club 22 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Instead of shutting down why not choose another distro base

[–] gamer@lemm.ee 18 points 5 days ago

The only notable thing about Bazzite is that it's built on top of Fedora Atomic, making it immutable like SteamOS.

Without that, it's just a regular old distro with some opinions about which software should be preinstalled.

[–] MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 24 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Probably a lot of time and work to do so, they've spent a lot of time learning what tweaks Fedora needs.

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[–] _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

That would require redoing everything. It would be a massive project, and honestly since there’s already other gaming oriented distros out there, what would be the point? It’s not like Garuda or PopOS is shit.

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[–] tdawg@lemmy.world 31 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Did he elaborate on why? Is it really that integral to have 32bit tools?

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 88 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Afaik Steam still heavily relies on 32-Bit. And bazzite's only purpose is Steam.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 49 points 6 days ago (3 children)

The comments in the thread don't mention Steam itself, but it's that running all the 32 bit games will become a problem. Steam's flatpak packages the 32 bit packages so that can get around this change, but the flatpak is not official and does not support all features. Steam themselves only provide the RPM for Fedora.

[–] mr_MADAFAKA@lemmy.ml 44 points 6 days ago (1 children)

steam package from rpmfusion is not official

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 30 points 6 days ago

Ah you're right. It seems Steam only provides a *.deb as far as I can tell.

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[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 24 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

Yes, and from what I understood:

  • Steam is still 32bit. Two-thirds of Bazzite's user base use the OS on handhelds requiring Steam's gaming mode front-end. Installing Steam as a flatpak removes the ability to boot into gaming mode, and so alienating two-thirds of Bazzite's user base.
  • It will kill support for older games that are still 32bit. Wine's WoW64 isn't ready yet, and even so, building custom Proton for 32bit support (e.g. Including all the 32bit libraries inside of Proton itself) on top of the Proton provided by Valve is going to be very messy.
  • OBS requires 32bit packages to capture video data from 32bit games. If 32bit is no longer supported, this'll kill streamers playing older games (OBS is probably the most widely used software by streamers and game recorders).
  • It would kill VR on Bazzite, as VR still makes use of 32bit features (I'm not sure why or which ones, but that's what's said).
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[–] Goretantath@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Glad I didnt install bazzite.

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