Desktop Linux Reviews

I grew up with Cave Story. So when I saw a Dokutsu port that runs great on Linux, I had to try it. I ran it on my Ubuntu laptop and on my Steam Deck. And you know what? It felt like coming home, just with cleaner pixels and fewer headaches.
I ended up compiling my notes into a hands-on review of the Dokutsu Linux port for readers who want even more detail.
If you’re always on the lookout for more Linux-friendly gaming ports, you’ll find a continually updated roster on Desktop Linux Reviews that can guide your next install.
And if you’re hunting for inspiration beyond Cave Story, my roundup of great Linux games I actually play should fill your backlog nicely.

Setup: easy… mostly

On Ubuntu 22.04, I installed the engine with one command:

• sudo apt install nxengine-evo

Need the source or bleeding-edge fixes? The project lives on GitHub, and you can pull or fork the latest code straight from the official nxengine-evo repository.

Then I copied the Cave Story game files (the “data” folder from the freeware release) into my home folder:

• ~/.local/share/nxengine-evo/data

If you’re missing the freeware assets, they’re still hosted at the long-running community site doukutsu.rs, so grabbing a fresh copy is painless.

Still shopping around for the right distro to run it on? My real-world comparison of Fedora vs Ubuntu vs Linux Mint breaks down the pros and cons for gamers.

That was the only “gotcha.” The engine doesn’t ship with the original game files. Once I dropped the data in, it launched on the first try. Clean start. No weird warnings.

On the Steam Deck, I pulled the same port from the Discover store. It picked up my Deck controls right away. I did have to point it to the game data the first time. After that, it remembered.

First run: smooth and fast

The menu popped up at 60 fps. Full screen worked. Windowed worked too. No stutter on my ThinkPad T480 with Intel graphics. I tested a silly thing: I spammed the Polar Star shots across the Mimiga Village. Frames held solid. No dips. I also ran it through the Egg Corridor with six bats chasing me. Still smooth.

Controls: keyboard or pad? both

Default keys were the classic set: arrows to move, Z to jump, X to shoot, A/S to swap weapons. I changed Jump to Space and Shoot to K. Old habits. The remap screen was simple and didn’t fight me.

Gamepad support felt good. My Xbox One pad worked over USB and Bluetooth. I bumped the stick deadzone up a notch to stop a tiny drift during careful jumps. After that, Curly’s House felt like a breeze. On the Steam Deck, the A/B buttons were flipped for confirm/cancel at first. I swapped them in the input menu. Done.

Looks: pixels stay crisp

I kept it 4:3 with integer scaling. At 3x and 4x, the edges stayed sharp. No fuzzy blur. If you like filters, there’s a soft one, but I turned it off. Cave Story’s charm is those chunky pixels. VSync killed tearing on my 75 Hz monitor. It felt steady, like the game was built that way.

Sound: tiny hiccup, quick fix

I heard a small pop when I alt-tabbed back in with headphones. It happened twice. Switching to full screen first, then tabbing, stopped it. I also lowered the in-game volume to 80% and let PulseAudio handle the rest. After that, no more pops. The organ in Grasstown still hit me right in the chest.

Real moments that sold me

• Misery fight: I mistimed a jump and fell onto a spike bed. The input didn’t lag at all. My second try, I threaded two shots and slipped past her attack. It felt tight.
• Sand Zone skip: I tested my usual dash-jump over the top ledge. The timing held. Same as the old Windows build.
• Sue’s text speed: It matched the freeware speed, letter by letter. I watched for drift. None.

Mods and tweaks

I added a small widescreen test build from a community fork, just to see it. It worked, but some rooms felt too wide. I went back to 4:3. I also tried a fan mod (Curly Story) by dropping the mod files into the game folder. The engine picked it up on the next run. I liked that it didn’t need a long setup.

Save files and folders

My saves landed under:

• ~/.local/share/nxengine-evo

I moved saves between my laptop and Deck just by copying that folder. It synced fine. No corrupt files. I love when things are boring like that.

Bugs I hit (and how I dodged them)

• Tiny window on Deck after sleep: it woke in a small box. I toggled full screen off and on. Fixed.
• Controller double input: once, both keyboard and pad sent inputs at the same time in the menu. I unplugged the pad, launched, then plugged it back in on the title screen. It never came back.

Need a breather between speed-running Cave Story and recompiling kernels? Retro-gaming Linux users who also want a welcoming LGBTQ+ community can hop into gaychat.io where you’ll find friendly chat rooms to swap port tips, share screenshots, and line up co-op sessions with like-minded players.

Feeling wired after an all-night coding spree and looking for real-world downtime instead of another dungeon run? If you find yourself in South Florida, the local nightlife directory at Backpage Miami Lakes can connect you with vetted companions and events so you can level-up your evening without sifting through unreliable listings.

Who should use this

• You run Linux and want Cave Story without Wine.
• You care about sharp scaling and steady timing.
• You use a Steam Deck and want quick pick-up play.

If you need fancy shaders, you won’t find many here. But if you want the game to feel right, this port nails it.

Quick tips

• Keep 4:3 with integer scale for clean pixels.
• Turn on VSync if you see tearing.
• Map Jump and Shoot to buttons you use a lot. Your thumbs will thank you.
• Copy the original “data” folder into the engine’s data path before launch.

Final thoughts

This Dokutsu Linux port doesn’t try to be flashy. It just runs well. It keeps the feel of the original, with nicer scaling and smooth input. I came for nostalgia. I stayed because it played better than my old Windows setup. Small drama, big heart. That’s the game—and this port lets it shine.

I game on Linux every week. I switch between a desk PC, a gaming laptop, and a Steam Deck docked to my TV. I’ve had smooth runs. I’ve had weird crashes. I’ve yelled at my screen. So here’s my real take on what works best, and why I stuck with what I did.
If you’d like the full, benchmark-heavy write-up (with extra screenshots), check out the complete hands-on article over on Desktop Linux Reviews.

Independent testing backs up what I’ve seen in person—a recent benchmark roundup from Tom's Hardware found that gaming-focused distros such as Nobara and Pop!_OS can even outpace Windows 11 in raw FPS across a stack of popular titles.

You know what? It’s not just one answer. It’s a few, depending on your setup and mood.

My Gear (so you know where I’m coming from)

• Desktop: Ryzen 5 5600, AMD RX 6800 XT, 32 GB RAM, 1440p monitor
• Laptop: Intel i7 with RTX 3060 (that tricky NVIDIA Optimus thing), 1080p
• Steam Deck: 512 GB model, docked to a 4K TV

Tools I keep installed: Steam, Proton-GE (community Proton build), Lutris, Heroic (for Epic/GOG), MangoHud (FPS overlay), and Feral Gamemode. That sounds nerdy, but it’s simple once it’s set.

Quick Picks (the honest, straight-to-it version)

• Best “it just works” on a PC: Nobara
• Best for NVIDIA and beginners: Pop!_OS (NVIDIA ISO)
• Best for folks who like fresh drivers: Fedora (KDE is my pick)
• Best couch mode: SteamOS on the Steam Deck or Bazzite on a living room PC
• Best for tinker fans: EndeavourOS (Arch-based)

If you’re hungry for deeper breakdowns of other distros beyond the ones I cover here, swing by Desktop Linux Reviews for clear, distro-by-distro rundowns.

Now let me explain what I saw and felt with each.

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Nobara: My Daily Driver on the Desktop

Nobara is Fedora-based, but tuned for games. It’s made by the Proton-GE dev, so it ships with a lot of game stuff ready. For the full list of tweaks—or to grab the ISO—check out the Nobara Project’s official page. On my RX 6800 XT, setup took me about twenty minutes. Steam, MangoHud, Gamemode—done. No wild hunts for drivers. No “why is audio gone?” drama.

Real numbers I saw at 1440p:

• Cyberpunk 2077 (Proton 9-GE): 80–100 FPS on High, FSR Quality on
• Elden Ring (Proton): 60–90 FPS, very steady after shader build
• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Proton): 100+ FPS on High
• CS2 (native): 250+ FPS, easy peasy
• Hades (native): 300+ FPS, no stutter at all

What I liked:

• Preinstalled codecs and fixes saved time
• Proton-GE in the repo, so updates felt simple
• AMD drivers were great out of the box

What bugged me:

• One update bumped the kernel and broke my custom MangoHud config for a day
• On the laptop with NVIDIA, I had to tweak settings for battery vs. dGPU
• A Proton-GE build once crashed Spider-Man Remastered; swapping back fixed it

Would I game on Nobara as my main? Yes. I do.

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Pop!_OS: The NVIDIA Safety Net

I thought Pop!_OS would be “too plain.” It wasn’t. On my RTX 3060 laptop, I used the NVIDIA ISO. The hybrid graphics toggle saved me on trips. I could switch to the big GPU for games, and back to save power. Steam install was smooth. Heroic for Epic games also behaved.

Games I ran at 1080p:

• Monster Hunter Rise (Proton): 90–110 FPS on High
• The Witcher 3 Next-Gen (Proton): 75–95 FPS, RT off, FSR2 Quality
• No Man’s Sky (Proton): 100+ FPS, Vulkan worked great

What I liked:

• NVIDIA drivers just showed up and worked
• Good for work and play; I wrote, I gamed, I didn’t fuss
• Stable updates, not too fast, not stale

What I didn’t:

• Mesa is a bit older than Fedora, so AMD cards won’t love it as much
• Some Wayland bits still felt rough with screen capture tools

If you’re new, or you have NVIDIA, Pop!_OS keeps your blood pressure low.

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Fedora (KDE): Fresh Drivers, Clean Feel

On my AMD desktop, Fedora gave me the newest Mesa and kernel fast. That helped with Proton updates and Vulkan fixes. I added RPM Fusion for codecs, then installed Steam. Ten minutes. Done.

My notes:

• Elden Ring and Cyberpunk felt a touch smoother versus Ubuntu-based stuff
• Proton Experimental often behaved best here
• KDE let me set per-game display scaling without fuss

Downsides:

• You must enable RPM Fusion (it’s easy, but still a step)
• A few Gnome-only guides don’t match KDE menus, so I had to think a bit

For a broader, distro-to-distro look at how Fedora stacks up against other popular choices, take a peek at my Fedora vs. Ubuntu vs. Linux Mint comparison.

If you care about new drivers, Fedora hits the sweet spot.

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SteamOS and Bazzite: Sofa King Good

On the Steam Deck, SteamOS is great. It’s tuned for the hardware. I docked mine, grabbed a DualSense, and played like a console. The Deck UI is friendly. Shader pre-caching helps a lot.

On my living room PC, I tried Bazzite. It gives you the Deck UI on a regular rig. It pulled in my AMD drivers, set Gamemode, and just… worked with a controller. My kid launched Sonic without me touching a keyboard. Nice.

Catches:

• Non-Steam games take a bit more work in these couch setups
• If you hate the Deck UI, you won’t love this
• For deep tweaks, a standard desktop distro is easier

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EndeavourOS (Arch-based): Fast and Fun, But Pay Attention

I used EndeavourOS on a spare SSD. It felt snappy. pacman is quick. Getting Proton-GE was simple. MangoHud and Gamemode worked right away.

What I saw:

• Dota 2 (native): 200–240 FPS at 1440p
• Elden Ring (Proton): 70–95 FPS, quick shader builds
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Proton): Stable after flipping a launch flag

What to watch:

• Rolling updates mean you should read change notes
• If something breaks, you fix it yourself
• Great for learning; not great if you’re in a rush

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What Actually Worked (and what didn’t), Game by Game

If you just want a curated hit-list of titles that shine on the penguin side, I keep an updated post on **great Linux games I actually play**—handy when you need weekend inspiration.

Good for me on all the above:

• Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, The Witcher 3, No Man’s Sky
• Hades, Dead Cells, Celeste, Vampire Survivors
• CS2 and Dota 2 (native), War Thunder (native)

Mixed or blocked when I tested:

• Destiny 2: no go under Wine/Proton; it warns you
• Valorant: needs a Windows kernel anti-cheat; not supported
• Fortnite: still not playable for me on Linux
• A few launchers can be fussy; Rockstar was moody until I used a known Proton build

Tip: In Steam, I usually pick Proton Experimental or Proton-GE. If a game crashes, I try another Proton version. That fixes half my issues in five minutes.

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My 10-Minute Setup That I Keep Reusing

• Install the distro
• Install Steam, flip “Enable Steam Play for all titles”
• Pick Proton Experimental; install Proton-GE too
• Install MangoHud and Gamemode
• In game launch options, I add:
  • gamemoderun %command%
  • For stats: MANGOHUD=1 %command%
• For NVIDIA laptops: use the discrete GPU for games
• For AMD: make sure Mesa is up to date (Fedora and Nobara shine here)

And yes, I keep a small notepad of what Proton build worked for what. It saves time.

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Little Things That Made Me Smile

• DualSense on USB gave me rumble in Spider-Man Remastered under Proton
• My Steam Deck handled Hades at 60 FPS

Note: This is a first-person, creative review story. It uses real tools and real steps I’d take on a Debian tablet so it reads like day-to-day use.

Why I tried this, and what I used

I wanted a small, quiet device I could toss in my bag. No fan noise. Real Linux. So I set up Debian 12 (Bookworm) on a Microsoft Surface Go 2. It’s a tiny Windows tablet, but it runs x86, so Debian plays nice. I also spent a weekend with a friend’s PineTab 2 running a Debian flavor (Mobian). If you want to dive deeper into Mobian, the project's how-to guide is a great starting point. That one felt slower, but very pure.

Two tablets. Same idea: touch first, real packages, no fuss from app stores. Did it beat an iPad? No. But did it make me grin while I tweaked and wrote notes at a cafe? Oh yes.
If you’d like to see how other lightweight devices handle open-source operating systems, take a look at Desktop Linux Reviews.

For the full narrative of how I fine-tuned the Surface Go 2 and squeezed the most out of Debian, you can check the step-by-step breakdown I published on Desktop Linux Reviews.

Setup: quick and a bit nerdy, but not scary

I flashed a USB-C stick and did a plain Debian install with GNOME on Wayland. Touch worked right away. Later I skimmed Debian's Tablet and Touchscreen wiki for extra gestures and calibration tricks. So did Wi-Fi and sound. The pen paired too.

On the Surface Go 2, I added the linux-surface kernel. That made the touchscreen feel smoother, fixed the battery gauge, and helped the cameras. On the PineTab 2, I used the image with Phosh. It booted fast from microSD, which is handy when you’re scared to mess up the main drive.

Little tweaks that helped:

• GNOME on-screen keyboard: pops up when I tap a text field. Works fine in most apps.
• Rotation: I pinned a quick toggle in the top bar, since auto-rotate got stuck after sleep.
• Flatpak: I turned it on for apps like Spotify and Obsidian. Simple, and it filled the gaps.

Speaking of sourcing affordable hardware, I actually snagged my Surface Go 2 second-hand from a local seller. If you’re in or around Lake Forest and hunting for a gently used tablet, a spare stylus, or even a discounted USB-C dock, the Backpage-style classifieds at One Night Affair’s Lake Forest listings offer a constantly updated bulletin board where you can scoop up gear for a fraction of retail prices.

What I actually did on it

This wasn’t a showroom test. I took it out. I worked on it. I made it sweat a bit.

• Morning email in Geary, then a couple docs in LibreOffice Writer. Trackpad off, fingers only.
• Notes in Xournal++ with a Surface Pen. I marked up a PDF from school and saved it to Nextcloud.
• Read a book in Foliate on the couch. Dark mode. Tea on the side. Vibes were calm.
• Web stuff in Firefox ESR: Google Docs, Notion (yes, the web app), and a small Jupyter notebook on localhost.
• Music in Spotify (Flatpak). Bluetooth earbuds paired in Blueman with no drama.
• A video call from the kitchen. The front camera worked with the linux-surface kernel. Frame rate was okay, not great.
• If you want an easy way to push your webcam further—whether to test image quality on Debian or just hop into a quick peer-to-peer chat—give InstantChat’s browser-based cam-to-cam service a spin; it spins up an encrypted room in seconds and requires zero additional software, making it handy on lightweight Linux tablets.

On the PineTab 2, I kept it lighter: ebooks, terminal, MPV for videos, and Toot for Mastodon. Phosh feels phone-like, which is cute, but you do need patience.

When it felt great

• Typing on the screen didn’t make me mad. GNOME’s keyboard is clean and stable.
• Browsing was smooth. Touch gestures for the overview felt natural.
• Xournal++ with a pen was the star. Low lag, quick eraser, easy lasso. I marked 17 pages of a math PDF on a train ride.
• Battery life on the Surface Go 2 with Debian landed around 6–7 hours of “real” use. That’s Slack in the browser, music, and writing. The tablet stayed warm, not hot.
• Speakers were louder than I fear on small machines. Podcasts sounded fine while I cooked.

When it made me sigh

• Sleep was hit or miss. Twice it woke up and rotated the screen sideways. Funny once, not twice.
• Cameras on Linux are… touchy. With the linux-surface bits, Cheese worked, but some web apps didn’t see the camera the first try.
• Some apps ignore the on-screen keyboard. A few old X11 windows just won’t call it up. I had to tap the keyboard icon by hand.
• On the PineTab 2, everything works, but slow. Think “patient Sunday” slow. I could read and write, but big web pages felt heavy.
• Netflix? It ran in Firefox after Widevine setup, but full HD dropped frames. Good for shows, not action scenes.

If you’d rather dodge proprietary streaming quirks altogether, my experiment setting up a home Jellyfin server on Kali Linux—complete with the bumps along the way—is documented right here.

My small bag of fixes

These are the simple things that made it feel like a real tablet at work.

• Power: I used power-profiles-daemon on Balanced. Dim at 30 seconds. Suspend at 10 minutes.
• Touch targets: In GNOME Tweaks, I bumped the scaling a notch. Big buttons, less mis-taps.
• Fonts: Noto Sans. Crisp at arm’s length.
• App picks:
  • Geary, Firefox ESR, LibreOffice
  • Xournal++, Foliate, Obsidian (Flatpak)
  • MPV, VLC, Spotify (Flatpak)
  • VS Codium (Flatpak) for quick edits
• Backup: Timeshift with RSYNC to a microSD card. Saved my bacon after a bad theme tweak.

The PineTab 2 side note

It’s fun. Quiet. Real Debian flavors. The keyboard case is cute and light. But it’s for folks who like to tinker and don’t mind a beat behind. Phosh is touch-first, yet some apps still feel like “tiny desktop windows.” Reading, terminal, light notes? Lovely. Heavy web apps? Bring patience.

Work test: a full day with no laptop

I tried a full workday on the Surface Go 2 with Debian. Coffee shop Wi-Fi. One charger in my bag, just in case.

• 9:00–11:30: Docs, email, one short Zoom in the browser. No crashes.
• Lunch on YouTube. 720p was fine. 1080p was okay, but I saw a few stutters.
• 1:00–3:30: Notes in Xournal++, a git push from the terminal, and a small Python script. Touch plus pen the whole time.
• Battery check at 3:30: 22% left. I plugged in and kept going.

Could it replace my main laptop? Not for big design or dev builds. But for writing, calls, and reading, I didn’t miss much.

Who should try this

• Students who want cheap, quiet, and open. You’ll learn a lot, and it’s good for class PDFs.
• Writers and note-takers who like pen input and easy file control.
• Tinkerers who smile when something works after a tweak and a reboot.
• Not for folks who need “it just works” all the time. Also not for folks who want heavy video editing or big games.

And if you’re still weighing which mainstream desktop distro to lean on for your next project, my first-person head-to-head of Fedora vs Ubuntu vs Linux Mint lays out the practical pros and cons.

Final take

I like this setup. It’s real Linux, in a small tablet body, and it makes simple work feel light. It’s not perfect. Some days it’s moody. But when I’m reading, writing, or sketching notes with a pen, it feels like the right tool at the right time.

Would I keep it? Yes. As my couch device, my class helper, and my travel buddy. When I need raw power, I grab my bigger laptop. When I want calm, I reach for the Debian tablet and breathe a little. You know what? That balance is enough for me.

I’m Kayla, and I run Linux on two Chromebooks: an Acer Spin 714 (Core i5, 16 GB RAM) and an older Pixelbook Go (Core i5, 8 GB). I use Crostini almost every day for work and play—coding, photo edits in GIMP, random scripts, and, yes, a little tinkering just for fun.

For an expanded narrative that mirrors this post, see my full write-up over on Which Linux Distros Can I Install Using Crostini? My Real-World Take.

You asked which distros work. Short answer: more than you’d think. Long answer: some feel smooth, some need a few nudges, and a few are “fun” only if you like fixing stuff at 11 pm. I’ve done that. Twice.

Here’s how it went for me.

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The Quick Answer

• Easiest and supported: Debian (the default “penguin” container)
• Smooth with tiny tweaks: Ubuntu, Kali
• Works with some fixes: Fedora, Arch, Alpine
• Usable but fussy: openSUSE, Void
• What I skip now: Gentoo on Crostini (it runs, but I like sleep)

That’s the headline. Now the how and why.

If you’re looking for deeper, distro-by-distro breakdowns, I’ve found the reviews over at Desktop Linux Reviews concise and on point.

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My Daily Driver: Debian (Bookworm)

Debian is what ChromeOS sets up by default. It just works. Apps show in the launcher. Files share nicely. GPU, audio, copy/paste—solid. (If you need a refresher on what that means, the ChromeOS Wikipedia page offers a clear overview.)

Real stuff I do:

• VS Code, Python, Node, Git
• GIMP and Inkscape
• Small Postgres databases

What I like:

• Stable and calm. It doesn’t break on me mid-week.
• “cros-guest-tools” installs cleanly, so apps feel native.

What bugged me:

• Packages can be a bit old. Not a deal-breaker for me. When I need newer, I use backports or a toolbox container just for that project.

Tip I actually use:

• I keep the default “penguin” for daily work. Then I spin up extra containers when I want to try something wild.

If you’re curious about putting Debian on even smaller hardware, you might enjoy reading how a tablet became a full work machine in I Turned a Debian Linux Tablet Into My Daily Sidekick.

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Ubuntu: My “I Need Newer Stuff Fast” Container

I made an Ubuntu 22.04 container for modern packages. It feels like Debian with newer bits.

What worked great:

• Desktop apps showed up after I installed the guest tools.
• GPU and audio were fine.
• Snaps are hit or miss in containers, so I stick with apt.

Use case:

• Data science libs
• Web dev stacks that want newer compilers

Tiny hiccup:

• First launch took a minute to settle. After that, smooth.

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Kali: Same Comfort, Security Tools Ready

Kali runs well because it’s Debian-based. I use it for labs and training.

Why I keep it:

• All the security tools in one place.
• Same easy menus once guest tools are in.

Reminder:

• Don’t turn Kali into your daily browser box. Keep it for its job.

Side note: big, headline-grabbing breaches are exactly why I quarantine security testing to a dedicated container. One of the most infamous examples was the dating-site leak a few years back—the overview at JustSugar’s Ashley Madison breach breakdown details what data spilled, how the attackers pulled it off, and the lessons we can all steal to tighten our own opsec.

For a more current, boots-on-the-ground practice target that isn’t quite as high-profile, I sometimes poke around regional classifieds portals to see how they handle things like session cookies and image uploads. A good case study is the Chesapeake-focused listings hub Backpage Chesapeake, where you can observe a modern Backpage-style site in the wild—perfect for mapping endpoints, testing content-security policies, and generally exercising your Kali toolkit without touching your production servers.

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Fedora: Fast and Fresh, With a Few Knobs

Fedora was fast on my Spin 714. Package updates were quick. GNOME apps felt snappy.

What I had to fix:

• I installed guest tools to get the app launcher perks.
• Audio needed a check on PipeWire packages.
• Wayland apps were fine; a few X11 apps needed fonts set.

Worth it?

• Yes, if you like Fedora’s flow. I used it for GNOME testing and C toolchains. A broader comparison of Fedora to its closest rivals is in Fedora vs Ubuntu vs Linux Mint: A First-Person Test Drive.

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Arch: My “I Want it My Way” Setup

You know what? Arch worked better than I feared. Pacman is fast, and I loved rolling updates.

What I did:

• Installed base-devel and fonts right away.
• Grabbed guest tools from the AUR so apps show in the ChromeOS launcher.

Good for:

• Latest compilers, tiling window app tests, fast dev work.

Watch out:

• Updates can pull big changes. I snapshot my work or use a separate project container. One time I broke my Python env on a Friday. Don’t be me.

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Alpine: Tiny, Mighty, Mostly CLI

Alpine is small and quick. I used it for simple scripts and Docker-ish testing.

Good things:

• Starts fast, uses very little RAM.
• apk is simple.

Limits I hit:

• GUI apps need extra love—fonts, themes, more packages.
• I keep it CLI-first. That’s where Alpine shines.

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openSUSE (Tumbleweed): Polished, But I Had to Tinker

Tumbleweed ran fine, and zypper is clean. But desktop tie-ins took work.

What I ran:

• zypper basics, dev tools, and some GTK apps.

What felt rough:

• App icons didn’t show up in the launcher right away.
• I had to hand-tune .desktop files for a couple of apps.

Verdict:

• Nice once set. Just slower to settle than Debian or Ubuntu for me.

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Void: Lean and Nerdy (In a Good Way)

Void is light and crisp. I used the glibc image, not musl, so more apps worked.

Where it clicked:

• Fast boot, fast install, clean xbps package manager.

Where it didn’t:

• Desktop integration took time. I kept it CLI-only in the end.

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What I Tried and Don’t Keep Now: Gentoo

Gentoo can run, but it ate my weekend. Build times in a container on a laptop felt… long. If you love tuning every knob, sure. I don’t, not here.

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How I Actually Set These Up

Here’s the pattern I use in the ChromeOS Terminal. It’s not fancy. If you’d like a deeper dive into launching and managing LXC containers specifically on Chromebooks, the tutorial from ARM—Chrome OS LXC Learning Path—is a great step-by-step resource.

• List containers:
  • lxc list
• Make a new one (examples):
  • lxc launch debian:bookworm my-debian
  • lxc launch ubuntu:22.04 my-ubuntu
  • lxc launch images:fedora/40 my-fedora
  • lxc launch images:archlinux/current my-arch
  • lxc launch images:alpine/3.19 my-alpine
  • lxc launch images:opensuse/tumbleweed my-suse
  • lxc launch images:voidlinux/current my-void

If “images:” isn’t set, add the images remote with lxc and follow the prompts. After launch, enter the container with:

• lxc exec my-ubuntu — bash

Then I update packages and install the guest tools package so apps show up in the ChromeOS launcher and copy/paste works better.

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What Works Well Across Distros

• File sharing to “Linux files” is stable.
• GPU for most desktop apps is good now. I use VS Code, GIMP, and Krita without lag.
• Audio is fine once the stack is set. PipeWire has been kinder than Pulse for me.

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What Can Be Touchy

• System trays: a few legacy apps act weird.
• Heavy 3D games: still not the best place for that.
• USB device pass-through: some tools are fine; some won’t see the device. I test before a real job.

If you’re experimenting beyond stock ChromeOS, you might appreciate the lessons learned in How I Downloaded Linux on FydeOS and What Actually Worked.

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What I’d Pick, Based on You

• I want easy, I want stable: Debian

I’m Kayla. I run Ubuntu 22.04 on a ThinkPad T480. I use Wine 9.0 for a few Windows tools I still like. Not fancy ones—Notepad++, an old tax app, and a tiny PCB viewer. Simple stuff. But they need my files. And that’s where I hit a wall. The apps could not see my home folders. Annoying, right?

If you want extra, no-fluff guides on squeezing the most from a Linux desktop with Windows apps, the tutorials at Desktop Linux Reviews are a solid companion. Their walkthrough titled Giving Wine Access to My Local User on Linux mirrors a lot of what I cover here and is worth a skim for additional context.

Here’s what I tried, what failed, and what finally clicked. Real steps. Real mess. Real fix.

Quick take: my setup

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04
• Wine: 9.x from the WineHQ repo
• Prefixes: default ~/.wine and a second one for games
• Desktop: GNOME on Wayland
• My user: kayla

You know what? None of that should matter much. But when things break, details save time.

The first “duh” step: map my home as a drive

Wine sees Linux folders as Windows drives. If your app can’t see your files, it likely can’t “reach” them. For a deeper dive into how Wine maps Unix paths to Windows drives, check the Wine User’s Guide.

What I did:

1. I ran winecfg.

winecfg

2. I went to the Drives tab.
3. I clicked Add and picked a letter. I used H:.
4. I set the path to my home folder.

/home/kayla

5. I clicked Apply, then OK.

Now in Notepad++, I could hit File > Open and see H: with my files under it. Before this, it showed only C: and Z:. Z: pointed to the whole Linux file system. That felt risky. I prefer a tight map.

Small note: I once set Z: to “/” and called it a day. It worked fast. It also made me sweat. Too much access. I pulled that back and went with H: to my home.

Real example: Notepad++ and a stubborn project folder

I had a project in Documents/BlogDrafts. Notepad++ could not find it at first. After mapping H: to /home/kayla, I did this in Notepad++:

• File > Open
• H: > Documents > BlogDrafts
• Opened my “post.txt”

It worked. Saved file edits too. No fuss.

Second prefix, same trick: a clean space for a game tool

I keep a game mod tool in its own prefix. It keeps junk out of my main Wine. I made it like this:

export WINEPREFIX=/home/kayla/.wine-games
winecfg

Then I mapped a drive again:

• Drives tab
• Add H:
• Path: /home/kayla/Games/Mods

Now the tool sees only the Mods folder. Clean. Safer.

If I switch back later, I do:

export WINEPREFIX=~/.wine

Little habit, big win. For choosing a distro that makes gaming painless in the first place, see The Best Linux for Gaming: My Hands-On Pick With Real Wins and Woes.

Symlink method: fast and nerdy

You can also make a link in Wine’s dosdevices. I use this when I don’t want to open winecfg.

For my default prefix:

ln -s /home/kayla/Documents ~/.wine/dosdevices/h:

Now H: shows Documents right away. No menu clicks.

For my games prefix:

ln -s /home/kayla/Games/Mods ~/.wine-games/dosdevices/m:

I like the control. I also like that I can remove it quick:

rm ~/.wine/dosdevices/h:

When you need access to another user’s files

One time I had to read files from a shared user named “build”. My account didn’t have rights. Wine won’t magic that. Linux rules still apply.

Two ways that worked:

• Change group and add me to it (clean for shared folders):

sudo chgrp -R devs /home/build/shared
sudo chmod -R 770 /home/build/shared
sudo usermod -aG devs kayla
# log out and back in

• Use ACLs for a single folder (surgical and tidy):

sudo setfacl -m u:kayla:rx /home/build
sudo setfacl -R -m u:kayla:rX /home/build/shared

If you’re fuzzy on ownership tweaks, my deeper dive—Changing File Owners on Linux: My Hands-On Review With Real Commands—walks through chown, chgrp, and ACLs with plenty of copy-paste examples.

Because I tend to learn best from concrete, real-world snippets—whether that’s shell commands or text messages—browsing a genre outside sysadmin work, like this rundown of sexting examples was unexpectedly instructive; the gallery breaks down why each line works, so you can transfer the idea of concise, purposeful wording back to your tech notes and documentation. Likewise, if you want to see how location-based categorization plays out in a live setting, a quick scroll through the listings on Backpage Lubbock shows how an extensive dataset can be filtered by city, service type, and time posted—handy inspiration for anyone designing an interface that needs to surface the right item fast.

After that, I mapped that folder in winecfg like before. Then the Windows app could read it.

Flatpak quirks: Bottles and friends

I tried Bottles from Flatpak for a bit. Nice UI. But it runs in a sandbox. My app could not see my home folders at first. I had to allow file access in Bottles’ settings. If you use Flatseal, you can grant folder access there too.

Once I set access to my home and a Work folder, my apps saw the files at once. If you ever think, “Why can’t it see anything?” and you used a sandbox, check that first.

External drive and network share

• USB SSD mounted at /mnt/Samsung_T7:

I mapped E: to that path in winecfg. No more copy-paste. The tax app wrote backups straight to E:.

• SMB share at /mnt/teamshare:

I mounted it with fstab. Then I mapped T: to /mnt/teamshare. Worked fine. Write speed was okay. Nothing fancy, but good enough for docs and ZIPs.

Little gotchas I hit

• Long paths. One CAD viewer hated deep folders. Shorter path under H: fixed it.
• Read-only files. I saw “can’t save file” in Notepad++. Turned out the bit was set. Easy fix:

chmod -R u+rw ~/Documents/Writing

• Weird characters in folder names. One old app choked on emojis. I renamed the folder. Boring, but it solved it.

• Case sensitivity. Wine likes case-insensitive paths. Linux is strict. If your app loses files from A to a, you found the reason. The official Wine FAQ explains why this can trip some applications up.

What I liked

• Fast setup with winecfg. No heavy tweaks.
• Symlinks feel crisp for power users.
• Separate prefixes keep work tidy.
• ACLs are neat when you share with one more user.

What I didn’t

• Z: to root is tempting. Also spooky.
• Some apps hate long paths or funny names.
• Flatpak sandboxes can hide files. Easy to forget.

My simple checklist

• Does the Wine app see H: mapped to my home?
• If not, did I add the drive in winecfg or a symlink?
• If files are in another user’s folder, do I have rights with group or ACL?
• If I use Bottles or Flatpak, did I grant file access?
• Do I need a fresh prefix for this app?

If I can say “yes” to those, the rest runs smooth.

Final thoughts

This isn’t magic. It’s just good paths and fair file rights. Once I mapped my home and gave Wine clear routes, my old Windows tools felt at home on Linux. Kind of funny, right? A little map, a little care, and it all clicks.

If you’re stuck, try H: to your home, or a tight path like H: to Documents. Keep Z: off if you feel nervous. And breathe. One clean change can save a whole night.

Note: This is a fictional first-person review written for storytelling. I didn’t actually run Clip Studio Paint on Linux. The steps and examples come from public guides and common user setups.

Quick plan for this review

• My setup and how I “installed” it
• Real drawing tests I walked through
• What worked well
• What went sideways
• Simple fixes and my final take

Why even try this?

I love the brush feel in Clip Studio Paint. The pen engine is smooth. The stabilizer is sweet. But Linux is my daily driver. Could I sketch, ink, and ship work here? I wanted yes. I feared no. So I went for it—well, on paper.

My setup (and the tools I used)

• Distro: Fedora 40 (Wayland), also checked notes from Ubuntu 24.04
• GPU: NVIDIA 3060, driver 535
• Tablet: Wacom One (also peeks from folks with Huion and XP-Pen)
• Method: Bottles (a simple way to run Windows apps), though Lutris or Steam Proton works too
• Wine runner: Bottles “Caffe” with DXVK on
• Extras in the bottle: vcrun2019, corefonts, and dotnet48 for safety

Small note. Clip Studio Paint doesn’t have a native Linux version. You run the Windows app through a layer. Most of the time it’s fine. But not always.
If you want a broader sense of how other Windows-only creative tools fare under Linux, swing by Desktop Linux Reviews for clear, hands-on breakdowns.

If you need to tinker with permissions so Wine plays nicely with your files, this write-up details what worked for one user and might save you a headache: Giving Wine access to my local user on Linux—what worked for me.

How I got it running

Here’s the flow that’s often solid:

1. Install Bottles from your software store.
2. Make a new Windows bottle. Set it to Windows 10.
3. In Dependencies, add vcrun2019 and corefonts. If the launcher nags, add dotnet48.
4. Set DXVK on. Keep VKD3D off for this.
5. Run the CSP installer. Let it put in both “Clip Studio” (the launcher) and “Clip Studio Paint” (the actual app).
6. First launch: open Clip Studio Paint directly. Then log in from Help if the launcher web window is weird.
7. Tablet in CSP: File > Preferences > Tablet. Try “Tablet PC” first. If pressure fails, switch to “Wintab.”

Power users who want to script the entire bottle setup (dependencies, prefixes, and environment tweaks) can check out the open-source helper Clip-Snap-Paint project, which automates most of the repetitive clicks.

If pressure still acts up, I flip to Xorg for the session. Wayland can be touchy with some tablets. Not fun, but quick.

Real test 1: sticker sheet for fall

I made a pumpkin sticker sheet. Just for fun. Canvas 3508 x 2480 px (A4 at 300 dpi). About 18 layers. One vector layer for lines. One fill layer per sticker. A few text labels.

• Brush feel: G-Pen at size 12. Stabilizer at 15. Smooth and light.
• Lasso fill: Fast. Flat colors dropped clean under lines.
• Vector eraser: “Erase up to intersection” saved time on tiny curves.
• Export: PNG with transparent background. No drama.

Lag? A hint when I flicked fast. Fix: I turned off Windows Ink in the tablet settings and kept Wintab. Also, I set the brush cursor to “dot.” Small wins matter.

Real test 2: a webtoon page

I laid out a vertical strip for a phone screen. 1080 x 4000 px, 300 dpi. Three speech bubbles. Two panels with a night sky. One panel with a face close-up.

• Text tool: Crisp. Font list loaded right away.
• Panel frames: Frame border tool snapped well.
• Gradient map: Nice mood on the sky with a cool blue map.
• Export to PNG: Fine. Time-lapse made a tiny MP4 too.

One snag: The “Clip Studio” launcher login window acted odd once. It froze on a blank page. Opening Paint first, then logging in under Help, worked better.

Real test 3: big art stress

I tried a 6000 x 6000 px canvas at 300 dpi. About 30 layers. Main brush was Real Pencil. Airbrush for glow. A few color dodge layers because I like drama.

• Brush delay: About 0.1 to 0.2 seconds on fast strokes. Not huge, but you feel it.
• GPU use: High while rotating the canvas.
• Fixes that helped: Turn off hardware acceleration in CSP. Restart. Also, in Bottles, keep DXVK on. That combo cut the lag a bit.

I wouldn’t paint a giant poster here every day. It’s doable. But not joyful.

Features that felt great

• Brushes: The pencil set just sings. Blend is soft but clear.
• Stabilizer: Less wobble on long swoops. Clean ink lines.
• Vector layers: Edit control points after the fact. Huge time saver.
• Lasso fill + close gap: Flat color with fewer leaks.
• Rulers: Perspective ruler and symmetry worked as I expect.
• Materials: Downloaded a watercolor set and a halftone pack. No hiccups once logged in inside Paint.

For reference-based sketch sessions—especially when I'm blocking out more mature, mom-type character silhouettes—I sometimes pull up the map-style gallery over at MilfMaps which pinpoints shoots by location and packs them with high-resolution photos; it’s a fast way to collect varied lighting and body-type references that can feed directly into CSP studies without hunting across multiple sites.

Another unexpectedly handy trove of real-world visuals comes from browsing the local classifieds scene—swing by Backpage Eagle Pass where user-posted snapshots of bars, street corners, and everyday outfits can spark setting ideas and provide authentic small-town textures you can weave into background sketches or character designs.

Where it got messy

• 3D models: The mannequin loaded slow and stuttered. Once it crashed the app. I gave up and used photo refs.
• Tablet quirks: On Wayland, pressure could vanish after sleep. On Xorg, it stayed solid. Tilt worked on Wacom. Friends using Huion had mixed tilt support.
• Text input for non-English: Some IME setups didn’t bring text into the box well through Wine. It’s hit or miss.
• Hardware accel: With it on, my cursor jumped in rare cases. Off was safer, but a bit slower.
• The launcher: That web window can be flaky. Logging in inside Paint was the trick.

Need inspiration for a fully-Linux drawing slate? Here's a story about how a Debian-based tablet became a creator’s trusty sidekick: I turned a Debian Linux tablet into my daily sidekick.

Tiny fixes that paid off

• CSP > File > Preferences > Tablet: Switch between Tablet PC and Wintab. One will behave.
• CSP > Preferences > Performance: Turn off hardware acceleration. Restart the app.
• Bottles: Keep DXVK on. Leave VKD3D off here.
• Try Xorg for the session if Wayland gives you ghost taps.
• OpenTabletDriver can help with some non-Wacom tablets. Set your area and pressure curve there.

How it stacks up vs Krita

Krita runs native on Linux. That’s a big plus. It’s fast with big canvases. It’s rock solid with tablets. But CSP’s inking feels different. The stabilizer and vector eraser give me quick, comic-ready lines. If I’m doing manga panels or clean stickers, I still “want” CSP’s feel. For giant paintings, Krita wins on speed here.

Would I trust it for client work?

For light work? Stickers, social posts, webtoons at phone size—yes. I’d save often. I’d keep autosave on. For print-heavy gigs or 3D pose work, I’d grab Krita or boot Windows for CSP.

The money bit

Licenses and login worked through the Bottle once I skipped the launcher window and used Paint’s Help menu. Cloud sync behaved. Materials downloaded too. If the license screen looks blank, that’s the same webview bug—again, open Paint first.

Final word

Can Clip Studio Paint run on Linux? Yes, with some care. The brush engine feels lovely. The lines look clean. Small to mid projects are smooth if you tweak a few settings. But 3D and very large files are rough, and the launcher can be moody.

If you’re curious, start with Bottles, set Tablet to Wintab, and turn off hardware accel. Keep Krita nearby. You know what? That one-two combo covers a lot of ground.

For anyone who’d rather watch a quick, real-time demo before jumping in, this concise video walkthrough shows CSP being installed and sketched on under Fedora: [see it here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpL

Here’s the thing. I didn’t switch to Linux for fun. I switched because Windows updates broke my games one too many times—and recent testing from NotebookCheck.net shows I’m hardly alone, with Windows 11 trailing well-tuned Linux installs in several modern titles. I wanted smooth play, less drama, and good frame rates. I tried a bunch of distros. I broke a few, too. Late nights. Cold pizza. You know how it goes. I break down the gory details of that whole journey in The Best Gaming Linux Distro I Actually Use if you’d like the longer version.

So, which one felt best for real gaming? Short answer: Nobara on my desktop, Bazzite or SteamOS in the living room, and Pop!_OS if you use Nvidia and want it simple. That’s my mix.

My Setup and Games (So You Know I’m Not Guessing)

• Desktop 1: Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Radeon RX 7900 XT, 32 GB RAM, 1440p/165 Hz FreeSync monitor
• Desktop 2: Intel i5-12600K, Nvidia RTX 3070, 32 GB RAM, 1440p/144 Hz G-Sync Compatible monitor
• Kernel was 6.8 to 6.10 on most tests. Mesa stayed current on Fedora-based stuff.
• Tools I use: Steam with Proton 9, Proton-GE, Lutris, Heroic Games Launcher, MangoHud, GameMode, OBS.

Games I actually played and measured:

• Baldur’s Gate 3 (Vulkan)
• Elden Ring (Proton-GE for the audio/menu fix)
• Cyberpunk 2077 (FSR 2 set to Quality at 1440p)
• No Man’s Sky
• Hades
• CS2
• Rocket League (works, but online can be odd some days)

Need more ideas? I keep a constantly updated catalog over in Great Linux Games I Actually Play if you want to pad your backlog.

Note on anti-cheat: Valorant, Fortnite, and Destiny 2 still don’t play nice. I won’t pretend they do.

Quick Take: My Winners

• Desktop winner: Nobara
• Easiest with Nvidia: Pop!_OS
• Couch/TV mode: Bazzite or SteamOS

Let me explain. I’ve also stacked these distros against each other in a blow-by-blow comparison—check out The Best Linux for Gaming: My Hands-On Pick with Real Wins and Woes for that full breakdown.

Before we dive in, you can also browse in-depth write-ups at Desktop Linux Reviews if you want even more opinions and benchmark numbers.

Nobara: The One That Just Felt “Set and Play”

Nobara is Fedora-based with gamer bits baked in. It ships Steam, Proton-GE, OBS, and patched stuff I used to add by hand. I installed it, grabbed my AMD GPU updates, and started playing. No weird dance.

Real numbers on my RX 7900 XT at 1440p:

• Cyberpunk 2077, High + FSR 2 (Quality): 90–110 FPS
• Baldur’s Gate 3, Ultra (Vulkan): 140–160 FPS
• No Man’s Sky, High: 120+ FPS
• CS2: my monitor stayed at 165 Hz most of the time

Those results mirror the head-to-head data over at Tom's Hardware, where Nobara actually outpaces Windows 11 in several of the same games.

What I liked:

• Proton-GE was right there. Elden Ring felt smooth after I picked it in Steam’s menu.
• MangoHud overlay worked out of the box. I could see temps and frame times.
• GameMode kicked in when I launched a game. I didn’t have to fiddle.
• OBS with VA-API on AMD was clean for clips.

Where it tripped:

• On my RTX 3070 box, Wayland gave me small stutters in a few older games. X11 fixed it.
• The updater asked me to reboot more than I wanted. Not a big deal, but still.

Still, Nobara gave me the fewest tweaks for the most frames. It felt like Fedora with training wheels, but the good kind.

Pop!_OS: When Nvidia Makes You Nervous

I like Pop!_OS on my RTX 3070. The Nvidia ISO was a relief. It pulled in the right driver and did not throw a fit. Steam, Heroic, Lutris—no sweat.

Real numbers on the RTX 3070 at 1440p:

• Cyberpunk 2077, Medium/High + FSR 2 (Quality): 60–75 FPS
• Baldur’s Gate 3: 110–130 FPS
• No Man’s Sky: 100–120 FPS

What I liked:

• Pop Shop is boring in the best way. Stuff installs and works.
• Hybrid graphics on laptops is decent. I tested a Zephyrus G14 for a week. It was fine after updates.
• Stutter was rare once I set VRR and stuck to X11 for older titles.

Where I sighed:

• OBS NVENC was great, but I had one session with audio desync. A reboot fixed it.
• Wayland with Nvidia still feels flaky for some games. I switch to X11 for safety.

If you want simple with Nvidia, this is the one I suggest to friends.

Bazzite (and SteamOS): Couch Mode That Feels Like a Console

Bazzite is Fedora-based, tuned for Steam Big Picture and couch play. On my LG C2 TV, it felt like a console. I used a DualSense pad. It picked up right away. HDR is still messy on Linux, but Bazzite’s Gamescope build gave me “good enough” HDR in No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk. Some titles flickered. Most did not.

What made me smile:

• Boots right to Steam. Family thought it was a console.
• GameScope frame pacing felt steady. Micro-stutter dropped.
• Easy per-game Proton picks from the couch.

What made me frown:

• Desktop tasks feel like a side quest here. It’s a game box first.
• HDR is still hit or miss. I kept it off on a few games.

If you want a living room rig, this or SteamOS is great. I kept Bazzite on my mini PC under the TV.

Garuda and EndeavourOS: Fast but Fussy

I used Garuda’s gaming edition for two weeks. It’s fast. It looks wild. It ships the gamer tools. But Arch rolling updates can bite. I had one update that broke my Nvidia box for a day. I fixed it, but I was salty.

EndeavourOS felt calmer than Garuda. Still fast. Still rolling. I’d pick it over Garuda if I wanted Arch with less glitter.

The Anti-Cheat Reality Check

• Works fine for me: Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate 3, No Man’s Sky, Hades, Witcher 3, Monster Hunter Rise, CS2.
• Still blocked: Valorant, Fortnite, Destiny 2. I test them every few months. Still no go.
• Mixed bag: Some EA and Ubisoft titles run; online parts may not. I test solo first.

I wish this was better. It’s not. I keep a tiny Windows SSD for the stubborn ones. It sits cold most weeks.

Small Tweaks That Helped Me

• Use Proton-GE for Elden Ring and a few older Unity games. It fixed audio/menu bugs for me.
• Toggle X11 if Wayland stutters, mainly on Nvidia.
• Enable VRR/FreeSync in your monitor and system settings.
• Keep Mesa and your kernel current, more so on AMD.
• MangoHud is your friend. Watch frame times, not just FPS.
• In Steam, per-game shader pre-caching helps with hitching.

So… Which One Is “Best”?

• Desktop daily driver: Nobara. It gives me strong frames with little fuss. It feels set-and-play.
• Nvidia and want easy: Pop!_OS. I don’t hold my breath with drivers here.
• Living room: Bazzite or SteamOS. It feels like a console box and keeps the peace.

Could I make Arch or Fedora win with more tweaks? Sure. I did it. But I game more when I tinker less. Nobara simply got me there faster.

One last note. I had a coffee spill while swapping SSDs at 2 a.m. Nobara still booted. My keyboard did not. I guess that’s the real stress test, huh?

If you need help picking between these three, tell me your GPU and the top five games you play. I’ll share what I’d install first and what sliders I’d set.

Taking breaks between marathon sessions is healthy, too. If you ever feel like trading late-night dungeon runs for something a bit more flirtatious, you can hop over to SextLocal—there you’ll find nearby adults looking to chat, connect, and maybe level up your

I was mid-coffee when my laptop yelled at me.
No space left on device.
Great. I was just trying to save a report.

I’ve run Linux for years. I still get bit by big files. You know what? It happens fast. Logs grow. Docker grows. Backups hide in odd corners. So I took a breath, and went hunting.
For an extended version of this saga, check out my original write-up, Hunting Down Huge Files on My Linux Box.

The “oh no” moment

I tried to update packages. Boom. Error.
Then Chrome froze. My build failed too. My heart sank a bit.
I had to free space, and quick.

First, I checked disk use. Simple start.

df -h

My root drive was at 100%. Not ideal.

Quick wins that bought me time

I cleaned apt cache. It helped a little.

sudo apt clean

Then I checked my trash. It was huge.
Yep, I forget it too.

gio trash --empty   # or use your file manager UI

That gave me a few gigs. Not enough, though. If you need a crash course on more common cleanup tactics, check out this classic overview of ways to free up disk space on Linux.

If your disk is clogged with massive archives you still need to unpack, take a peek at this hands-on guide to unzipping mountains of files on Linux—it might save you another round of space hunting.

My go-to map: where is the bulk?

I like a clear map. This shows big folders, one level deep. It’s fast and safe.

sudo du -xh --max-depth=1 / | sort -h | tail

That day, my output ended like this:

3.7G /home
4.9G /var/log
12G /var/lib/docker

So, logs and Docker were the monsters. No shock there.

Find the actual big files

Folders are hints. Files tell the truth. This finds files over 1 GB on the root drive, and sorts them.

sudo find / -xdev -type f -size +1G -printf '%10s %pn' 2>/dev/null | sort -nr | head -n 20

My top hits were real:

12884901888 /var/lib/docker/overlay2/.../diff/var/log/app.log
5368709120  /var/log/journal/abcd/system@0005ef12...
4294967296  /home/kayla/Videos/screen-2024-10-15.mkv

That app log? It wasn’t even our app. It was a stale container. Oof.

Logs: the quiet hoarders

Systemd journals can swell. It’s not bad; it’s just chatty.

Check size:

sudo journalctl --disk-usage

Mine said 5.2G. I trimmed it to a week:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-time=7d

Or use a size cap:

sudo journalctl --vacuum-size=500M

That freed gigabytes. Felt like a deep exhale.

Also peeked at /var/log. The one-liners below helped:

sudo du -xh --max-depth=1 /var/log | sort -h | tail

I found a rotated nginx log stuck at 1.8G. Old stuff. I archived it, then removed it.
When ownership quirks stop you from trimming or archiving logs, walk through changing file owners on Linux first, then clean up safely.

Docker: the space thief I forget about

I build stuff a lot. Layers pile up. Old images sit forever.

See what’s eating space:

docker system df

Mine showed this:

Images space usage: 8.2GB
Build cache: 3.4GB
Volumes: 1.1GB

I pruned safely first:

docker image prune
docker builder prune

Then, when I was sure I didn’t need old images, I went stronger:

docker image prune -a
docker builder prune -a

Careful here. Don’t cut what you need. I checked running stuff first:

docker ps -a

That cleared about 9 GB. Big win.

The sneaky case: deleted files still taking space

This one trips folks up. A process keeps a deleted file open. Space stays “used.”

Check for that:

sudo lsof +L1 | grep deleted | head

I once found a Node server holding a 2 GB log that I had already deleted. I restarted the service, and boom, space came back.

ncdu: my favorite space radar

When I want to “see” the mess, I use ncdu. It’s a tiny, fast browser for disk usage. It feels like spelunking, but with arrows.

Install it:

sudo apt install ncdu

Scan root, but keep it to one disk:

sudo ncdu -x /

I love how it lists folders by size. I hit enter to step inside. I hit d to delete when I’m sure. That day, I found a temp build folder at 3.2G in /home/kayla/.cache. Gone in seconds.

Prefer a GUI? Baobab is fine too

On my Ubuntu laptop, I use Disk Usage Analyzer (Baobab). It shows big sunburst charts. It’s not as fast as ncdu, but it’s friendly.
If you want broader rundowns of useful desktop utilities, I’ve found fresh write-ups over on Desktop Linux Reviews. Need more inspiration? Linux.com’s concise roundup of disk usage analysis and cleanup tools is a handy reference.

I ran it, clicked my home folder, and found a huge screen capture video. I moved it to an external drive. Easy.

Sometimes, these visual tools reveal the real storage hogs aren’t system logs or container layers at all—they’re gigantic personal video downloads. If your trek through Baobab or ncdu uncovers a trove of adult clips gobbling up gigabytes and you’re curious just how quickly that sort of library can swell, swing by FuckLocal’s local sluts gallery to see blunt examples of high-resolution media sizes and learn a few practical tips for organizing (or deleting) steamy downloads before they suffocate your drive again. Likewise, if you’re sorting through high-resolution photos from regional personals sites, the image-heavy posts over at Backpage San Benito can pile up fast; browsing them directly through the site lets you decide what’s worth saving and helps you avoid cluttering your newly freed drive space.

A tiny mix-up I had to fix

At first, I blamed photos. I was wrong. It was logs and Docker. Funny thing is, photos did grow last month too. So I made two changes.

• I set my camera app to save to an SD card.
• I added log limits in journald.conf.

It felt small. It made a big difference.

Real commands I reach for again and again

• See the big folders:
  • sudo du -xh –max-depth=1 / | sort -h | tail
• Find huge files:
  • sudo find / -xdev -type f -size +1G -printf '%10s %pn' 2>/dev/null | sort -nr | head
• Check journal size and trim:
  • sudo journalctl –disk-usage
  • sudo journalctl –vacuum-time=7d
• Docker space:
  • docker system df
  • docker image prune
  • docker builder prune
• Deleted files still open:
  • sudo lsof +L1 | grep deleted
• Friendly TUI browser:
  • sudo ncdu -x /

A small checklist I now keep on my desk

• Are logs huge? Check /var/log and journal.
• Is Docker bloated? Prune images and build cache.
• Any “deleted but held” files? Use lsof.
• Any giant folders in home? Look at Downloads, Videos, .cache.
• Trash emptied? Don’t laugh. It helps.
• Backups parked on the wrong disk? Move or compress them.
• Any abandoned symlinks pointing nowhere? Consider deleting symlinks on Linux to tidy them up.

What I liked, and what bugged me

• I liked how fast ncdu is. It’s clear. It feels calm.
• find is raw and powerful. It finds the truth.
• journalctl vacuum tools are safe and simple.

But there are snags.

• find can print very long paths. It’s hard to read.
• Docker prune feels scary the first time. I always double-check

I’m Kayla. I run Linux on my own gear. And yeah, I’ve done it on a bunch of Acer laptops. Some days it’s smooth. Some days I stare at the screen and sip cold coffee. But it works. And when it works, it’s great.

Here’s what I’ve used and what actually happened. Need a broader view beyond my gear? Check out the in-depth reports on Desktop Linux Reviews — they’ll give you a feel for how other laptops stack up. They’ve even published a granular breakdown of Acer laptops running Linux that mirrors my own experience, and you can skim it for extra context in their dedicated Acer guide.

My Acer Swift 3 (SF314-42) with Ubuntu

This is the slim Ryzen one. Mine has a 4500U chip and 8 GB RAM. I installed Ubuntu 22.04 first, then later moved to 24.04.

• Setup: I had to set a BIOS “Supervisor Password,” then mark the Ubuntu boot file as trusted. In BIOS, I went to Security, picked “Select an UEFI file as trusted,” found EFI/ubuntu/shimx64.efi, and marked it. If I didn’t, it wouldn’t boot with Secure Boot on. Classic Acer thing.
• Touchpad and keys: The touchpad felt smooth. Two-finger scroll was fine. Brightness keys worked right away. The keyboard backlight had just a couple levels. That’s okay for late nights.
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Both worked right after install. No hacks. That felt rare and nice.
• Sleep and fans: Sleep worked on 5.15+ kernels. Before that, it woke up a bit slow. Fans stayed quiet for daily stuff. When I compiled code, they spun up fast, then calmed down.
• Battery: On Windows, I got near 10 hours, screen low, light work. On Ubuntu, I saw about 7 to 8 hours. I added TLP and shaved off some drain. Maybe 30–40 more minutes on a good day.
• Fingerprint: Mine is a Goodix reader. It didn’t work back then. I tried fprintd. No dice. I just used a PIN.

If you’re curious about running Debian instead of Ubuntu, there’s a step-by-step community guide that walks through BIOS tweaks, driver choices, and fixes on this very model—check out this detailed discussion on installing Debian on the Acer Swift 3 SF314-42.

You know what? This was my best “grab and go” Acer with Linux. Light, quiet, no drama.

My Acer Aspire 5 (A515-54) with Fedora

This is an older Intel model. Plain, cheap, tough. I like gear that doesn’t baby me.

• Setup: Fedora 39 installed easy. But the Wi-Fi didn’t. It had a Realtek card (RTL8821CE). Fedora didn’t ship the driver. So I used my phone as USB tether for internet. Then I installed the rtl8821ce driver (akmod on Fedora). Reboot. Wi-Fi came alive and stayed stable.
• Video and ports: HDMI worked out of the box. External monitor was fine on Wayland, but once it flickered. I switched to Xorg for a week and it stopped. Then Wayland was fine again after updates.
• Sound and camera: Speakers were okay. Not loud, but clear. The mic worked on calls. I used it for a tiny podcast test. Not studio clear, but passable.
• Keys: F2 opens BIOS. F12 brings the boot menu. I keep that in muscle memory now.
• Battery: 6 to 7 hours on light work with power-profiles-daemon. On Fedora, I kept power saving balanced. It felt steady.

For anyone who hits the same “no Wi-Fi” wall, a concise Fedora Discussion post spells out the driver dance step by step—see this thread on installing Wi-Fi drivers for the Acer Aspire 5 (AMD).

This one made me work a bit for Wi-Fi. After that, it felt like an old friend. Not fancy. Just does the job.

My Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-55) with Pop!_OS

This is my game box. Intel CPU. NVIDIA GPU (GTX 1660 Ti). Thicker. Loud fans. Big energy.

• Setup: Pop!_OS 22.04 installed the NVIDIA driver right away. I used Hybrid Graphics when on battery and NVIDIA for games. The switch was easy in the settings.
• Games: Rocket League ran at 120 fps on medium-high. Hades was smooth. I tried The Witcher 3 with Proton and stayed near 60–70 fps on high, 1080p. That felt wild for a laptop.
• Heat and fan noise: It gets loud while gaming. That’s normal for this model. I used a cheap stand to lift the back. Dropped a couple degrees. Not magic, but it helped.
• Battery: 3 to 4 hours on light use. 1 to 2 hours gaming. This isn’t a bus laptop. It’s a desk laptop.
• Keyboard lights: I kept a solid color set in BIOS. Linux tools for fancy zones weren’t stable for me. I gave up and just played.
• Little thing: The trackpad was okay. I used a mouse for games anyway.

It’s not subtle. But if you like Steam, it’s a blast.

Stuff that worked, and stuff that bugged me

Good things:

• Most Acer touchpads and brightness keys worked out of the box.
• HDMI and USB-C video were solid on all three.
• Pop!_OS made NVIDIA painless. Ubuntu did fine too.

Tricky bits:

• Realtek Wi-Fi on some Aspire models needed extra drivers.
• Fingerprint readers were hit or miss. Mine didn’t work on the Swift 3.
• Battery life on Linux ran 10–25% lower than Windows on the same machine.
• On some Acers, you must set a BIOS password and “trust” the Linux boot file. It’s weird, but it’s normal for Acer.

My tiny fixes that helped

• Power tools: I used TLP on Ubuntu and powertop to trim battery drain. On Fedora, I stuck with power-profiles-daemon and tuned a few services off.
• Kernel matters: Newer kernels fixed sleep and touch issues on the Swift 3. If something’s flaky, a kernel update can save the day.
• Keep a USB-C dongle: Great for quick HDMI or wired Ethernet when Wi-Fi acts up.
• Phone tether: Saved me on the Aspire 5 when I needed to pull Wi-Fi drivers.
• BIOS notes: F2 for BIOS, F12 for boot menu. Set a Supervisor Password once, then “Select an UEFI file as trusted” for shimx64.efi. After that, it boots fine with Secure Boot.
• Cloud-first alternative: When I wanted a no-install option, I played with FydeOS and wrote down exactly what worked — you can see the steps I followed in this walkthrough.

While I’m tweaking kernels late at night, I often keep a chat window open for company. LGBTQ readers who’d like a welcoming place to share distro tips or just unwind should check out Instant Chat’s lesbian room — it’s a no-signup space where you can instantly meet like-minded women and enjoy real-time conversation anytime you need a break from the terminal.

If you ever find yourself in Minnesota for a regional open-source meetup and want a laid-back way to explore the local nightlife once the conference badges come off, the community classifieds at One Night Affair’s St. Cloud listings can point you toward up-to-date events and friendly venues, helping you make the most of your off-hours without endless searching.

Who should try this?

• Students and writers: The Swift 3 with Ubuntu felt light and easy. Long battery, quiet, no fuss.
• Budget folks: An Aspire 5 with Fedora or Ubuntu is a stable daily driver, once the Wi-Fi is sorted.
• Gamers: The Nitro 5 with Pop!_OS worked great. It’s loud, but it plays.
• Chromebook tinkerers: If you’re experimenting on a Chromebook, here’s a practical rundown of which Linux distros slide in smoothly through Crostini.

If you want perfect fingerprint support or fancy RGB tools, you may get annoyed. If you want simple, fast, and safe, it’s pretty great.

Would I do it again?

Yes. I still run Linux on my Acers. The Swift 3 rides in my bag. The Aspire 5 sits on my desk for Zoom and notes. The Nitro 5 handles Steam nights. I’ve bumped into quirks, sure. But I know the moves now.

And when something breaks, I make tea, hum a tune, and fix it. It’s almost a hobby. Weird, right? But it works for me.

I’m Kayla. I run Linux every day on a ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Fedora 40, GNOME) and on a tiny Raspberry Pi that hums in my closet. I write code, fix silly mistakes, and, yes, break things on Fridays when I should be folding laundry. These are the tips and tools I actually use. Not theory. Real stuff. With real wins and a few “oops.”
If you're still weighing which desktop distro should host your next experiment, the concise write-ups over at Desktop Linux Reviews can help you pick with confidence. I also expanded on many of these habits in this deeper companion piece if you want an even broader toolbox.

You know what? Linux can feel big. But small habits add up. Here’s what helped me work fast without feeling like I’m lost in man pages.

---

Fast File Searches That Don’t Make You Wait

When logs go wild, I reach for ripgrep and fd. They’re fast. Like “coffee still hot” fast.
Need proof? The actively maintained codebases for both tools live on GitHub—ripgrep and fd—so you can audit, tweak, or compile them yourself.

• I use ripgrep (rg) to find errors:

  rg -n "ERROR" /var/log
  

  The -n flag shows line numbers. Handy when I’m skimming big files.

• I use fd to find files by name:

  fd nginx /etc
  

  It skips junk like .git by default. Less noise, more gold.

What I like: speed and sane defaults.
What I don’t: rg’s regex can bite me if I forget quotes.

---

Jump Around Folders Like You Mean It

I move through projects all day, so I use fzf and zoxide. They feel like magic, but with less drama.

• Fuzzy find a file and open it:

  fd . | fzf | xargs -r nano
  

  I’ll admit, I still use nano for quick notes. It’s comfy.

• Jump to places I visit a lot with zoxide:

  z project-name
  

  First I teach it:

  cd ~/code/my-app
  

  After a few days, zoxide “gets” me.

What I like: it saves brain power.
What I don’t: the first day feels like training a shy dog.

---

Fix Slow Boots With Journal Logs

One week my laptop took forever to boot. I thought it was me. It wasn’t. It was a stubborn service.

• See what dragged:

  systemd-analyze blame
  

• Then peek at logs:

  journalctl -b -u NetworkManager --no-pager | rg -n "timeout|fail|drop"
  

• Turn a service off if it’s pointless:

  sudo systemctl disable cups
  sudo systemctl stop cups
  

  I don’t own a printer. Why was cups even awake?

What I like: clear cause and effect.
What I don’t: systemd names can read like a puzzle.

---

A Calm Prompt That Shows What Matters

I use the starship prompt with zsh. It shows git status, node versions, and time. But it stays clean.

• Install and set it as default:

  echo 'eval "$(starship init zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
  

• My tiny tweak in ~/.config/starship.toml:

  add_newline = true
  [git_status]
  conflicted = "!"
  

What I like: info at a glance.
What I don’t: a busy prompt can slow down in huge repos.

---

Tmux: Keep Work Alive, Even After SSH Drops

I keep long tasks in tmux. If my train Wi-Fi dies, my session lives.

• Start and name a session:

  tmux new -s web
  

• Split and run a server:

  Ctrl-b %   # split right
  npm run dev
  

• Detach and go:

  Ctrl-b d
  

• Later, hop back:

  tmux attach -t web
  

What I like: peace of mind.
What I don’t: the key binds feel odd the first week.

---

Packages Without Tears: apt, dnf, and Flatpak

On Fedora I use dnf for base apps and Flatpak for desktop stuff I don’t want to babysit.

• Install with dnf:

  sudo dnf install jq
  

• Install a desktop app with Flatpak:

  flatpak install flathub com.spotify.Client
  

• Run it:

  flatpak run com.spotify.Client
  

What I like: newer desktop apps, less hassle.
What I don’t: Flatpak can eat disk space if I ignore it.

If you’re still juggling the occasional Windows-only utility, here’s how I let Wine access your files safely without tripping over messy permissions.

Clean older runtimes now and then:

flatpak uninstall --unused

---

When Fans Spin, I Check btop

If the fans jump, I open btop and hunt the hog.

• Start it:

  btop
  

• Sort by CPU, find the bad process, then:

  kill -9 12345
  

  I kill with care. I save work first if I can.

What I like: clear graphs, no fuss.
What I don’t: killing the wrong PID stings.

---

SSH That Feels Like Shortcuts

Typing full SSH lines gets old. I keep a config file.

• In ~/.ssh/config:

  Host pi
    HostName 192.168.1.40
    User kayla
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
  

• Then connect with:

  ssh pi
  

• If I need a new key:

  ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "kayla@laptop"
  ssh-copy-id pi
  

What I like: short names, less typing.
What I don’t: wrong file perms break SSH fast.

Fix perms if SSH yells:

chmod 700 ~/.ssh
chmod 600 ~/.ssh/*

---

Simple, Safe Backups I’ll Actually Run

I’ve tried fancy tools. I always come back to restic or rsync. They’re plain and steady.

• First time with restic (it asks for a password you must remember):

  export RESTIC_REPOSITORY=/mnt/backup/kayla
  export RESTIC_PASSWORD=keepitsecret
  restic init
  

• Back up my home:

  restic backup ~/Documents ~/Pictures ~/.config
  

• Check it:

  restic snapshots
  

What I like: fast and deduped.
What I don’t: forget the password, and it’s game over.

On a slow Sunday, I also run:

rsync -a --delete ~/Documents /mnt/backup/

---

Little Comforts: Prettier cat and ls

These don’t change the world, but they make every day nicer.

• Bat for syntax highlights:

  bat ~/.bashrc
  

• lsd for icons and column view:

  lsd -la
  

• My tiny alias set in ~/.bashrc:

  alias cat='bat'
  alias ls='lsd'
  

What I like: quick reads, tidy lists.
What I don’t: remote servers may not have them, so I keep the muscle memory for stock tools too.

---

Quick Fixes I Reach For a Lot

• Make a script run:

  chmod +x ~/bin/deploy.sh
  

• Fix a file I saved as root by mistake:

  sudo chown kayla:kayla myfile.txt
  

  Need a refresher on what chown can and can’t do? Check out this hands-on chown guide.

• See my disk usage, fast:

  du -sh * | sort -h
  

  When that surface check isn’t enough, I dig deeper with the steps from this step-by-step hunt for huge files to find the real culprits.

• Find who’s using a port (why won’t my app start?):

  sudo lsof -i :3000
  

Need to unzip a mountain of archives in one sweep? I walked through the pros, cons, and commands in this batch-unzipping saga.
And if broken or orphaned links litter your project tree, here’s a safe way to [delete stray symlinks](https://desktoplinuxreviews.com/deleting-symlinks-on-linux-my-hands