Whether it’s a rage-click community, a community made for an agenda, or both, I don’t know, but in either cases, I wouldn’t see as surprising for the mods in such a community to be very trigger-happy. Best you can do, I think, is to block communities and individuals with such a profile, and to recommend others to not engaging (remember to explain why if you do it, btw).

I’d have 4 main solutions I can think of, and that can be used together if needed:

• VMs for running Steam and for games that MUST use Steam.
• Emulators, wrappers and source ports for games that allow that, e.g. BSNES for running River Girls Zero, Joiplay / Artemis / EasyRPG / AquariaOSE for games that use compatible engines, etc.
• Having a separated computer you can use 100% offline (requires sideloading games)
• The annoying idea some users give that strays from the original question, but that I think that is valid for once - to get the games from places that openly distribute it DRM free

Mint seems decent all around. No cutting edges nor it’s specialized in any areas, but it’s a jack of all trades, and rather stable.

Been using NoPhoneSpam. While it won’t automatically block any numbers, it will cancel incoming calls not matching its filters. Only issue is that, some times, it takes a few seconds for it to recognize not passing calls, but I think it happens when the phone is under a higher load and the system starts lagging a bit, like when downloading bigger files and playing games.

Something I personally do is to load games from their entries in the start menu. And when there’s no installer to set the start menu item, a program like Alacarte, or manually editing the files that handle those entries on Linux, the .desktop files. Alternatively, linking the executable files to either Heroic or Steam can also be viable.

As for how Linux handles executables, if it’s a native Linux program, you usually need to set the read-write-execute permissions to be able to launch them. Tutorials usually suggest to run chmod 777 /path/to/executable, or other variants that set full permissions to all users and user groups, but as a security concern, I would suggest running chmod 700 /path/to/executable, as this would give the full permissions only to the current user (there’s a bit of a formula to come up with this number, btw).

And regarding VMs, they are as fast as the hardware allows minus the host system’s demands, so it will always be slower than baremetal installs. But in some specific cases, it’s still the best option.

Regarding gaming support, Heroic Launcher also help a bunch, since you can easily set up multiple versions of forks of Wine (Valve’s Proton being one), or even to use the system ones.

About the wifi issue, maybe it is some oddly specific hardware that the devs tackled only in Mint 22. And in a bit of a humorous tone, what’s learning without a bit of struggle? 😅

And lastly, besides dual boot, you could also set up a VM with the secondary system(s) you want. Just worth noting hardware-dependent games, e.g. many from the Windows 9x time, will struggle on VMs.

Also great for finding channels in alternative services, and even more so since Google breaks Youtube’s compatibility to 3rd party tools every once in a while.

On the joke, define “sane”. 😬

On a serious note, I think there are valid reasons to have several VMs other than “I was bored”. In my case, for example, I have a total of 7 VMs, where 2 are miscellaneous systems to test things out, 2 are for stuff that I can’t normally run on Linux, 2 are offline VMs for language dictionaries, and 1 is a BlissOS VM with Google programs in case I can’t/don’t want to use my phone.

And lastly, some UbO filters I made since I commented so much about them:

! Denpasoft - hiding stuff already in the account (make a new filter for each title):
!denpasoft.com##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(article[class="x-col e244827-e17 m58wr-d m58wr-e m58wr-f m58wr-i"])

! DLsite - hiding stuff already claimed and owned (may need to expand since DLsite has its store sections all split):
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_ios_android "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_04 "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_ios_android "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_st"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_android "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_android "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_ios "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_st"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_02 "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_dl disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_pc "])

! DLsite - hiding what's already in the cart (also may need to expand):
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_ios_android "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_01 for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart_in"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner type_exclusive_02 "])

! DLsite - hiding what can't be activated or bought (also may need to expand):
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner for_pc "])
www.dlsite.com##a[class="btn_cart disabled"]:upward(li[class="search_result_img_box_inner  "])

! Epic Games/EGS - hiding what's already activated (make a new filter for each title):
!store.epicgames.com##a[href^="href_aqui"]:upward(li[class="css-lrwy1y"])
!E.g.:
!store.epicgames.com##a[href^="/p/thewatch-2c8a8e"]:upward(li[class="css-lrwy1y"])

! Freetchio & Itchclaim - hiding what you already have from Itchio (make a new filter for each title):
!shaigrorb.github.io##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(sl-card[id])
!itchclaim.tmbpeter.com##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(tr)

! IndieGala - hide stuff already claimed/bought (make a new filter for each title):
!indiegala.com##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(div[class="main-list-item-col left"])
!freebies.indiegala.com##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(div[class="col-3 products-col"])

! Kagura Games (EN & JP) - hiding by owned products (make a new filter for each product)
!www.kaguragames.com##a[href="full_link_goes_here"]:upward(div[class^="product-small col has-hover product type-product post-"])
!kaguragamesjp.com##a[href="link_goes_here"]:upward(div[class^="product-small col has-hover product type-product post-"])

! Kagura Games - hiding Kagura Survivors specifically since it cannot be claimed:
www.kaguragames.com##a[href="https://www.kaguragames.com/product/kagura-survivors-endless-night/"]:upward(div[class^="product-small col has-hover product type-product post-"])

! Project EGG - hiding by price (make a new filter for each price):
!www.amusement-center.com##span[class="yen"]:has-text(value_goes_here):upward(ul[class="mode_1"])
! E.g.:
www.amusement-center.com##span[class="yen"]:has-text(330):upward(ul[class="mode_1"])
www.amusement-center.com##span[class="yen"]:has-text(440):upward(ul[class="mode_1"])

! Project EGG - hiding stuff already activated (make a new filter for each title):
!www.amusement-center.com##a[href^="?product_id=ID_aqui"]:upward(ul[class="mode_1"])
!E.g.:
!www.amusement-center.com##a[href^="?product_id=1908"]:upward(ul[class="mode_1"])

! Zoom Platform - hiding stuff already owned (needs to be logged in for it to work):
!www.zoom-platform.com##div[class="absolute bottom-0 right-0 px-2 py-1 z-20 text-xs font-semibold bg-accent-green bg-opacity-80"]:upward(div[class^="flex justify-center w-full max-w-full pr-2 xxs:max-w-1/2 sm:max-w-1/3 md:max-w-cover md:pr-0"])

! Zoom Platform - hiding stuff by price (make a new filter for each title):
!www.zoom-platform.com##span[class="my-0.5 "]:has-text("price_goes_here"):upward(div[class^="flex justify-center w-full max-w-full pr-2 xxs:max-w-1/2 sm:max-w-1/3 md:max-w-cover md:pr-0"])
!www.zoom-platform.com##span[class="my-0.5"]:has-text("price_goes_here"):upward(div[class^="flex justify-center w-full max-w-full pr-2 xxs:max-w-1/2 sm:max-w-1/3 md:max-w-cover md:pr-0"])
! E.g.:
www.zoom-platform.com##span[class="my-0.5 "]:has-text("0.99"):upward(div[class^="flex justify-center w-full max-w-full pr-2 xxs:max-w-1/2 sm:max-w-1/3 md:max-w-cover md:pr-0"])
www.zoom-platform.com##span[class="my-0.5"]:has-text("0.99"):upward(div[class^="flex justify-center w-full max-w-full pr-2 xxs:max-w-1/2 sm:max-w-1/3 md:max-w-cover md:pr-0"])

A few more (SFW) I forgot:

• https://www.gog.com/#giveaway (when a giveaway is present, it just scrolls you to that part of the front page)
• https://gaming.amazon.com/games (a cleaner redirect to https://gaming.amazon.com/home?filter=Game)
• https://www.zoom-platform.com/search/ (filtering in the site is still lacking, so my solution is a set of Ublock Origin filters)
• https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/browse?sortBy=currentPrice&sortDir=ASC&category=Game&count=40 (sorting by lowest price first - UbO helps here too)
• https://www.gog.com/en/games?priceRange=0,0&hideOwned=true (showing only the freebies, permanent or otherwise, from the whole catalogue, and filtering out what the user already has)
• https://randombundlegame.com/ (not directly useful, but maybe people can use it to keep an eye whenever another massive bundle pops up)

Of the NSFW ones, first the DLsite ones (so many because the store is split in multiple sections, and so much noise in the links because filters are hardcoded into them):

Other NSFW sources, all sorted by price so if any freebie pops up, it’s easier to spot:

I have a few more resources noted down, if you’d be interested for the list:

• https://www.indiegala.com/showcase
• https://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/game/?mode=search&sssort=desc (service itself is paid so kinda like Prime in “free with a fee”)
• https://freebies.indiegala.com/
• https://steamdb.info/freepackages/
• https://www.app-sales.net/
• https://steamdb.info/sales/?min_reviews=0&min_rating=0&min_discount=95&sort=discount_desc
• https://itchclaim.tmbpeter.com/
• https://shaigrorb.github.io/freetchio/
• https://isthereanydeal.com/giveaways/

Should I list the NSFW resources too?

As much as GOG/CD Projekt have more than their fair share of problems, usually their versions of games work, can be preserved, don’t require as much bloat, launchers included, and usually don’t require 3rd party validation. And like others said, besides Wine and related, and installing through Steam as external games, you can also install stuff very easily through Heroic and the sort. So I’d say it’s the better option indeed.

Besides Flatpak, Heroic also has an official AppImage version, if the OP wants to have an even more portable program.

To my knowledge, besides the newest updates not necessarily being as stable, but also, other softwares that interact with it would need time to adapt themselves to be sure they’re as compatible as they were before. In a situation of constant updates, other software would always be on a situation of catching up, whereas updates that take a bit longer to land allow “for the dust to set down”.

About gaming, from my personal experience, it’s overall pretty straight forward. When issues happen, you just got to have patience to read through logs and search up on Google or similar any suspicious parts of the log. Worst part is usually DRM/anticheat, but from what I can gather, usually pretty isolated cases are problematic due to compatibility, usually requiring the devs to go out of their ways to make the DRM incompatible.

As for the distros question, perhaps Linux Mint? It trades off bleeding edge updates for the sake of stability. Just avoid the Debian-based variant of Mint for now as it’s still in beta.

Look for games that are sold DRM free. Those can’t be taken from you by devs or the store after backed up. And usually devs and/or stores that deliberately sell such games also make it clear people can keep their games.

Both tools can be used from the terminal like most Linux programs, which should also give you better control during troubleshooting and also in the rarer cases of having to set up/run some more temperamental games. There are also graphical programs that handle Wine/Proton in a more friendly way, such as Heroic Launcher, Lutris and, specifically for Proton, Steam itself.

There are cases where AppImages aren’t viable indeed, like with programs that require ring 0 access. But limitations exist for all formats, so perhaps another good alternative is having multiple versions of a given program, like downloading the equivalent deb package through apt while also keeping the appimage version. It would bloat the storage for a potential automated configuration, but it should help with ensuring compatibility.

One thing I like to have with me is the AppImage version of programs when possible, since they usually work out of the box. Also helps ensuring I don’t depend on the availability of whatever package manager the system uses.

Never saw it before, but going by its description now, it’s the “GNU version of the Firefox browser”, so I would presume you can import everything you could between two Firefox installations, like whole profiles and favorites back up file.