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I set up a LAN box for my parents on a computer that my dad received for free. It came with Windows 10 on it, but wasn't very powerful - company's old hardware.

I set up a LAN box for my parents on a computer that my dad received for free. It came with Windows 10 on it, but wasn't very powerful - company's old hardware. After several...frustrating...hours of trying to talk them through things over the phone to get RDP working, just so I could install Docker to run some containers that didn't even work properly with networking, and having to call/text any time the machine thought it was smarter than me and rebooted because of an update, I finally drove out there, wiped it, and threw linux on it (Ubuntu 20, which serves the purposes I need). The entire installation process took about 15 minutes because I was explaining it to my dad as I installed it. Zero headache since it was plugged in next to the router and powered on weeks ago, and the performance on the running containers makes it feel like a brand new computer compared to trying to run them in Windows. I run a Windows desktop locally for gaming. I've heard good things about SteamOS and have been toying with switching, but I'm put off by the idea of trying to re-flash Windows if it doesn't work. Personally, I'll be happy when I no longer need Windows even for gaming.

malka 5y ago
Gaming is my only use case with windows, and I am filled with deep hatred each time I have to boot this OS.
- doctorsher 5y ago
  I agree completely. I have Windows at home for gaming, and Windows at work (because those are the laptops we get). It's rough. The only thing that makes this bearable is Windows Subsystem for Linux. Side note: if you end up dual booting your gaming PC, please learn from my mistakes and disable Fast Startup before you do. Otherwise you're going to have a bad time.
- bogwog 5y ago
  Which games do you play that don't work on Linux? Because I switched to it a long time ago and haven't looked back. Proton and Wine are excellent nowadays, and 99% of what I want to play works, with the rest usually just a short `protontricks ...` command away from working. The only stuff that is completely broken is Easy Anticheat and BattleEye, but those will supposedly be working when the new Steam Deck starts shipping.
  - malka 5y ago
    The last one that me reinstall windows was disco elysium
    - bogwog 5y ago
      I played through that entire game through Wine on Linux last year. Idk if the Steam version works out of the box, but IIRC I didn't have to do anything special to get the GOG version to work.
Popegaf 5y ago
Have you checked https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ to see which games run well on Linux with Steam? Lutris ( https://lutris.net/ https://lutris.net/ ) also provides scripts for games that aren't on steam or bought on other stores. You can also install Pop!OS which is another Linux distro for gaming (or so I've heard).
- kempbellt 5y ago
  Funny you mention it. This thread actually sparked some digging and I'm currently looking into flashing Pop!OS right now. For anyone interested: From what I've gathered, Pop!OS has a bit more support than the officially released SteamOS Beta version, which is actually someone outdated right now. But from what I've read about the Steam Deck, Steam has a new version of their OS that the deck runs on. So maybe (hopefully) it will be released along with the deck - couldn't find any info on that though.
  - idle_zealot 5y ago
    > maybe (hopefully) it will be released along with the deck - couldn't find any info on that though. Valve has stated that their SteamOS 3 will be a freely-available open platform, and that they encourage other device manufacturers to ship it on their hardware. I assume that this means isos will be available.
zamadatix 5y ago
I don't care how much of a Windows fanatic I was I'd never even try to use the GUI of the client version to configure the a box as a Docker server remotely. I don't know what to expect from that other than frustration. I'd definitely use Linux myself but if someone asked me to use Windows I'd still just enable the OpenSSH service instead of RDP and use the Server version if possible and if not at least set up the auto update schedule to the early morning like I would on the Linux box.
stinos 5y ago
After several...frustrating...hours of trying to talk them through things over the phone to get RDP working Having had similar problems (not just windows, RDP/VNC/you name it) to me this now sounds like 'wrong tool for the job'; just use e.g. Anydesk : no install, just an exe, have the remote side run it and tell you the ID and you're good (at least it didn't fail me once yet). From then on configure RDP/VNC yourself, and the router's port forwarding, etc.

malka 5y ago

Gaming is my only use case with windows, and I am filled with deep hatred each time I have to boot this OS.

doctorsher 5y ago
I agree completely. I have Windows at home for gaming, and Windows at work (because those are the laptops we get). It's rough. The only thing that makes this bearable is Windows Subsystem for Linux. Side note: if you end up dual booting your gaming PC, please learn from my mistakes and disable Fast Startup before you do. Otherwise you're going to have a bad time.
bogwog 5y ago
Which games do you play that don't work on Linux? Because I switched to it a long time ago and haven't looked back. Proton and Wine are excellent nowadays, and 99% of what I want to play works, with the rest usually just a short `protontricks ...` command away from working. The only stuff that is completely broken is Easy Anticheat and BattleEye, but those will supposedly be working when the new Steam Deck starts shipping.
- malka 5y ago
  The last one that me reinstall windows was disco elysium
  - bogwog 5y ago
    I played through that entire game through Wine on Linux last year. Idk if the Steam version works out of the box, but IIRC I didn't have to do anything special to get the GOG version to work.

Popegaf 5y ago

Have you checked https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/ to see which games run well on Linux with Steam? Lutris ( https://lutris.net/ https://lutris.net/ ) also provides scripts for games that aren't on steam or bought on other stores. You can also install Pop!OS which is another Linux distro for gaming (or so I've heard).

kempbellt 5y ago
Funny you mention it. This thread actually sparked some digging and I'm currently looking into flashing Pop!OS right now. For anyone interested: From what I've gathered, Pop!OS has a bit more support than the officially released SteamOS Beta version, which is actually someone outdated right now. But from what I've read about the Steam Deck, Steam has a new version of their OS that the deck runs on. So maybe (hopefully) it will be released along with the deck - couldn't find any info on that though.
- idle_zealot 5y ago
  > maybe (hopefully) it will be released along with the deck - couldn't find any info on that though. Valve has stated that their SteamOS 3 will be a freely-available open platform, and that they encourage other device manufacturers to ship it on their hardware. I assume that this means isos will be available.

zamadatix 5y ago

I don't care how much of a Windows fanatic I was I'd never even try to use the GUI of the client version to configure the a box as a Docker server remotely. I don't know what to expect from that other than frustration. I'd definitely use Linux myself but if someone asked me to use Windows I'd still just enable the OpenSSH service instead of RDP and use the Server version if possible and if not at least set up the auto update schedule to the early morning like I would on the Linux box.

stinos 5y ago

After several...frustrating...hours of trying to talk them through things over the phone to get RDP working Having had similar problems (not just windows, RDP/VNC/you name it) to me this now sounds like 'wrong tool for the job'; just use e.g. Anydesk : no install, just an exe, have the remote side run it and tell you the ID and you're good (at least it didn't fail me once yet). From then on configure RDP/VNC yourself, and the router's port forwarding, etc.