[foresto]

Debian Stable gamer here.

> Honestly, don't use debian for gaming, as it is too far behind. Gaming stuff needs a bit more bleeding edge packages.

Please stop spreading this misconception. There are only a tiny handful of packages that a Debian gamer might need to update, and those are generally available in Debian Backports. It's not what I would call a beginner distro for any purpose, but gaming on it is perfectly viable.

I'm having a good time in games, still getting other computing tasks done, and enjoying Debian's low-maintenance respect for my time. AMA.

[drnick1]

This is true, but you may be missing out on performance and compatibility improvements from recent ("bleeding edge") drivers. You need recent hardware for this to be relevant.

Generally speaking, you don't need rock-solid stability on a gaming rig or even a "workstation," since uptime isn't really a consideration. I run Debian on my home server, but my other machines, including a backup laptop, all run Arch. A good Arch setup is incredibly solid.

[foresto]

> This is true, but you may be missing out on performance and compatibility improvements from recent ("bleeding edge") drivers.

No, not missing out. Just waiting a few weeks longer than I would on a rolling distro, until the improvements arrive in Debian Backports. (If I'm really impatient, I can install something manually or make my own backport, but I'm assuming most people won't do that.) I have experienced cases like you describe, such as when I bought an RDNA3 GPU shortly after the platform was released, but they have been infrequent in my experience, and never so urgent that I couldn't wait a few weeks.

> you don't need rock-solid stability on a gaming rig or even a "workstation," since uptime isn't really a consideration.

System uptime is a consideration whenever I need my computer for something immediately, but my choice of Debian is not only about that. It's also about my time. Debian generally requires attention less often than other distros. Less time spent troubleshooting when things break. Less time re-learning things or adjusting workflows when new software versions change their behavior or interface. Fewer annoying interruptions. A low-maintenance system leaves me more time to get work done, or play games.

Also worth noting: These days, a lot of the components that games use are provided by the likes of Steam or Flatpak, which means they will be at exactly the same version and updated exactly as often on every Linux distro.

[drnick1]

> System uptime is a consideration whenever I need my computer for something immediately, but my choice of Debian is not only about that.

Maybe you should try Arch on one of your machines. I have a lot of experience with both Debian and Arch, having used both extensively on all kinds of hardware over long periods of time, and have found Arch to be ideal on desktop. Having access to the latest software and drivers is a huge plus with recent hardware. I have never encountered breaking changes.