I should’ve clarified. I use Studio as well (even have one of those spiffy mini editors), both install all into /opt/resolve, Studio just installs extra stuff.
I’m currently working on attempting Studio with the distrobox container method mentioned above, and will let you know how it goes. (There’s already one adjustment that I found.)
That’s exactly what the issue was.
The other thing I didn’t mention (because I didn’t want to create a huge report) was that Resolve’s installer tries to put it’s .desktop files in /usr/share, so the only .desktop file that gets added is the one directly on ~/Desktop. It also can’t change/add mime types of which there are a lot (same issue, /usr/share/mime). There’s no “custom install” option, it’s all or nothing. So the user will have to add all the .desktop entries manually using Menu Editor and handle all the file associations.
As I said, messy.
I did try the davincibox repo you pointed to, and it seems to work, even for DaVinci Studio.
The only caveat is it needs to be done manually, OR you can edit the setup.sh script and edit get_gpu_type() it so it returns:
nvidia_gpu=true
davincibox_flavor="davincibox"
Or for AMD:
nvidia_gpu=false
davincibox_flavor="davincibox-opencl"
The reason it is uses lshw to determine which GPU is being used and KDE Linux does not include that.
Also it suggests to use Podman to enter the container and run it. I didn’t spend time figuring out how to get .desktop entries set up for it, but those would also need to be done manually. And I’m not sure how well it would integrate with the OS for things like mime-types and such. But that’s similar to the roughshod install I did initially.
Something to keep in mind is that DaVinci Resolve is sorta special/unique because Blackmagic uses it as a loss-leader to sell their hardware and services. That’s why normal Resolve is free and Studio is either $300 or comes free with a lot of their hardware.
There is the expectation that Resolve is going to have it’s own dedicated computer connected to editing or color consoles that can range up to $30,000+. They even have their own .iso to install with Rocky Linux and Resolve.
I have encountered other software (like microcontroller IDEs) that also do their own installs, but they’re usually a bit more flexible. Things like Blender or Reaper just come in .tar.gz files that you extract into their own directory. Much easier.
Thanks for doing that. It seems that a manual install using the installer is probably going to end up more painful and buggy on KDE Linux than using the Distrobox approach.
It needing lshw is annoying. If it was tiny, I’d say we should just pre-install it, but according to Arch Linux - lshw B.02.20-1 (x86_64), it’s 8.1 MB, which feels like a lot to add to the base image just to support this use case.
Still, maybe we should, because asking users to manually edit a script doesn’t feel great either. What do you think?
Honestly? I think people should just be recommended to the davincibox site and to follow the Manual install directions. It’s a bit more reading, but doesn’t involve editing scripts or need lshw, and the type of person who is using DaVinci Resolve on Linux is likely to be a more advanced user used to adding additional dependencies. I mean, even on a regular non-immutable distro it still requires terminal work to get running.
I would mark this up to “specific pro software” that an average user isn’t going to encounter. Resolve is a complex product that requires a lot of learning to use well. I hate to say this, but if someone’s primary use is Resolve, they’d honestly be better served by something like Fedora. Otherwise having a link to davincibox manual install is fine IMO.
Kdenlive honestly would be the go-to recommendation, since I’d say it’s on par with something like Vegas Pro and other consumer-focused NLEs. I think the majority of people would end up using that anyway. Even tho I use Resolve it’s mostly because of Fusion, Kden is my “I don’t want to deal with Resolve right now” editor. Maybe make it more prominent in marketing. 
what would make Fedora more fitting for Studio?
For you, not much because you already got it working in Cachy/Arch, which is also fine. You know what you’re doing.
I mentioned Fedora in the context of a random average user who doesn’t want to go through the large task of setting it up on KDE Linux asking “Can Resolve Studio run in KDE Linux?” where the answer would be, “Yes, but if your primary use is Resolve, Fedora Plasma would be a better option.”
I would not recommend Arch to a newish user.
I only got Resolve and Resolve Studio running, but didn’t do any projects. Even the davincibox author says Studio is untested.