Couch Gaming on Linux: Bazzite, Proton, and the Graphics Stack

How does a game written for DirectX on Windows end up running smoothly on a Linux box under your TV? The answer runs through a whole stack of open-source projects, and this talk walks through them layer by layer.

We'll begin with Bazzite, an image-based Fedora Atomic distro aimed at gaming PCs and handhelds, and talk about what an immutable OS means when you're building an appliance-style machine. Then we'll get into Proton, Valve's Wine-based compatibility layer, including how DXVK and VKD3D-Proton translate Direct3D calls to Vulkan. Finally, we'll go down to the graphics subsystem itself: Mesa drivers, kernel mode setting, and the gamescope compositor that ties the living-room experience together.

You don't need to be a graphics programmer to follow along, but if you've ever wondered why one game runs perfectly and another stutters or won't start, you'll leave with a much better idea of where to look. Questions and war stories are welcome.

Speaker Bio
Michael Foster is a freelance software engineer who works on everything from UI component libraries to native Swift graphics to local LLM workflows. Before going independent in 2023, he spent several years as a software engineer with firms in Northern Virginia. He holds a CompTIA Security+ certification, an associate's degree in IT from NVCC, and a bachelor's degree from VCU. He enjoys working where design and infrastructure meet, and this month he's bringing that curiosity to the Linux graphics stack.