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With how user-hostile Windows has become lately I've been happy to see gaming on Linux go from how esoteric it used to be to the more commonplace scenario that

by ve55 6y ago

With how user-hostile Windows has become lately I've been happy to see gaming on Linux go from how esoteric it used to be to the more commonplace scenario that it now is. While it's obviously a small fraction compared to Windows (as noted in the article, 0.5-2% seems accurate), those that tried playing modern games on Linux a decade ago would be pleasantly surprised to see how much more feasible it is today; it's come a long way. Valve and Steam have played an important role in this, but we've also seen significant improvements in wine, applications like Lutris, and all-around steady improvements in hardware support and drivers, as well as a much larger and more accessible community and body of knowledge. While there's still quite a few games that seem near-impossible to play from linux, I think a lot of people that decided against trying this many years ago would find things much better off than where they left off, especially for someone that is willing to put in just a little bit of time to fix potential issues (but of course, we must admit that sometimes one can be unlucky and spend hours trying to fix some specific issues, even if that is much more rare than it used to be). Although I don't play much, I'm happy to not have to dual boot Windows just to run a few select applications and I hope that things look even better this decade with the amount of interest we've seen in FOSS, user privacy and security, and so on, all increasing.

pjmlp 6y ago
As proven by Netbooks, ChromeOS, Android and maker consoles. Anything Linux based that goes mainstream has very little to do with regular GNU/Linux, or is based on customized distributions, tainted with OEM specific drivers and kernels that never get updated.
- mav3rick 6y ago
  Chrome OS regularly uprevs the kernel. And updates drivers etc with it. Most of these are open source.
  - pjmlp 6y ago
    Up to 5 from starting the sales, and it only really applies to Google's own model's.
    - mav3rick 6y ago
      No it doesn't all Chromebooks get updates the same way.
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        So 5 years and then goodbye.
        mav3rick 6y ago
        You're wrong every time. It's 8 years - https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-now-get-up-to-eight-years-of-chrome-os-updates/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-no...
    - emj 6y ago
      The Asus Chromebooks I gave away two years ago instead of doing technical support are still being updated as far as I can tell.
      - pjmlp 6y ago
        Great, probably the current owner might still get one or two years out of it, given Google's official update cycles.
        mav3rick 6y ago
        8 years - https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-now-get-up-to-eight-years-of-chrome-os-updates/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-no...
shrimp_emoji 6y ago
Valve's been amazing. Without their (ongoing, even after SteamOS pretty much flopped!) support, I don't know if I could've survived on Linux. xP What's surprising is how many games are native through Steam. It tends to be the types of games I think most Linux nerds (like me) would stereotypically tend to prefer, too (Factorio, Europa Universalis 4, Kerbal Space Program, Cities: Skylines, most roguelikes). That said, I think a varied gaming diet is important. For non-native (especially AAA) games, https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ is very handy. Even games that can't run seem to get more runnable over time. Not long ago (a year or two?), Fallout 4 would run hilariously badly -- tons of graphical assets would be missing, and it was unplayable. Today, it runs "okay" (a subset of the sounds don't work unless you use a Proton flag in Steam, and the mouse is pretty sluggish).
- mustacheemperor 6y ago
  I've seen it theorized that SteamOS was less a flop and more a shot across Microsoft's bow that had the intentional effect. It briefly seemed like a war was brewing over the Windows Store or the Steam Store being the main outlet for PC game purchases, particularly games developed by MS studios. Seems that all but disappeared when the Steam Machine came out.
  - muststopmyths 6y ago
    SteamOS has nothing to do with the Windows Store failing. That was tied to WinRT and Windows Phone. SteamOS and the few Steam Machine designs announced were underwhelming junk that had no market. But you could be absolutely right that it was intended as a signal to Microsoft. Maybe Valve just got lucky and didn't have to follow through seriously.
    - throwaway45349 6y ago
      No, the Steam for Linux + Hardware effort definitely got Microsoft moving: https://www.onmsft.com/news/the-story-of-how-valves-move-to-linux-lit-a-fire-under-microsoft-xbox-execs https://www.onmsft.com/news/the-story-of-how-valves-move-to-...
_Microft 6y ago
> With how user-hostile Windows has become lately What recent change do you mean? I can’t remember any particular change that I would consider user-hostile.
- wetpaws 6y ago
  Literally all changes past win8 have been user-hostile. (Depending on your thoughts on what windows version constitutes as good you move this line back to win7/XP, I personally felt win8 was at least usable and did not show freaking ads in my start menu.)
  - Kudos 6y ago
    I don't want to be that guy, but the misuse of "literally" in this particular case is just inflammatory. I get the impression you must not have paid close enough attention Windows changelogs to credibly make that statement. I'm a desktop Linux person, but there are _literally_ hundreds of examples of changes to Windows that aren't user-hostile.
- pfranz 6y ago
  I'm very enthusiastic about keeping systems up to date, but I've had Windows unexpectedly reboot in order to push an update. This part isn't new, but updates require a reboot almost monthly. Compared to Linux and macOS that's obnoxious--especially combined with coercing those reboots to happen. I've found the "news" and ads added to Windows very user hostile. As with telemetry. Any attempts to disable them soon get backed out via an update. Similarly with Edge harassing you to "try it again" "are you sure you don't want to change your default browser?"
  - mhh__ 6y ago
    Windows even needs a reboot just for .Net, which is potentially like updating GCC needing a reboot on Linux
- ve55 6y ago
  I don't necessarily mean the last week or month, but more so the last many years. There's definitely too much to list at this point, but in short, Windows has significantly ramped up their user-hostile surveillance and privacy-invasive functions, pushes many features that no one wants such as excessive advertising and tracking, constantly forces what Microsoft wants onto the user (e.g. constantly 'asking' users to use Microsoft Edge, Onedrive, many others), has many annoying patterns such as forcing updates+reboots excessively often, and in my opinion also has terrible UI/UX. Some of these points are a little subjective, but I think that the general pattern of changes over the last decade has been very clear.

by ve55 6y ago

pjmlp 6y ago

As proven by Netbooks, ChromeOS, Android and maker consoles. Anything Linux based that goes mainstream has very little to do with regular GNU/Linux, or is based on customized distributions, tainted with OEM specific drivers and kernels that never get updated.

mav3rick 6y ago
Chrome OS regularly uprevs the kernel. And updates drivers etc with it. Most of these are open source.
- pjmlp 6y ago
  Up to 5 from starting the sales, and it only really applies to Google's own model's.
  - mav3rick 6y ago
    No it doesn't all Chromebooks get updates the same way.
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      So 5 years and then goodbye.
      - mav3rick 6y ago
        You're wrong every time. It's 8 years - https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-now-get-up-to-eight-years-of-chrome-os-updates/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-no...
  - emj 6y ago
    The Asus Chromebooks I gave away two years ago instead of doing technical support are still being updated as far as I can tell.
    - pjmlp 6y ago
      Great, probably the current owner might still get one or two years out of it, given Google's official update cycles.
      - mav3rick 6y ago
        8 years - https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-now-get-up-to-eight-years-of-chrome-os-updates/ https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/02/07/chromebooks-will-no...

shrimp_emoji 6y ago

Valve's been amazing. Without their (ongoing, even after SteamOS pretty much flopped!) support, I don't know if I could've survived on Linux. xP What's surprising is how many games are native through Steam. It tends to be the types of games I think most Linux nerds (like me) would stereotypically tend to prefer, too (Factorio, Europa Universalis 4, Kerbal Space Program, Cities: Skylines, most roguelikes). That said, I think a varied gaming diet is important. For non-native (especially AAA) games, https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ is very handy. Even games that can't run seem to get more runnable over time. Not long ago (a year or two?), Fallout 4 would run hilariously badly -- tons of graphical assets would be missing, and it was unplayable. Today, it runs "okay" (a subset of the sounds don't work unless you use a Proton flag in Steam, and the mouse is pretty sluggish).

mustacheemperor 6y ago
I've seen it theorized that SteamOS was less a flop and more a shot across Microsoft's bow that had the intentional effect. It briefly seemed like a war was brewing over the Windows Store or the Steam Store being the main outlet for PC game purchases, particularly games developed by MS studios. Seems that all but disappeared when the Steam Machine came out.
- muststopmyths 6y ago
  SteamOS has nothing to do with the Windows Store failing. That was tied to WinRT and Windows Phone. SteamOS and the few Steam Machine designs announced were underwhelming junk that had no market. But you could be absolutely right that it was intended as a signal to Microsoft. Maybe Valve just got lucky and didn't have to follow through seriously.
  - throwaway45349 6y ago
    No, the Steam for Linux + Hardware effort definitely got Microsoft moving: https://www.onmsft.com/news/the-story-of-how-valves-move-to-linux-lit-a-fire-under-microsoft-xbox-execs https://www.onmsft.com/news/the-story-of-how-valves-move-to-...

_Microft 6y ago

> With how user-hostile Windows has become lately What recent change do you mean? I can’t remember any particular change that I would consider user-hostile.

wetpaws 6y ago
Literally all changes past win8 have been user-hostile. (Depending on your thoughts on what windows version constitutes as good you move this line back to win7/XP, I personally felt win8 was at least usable and did not show freaking ads in my start menu.)
- Kudos 6y ago
  I don't want to be that guy, but the misuse of "literally" in this particular case is just inflammatory. I get the impression you must not have paid close enough attention Windows changelogs to credibly make that statement. I'm a desktop Linux person, but there are _literally_ hundreds of examples of changes to Windows that aren't user-hostile.
pfranz 6y ago
I'm very enthusiastic about keeping systems up to date, but I've had Windows unexpectedly reboot in order to push an update. This part isn't new, but updates require a reboot almost monthly. Compared to Linux and macOS that's obnoxious--especially combined with coercing those reboots to happen. I've found the "news" and ads added to Windows very user hostile. As with telemetry. Any attempts to disable them soon get backed out via an update. Similarly with Edge harassing you to "try it again" "are you sure you don't want to change your default browser?"
- mhh__ 6y ago
  Windows even needs a reboot just for .Net, which is potentially like updating GCC needing a reboot on Linux
ve55 6y ago
I don't necessarily mean the last week or month, but more so the last many years. There's definitely too much to list at this point, but in short, Windows has significantly ramped up their user-hostile surveillance and privacy-invasive functions, pushes many features that no one wants such as excessive advertising and tracking, constantly forces what Microsoft wants onto the user (e.g. constantly 'asking' users to use Microsoft Edge, Onedrive, many others), has many annoying patterns such as forcing updates+reboots excessively often, and in my opinion also has terrible UI/UX. Some of these points are a little subjective, but I think that the general pattern of changes over the last decade has been very clear.