Thanks to LTT’s ongoing Linux Challenge and the impending Steam Deck launch, Linux gaming is enjoying more exposure. But it’s also under the microscope. By now you’ve likely heard the story of Linus Sebastian’s Pop OS installation imploding. Well, my favorite Linux wunderkind developer Rudra Saraswat is back with a new Ubuntu application to make it easier for Windows gamers transitioning to Linux.
Gamebuntu is the name of this nifty tool for the Ubuntu family of Linux distributions. It’s available as an AppImage and classic snap.
And while it’s a bash script at its core, now it has a fancy GUI (graphical user interface)!
The Perceived Gaming Problem with Ubuntu
I have repeatedly bemoaned the kind of search results new Linux users must wade through when looking for a good gaming distribution.
Rudra is using listicles like that as motivation to move Ubuntu into a more favorable light when it comes to gaming features.
In these types of articles (such as this one) “Ubuntu is listed as the last favourable option for gaming, with the only con being that ‘getting set up for gaming can be a hassle,'” Rudra says.
Distributions like Garuda Linux and Chimera OS are replete with bundled software and feature aimed at gamers, but Ubuntu is still somewhat lacking.
So here’s the complete list of what Gamebuntu does to solve that.
What Gamebuntu Does
- Switches the kernel to the
xanmodkernel - Adds a PPA for the newest MESA graphics version (until an official PPA is provided by Canonical).
- Installs Lutris, Steam, Wine, Kodi, the OBS Studio snap and PulseEffects.
- Enables click-to-minimize in GNOME
- Installs NoiseTorch from GitHub (I made a video about that!).
- Installs these packages:
mesa-utils vulkan-tools libegl1:i386(based on feedback in this thread)
Enabling users to do all of this with a GUI is wonderful. These are much-needed quality-of-life features and I’m thrilled that the Linux community constantly steps up like this.
Even 3 years into my Linux journey, I’m nervous about messing with kernel upgrades or replacements. And I still have trouble remembering where exactly those latest and greatest Intel and Radeon graphics drivers are! Then you add in terrific utilities like Noisetorch and crucial apps like OBS (it’s not always easy choosing the right version), and you have a valuable piece of software for new Linux users and veterans alike.
Let’s help him test the app and provide some valuable feedback!
Rudra is also the developer of Ubuntu Unity Remix and UbuntuEd Remix.
He is in the 7th grade.
UPDATE Dec 5th, 2021: Rudra has added several more features to Gamebuntu, including Heroic Launcher, VLC, and MangoHUD. Users that use Nvidia graphics card will now see a shortcut to Nvidia settings, too.
This reminds me of the old, good times of “Automatix” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatix_(software) ) a wonderful GUI tool for ubuntu by Alberto Milone, that “fixed” ubuntu in many ways, buy adding things that were excluded by the default installation.
Anyways, thank you Rudra for your amazing work!!
This is pretty awesome!
Take that L.S. see even a 7th grader can use Ubuntu, what’s your excuse now.
This is my kind of kid and I wish there were a lot more like ’em.
Found this article in My Google Feed, interesting topic that I faced up too with some People. In My Opinion are Terminals used to often from normal Users and Gamers. Linux has the freedom compared to Windows and Mac OS but lacks the usability with enough GUIs and Apps that do stuff You would use a Terminal for actually. I never found a Distro that comes even close to “You don’t need to use Commands”.
Most people don’t even know what they are copy/pasting just like Linus did…
Hey Marius, nice to see you here. I agree with you! While I’d love to say distros like Zorin or elementary or even Deepin can be used without any command line, so many amazing tools are locked away to CLI only. I do hope we see that rapidly start to change.