⚡ TL;DR

🌍 Introduction

The Linux gaming landscape in 2025 has significantly matured thanks to advances like Proton, Wayland and improved GPU drivers. In this ecosystem where specialized distributions proliferate (Bazzite, Nobara, Garuda), GLF OS seeks its place with a dual specificity:

This article explores this recent distribution in depth, analyzes its strengths and limitations, and positions it against three established competitors, based on verified sources as of October 10, 2025.

📖 Birth of a Community: History of GLF OS

The story of GLF OS begins during the COVID pandemic, within the YouTube community "Gaming Linux FR". When Vinceff's channel reached 250 subscribers, a passionate community formed around Linux gaming.

📅 Project Timeline

👥 The Team

The core team is led by Vinceff (initiator and YouTube creator) and Cammi (co-director), supported by about twenty active contributors including A1RM4X, Ange des Ténèbres, Dais, Davius, Didic, Fez, Hunabku, Mika, Piaf Jaune, Sebanc, Sigonze, Skythrew and T13nou.

📊 Community Presence

💡 Good to know: The quarterly update schedule ensures a balance between stability and evolution, with regular optimizations like the glf-history command and CUDA support for Blender/OBS.

🔧 NixOS: GLF OS's Technical Bet

Where its competitors rely on traditional bases, GLF OS makes the bold choice of NixOS, a declarative and atomic system from a research project dating back to 2003.

🎯 The 4 Pillars of NixOS

The Hybrid Approach: The Best of Both Worlds

🎯 Result: Ultra-stable system base + always up-to-date gaming tools

⚙️ Integrated System Optimizations

🔥 Custom 6.14 Cachy-Inspired Kernel

🎮 Gaming Arsenal: Tools and Optimizations

GLF OS comes preconfigured with the entire modern Linux gaming ecosystem. Zero manual configuration post-installation!

🛠️ Gaming Software Stack

🖥️ GPU: Complete Multi-Vendor Support

📦 Four Editions for Four Profiles

GLF OS comes in four variants adapted to distinct needs. Each edition available with GNOME (default + Dash to Dock) or KDE Plasma.

🎯 Editions Comparison

💡 Which Edition to Choose?

💻 Hardware Requirements: What You Need to Know

📋 Minimum Configuration

⚖️ Technical Assessment: Innovation vs Youth

After three months of existence in stable version (since September 2025), but with development started in 2024, let's draw an objective assessment of GLF OS's strengths and weaknesses.

✅ Undeniable Strengths

🏆 Revolutionary Architecture

🎮 "Out of the Box" Experience

🇫🇷 Dynamic French-Speaking Community

🌟 The ONLY major gaming distribution thought first in French

• 💬 Active Discord (French-speaking community)
• 📚 Documentation in French
• 🆘 Responsive community support
• 🎯 French culture and references

📊 Validated Performance

Community benchmarks show comparable performance to established distributions (Bazzite, Nobara) with sometimes slight advantages thanks to the Cachy kernel.

🔐 Security & Privacy: The NixOS Heritage

GLF OS directly inherits NixOS's secure architecture, but also its recent vulnerabilities. Here's what a gaming user needs to know for secure usage.

✅ Strengths

⚠️ Points of Vigilance

💡 Practical Advice: For standard gaming usage, GLF OS is secure by default. To strengthen: verify strict firewall is enabled, prefer Flatpaks (sandboxed), and monitor NixOS advisories on discourse.nixos.org for critical security updates.

🛡️ Security at a Glance

Who is GLF OS Security Suitable For?

• ✅ Privacy-conscious gamers (no telemetry)
• ✅ Users migrating from Windows (preconfigured firewall)
• ✅ Early adopters accepting active security monitoring
• ⚠️ Enterprises/critical: prefer distros with SELinux/AppArmor (Fedora, RHEL)

⚠️ Weaknesses to Know

🐣 Project Youth

⏰ Development since 2024, stable version for 3 months (as of October 10, 2025)

📚 NixOS Learning Curve

💡 Good to know: For standard usage (gaming, office), no NixOS knowledge required. But for advanced system tweaks, the declarative configuration is confusing.

🐛 Post-Launch Bugs (Current State)

📦 Flatpak-Heavy Approach

Prefers containerized applications:

• ✅ Advantages: Isolation, security, independent updates
• ⚠️ Disadvantages: Installation size, variable performance

📣 Mixed Community Feedback

With only one month of existence in stable version at the time of this analysis (October 10, 2025), GLF OS presents a mixed picture typical of a distribution in rapid maturation phase. To properly contextualize user feedback, it's essential to understand four structuring dimensions:

🎯 Feedback Analysis Context

• ⏰ Very young distribution: Development started in 2024, public beta June 4, 2025, stable version September 10, 2025
• 📅 Period covered: June 2025 (beta) to October 2025 (1 month post-stable)
• 🗝️ Dependent on NixOS: Inherits complexity, bugs and CVEs from its parent distribution
• 🔧 Implements applications and packages not adopted by NixOS: Custom Cachy kernel, Easy Flatpak, specific GLF gaming optimizations → source of additional bugs distinct from NixOS

This last dimension is crucial: GLF OS doesn't just dress up NixOS, it adds a substantial technical layer (custom kernel, proprietary tools, gaming configurations) that doesn't exist in official NixOS. Result: two distinct sources of potential problems.

😊 Positive Feedback

"Migration from Windows super simple! Everything works right after install." - Gaming Linux FR Discord Player

Within the Discord community (3,300+ members), enthusiastic feedback highlights several recurring strengths:

• ✅ Windows migration simplicity: The "out-of-box" experience appeals to Linux newcomers
• ✅ NixOS stability: Rollbacks and declarative architecture reassure
• ✅ Community responsiveness: Reactive and benevolent French Discord support
• ✅ Gaming performance: Solid community benchmarks against competitors

😕 Mixed and Documented Criticisms

The June-October 2025 period (beta + 1 month post-stable) revealed several substantial criticism axes, documented by verifiable sources.

🧬 The Double Constraint: NixOS Heritage + Non-Adopted Packages

💡 Crucial technical context: GLF OS is dependent on NixOS (inheriting its bugs, CVEs and complexity) while implementing applications and packages not adopted by NixOS (Cachy kernel, Easy Flatpak, custom gaming configurations, optimized drivers).

This fundamental duality explains why GLF OS faces two distinct categories of problems:

📝 Tux Machines Review: "Not Quite Ready" (July 2025)

🗣️ Tux Machines: "Their celebrations are, in my opinion, premature [...] This is a good beta, but it is still a beta and not quite ready for people migrating from other operating systems."

Specific points raised (note the NixOS vs GLF distinction):

• 🐛 Live mode video bug: "weird video bug that its parent [NixOS] doesn't have" → GLF-specific problem
• ⚠️ Nix manager errors: "while NixOS handles manually installing new packages without any problems" → GLF regression
• 📖 Insufficient GLF-specific documentation: GLF proprietary tools (Easy Flatpak, etc.)

🇫🇷 Adrien Linuxtricks: Public Reservations (December 4, 2025)

🗣️ Adrien Linuxtricks (X/Twitter, ~67,000 YouTube subscribers): "🎮 Discover GLF OS, a 'new' distribution [...] I must admit I'm quite mixed... 😕"

The use of quotes around "new" and the doubtful emoji signal measured skepticism.

📦 The NixOS Paradox: Inherited Complexity

The NixOS Discourse forum (December 2025) illustrates the complexity inherited from NixOS:

🗣️ User Msarc: "I'm new to Nix [...] removing packages from environment.systemPackages is not possible as of yet [...] none of these quite beginner friendly."

🆚 Unfavorable Comparisons with Bazzite

On Next.ink (June 2025), commentators systematically establish unfavorable comparisons:

🗣️ Next.ink comment: "Interesting, but little chance to compete with Bazzite."
"Bazzite and all ublue distribs are much simpler to manage [in case of problem]."

🔄 Contextualization: Youth, Heritage and Innovations

These criticisms must be placed in a triple context that explains the nature of the problems:

Notable finding: No GLF OS discussion found on Reddit (r/linux_gaming, r/NixOS), revealing adoption still confidential outside the Gaming Linux FR Discord community (3,300 members).

Major French tech sites (Korben, JeuxLinux, Tux-planet) haven't yet published in-depth reviews, which is logical for a distribution with 3 months of existence with such specific positioning (NixOS + Gaming + French-speaking + Custom packages).

🎯 Perspective: Necessary Double Maturation

💡 Unlike Bazzite (mature Fedora Atomic, tested upstream packages) or Nobara (proven Fedora), GLF OS must simultaneously:

1. Stabilize its custom layer: Easy Flatpak, Cachy kernel, GLF-specific gaming configs
2. Absorb NixOS evolution: security patches, new versions, upstream changes
3. Document inherited complexity: explain NixOS to beginners
4. Fix introduced bugs: by applications and packages not adopted by NixOS
5. Maintain compatibility: between GLF modifications and NixOS upstream evolution

The GLF OS challenge in one sentence: Make NixOS accessible (already complex) while maintaining a layer of applications and packages not adopted by NixOS (sources of additional bugs) for a beginner audience.

🥊 Facing the Competition: 2025 Comparison

Let's position GLF OS against three major gaming distributions in 2025: Bazzite, Nobara and Garuda Linux.

📊 Complete Comparison Table

💡 Quick Decision Guide

📚 Sources and References

🔗 Footnotes

🌐 Official Links

🔗 Additional Resources

📖 SafeITExperts - Recommended reading

Extend your expertise with our complementary guides