Hi everyone,
I've recently started using Blender on Linux. Manjaro. It's all running smoothly. I was curious, are there other people here running Blender on Linux?
I started using it because I understand Linux is superior to Windows 11, for example, with better memory management. I don't have much experience with Linux yet, so I'm doing a lot of research. I just ask CHATGPT a lot. I first tried OpenSUSE Linux, but I couldn't get the CUDAs on my NVIDIA 3080 to work.
Linux is also a better fit for Blender than Windows 10 or 11, because Linux is open source and Blender has the same mindset.
So, Linux seems like a better platform for CG than Windows 11?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this.
Windows 11 defaults to cloud storage(One Drive). It is convenient if your system crashes and you haven't backed up manually. I haven't used Manjaro. I've used Linux Mint, MX Linux, Xbuntu, AV Linux, and a few others. I tried to use Ubuntu Studio, but my system at the time wasn't powerful enough. In fact it wasn't powerful enough to run windows 7(The new thing at the time). I had to switch to Linux so that I could use newer versions of Blender, because I was stuck on Windows XP which left me stuck on Blender 2.76B.
In my opinion, the worst part of Linux is also kind of it's superpower. That is the options. There are so many distros and Desktop Environments that it can be very hard and intimidating for beginners. https://distrowatch.com/ is a good place to see what is popular and to get reviews. Also https://distrosea.com/ is a great place to test out different distros with different DE thru a web interface. Nothing to install. If there are a lot of people on there you may have to wait in the que. Usually less than a minute. The longest I've had to wait was 3 minutes.
On CG, as always when it comes to computer graphics and especially 3D it depends. If the software that you need to use isn't available on Linux then you can use WINE/Proton or Bottle, but that doesn't always work. Like Adobe products for example. If you're working for yourself or with a team that are more flexible or open to open source then Yes Linux is great for CG as long as you have a distro and DE that is properly configured for that kind of work and your hardware is also compatible. For example I had a Genius drawing pad, but I could never get it to work on Linux.
Hi Jense JenseArt ,
Yes, like Dwayne says, it depends on what programs you are running, some proprietary software (still) doesn't have a Linux version.
That being said, the advantages of using Linux over Windows are enormous (again, it depends on your priorities). I switched to Linux, when Windows 10 came out.
Started with Linux Mint and stayed there for a long time, but now switched Distros a few times, just out of curiosity. Currently also using Manjaro and happy with it.
Blender definitely runs better/faster on Linux than on Windows, there are probably several reasons for that, I don't want to start guessing what those are😉
Anyway, have fun on your Blender journey and if you have any questions, just ask!
