Linux

Try to play Diablo 2 or Commandos on a new windows box ... Possible but a huge hassle IMO.

Every so often, when an online game gets support on Linux I give it a go. I almost immediately remember why I stopped playing them, most of them are cesspools of toxic pkayers, predatory micro (and mavro) transactions and the works. 100% of games worth playing run on linux already.

That list keeps getting smaller

I'm finally moving myself and my parents over to Linux this weekend. I'm putting them on Mint and I think I'll probably be using Debian 12.

For the longest time it was games that prevented me from moving, but with what MS has been doing as of late, and especially with them trying to force copilot/recall onto systems/my Win 11 install refusing to get security updates anymore, I went and checked my entire game library on steam against the proton db and found the following.

95 of my games run natively on Linux. 31 of my games are rated platinum. 73 of my games are rated gold. 12 are rated silver. 3 are rated as bronze. 3 are unplayable.

This shocked me a little when I counted it out as this is a huge improvement compared to a few years ago.

The actual difficulties I will be facing are getting all of my music/sound production stuff functioning well enough to use.

But yes, anyone who claims they won't move to Linux due to gaming in the contemporary is either sorely out of the loop or hard stuck silver in a game like Valorant which they cannot bring themselves to drop and artificially refuses to run on anything where it can't have kernel level anti-cheat.

I'm the other way around. I switched to Debian on my main around a year ago now and I'm like "oh, this game works, and this game works too, oh and that works as well, wow!". Honestly, any game I threw at Debian, it just... worked. Granted, I don't play very recent games and most of them either single player or does not have any serious anti cheat measures. Even VR works with ALVR and Steam VR, wirelessly on my (or rather my homie's, just borrowed) Quest 2.

And not just games, a lot of Windows software just works with Wine.

So, before the change, I thought I need or use Windows exclusive software, and I did, but all of them are now have decent alternatives. Maybe except for Notepad++. (I use Kate and KWrite, but... I really don't like those softwares, but they get the job done the same way np++ did)

So, I'm really surprised how well this past 1 year went without any issue.

But that's kinda valid that if something doesn't run, then people won't change. You are talking about people who doesn't care libre/FOSS software and all that jazz, they won't change if it's just simply worse.

I kept saying once upon a time"I'll make the switch to Linux but X doesn't work, so not yet. "

I dual booted for a while. That "a while" ended when Windows ate GRUB.

I had enough. I decided enough was enough. I kept windows on one SSD, just in case I wanted to go back. That didn't last long, I wiped that drive, and formatted it to BTRFS. Now none of my drives are NTFS.

For the one case I "need" Windows, I spun up a VM (and configured USB passthrough) for Windows. That is for a guitar pedal and amp that I need Windows for updates. But I don't remember the last time I booted up that VM.

For music recording and production I installed Reaper for Linux natively, but that was an easy transition considering Reaper was what i used in Windows. Sure VSTs were a big concern for me, so I investigated VST bridge type software. And I can't recall the ones I investigated. But this is where I am at on my journey.

I don't care how "easy" it is to just stay the same and keep using Windows, it isn't for me. I don't agree with their data collection policies. I don't agree with the "black box" mentality. I want to know what is happening on my system. I want to understand what I am using. And at a certain point with Windows, I just don't have the ability, tools, or inside scoop to fully learn that.

With Linux, the journey may have taken time, effort, and willingness to troubleshoot and learn but it ultimately is a better experience.

There have been very few games I couldn't get working on my system, but those games aren't enough to sell out my ideals. I will never go back.

I would rather be a farmer.

I'm having ca 20 servers at home and the majority of those are linux. I love it. My main rig is still windows and will probably stay that way unless win12 won't finally cure what pisses me off so damn much with 11. They won't, obviously. But migration would be very hard. Most of my tools won't run, most of my self made tools won't run, most of my games won't run, most 4 decades of internalization of shortcuts won't cut it short anymore. And I won't even start with the domain migration horrors as this one's still MS. I would end up dual booting for eternity until I stop booting up one of the two.

So..my point is. I use the right tool for the right job.

Well windows has 100% support. So it's reasonable that an alternative that people want to use would be as accessable.

Sorry

I'll move once it has Steam VR support. I don't care if it's just one VR game at the start. I just want to be able to see my monitors and play one game. And I know other options exist. But I want Steam.

Since ProtonDB (and obviously Proton itself, Wine with its own WineApp DB, SteamOS) there is an easy way to check if your favorite games do work. That being said I understand that people are afraid. They might think "OK... well Elden Ring works but what about the DLC, or upcoming Elden Ring Nightreign?" and believe, probably rightfully so to be honest, that because Windows is still the most popular OS for gaming on PC and that game publishers are economically rational actors, more testing and fixes will be done against that target platform.

So... 100% is a ridiculous coverage because it's impractical but IMHO they are not that silly to "want" it. It's just a simpler way to say they are scared and do not want to bother. They would rather follow the crowd than take a risk themselves and be trail blazers.

All that being said now that ProtonDB exists and Valve is actively radically improving support via Proton, that gamers see in the wild SteamDecks popping up literally around them, in flights, airports, waiting rooms, etc they just can not ignore the fact that support is improving enough to have fun. Mentality will change but it takes time and Microsoft is fighting back because despite having Azure as their dollar printing asset, they are just hooked on bundling.

Windows doesn't run every game i want. I couldn't get the first Command and Conquer to be playable at all. I have had the same experience many times with older strategy and simulation games: they just don't work very well on modern Windows.

By contrast, so far Linux does play every game i want. My entire library going back decades works just fine with Wine or Proton. It's easy once you get used to using a translation layer.

I don't play Apex, League, or Fortnite, so that's probably why i dont feel like i'm missing anything on Linux.

Its fear of the unknown. These people know logically the flaws in windows but are afraid to experiment because they think Linux is hard or too much effort. It's similar to (although not in the same severity of) the justification that abuse victims use to justify why they stay with an abuser. Feel bad for these folks and try to educate.

If your computer is mainly a toy I really DGAF what you put up with to use it.

I've used linux on my laptops and non-gaming devices for a long time, but it took me a long time to switch my gaming desktop over. I've felt i could use linux full time most of the last 8 years (and especially for games since 2020 as i rarely play anything with anti-cheat anyway), but i only went linux on all devices as of 2 years ago when i built a new gaming PC so it required starting from scratch anyway, and aside from a few components i intended to retain for the new one, i could easily drop back to play a game if i ran into problems.

They won't do it, whether they just fear change or think it'll break stuff or they can't bother

Not everyone has the time nor feels the need to just rip and replace on a dime. Not everyone has the luxury of multiple devices to gain confidence. Some people only have a handful of hours a week to play games, so switching OS isnt going to be an immediate priority sven if its their desire.

And I'm not going to lie, I don't hate them or debate with them for it, I just hate the bold lies they tell just to get with the crowd

The world already has enough things to tear us all down, why flip a table and possibly be unable to game for a time just because doing it right away, according to you, is the only way to be honest or whatever. A vocal desire to dump windows doesnt equate to lying. Let people be excited about linux even if they dont make the switch themselves. Maybe their excitement inspires someone else to take the plunge who wouldn't have done so otherwise.

Also, if you felt the need to write this rant, seems like you do kinda hate them.

At least don't lie that you'll move to Linux at a goal post that you'll just move whenever you get close, maybe say that you'll move to Linux when you finally get a new pc with a new disk or something?

even tho i knew i was "done" with the windows since like 2018, I just simply waited until it was convenient to switch. Should i have qualified every conversation where i discussed linux gaming with this? Idk, maybe just let people be excited about something, even if it takes them a long time to get to it.

Maybe they will, due in fucking 2028 or something when they invent a really easy way to use built in Linux tools to move your files from NTFS to Linux and then when you launch steam you have a perfect library of Linux compatible games that are as good or better than windows

Uh... This has existed a long time. Mounting ntfs on linux is rather easy. Even a windows boot disk. Just point steam at the library folder. In fact, my steam library is installed on ntfs in case i ended up dual booting or using gpu passthrough to a windows vm for a few items. If you're gonna sit here and virtue signal about who is a real linux gamer or not maybe you'd at least know something as basic as mounting ntfs in linux...

1. don't play any games on windows
2. move
3. only play like 2 games, still haven't downloaded Steam