I'm considering switching my desktop from Bazzite to CachyOS while keeping Windows installed on a separate SSD. I'm mainly a casual user and gamer, and nothing on the Windows drive specifically requires Secure Boot. CachyOS seems to need some manual setup for it, so I'm wondering whether Secure Boot is important enough to be worth the extra effort. Are there meaningful security or gaming benefits, or is it reasonable to leave it disabled?
4 Answers
It’s also reasonable to prioritize full-disk encryption and a UEFI administrator password. You can install and test CachyOS with Secure Boot disabled, then enable it later if everything works and you decide the extra protection or game compatibility is worthwhile. Commands such as `bootctl status` or `mokutil --sb-state` can show whether it’s enabled.
CachyOS can be configured for Secure Boot, but it may involve enrolling keys and manually signing certain boot components or drivers. Unsigned drivers and firmware can sometimes stop working until they’re signed, so disabling Secure Boot can be simpler if you don’t need it.
Secure Boot mainly protects the boot process by allowing only trusted, signed bootloaders and kernels to run. That can help defend against bootkits and some types of malware, but it doesn’t control which applications you run after the system has started. For a casual desktop user who has physical control of the machine, it usually isn’t essential.
The biggest practical reason to enable it may be game anti-cheat. Some games check Secure Boot and related platform security features before launching. If none of the games you play require that, there may not be much benefit for you personally.
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