With the release of the 2026 edition of the LTT Linux Challenge, comes the usual fuss about which distro they should or shouldn't have chosen, I decided to throw my hat into the ring and give you my final and definitive recommendation on what Linux distro you should use in 2026.

Let me tell you a little about myself first, in case you're new here: I'm a software engineer and I've been using Linux as my primary operating system since 2009. That's 17 years ago at the time of writing this, back when Steam on Linux didn't exist, not to mention Proton. The opinions expressed in this article are the result of my experience, of trial and error and hands-on experience on what works and what doesn't.

It seems like some modern motherboards use fan control systems are not fully compatible out of the box with Linux (what a surprise).

In particular this relates to my recently acquired MSI MAG X870E TOMAHAWK WIFI motherboard, but as I understand this same problem also happens on other MSI and ASUS motherboards.

Disclaimer: I didn't invent anything new here, this is just a case of scattered information that's annoying to put together. All sources are linked throughout the article.

Another disclaimer: I'm not a security expert and I don't claim to be. This is just a solution that I'm using, if following anything that I write causes any problems including but not limited to data loss or theft, I don't take any responsibility. You're on your own.

Alright, let me give you the magic string right away:

gamescope --mangoapp -w 2560 -h 1440 -W 2560 -H 1440 --fullscreen --force-grab-cursor --adaptive-sync --backend=wayland -- env ENABLE_LAYER_MESA_ANTI_LAG=1 %command%

I've been using Relm4 for a project and it's been pretty great. Relm4 is basically a wrapper around the GTK API that offers a more declarative layer of abstraction for building applications.

The only problem I find is that the project seems a little bit niche. Don't get me wrong, it seems very polished and so far I haven't found any bugs, so that's exceptional considering the scope of the project. The real problem with it being niche is that of course not every use case can be fully covered and documented, so some stuff you just have to figure out for yourself.