You must log in or # to comment.
Let’s not become delusional now. Linux as an overall operating system feels much better to use but only because we care to become tech savvy and to troubleshoot. There are so many headaches that come with Linux which makes it unattractive to most people.
We are probably not most people.
Thank you for being the sane one.
I’ve recently stumbled upon a lot of people like whoever wrote the article, rampaging all over the place, going “Linux is more user-friendly than Windows”, which is just an insane thing to say.
Linux is great, I love my Garuda to bits. But games are still optimised for Windows, we still need to use compatibility layers to get them running, and even though it’s gotten MUCH easier these days, there’s still a lot of titles that require tweaking/hacking. And some just refuse to run, period.
And then you have all the hardware compatibility issues that come with manufacturers just not supporting stuff. I can’t turn my GPU’s RGB off without Windows. I had to distro-hop to get the GPU drivers working correctly (it might be a “skill issue”, but that just proves the point, I think). Even titles that are marked as Gold on ProtonDB sometimes crash or refuse to run randomly.
there’s still a lot of titles that require tweaking/hacking. And some just refuse to run, period.
run into that shit on windows, too. and theres not compatability layers to blame, there.
Even titles that are marked as Gold on ProtonDB sometimes crash or refuse to run randomly.
and shit doesnt crash on windows? All protons in the world arent going to fix a games inherent bugs that make it crash.
run into that shit on windows, too. and theres not compatability layers to blame, there.
I honestly cannot remember the last time I had trouble running anything on Windows. Probably around early Windows 7? It’s been years.
and shit doesnt crash on windows? All protons in the world arent going to fix a games inherent bugs that make it crash.
Mate, come on… If a game crashes on Windows, you know it’s the game’s or the driver’s fault.
If a game crashes on Linux, it might be the game’s fault, or the driver’s fault, or the virtualiser’s fault, or the virtualised driver’s fault, or maybe a config file somewhere has something commented for no reason, or maybe you just rebooted and forgot to re-mount the secondary drive, or maybe a billion other reasons.
Gaming on Linux is MUCH better than it used to be, but pretending that it’s anywhere near Windows’ level of “fire and forget” is just being silly.
Linux is now the best gaming system.
I’ll just share how my latest bout with gaming on Linux looked like, compared to Windows.
Install Anno 1800 on Windows:
- Start installation in Steam
- Ubisoft Launcher installs
- Anno 1800 starts
- Enjoy the rest of my evening
Install Anno 1800 on Linux:
- Install Anno 1800 in Steam
- Research how to start game
- Enable Proton compatibility layer
- Game fails to start due to missing Ubisoft Launcher
- Install Ubi launcher using method ‘add installer as game, set compatibility layer, install and change executable for application executable’
- Game fails to start due to missing Ubisoft Launcher
- Try with different Proton versions, fail each time
- Install Lutris and install Ubi launcher through that
- Game fails to start due to missing Ubisoft Launcher
- Give up for the evening
Next day:
- Read up some more
- Install Protontricks
- Encounter weird errors when starting it
- Try to find out what is going on
- Suppress tendency to just say ‘fuck it’ and start Windows
- Install Protontricks through Flatpack instead of system package, as the Flatpack version is slightly newer. Accept that this will result in a much larger installation due to not using system-provided libraries.
- Add Ubi launcher through protontricks, ignoring out-of-date instructions on the Internet
- Start game
- Cry at slideshow performance
- Give up for the evening
Next day:
- Research possible causes of performance issues
- Try multiple ways of enabling Nvidia GPU instead of integrated graphics
- Fail each time
- Turn off Secure Boot
- Correct GPU now available
- Better performance, although still not great
- Feel no enjoyment anymore at getting it to run or while playing
As much as I want to like it, this experience makes me feel that Linux is not fully ready for the masses yet.
Ubisoft isn’t ready for the masses yet. Linux works just fine
Depends on what types of games you want to play. If you play a lot of competitive multiplayer games you’re gonna have a bad time.
More people need to say that if you’re going to want ring 0, I’m not going to give you my money.
Take 100 random gamers. How many of them will know what ring 0/kernel level anti-cheat even means? They don’t care. They will happily accept whatever the publisher puts inside the game.
The only exception to this is Denuvo because it was affecting performance.
Disclaimer - I’m an ardent linux fan
They don’t know ring 0, but they would understand “this anti cheat is the most privacy invasive kind, controlling and monitoring everything on your computer”.
this anti cheat is the most privacy invasive kind, controlling and monitoring everything on your computer
Avg gamer: Woah that’s really bad.
Me: So you’ll uninstall the game now, right?
Avg gamer: What? Heck no. I’m Diamond in Valorant. And all my friends are playing it
They will understand what you said. But changing habit is way harder on a mass scale. It’s well known for years that Vanguard is a rootkit but the game is as popular as ever. If you tell this on any gaming community, you’ll be responded with “Oh and switch to LinSux and play decade old games?”
I agree, but we don’t have to convince anyone. A large minority would still be a huge achievement. In fact we don’t even need more than that.
