That's true. And that's exactly why I give zero trust to any executable that I don't have the source code of. But there is a huge difference between running kernel level proprietary software and user space apps, which are easily at least sandboxable.
I have been using GNU for so long now and what always annoyed me, was the fact that the last proprietary components of my OSs were always some kernel firmware blobs that are packaged with the official Linux kernel. Now I'd like to know if anyone has already tried the Linux-libre kernel on a modern system.
TLDR: You don't need a rolling release distro like Arch or its derivatives or any "gaming" distro for gaming anymore.
Many experiments have shown that these distros specifically "made for gaming" have no real advantages. If your friend is a beginner, I would absolutely not recommend Arch Linux, but rather Linux Mint. I have recently found this experiment: https://youtu.be/UtXw9on6qs4 (table at the end of the video) that supports this recommendation.
I haven't used an Antivirus in years... That's one advantage of GNU OS's. I run cracks inside sandboxes which then run Wine and DXVK for compatibility.
How dare you? Haven't you seen the World News logo? This is a criticism-free zone.
Does anyone know if the Steam Hardware Survey identifies your OS even in the Flatpak version? Or will it detect the Freedesktop SDK?
50% still on Windows 10 is crazy. What is Microsoft going to tell them next year when the support runs out?
But don't forget our friends at Gentoo and SUSE.