Hello!
I'm Jairo.
This week I found myself doing something that probably every Linux user has done at least once: looking for a new distro even though my current one was working perfectly fine 😅.
I was browsing YouTube, looking for something to distract myself and calm my anxiety a little, when I found a video talking about a Linux distribution that promised three things I care a lot about:
- Gaming
- Development
- A beautiful desktop experience
I'm not going to lie: that last one immediately caught my attention.
The possibility of making my PC look like a MacBook without paying MacBook prices is always tempting.
And that's how I discovered BRGV OS.
Wait... Void Linux?
The first thing that surprised me wasn't BRGV OS itself.
It was its foundation.
BRGV OS is built on top of Void Linux.
And my immediate reaction was:
What is Void Linux?
I've spent most of my Linux journey around Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Arch Linux, and CachyOS. Somehow Void Linux had completely escaped my radar.
Coming from Fedora and Debian-based systems, everything felt a little unfamiliar at first. Different package manager, different ecosystem, different philosophy.
And honestly? That's exactly what made it interesting.
Why I Decided to Try It
I have a pretty simple checklist for my daily machine.
I need something that allows me to:
- Code all day
- Play games at night
- Customize everything
- Stay fast and responsive
Fedora already does most of that extremely well. In fact, Fedora with GNOME is still one of my favorite Linux experiences ever.
So BRGV OS had a difficult mission: it needed to convince me to leave my comfort zone.
The First Impression
What immediately stood out was how polished everything felt.
Most Linux installations follow a predictable path:
- Install Linux
- Install your tools
- Spend three hours configuring your desktop
- Break something
- Fix it
- Finally enjoy the system
BRGV OS skips a lot of that process.
Out of the box, you already get:
- Hyprland
- Beautiful theming
- Modern desktop layout
- Gaming-focused configuration
- Developer-friendly environment
It feels much closer to one of those highly customized Linux setups you see on YouTube than a fresh installation.
Performance
This is where Void Linux starts to shine.
The system feels incredibly lightweight. Applications launch quickly, memory usage stays low, and everything feels responsive.
Coming from Fedora, I wasn't expecting such a noticeable difference, but there is definitely a feeling of reduced overhead.
It feels a bit like driving a lightweight sports car instead of a luxury SUV.
Both are fast.
One just feels faster.
Gaming on BRGV OS
Linux gaming has evolved dramatically over the last few years.
Between Steam, Proton, Vulkan, and Wine, gaming on Linux is no longer an experiment. It's a real option.
BRGV OS embraces that reality.
Gaming isn't treated like an afterthought. The distribution clearly targets users who want to code during the day and play during the evening—which, honestly, describes a large percentage of software engineers.
Development Experience
As a backend engineer, my requirements are pretty simple:
- Docker
- IntelliJ
- Git
- Multiple terminals
- Good performance
BRGV OS handled all of them surprisingly well.
No drama.
No weird workarounds.
No endless troubleshooting sessions.
Which is exactly what I want from my workstation.
The Pros
Things I really liked:
✅ Lightweight and fast
✅ Beautiful out of the box
✅ Highly customizable
✅ Great gaming experience
✅ Excellent for developers
✅ A great opportunity to learn something beyond Debian, Fedora, and Arch
The Cons
No distribution is perfect.
Some trade-offs I noticed:
❌ Smaller community
❌ Less documentation than Ubuntu or Fedora
❌ Fewer tutorials specifically targeting Void Linux
❌ Requires a bit more curiosity and willingness to learn
But honestly, if you're the type of person who installs Linux for fun, that's probably not a problem.
So... Is It Better Than Fedora?
No.
And yes.
Fedora is still one of the best Linux distributions I've ever used.
But BRGV OS offers something different.
It feels fresh.
It feels lightweight.
It feels highly personal.
Most importantly, it reminded me why I started using Linux in the first place.
Not because it's the easiest option.
Not because it's the most popular.
But because there's always something new to learn.
And sometimes that's exactly what we need.
Even if we started looking for it just to calm our anxiety for a few hours 😄.
This is how my linux desktop looks like right now:
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