Cosmic Desktop First Look – DaVinci Resolve Install & Early GameScope Launcher Test (Beta)

I look at the new Cosmic Desktop and show how to install DaVinci Resolve using my Pop-style installer script. I also demonstrate the early development stages of a Cosmic-compatible GameScope launcher — still very beta, still buggy, but finally starting to show signs of life.

This video covers tiling mode in Cosmic, the Flatpak store, Resolve setup, debugging GameScope, and the challenge of porting my Omarchy gaming launcher to a completely different desktop environment.

⸻

🔹 Cosmic Desktop First Impressions
• Immediately switching from floating windows to Cosmic Tiling Mode feels more natural.
• Tiling mode gives a workflow similar to what makes Omarchy comfortable.
• Much easier to work in than floating mode for multi-window tasks.

⸻

🔹 Installing DaVinci Resolve on Cosmic

You demonstrate the full process:

1. Place the DaVinci Resolve ZIP inside Downloads
2. Make the installer script executable with chmod +x
3. Run the PopDR script
4. Click the installer that appears on the desktop
5. After install:
   • Fix scaling under Preferences → User → UI Scaling → 150%
   • Relaunch Resolve
   • CUDA GPU detected correctly
   • Resolve Free can export AV1

Resolve runs perfectly once scaling is set correctly.

⸻

🔹 Cosmic Flatpak Store
• Clean, simple, polished interface
• Easier to navigate than Bazzite’s “Bazaar”
• You mention your Omarchy script that installs the Cosmic Store in one click

⸻

🔹 Experimental GameScope Launcher (Beta Progress)

This is the heart of the video — your attempts to rebuild the gaming launcher for Cosmic.

You show:
• Several failed attempts at compiling GameScope
• Special patches required to fix mouse behaviour
• “foot” terminal needed because Cosmic breaks TUIs
• AUR freezing or dependencies stalling
• Version 6 → broken
• Version 7 → gets further, but still unreliable
• Steam sometimes starts outside of GameScope
• Proton GE installs but doesn’t show in Steam compatibility menu yet
• When GameScope runs, mouse behaves correctly until switching screens
• After switching, mouse stops responding properly
• You describe it as “not production ready,” “still broken,” and “painful but getting there”

This is an honest, real developer-log of getting GameScope working under a new desktop.

⸻

🔹 Games Used During Debugging

(Not benchmarks — purely functional tests.)
• Cyberpunk 2077 → graphical glitches
• Homeworld → mouse buffer issues

These tests expose the GameScope bugs you still need to fix.

⸻

🔹 Current State of Version 7
• Steam launches
• GameScope sometimes launches
• Mouse works until screen switching
• Proton GE missing from Steam menu
• Needs more work on input buffer, layer integration, and dependencies
• You emphasise this is not ready for release, but progress is happening

⸻

🔹 Final Thoughts
• Cosmic Desktop is beautiful and surprisingly comfortable in tiling mode
• DaVinci Resolve installs easily and works well
• Your Cosmic GameScope Launcher will take more time
• Omarchy version is already stable, but Cosmic requires deeper changes
• You plan to finish a unified solution once Cosmic reaches a more mature state

⸻

🔔 Subscribe

Follow the Linux Out of the Box series for:
• Updates to the Cosmic GameScope Launcher
• New versions of the Omarchy Launcher
• Fullscreen Xbox mode experiments
• More Resolve + Cosmic workflows
• Steam performance tests
• Linux gaming and AI development tools

#Linux #CosmicDesktop #PopOS #DaVinciResolve #LinuxGaming #GameScope #ProtonGE #ArchLinux #Hyprland #LinuxOutOfTheBox #SteamLinux #CosmicStore #LinuxDevelopment