I’m under no illusions that Linux is a viable alternative for everyone, but if you’re just using your computer as a web terminal and light gaming system, a decent Linux system + Steam makes for a very usable option these days.
I have exactly one computer in my house that has Windows on it. It was provided by my employer, and I turn it on maybe once every two weeks or so, for special-purpose activities that can’t be done on my Linux laptop. And most of the time, for most activities my Linux laptop is the clearly superior performer - it’s not even close, despite their similar hardware specs.
I don’t think everyone should - or can - switch. But if you’ve got an old beater laptop gathering dust, try popping Ubuntu or something on it, see how it performs. See if it’s something you could legitimately switch to full or part time.
Is Linux still a good option for gaming if one were to not purchase games?
Yes, you can either add the game as a non-steam game and force proton, or use Lutris or Bottles (with proton or other WINE runner). For repacks with installers, you can launch the setup.exe with Lutris or Bottles (install the game to ‘fake’ drive_c and move it), just make sure you’re include dependencies that require it (usually .net framework).
Source: most of my steam library on my steam deck is plundered loot
There are also repackers like jc141 e LinuxRulez that also manage the dependencies and prefix for you. LinuxRulez also gives you appropriate Wine versions if needed
Not to necro this thread, but lets say someone I know has gotten copy of a repack and when they try to install it with Lutris it says they don’t have enough disk space to run the installer, is it possible to create the wine bottle and specify the size of it before launching the installer?
Linux is paradise when it comes to emulation 🎮
Lutris is good for that. It can be confusing at first if you don’t know how Wine works, but it’s very easy to use and doesn’t require Steam.
I find Bottles it’s less confusing than Lutris, (though it’s not UX perfect), and a better suggestion for people starting off with gaming.
Though Steam is the number one suggestion. If all your games run through Steam then you don’t even need to worry about Bottles or Lutris.
yes but steam is so easy
Steam works on Linux.
yeah and it is very easy
Sure. I’ve run several modern … repurposed… games and it usually works through lutris.
Yes, Steam doesn’t do anything
You can just as easily use Wine/Proton as your runner as you can set up Steam to use Wine/Proton as your runner
Not true, steam makes it incredibly easy. Install steam, tick compatibility option, install, click green play button.
Lutris makes it incredibly easy. Install Lutris, tick runner option, install, click play button
Lutris is great, I use it myself.
However, if you have a friend fresh from Windows who already uses steam and you say, tick compatible proton 8 or latest and click play vs install new software and then add the game you’ve already lost the easy battle.
not purchase games?
😏
At this point in time, I only occasionally have mild issues with newest games, because Wine is a continuously developed software, and games with an annoying anticheat, such as Destiny 2 or R6 Siege. Everything else just runs, including older games, that don’t even run on Windows, or titles you had to sail the seas for
Yeah it’s great. Bottles is the best tool imo, lutris almost feels like a relic from the early days of Linux gaming, and non-steam games in steam don’t always work exactly how you might want, and aren’t so much fun. There is also heroic games launcher now which lets you add custom games and is also a very nice option if you don’t use gnome (bottles is a gnome style app so it may look out of place elsewhere). I would put some thorough research into VPNs if you torrent though because the one I used on my Linux box (expressvpn) leaked my ip at some point and I got a letter in the mail.
Yes, but it will take some learning time
Yeah this is so true. I have a gaming laptop with Linux on it and a steam deck. If it doesn’t run on Linux, I don’t buy it. The problem is that strategy isn’t really saving me any money these days.
I’m a gamer. I’ve used Windows since the 95 days. I’m done with Microsoft. I was not happy with Windows 10 and the bullshit they introduced but there is no way in hell I’m signing up for Win11.
Steam has made a lot of progress with Proton. My next computer will be Linux-based.
It’s getting pretty easy to ditch Windows these days. Microsoft got too greedy and desperate, and actually using the damn platform they built is getting harder and harder, especially if you don’t want the nagging and annoyances that come from them trying to turn your computer into their subscription revenue stream. My impression is that Valve is aware of the problem, and wants to make sure that their store works regardless of which operating system you prefer.
Valve is and was aware of this problem even back then. I don’t have a reliable source on this but from what I remember it all started when Microsoft begun pushing the Microsoft Store.
Gabe Newell even said Linux is the future of gaming
And for this I have a source: https://www.pcgamer.com/gabe-newell-linux-and-open-source-are-the-future-of-gaming/
There’s a real sense of relief whenever I close my (work) windows laptop and open my personal Pop_OS laptop… and then start up Baldur’s Gate.
I’ve been primarily a Linux user for several years now and it seems like Windows is just getting worse and worse in terms of user experience. I fear the day that my company wants everyone to move to Win11.
If everyone swapped to Linux, how quickly do you think it’d be as viable as Windows?
The problem with Linux as a desktop is that all the money and investment goes into server use cases. There really aren’t many companies investing into the desktop. I think Valve might he the only big company with a major interest in it, but they’re mostly focusing on their own closed ecosystem. It’s the classic chicken and egg problem.
So if magically we see desktop usage go up, investment will go up, and we’ll see much more momentum.
Regarding viability though, I think that’s not going to be solved with more investment. The problem is the millions of people making trillions of documents in MS Office. Microsoft goes out of their way to make it extremely difficult for competitors to achieve 100% compatibility. Unless that changes through regulation or something (since it’s clearly anticompetitive), I don’t think the hypothetical linux desktop wave will survive very long.
Adobe, Autodesk, and a few others are also at fault for not supporting linux, but that’s a different issue. They’ll go where the money is, and if Linux usage goes up, they’ll have to support it or risk losing their strong market positions.
It’s all an annoying chicken and egg problem.
Didn’t some municipality in Germany run Linux on all their desktops but had to stop, not because any fault with Linux but because of compatibility? The money saved on licenses was lost on having to find ways to integrate with other municipalities and problems when others had problems with their documents etc.
Munich. Staff were happy with it, compatibility had nothing to do with it, and it definitely had nothing to do with the Mayor rubbing Microsoft’s back for moving their German headquarters back to Munich. Perish the thought.
They’re more or less in the process of rolling back the rollback, though.
Getting Berlaymont switched over would be the big get. Those people are writing memos advocating for the adoption of free software solutions and open document standards using MS Office.
Maya runs on Linux. They’d lose tons and tons of customers if they pulled support. The rule of thumb is “if it started on IRIX then now the main platform is Linux”.
5 years for personal, 20 years for professional
Ummm… I’m thinking more like two years for personal, and now for professional. I’m a professional, using Linux as my daily driver.
The software has to be developed and then it has to be adopted
You can find companies running XP still just to avoid upgrading their embedded system
I’m gonna ride out Windows 10 since I’ve got it behaving and I’m lazy. But if Windows 12 is just like Windows 11, or worse, I’m switching to Linux and figuring out how to get a vGPU VM up and running for when I have to run something on Windows for one reason or another. I messed with a vGPU in Hyper-V on Windows and was amazed by how seamless the performance was compared to other VM GPU acceleration options. I found a project to do something similar on Linux, so I’m gonna mess with that. If I can get it running as well as I’ve seen in some videos, I won’t need a bare metal Windows install anymore.
You should probably just go ahead and switch now. It’s not going to get any better, at least not over one iteration. Maybe Windows 14…
Should I remind you of ME, Vista and Win8?
Yeah same. When they do eventually kill 10 then im bailing for Firefox and Linux. I do also have it behaving but sometimes it tries the odd bullshit about edge.
Linux needs a Chrome OS type thing but FOSS with steam and it’ll be the best version for most users, and if it’s configurable unlike Chrome OS it’ll even serve power users
(Chrome OS was actually really good imo, especially with their container method of running Android and Linux apps, but they moved it to VM, and it’s not as good functionally for some reason)
You know there is a Chromium OS out there that is not only for Chrome OS computers. I don’t remember the exact name, Google it.
Chromium OS is the worst of both worlds (limited to chromium and you don’t get the ease of use from Chrome OS), unless you meant a fork of it, in which case I’m not aware of it and a Google search doesn’t give me any good results.
(Though I still should have remembered chromium OS, but that’s on me being used to it being ignored because of lacking Android apps mainly)
I would switch tomorrow if I didn’t play competitive CS that requires third-party anti-cheat like Faceit/ ESEA.
Which version of CS? Many of them work fine now.
For most things I fully agree, unless it’s for windows specific applications that don’t exist in other platforms.
What about Nvidia drivers for games?
Nvidia drivers work fine, they always have (I’m using a 4090 on my fedora workstation). This is a common misconception.
Nvidia’s drivers are a problem because they are not open source. This creates headaches for developers and the community at large. But for end users, they work just fine. Nvidia doesn’t just dump untested code on the internet and call it a day, they have full time staff dedicated to building and testing linux drivers.
One recent problem is that the current latest driver is not compatible with Starfield. This is a common occurrence even on windows, and is why Nvidia and AMD regularly release “game ready” drivers before a major game launch. On Windows, Starfield crashed with the latest AMD driver for the same reason.
Since it isn’t open source, our only option is to wait for Nvidia to release a new version. If it was open source, the community could fix the issue immediately without having to wait.
I see thanks for the info.
Next computer I would consider to go full Linux instead of getting windows 11 dual booting
got a citation there bud? running a 4080 on endeavour OS and have same issue :(
I think you misinterpreted my comment. Starfield is currently broken, and we need to wait for a fix from Nvidia.
One recent problem is that the current latest driver is not compatible with Starfield. This is a common occurrence even on windows, and is why Nvidia and AMD regularly release “game ready” drivers before a major game launch. On Windows, Starfield crashed with the latest AMD driver for the same reason.
DX12 and Vulkan were supposed to fix all that, but apparently not.
Use X11 and you are fine
Actually, these days you can use Wayland and be fine, too. It’s my daily driver now.
@kescusay Just out of interest, what are the “special-purpose activities that can’t be done on my Linux laptop” if you don’t mind sharing?
For me, there are a few work-specific tasks that require our Windows-only VPN client in order to perform them. Fortunately, the bulk of my job isn’t like that.
Running AAA games with kernel level anti-cheat (aka malware) would be an example. Or special-purpose Windows-exclusive software like some ERP client, specific hardware drivers etc.
Ironically enough, some of the Linux certification exams only work on Windows and macOS.
And you can put windows in a virtual machine for edge cases for most use cases. Use Linux for everything else.
God bless EU
Nah thanks, we’re lucky to be mostly secular.
You can have both. For instance Denmark is among the least religious countries in the world, and at the same time among of the most blessed.
That’s a fine arrangement we’ve got IMO.
Microsoft Edge is the true religion
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It’s not perfect by any means, but I’m glad to have it and can’t think of any other political organisation doing more “good”.
The ratio of helpful/shit behavior is not great, but we do have both.
Yes, but on the other hand, sometimes too much, with all the spying laws they wan to push every semester.
It’s a mixture… forcing companies into roaming agreements, mandating USB C, CCS2, stuff like that.
Then they propose laws to effectively ban end to end encryption.
In a case like this, I think they’re mainly worried that the dominance of [insert company] from [insert country] is getting too big.
But they was slapping apple for usb C too. They’re doing something right over there.
EU does seem to be on the forefront when it comes to user rights. It’s always nice to see them not just grazing over the issues
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The huge difference between FTC and EC in terms of the mandate of their operation. Whereas the Sherman Law and FTC are operating with aim to protect customers’ rights or something like that, EC anti-monopoly law is oriented just on that: fighting anti-competitive behaviour. The problem is IMHO that “customer rights” is so flexible term, that (with good support in the campaign contributions, I am sure) it is easy to persuade FTC that almost anything you do is perfectly nice. EC’s anti-monopoly mandate is on the other hand rather strict and inflexible.
Especially when you hire a former Verizon lawyer as head of the FTC, and they do their best to dismantle it from the inside, and then the next person you hire needs to spend a bunch of their time rebuilding what was torn down.
Hard to say but in the end my life quality is waaaaaay better after EU accession.
confirmed
“Microsoft forced to stop forcing Windows 11 users into Edge in EU countries”, would be a more descriptive title.
But the multinational hyper-conglomerates are our friends and the most efficient use of capital!
Can they do the same for Google recommending Chrome?
At least google sites recommending Chrome are free to use. Microsoft is forcing is it’s useless browser to an audience via an OS. Which they paid for. Two huge no-no’s.
MS should just quit the facade and make it free.
I mean it more or less already is. I’m running an unregistered W10 Pro and the “activate license” thing only comes up occasionally.
I heard from an acquaintance of mine that works for MS that they really don’t care if you pay for their software. As long as you’re using it, they know you’re locked into their environment.
Hell, you can download an install ISO off their website directly, and you can install and run it without a license key.
Yeah I think that much is really apparent. I use AtlasOS when I absolutely need to use Windows.
Yes, they are doing both. The list of entities covered by the DMA dropped today.
This. Current title is misleading.
now do the rest of the world.
how do I set my version to European
better question is, how do I set my american to european?
American folks really need to fight for their rights
The change for EEA users doesn’t even work currently, so no one actually knows. I have a $50 bounty out though to figure out what’s needed once it does work though.
Use german/uk during setup, switch after.
Btw, deskmodder has a slightly deshittyfied Windows 11 iso.
This doesn’t even work currently. Despite them saying that those in the EEA won’t have to deal with Edge. I’m sure it’ll work eventually, just not right now.
So they restrict language choice to ip range? Or does the workaround no longer work, they use ip range or something else now?
The moment the VPN disconnects, edge pops up
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Install Linux. Problem solved
That’s just swapping one problem for another, and I say that as a Linux user
Swapping out a large listmof unsolvable problems, bugs, and limitations for a smaller lost of very doable problems.
And I say that as a 24 years Linux user who seriously only sees shit getting worse on the other side every time
The average user wants their computer to just work, they want to open up their new Bluetooth headphones that their son/ grandson bought them and it connects as expected. Your definition of problem and what is solvable is very different to theirs
The average beginner distro handles bluetooth headphones just fine. On Windows they do not always work reliably
They do not always work reliably anywhere.
Anecdotally, I disagree with that. I’ve never had an issue with Bluetooth on windows. I struggle a lot with Bluetooth on ubuntu
I’ve had issues with Bluetooth on Windows 11, but it worked perfectly on Linux Mint. On Windows 11 the Bluetooth card would simply disappear after I put the laptop to sleep, only appearing at random after multiple restarts. It did work in Windows 10 just fine, however. Similarly, I had to change my WiFi card just for Windows 11. It kept disconnecting from network. Again, something that did not affect Windows 10 or Linux Mint.
If I didn’t have unused WiFi card laying around, I definitely wouldn’t be buying another one just for Windows.
Drivers are actually something that Linux handles far better than Windows lol
That’s funny. I’m listening right now to Spotify music on my Bluetooth headset from my Linux desktop. I got like 5 different bluetooth headsets that I use on three different computers, all works flawlessly.
So I guess I could say that that is actually not a problem?
Edit: to clarify: Bluetooth worked immediately and out of the box on each of my computers, a desktop and two different laptops. All I needed to do was pair the devices and go time. I can pair whatever Bluetooth device that I want.
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Then what are you doing here in the comments of an article about yet another software company abusing it’s users for the nth time? Then go give your private data willingly to these companies.
I don’t directly have a problem with closed source software if it wasn’t for they fact that any closed source software product that gets big gets abused and riddled with ads.
That’s why, Linux.
Nobody wants to deal with Windows either. It’s just the monopoly that has been pushed onto us that we’ve been forced to get used to.
What setting can I put in to make Windows think its in the EU?
I have the hilarious image in my head that Microsoft checks their stats and has more EU users than the EU has population.
Good news everyone! We’ve apparently tripled our customer base in Europe!
That’s already pretty likely, given multiple devices per person.
Doubt it, computer sales have been shrinking in the past years. Phone/tablet is often all people need/want.
Don’t forget work computers!
That’s pretty close to 1 Windows PC per office worker. I still don’t think it adds up to a number bigger than European population. There are many people who basically don’t know how to use a computer.
lmfao.
This may or may not help you, I don’t have a Windows 11 install to try: https://www.elevenforum.com/t/change-country-or-region-geographic-location-geoid-in-windows-11.4034/
how to move out of america for free
pay and find a job, profit
That’s nice for the EU folks, elsewhere Microsoft has doubled down on this practice.
I’ve just doubled down on not using Microsoft tbh. I shouldn’t have to spend so much time and effort cleaning a clean install of an OS. And have updates change things so they don’t work the same or at all any more, or you just can’t find them. Fuck that.
Didn’t this all get decided legally like two decades ago when Microsoft tried to do the same kind of thing with internet Explorer?
In America, software owns you
Pretty sure USA has it the worst when it comes to MS shennenigans.
We get fucked on consumer protections in general.
Yep. I remember some of my coworkers used to laugh at me saying “What bloatware? I don’t have any, nor the ads. We’ve used the same images, so it must’ve been something you’ve done yourself”.
Turns out that’s because I chose en/us during installation process and our region didn’t have preinstall deals… yet. Now, they too can enjoy self-installing candy crush and literal KGB spyware.
This except it’s not limited to software. We exist at the whims of corporations.
When you don’t control your software, your software controls you, or something like that
Now do cross-platform messaging next!
According to Microsoft almost everything from Microsoft is cross platform, because it works in both Windows 10 and 11. That’s good enough for Microsoft to be cross platform. I’m not even kidding!
EU: “That still only counts as one”
OK. 😀
Guys. This fellow here is missing a Lord of the Rings reference! Did you know that trilogy is 20 years ago now? Feeling old yet?
Lord of the Rings is from 1968, and I read it in the 80’s.
I still don’t get the reference.
It’s a movie reference. Specifically it references “The Lord of the Rings: The return of the King” at the end of the battle of Minas Tirith. It is said by Gimli, as a response to Legolas slaying a Mumak (giant war elephant).
I’m sorry i don’t have a timestamp.
OK I looked it up, and that is indeed a LOTR reference.
I just don’t get why people would make a reference out of anything as generic as that?
Goddammit, now I’m even more disappointed in the UK doing a Brexit…
I didn’t even want the windows search results to include web links in the first place…
Eyyyyyyyyy 😎👆👉👆👉
Thanks!
I haven’t used the windows search since forever, but if I ever need it again I’ll keep this is mind if I see the web results still bothering me.
Here we go again, MS already lost a US federal lawsuit for the same thing but with Internet Explorer.
Yeah I definitely remember that in the news as a teenager…and then I remember everybody kinda shrugged their shoulders and forgot. And now Bill Gates = zoomer jesus after 20 years of PR work to turn his image around.
Somehow, everybody forgot all the dumpster-diving Gates did to “build” Microsoft in the first place.
Crazy to think that Commodore’s BASIC was coded by Bill Gates, though. I was recently reading a programming article he wrote in Compute! magazine back in 1984, when MS ascendance was anything but guaranteed.
Sadly, they didn’t lose. They almost lost, appealed and ended up with a settlement which didn’t require removing IE from Windows or prevent tying other software to windows.
On November 2, 2001, the DOJ reached an agreement with Microsoft to settle the case. The proposed settlement required Microsoft to share its application programming interfaces with third-party companies and appoint a panel of three people who would have full access to Microsoft’s systems, records, and source code for five years in order to ensure compliance.[29] However, the DOJ did not require Microsoft to change any of its code nor did it prevent Microsoft from tying other software with Windows in the future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp
Ah damn! I missed out as I am using Pop OS. SWORRY!!
Don’t worry. They make Edge for Linux too.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/2/22759123/microsoft-edge-linux-stable-channel
Willingly using Edge on Linux to browse the internet should be classified as a mental disorder.
I do so. When you start the browser it’s bloated of course, but you can customize it and remove almost everything you don’t like. The browser itself has a lot of its own neat features, so it’s not really just a reskin of chromium. I am tired of pretending it’s only bad.
Why use proprietary software when we have alternative Free Software that works just as well?
Yeah, no. That is just wrong. That is akin to saying that IE 6 really was awesome. Get help
Yup.
A warcrime
I think it’s called Stockholm syndrome.
Who in the everlasting fuck would for what Jesus on a pogostick reason install edge on Linux?
That is just sick
That is like walking in on a church mass with “the exorcist 2973” blasting from your mobile phone
I’m sure Microsoft had it out there for someone but again… Who…?
I feel like I need to shower
Which is useful for using the Xbox Cloud thing on Linux.
Also, it works as the one Chromium based browser I occasionally need for sites built by idiots.
Cute.
Linux isn’t an OS, but you GNU that.
Yay. Still have removed it forcefully.
… and didn’t miss it ever since. 😊
