Do you use Linux?

[jak_2456]

Here is my sanitized breakdown:

Serious people doing serious work use Linux
Unserious people doing serious work use Windows
Serious people doing unserious work use Mac
Unserious people doing unserious work should use Playstation.

This take is too general; you haven't really defined what "serious" means in this context. Not only that, a lot of people need to use a specific OS for their job. For example, SolidWorks only works with Windows. Also, a lot of people have a personal preference for what OS they use; none of them are a "one-size-fits-all" solution. In my case, I have spent the most time with Windows and ChromeOS hence the reason why I currently use the former on my PCs, although I have used MacOS and Linux quite a bit.

 

[bug]

@TechBuyingHavoc @jak_2456 No need to feed the troll, really. At best, that was tongue-in-cheek.

 

[AusWolf]

This take is too general; you haven't really defined what "serious" means in this context. Not only that, a lot of people need to use a specific OS for their job. For example, SolidWorks only works with Windows. Also, a lot of people have a personal preference for what OS they use; none of them are a "one-size-fits-all" solution. In my case, I have spent the most time with Windows and ChromeOS hence the reason why I currently use the former on my PCs, although I have used MacOS and Linux quite a bit.

As I see it, most people use Windows because they falsely believe that there is no other option, or that they can't run games on Linux, etc.

If you want a Windows-like desktop environment, any Linux distro with KDE or Cinnamon can give you that. I just made the swap back to Linux yesterday after a 15-ish year break, installed a few games, and I don't think I'm gonna look back.

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

As I see it, most people use Windows because they falsely believe that there is no other option, or that they can't run games on Linux, etc.

If you want a Windows-like desktop environment, any Linux distro with KDE or Cinnamon can give you that. I just made the swap back to Linux yesterday after a 15-ish year break, installed a few games, and I don't think I'm gonna look back.

I understand that Proton and Wine have been key to getting gaming going on Linux but I do have some questions. How is the game compatibility for older games on Linux? The type of games that are 20 years old or older yet and are found mainly in Gog's catalog or are installed from the original CDs.

My impression was always that the really old games can be easily emulated on a emulator like ScummVM or a console emulator or DosBox and the new titles are being supported by Valve to be played on Linux but that 90s games and early 2000s games were hard to play on Linux. Maybe a 15 to 20 year span of games there.

Am I completely wrong about that?

 

[AusWolf]

I understand that Proton and Wine have been key to getting gaming going on Linux but I do have some questions. How is the game compatibility for older games on Linux? The type of games that are 20 years old or older yet and are found mainly in Gog's catalog or are installed from the original CDs.

My impression was always that the really old games can be easily emulated on a emulator like ScummVM or a console emulator or DosBox and the new titles are being supported by Valve to be played on Linux but that 90s games and early 2000s games were hard to play on Linux. Maybe a 15 to 20 year span of games there.

Am I completely wrong about that?

As I'm still (old-) new on Linux, I can only comment based on what I've heard... and that is that it's really good. Proton is said to run old games just fine, and you have DosBOX on Linux as well, which works just like the Windows version. Steam configures Wine and Proton on first launch for you, so it's really a no effort solution. I've just installed Heroic Launcher which connected with my Epic and GOG accounts just fine.

Maybe you have a specific game in mind that I can test for you?

 

[Shihab]

I understand that Proton and Wine have been key to getting gaming going on Linux but I do have some questions. How is the game compatibility for older games on Linux? The type of games that are 20 years old or older yet and are found mainly in Gog's catalog or are installed from the original CDs.

My impression was always that the really old games can be easily emulated on a emulator like ScummVM or a console emulator or DosBox and the new titles are being supported by Valve to be played on Linux but that 90s games and early 2000s games were hard to play on Linux. Maybe a 15 to 20 year span of games there.

Am I completely wrong about that?

Hit and miss, from my experience.
Some require the same fiddeling you'd need on Windows (e.g. Red Alert 2).
Some have issues with fmv codecs (e.g. Fable Lost chapters, Roller Coaster Tycoon. Although I hear it's a distro/config issue).
Some worked without any fuss.
I have not tried very old games (mid 90s going back).

That said, the edge Proton/Wine-Linux combo has is the quasi-sandboxing thing it does. You can have some esoteric environment set up for extremely finicky titles, without messing up your base OS. It isn't easy, but it's an option. And Valve (and other launchers) do try to lower the required knowledge bar for it.

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

As I'm still (old-) new on Linux, I can only comment based on what I've heard... and that is that it's really good. Proton is said to run old games just fine, and you have DosBOX on Linux as well, which works just like the Windows version. Steam configures Wine and Proton on first launch for you, so it's really a no effort solution. I've just installed Heroic Launcher which connected with my Epic and GOG accounts just fine.

Maybe you have a specific game in mind that I can test for you?

Nothing in particular, its more the vague fear of being unable to play a game that I want to play. I have a large game catalog, most of which is on Steam (so less problems there) and Gog (also maybe not so bad), but there are many titles I have not on those storefronts or titles that are no longer supported by Steam and Gog.

Something like Lord of the Rings The Battle for Middle Earth looks like a headache to get going on Linux. Or a game like Star Wars the Phantom Menace PC game (available as abandonware).

It seems to be that 1995 to 2005 period for PC exclusive games that is least supported by Linux because of other compounding factors. Steam was not big before 2005 and did not exist before 2003, games older than 1995 are easily emulated by DosBox and ScummVM. But that particular period of time has a lot of abandonware and lack of support, compounded by how rapidly graphics changed in that period as well as different API transitions (3dfx Glide to Direct X 1.0 - 9.0).

 

[Shihab]

Nothing in particular, its more the vague fear of being unable to play a game that I want to play. I have a large game catalog, most of which is on Steam (so less problems there) and Gog (also maybe not so bad), but there are many titles I have not on those storefronts or titles that are no longer supported by Steam and Gog.

As far as your steam library goes, ProtonDB can give you a pretty good idea of how well it runs on Proton.
If you signed in using your Steam account, you can view your library based on ProtonDB's rating for it:

https://www.protondb.com/explore?page=0&selectedFilters=restrictToLibrary&sort=wilsonRating

Note that this is a very generalized rating, it describes a probability rather than a "will work/won't work" distinction. The typical linux-esque YMMV disclaimer applies. A platinum game may not work with your distro/config, but a silver may.

I believe other databases exist for non-steam games, but I personally don't have much of an experience with them (except Wine's own, which I only check for other types of applications).

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

As far as your steam library goes, ProtonDB can give you a pretty good idea of how well it runs on Proton.
If you signed in using your Steam account, you can view your library based on ProtonDB's rating for it:

https://www.protondb.com/explore?page=0&selectedFilters=restrictToLibrary&sort=wilsonRating

Note that this is a very generalized rating, it describes a probability rather than a "will work/won't work" distinction. The typical linux-esque YMMV disclaimer applies. A platinum game may not work with your distro/config, but a silver may.

I believe other databases exist for non-steam games, but I personally don't have much of an experience with them (except Wine's own, which I only check for other types of applications).

Thank you for the suggestion. I will have to check that out as I don't intend to migrate to Win 11 next year.

 

[Aquinus]

Nothing in particular, its more the vague fear of being unable to play a game that I want to play. I have a large game catalog, most of which is on Steam (so less problems there) and Gog (also maybe not so bad), but there are many titles I have not on those storefronts or titles that are no longer supported by Steam and Gog.

Something like Lord of the Rings The Battle for Middle Earth looks like a headache to get going on Linux. Or a game like Star Wars the Phantom Menace PC game (available as abandonware).

It seems to be that 1995 to 2005 period for PC exclusive games that is least supported by Linux because of other compounding factors. Steam was not big before 2005 and did not exist before 2003, games older than 1995 are easily emulated by DosBox and ScummVM. But that particular period of time has a lot of abandonware and lack of support, compounded by how rapidly graphics changed in that period as well as different API transitions (3dfx Glide to Direct X 1.0 - 9.0).

I still have Ubuntu running on my 3930k machine and most of the games in my Steam library run pretty well. So well in fact that most games that I have that'll run on my Macbook Pro from mid-2019 with a i9 9880H and Radeon 5600m will be outperformed on my tower with a 3930k and a Vega 64. The only exception to that is Blizzard games, which I can't for the life of me get to run in Linux. It's one of the only reasons why I maintain a hacked up Windows install of Windows 11 with a bypass for secure boot and TPM.

 

[AusWolf]

Nothing in particular, its more the vague fear of being unable to play a game that I want to play. I have a large game catalog, most of which is on Steam (so less problems there) and Gog (also maybe not so bad), but there are many titles I have not on those storefronts or titles that are no longer supported by Steam and Gog.

Something like Lord of the Rings The Battle for Middle Earth looks like a headache to get going on Linux. Or a game like Star Wars the Phantom Menace PC game (available as abandonware).

It seems to be that 1995 to 2005 period for PC exclusive games that is least supported by Linux because of other compounding factors. Steam was not big before 2005 and did not exist before 2003, games older than 1995 are easily emulated by DosBox and ScummVM. But that particular period of time has a lot of abandonware and lack of support, compounded by how rapidly graphics changed in that period as well as different API transitions (3dfx Glide to Direct X 1.0 - 9.0).

Ah, I see. Those are some great games!

I'm not sure how well Wine runs them. The problem is, if you have the game on a disc or iso, even just running the installer needs some hacking even on Windows, and you certainly can't expect more from Linux.

 

[unwind-protect]

I understand that Proton and Wine have been key to getting gaming going on Linux but I do have some questions. How is the game compatibility for older games on Linux? The type of games that are 20 years old or older yet and are found mainly in Gog's catalog or are installed from the original CDs.

My impression was always that the really old games can be easily emulated on a emulator like ScummVM or a console emulator or DosBox and the new titles are being supported by Valve to be played on Linux but that 90s games and early 2000s games were hard to play on Linux. Maybe a 15 to 20 year span of games there.

Am I completely wrong about that?

There are different things mixed up here. Let's go one by one.

Older games have a high chance to run in Wine because there was more time for the Wine hackers to cover the APIs they use.

Sometimes running in Linux is good for older games. For example, old OpenGL calls are more correctly implemented in Linux' Mesa than in AMD's current Windows drivers. And if something doesn't work somebody can go fix it instead of just begging AMD.

A game being sold on GoG in generally very good for its ability to run under Wine. The reason is that GoG removes all aggressive copy protection. Which is often what breaks a game.

Finally, very old games are lightweight enough that you can just stuff them into a virtual machine if they refuse to run in Wine.

 

[omergardennart]

I've been looking for win11 pro since last week. I thought it would be better to try a different OS instead of the windows/intel “LAR” restriction. I have a router that can give 6GHz but I can't use it for 1 year. I tried Android but it doesn't detect be200 hardware. it doesn't have very updated drivers.
The PC is not “Chromebooks” but I tried “ChromeOS” from a dell “Chromebooks” model close to any current one and I saw 2.4/5ghz.
I then tried “FydeOS” for non “Chromebook” PCs and got 2.4/5ghz.
My last hope was “ubuntu pro”, I installed “Ubuntu 24.04.1 ” but it also got 2.4/5ghz. It could not detect 6GHz. I was very hopeful, after all, I said it doesn't have restrictions like windows. it surprised me.
I updated the kernel update in case it was a kernel update problem, it may not be the right driver for be200, but it is still annoying not to see it. I wonder if anyone can experience 6ghz in linux?

 

[unwind-protect]

I've been looking for win11 pro since last week. I thought it would be better to try a different OS instead of the windows/intel “LAR” restriction. I have a router that can give 6GHz but I can't use it for 1 year. I tried Android but it doesn't detect be200 hardware. it doesn't have very updated drivers.
The PC is not “Chromebooks” but I tried “ChromeOS” from a dell “Chromebooks” model close to any current one and I saw 2.4/5ghz.
I then tried “FydeOS” for non “Chromebook” PCs and got 2.4/5ghz.
My last hope was “ubuntu pro”, I installed “Ubuntu 24.04.1 ” but it also got 2.4/5ghz. It could not detect 6GHz. I was very hopeful, after all, I said it doesn't have restrictions like windows. it surprised me.
I updated the kernel update in case it was a kernel update problem, it may not be the right driver for be200, but it is still annoying not to see it. I wonder if anyone can experience 6ghz in linux?

Why not dump that stupid wireless chip that gets in your way?

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

The biggest snag on Proton gaming is anti-cheat software for MP titles. Some of them think you’re running a hack, and you could get banned. I’ve had good success with the single player stuff though.

 

[omergardennart]

Why not dump that stupid wireless chip that gets in your way?

QCNCM865 or MT927 wifi7 55$
I'm waiting for the price to drop, it's too high right now. maybe 30-35$
I'm really trying to get rid of intel. I even added it to a site that sells second hand products.

 

[MCJAxolotl7]

I would use it as my primary OS if they ever got HDR working right. They don't have it at all to date ...

I mean you act like HDR on windows isn't abhorrent, and there is not many hdr monitors

 

[AusWolf]

I would use it as my primary OS if they ever got HDR working right. They don't have it at all to date ...

HDR works on Bazzite... In fact, it works way better than it does on Windows 10.

(Apologies if I've already replied before - just thought I'd make my recommendation if I haven't)

 

[Icon Charlie]

This take is too general; you haven't really defined what "serious" means in this context. Not only that, a lot of people need to use a specific OS for their job. For example, SolidWorks only works with Windows. Also, a lot of people have a personal preference for what OS they use; none of them are a "one-size-fits-all" solution. In my case, I have spent the most time with Windows and ChromeOS hence the reason why I currently use the former on my PCs, although I have used MacOS and Linux quite a bit.

I agree with this comment. I've made my fortune off of Win OS. It's still my primary OS. Do I mess around with Linux? Yea. I'm digging Zorin OS.

But all of my Win OS's are stripped down versions getting rid of all of the crap Micro$haft puts in their OS's.

I just want things to work as easy as possible.

 

[kilo]

I agree with this comment. I've made my fortune off of Win OS. It's still my primary OS. Do I mess around with Linux? Yea. I'm digging Zorin OS.

But all of my Win OS's are stripped down versions getting rid of all of the crap Micro$haft puts in their OS's.

I just want things to work as easy as possible.

Zorin is what I landed on after several months of trying different linux flavors. I bought the pro version one night/morning when I couldn't sleep and don't regret it. It's pretty solid. I only have one Java application that has issues with updates. I'm now using a windows vm for just that application.

One thing that took me a while was figuring out the differences between flatpaks and dpkg's and which software worked on Debian vs others.

 

[R-T-B]

HDR works on Bazzite... In fact, it works way better than it does on Windows 10.

(Apologies if I've already replied before - just thought I'd make my recommendation if I haven't)

It's improved a ton since I made that comment. I use it more than windows for gaming as of late. The only thing I wish was better was kernel anticheat but well, kernel anticheat needs to die anyways.

 

[Bones]

Finally redid my Peppermint 10 install to freshen it up and getting it like I want now.
The old one was well over 2 years old and recently started acting a touch laggy at times, I figured too much crap had gotten into it over time, making it "Bloated" if you will.

After the reinstall and updates it's snappy again and doing great.

 

[MCJAxolotl7]

I use linux on my desktop. Ubuntu 24.10. I like it because it works well enough and Nvidia Wayland works now. I mainly play steam games and Java Minecraft. I watched the LTT linux challenge videos, challenged myself to dualboot it for a week. After the week was up, I liked it so much I erased my windows partition right then.