Linux Mint (Ubuntu) and regular Ubuntu are absolutely fine for gaming. Software like Bottles, Heroic Game Launcher or Lutris do make the experience a lot easier though.
Just use the search on top?
It can be overwhelming to try a new operating system, but you need to be willing to learn. Arch and Arch-based distros might not be the easiest for new users. There are other distros that are more beginner-friendly. I and many people did not get discouraged of learning a fully different OS.
If you call pacman -Ss appname a book, then yes, Arch is crazy. Maybe you better start off with something like Linux Mint for a while and come back when you are willing to look things like GUI up on the internet for yourself 
i just type stuff in the console again and again until it works [..] it tells me so much stuff i dont even care
That is the best way to destroy your system.
the linux experience is very special , i don t like it
Then choose another OS, no-one forces you into Linux.
but if i just have to type stuff in that godam console ,
Sorry to break the news to you but: this is really not the attitude that will get you anywhere on an Arch Linux system. Just looks what I went through to first kill my system and then get it up and running just a few hours ago. Shocking, I know, but this is Arch.
I couldnāt have said it any better
Lmao this thread became a pulling dreader
you can just use the cachy installer. Itās graphical and pretty easy. Thereās some text based parts but mostly you just hit enter when it asks for it.
paru bottles isnāt a book (or paru whateverapp to install most anything.)
or click the alien in octopi and search for bottles
or paru shelly (or search for shelly in octopi) and then search for bottles in shelly.
If those are too complicated, you will likely be more comfortablevwith a different distro.
Even if you use a beginner-friendly distro, your lack of willingness (or ability?) to read is the one thing that will hinder you.
Hm, my impression is no one has given OP a clear answer that resolves their confusion. I might fail, too, but Iāll give it a shot. Theyāre a new user, probably coming from Windows, so why not instruct them from that perspective. Thereās nothing wrong with needing some hand-holding at first because this stuff can get really confusing. Learning any new OS with its own conventions is strange at first.
im pretty new to this linux switch thing and i m completely lost , i m just trying to install an application , for what i understood , i have to go on the websote flatplak and click on install for the app i want
So to preface and to be absolutely clear, thereās not just one single way to install applications with Linux. Flatpaks are just one method.
The most straightforward way for you right now, I think, would be to open the CachyOS Package Installer on your system, then search for your app via the search field either in the āPopular Applicationsā or āRepoā tabs.
As for Flatpaks, despite what people might say, theyāre pretty useful for new users and thereās a lot of software distributed as Flatpaks which you may not find in the CachyOS repos. Flatpak apps work very similar to apps on smartphones in that theyāre sandboxed and the Flatpak system also makes sure to install and maintain the correct dependencies for each. I donāt think thereās anything wrong at all with using Flatpaks if youāre new and/or a casual user.
To install Flatpak, you can use the first method I mentioned: Open the CachyOS Package Installer, click on the āRepoā tab, then click the checkmark boxes for both āflatpakā and ābazaarā in the list, then click the āInstallā button. You donāt really need anything else for now. Ignore stuff like āflatpak-builderā etc.
Iām telling you this because Iām not entirely sure from your posts that you installed it properly. But if you did and it works, then I strongly recommend you go ahead and install Bazaar anyway.
Bazaar is an app store for Flatpaks. So after installing that and Flatpak itself, you should be able to find Bazaar in your app list (Start Menu search for Bazaar). From there on things should be easy, you can look up any app in Bazaar and browse the store and install whatever you like. Everything you install should also automatically appear in your app list.
Hope that helps.
Additional notes:
- Since youāre coming from Windows, I just want to clarify that the method of downloading a portable application that you can run āas isā is also a thing. A popular variant is āAppImagesā, which are portable executable files (so you run them by double clicking like in Windows). The program is self-contained in that file, so itās like a program folder like on Windows but as an archive and executable in one, I suppose. Itās also possible but more rare to find apps as regular archived folders that you extract, with an executable inside that you double click like you typically see on Windows.
Note, however, that you need to give executable permissions to any such file first. Itās not like on Windows that accepts anything with an ā.exeā extension. Letās say you downloaded an .AppImage file. To execute it, right click in the folder location, select āOpen Terminal Hereā, then enterchmod +x APPNAMEHERE.AppImage - Other methods I can think of may be too advanced for a new user so I wonāt explain those right now. This is probably too much information as is. Please ask away if you have any additional questions though.
You said āIām trying to install AN APPLICATIONā. Why the secrecy? You are creating whatās called an āXY Problemā - you can search that if you arenāt familiar with the cartoonsā¦ Itās some habit that comes with using Windows for too long, you know like:
- User wants to install vscodium, they donāt know how to install flatpaks.
- User asks how installing software works, and how flatpaks work.
- User didnāt ask or find a solution to install vscodium.
So what you should actually do is to ask for help doing what you want to doā¦
Every application is different, and everyone has their own way of finding and installing āan applicationā. The first is to find out WHAT that application is, so then they can make a judgement.
I think Flatpaks are more suited to people who have immutable or stable distributions.
Flatpaks are a more bloated way to install software, and never better than a native installationā¦ then because theyāre āsandboxedā, and itās a bit gnarly and a PITA that you have to find your settings from the native app (if you have them already) and then maybe hardlink them to the flatpak settings folderā¦
With my 250GiB SSD I definitely keep flatpaks limited to AUR applications which have issues, canāt be easily installed natively etc.
Octopi is my favourite GUI installer - it looks for packages in the respository, also searches for installer scripts in the AUR.
However, a bigger issue hereā¦
However, if itās just CachyOS and the Arch backend thatās p15555ing you off, then you should think about giving Linux Mint a tryā¦ itāll give you good experience until you feel ready to tackle a more advanced distribution again.
Have a read here:
This much we can agree to disagree on>> āand never better than a native installationā¦ā
Any way thanks for your input. Iāll do me!
For sure, and yes - ānever betterā is overextending a bit, though I never found a flatpak that serves better than anything in the Arch repositoriesā¦
Not the same for proprietary applications. Especially with Discord on Arch, Flatpak is needed to bypass the inherent distribution delay (though I just dumped it for Vencord when I used it).
CachyOS supports this choice, though including Equibop instead, which looks pretty cool - so no flatpak is needed unless Equibop fails where Discord would succeed.
But Iād be interested to hear of a native repository installation that would be better served by Flatpak.
Anyway @013_fred back to the point: what application were you trying to install?
Linux is not for everyone. Itās more for people that like to solve problems and have critical thinking.. If you are afraid to learn and type commands, Windows would be best for you.
Hi fred, Simple way, Ask AI, say āiām a beginner, so one line at a time, how do i install (whatever program)ā then you just copy & paste. Iām 77 and too old to learn to code but AI is my personal assistant, its never rude,never impatient. I have even written an Astrology program with it.
This is the kind of reply that kept me off Linux for 30yrs, just one stage better reply than RTFM. You Aught to be ashamed of yourself kindofabuzz.
No i shouldnāt. Linux requires reading and learning. Devs make documents for a reason. Those are the same people wonder why their new gadget doesnāt work, because they didnāt RTFM.
And in those 30 years, you would have been a linux master, if you would have RTFM
pacman is the standard package manager. CLI.
paru is also included and is a pacman wrapper as well as AUR helper. CLI.
How to use these are documented in various places including the forum;
And wikis;
There is even a handy table for anyone needing ātranslationā from another tool;
For GUI (graphic user interface - not CLI) there is only one tried and true option and that is octopi.
There is not a lot more discussion to be had.
Including who āshouldā or āshould notā use linux.
Though I would wager it behooves anyone using just about anything to have or gain some basic understanding of whatever thing they might be making use of.
If this topic needs to be reopened for some unforeseen reason then it can be, but anything like a tangentially related but separate support query should probably just go to a new thread.