Give up all the great games Windows has to offer, to say that Linux works smoothly and perfectly, and the truth is ... There are a lot of compatibility issues and drivers on Linux especially among the different distributions, so please don't tell us fairy tales.
Valve's Proton project has brought 6,500 Windows games to Linux so far
- Thread starter nanoguy
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jizzyburnizzy
Posts: 80 +30
Your issues are not my issues. I use ubuntu server and have 4 different systems running 4 different distros (just for fun) and I dont have any issues. Granted I dont use too many unique applications.
I rest my case
I'm not sure what you're trying to say on drivers and compatibility. Drivers aren't distribution specific as they're in the kernel and there are no compatibility problems with applications between distributions. All a developer has to do to make their application work the same across all the distributions is package it as either an appimage or a flatpak.
No linux is not smooth and perfect but that's because OEM's don't test and pre-install linux on their hardware like they do Windows and many application developers use middleware that break any chance of a linux port. Neither problem is a failure on the part of linux based operating systems or their developers.
They're definite problems for mainstream adoption of linux on the desktop but not every linux user really cares if the year of the linux desktop ever comes. Users of linux are seeing all the pain points of using linux completely disappear even without it going mainstream. With the advancement of technology it's becoming easy for developers to build their applications around cross distribution development tools. And since the mobile platform is probably more lucrative than even the desktop in many instances developers are actively making choices that favor cross platform compatibility which is forcing the companies that design development tools to start improving their cross platform support.
Honestly all it would take for a new user of linux to learn everything they'd ever need to know to be completely familiar with the platform and troubleshooting the occasional issues is a short educational course that'd take maybe a week to complete. I acknowledge that's still too much work for the average person so it's still not ready to go mainstream.
I've had at least one Linux supported game displayed with that filter which tried to install Proton. It starts with "Doki Doki"... And I haven't enabled "Enable Steam Play for all titles", though "supported titles" are ticked by default. Wish it was more clearly labelled so I can check protondb.com less.
If you have very niche / non-mainstream components in your PC then sure, you may have a hard time getting drivers sorted in Linux. But if you have mainstream components, and you're not fidgeting around with the most obscure distributions out there, everything should work right out of the box. I'm using Manjaro Linux on my gaming PC at present, and I had to install exactly zero additional drivers. The only game I had to jump through hoops to get working was Borderlands 3 with its requirement for the infernal Windows Media Foundation Codecs, and even that was sorted in 15 minutes of troubleshooting.
Gaming on Linux is not for everyone, and I'm guessing it never will be. There are those who want an "on rails" experience, such as is the case with Windows 10, while others want the freedom to configure their environment any way they see fit. Luckily both options are available to us, so choose the approach that works for you.
There are several major problems with Linux:
- Lack of good graphics drivers
- Very low standards in user-interface looks and ergonomics. Yes, some apps look and feel great, but most of them don't. GUI expectations on Linux are very low and this results in apps that have horrible GUIs.
- Lack of good free apps. Yeah, who would have expected that on a FREE OS?? There's a lot more excellent free apps on Windows than on Linux.
- Some popular apps don't have their Linux versions. Now, if that app is absolutely needed for your work, then you have no choice.
For those reasons Linux is still not as popular as Windows. But one of the major problems is that old users are more in love with the command-line than GUI, resulting in more command-line apps, which repulses other users.
- Lack of good graphics drivers
- Very low standards in user-interface looks and ergonomics. Yes, some apps look and feel great, but most of them don't. GUI expectations on Linux are very low and this results in apps that have horrible GUIs.
- Lack of good free apps. Yeah, who would have expected that on a FREE OS?? There's a lot more excellent free apps on Windows than on Linux.
- Some popular apps don't have their Linux versions. Now, if that app is absolutely needed for your work, then you have no choice.
For those reasons Linux is still not as popular as Windows. But one of the major problems is that old users are more in love with the command-line than GUI, resulting in more command-line apps, which repulses other users.
That is good news. Couple of things. First, I use only Linux (Ubuntu) for any serious work, been doing this for about 10 years.
Now, when it comes to gaming and Steam, from my wish list, whenever there is a sale, I will ALWAYS prioritise buying a game from developers that will support Linux (so in my filters I will select SteamOS). It's my way of contributing to the ecosystem and showing my appreciation, and there are tons of games even some AAA games that are getting more and more native Linux support. So this 2% argument and Microsoft not being afraid, that people are quoting over and over again, I am sorry but statistics can change (I've heard the same 2% back in 2010, I think it's much higher than this now) and I think efforts like these make it much easier, so I applaud the initiative + results and I greatly respect Valve for that; As an aside, what I don't like is that NVIDIA SURROUND (multi screen gaming) doesn't easily work on Linux (yet). I wish they would focus on that at some point because that would convert a bigger base for Linux gaming.
Also, more than 75% that I successfully run a game on Linux, I notice a performance boost (and, more stable) versus running the same game on any Microsoft OS. With Vulkan now being integrated as well by game devs, I feel like the focus and momentum for Linux gaming is going to be increasing.
Now, when it comes to gaming and Steam, from my wish list, whenever there is a sale, I will ALWAYS prioritise buying a game from developers that will support Linux (so in my filters I will select SteamOS). It's my way of contributing to the ecosystem and showing my appreciation, and there are tons of games even some AAA games that are getting more and more native Linux support. So this 2% argument and Microsoft not being afraid, that people are quoting over and over again, I am sorry but statistics can change (I've heard the same 2% back in 2010, I think it's much higher than this now) and I think efforts like these make it much easier, so I applaud the initiative + results and I greatly respect Valve for that; As an aside, what I don't like is that NVIDIA SURROUND (multi screen gaming) doesn't easily work on Linux (yet). I wish they would focus on that at some point because that would convert a bigger base for Linux gaming.
Also, more than 75% that I successfully run a game on Linux, I notice a performance boost (and, more stable) versus running the same game on any Microsoft OS. With Vulkan now being integrated as well by game devs, I feel like the focus and momentum for Linux gaming is going to be increasing.
Whoa... as a developer, I'm sorry but almost every single thing that you just said is wrong and you should do some research! Not looking to argue, but you might want to look at Ubuntu (Studio or MATE). It has an insane package manager that solves about any application issue I've ever had, and I use tons of them. I'm curious which application you might be referring to. Every time I try to run a similar application, on windows I will end up in some sort of either hidden or in your face "trial" that wants to do a cash grab for something I'm able to do for free on Linux.
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