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Except Windows by and large satisfies that expectation. Linux throwing backwards compatibility and stability out the window is one of the biggest reasons it do
by Dalewyn 3y ago
Except Windows by and large satisfies that expectation.
Linux throwing backwards compatibility and stability out the window is one of the biggest reasons it doesn't appeal to the common user. Note that Android provides this (granted less than Windows does), and we see common people use Android.
And before you mention it: Yes, I know Linus Torvalds is (sort of) adamant about backwards compatibility; the problem is the rest of Linux does not and will not care.
- c0l0 3y agoThat "rest of Linux" that you talk about is not Linux at all.
- jadamson 3y agoWhat's another term you think they should use?
- c0l0 3y agoMaybe "commonly encountered Free Software desktop and server userspace components"? After all, much of that is what you will also find on BSDs et al., and will give you the same trouble (if any) there. The Linux kernel itself is in fact very, VERY extensively backwards-compatible, which is why I find it particularly unfair (on top of being wrong) to use the label Dalewyn did. It's the installed userspace libraries that aren't - at least not in all cases, but the situation sure has improved a lot over the last decade or so.
- Dalewyn 3y ago>The Linux kernel itself is in fact very, VERY extensively backwards-compatible, which is why I find it particularly unfair (on top of being wrong) to use the label Dalewyn did. Did I ever dispute that?
- mjan22640 3y agoUbuntu, Gnome, etc
- commonlisp94 3y agoExactly, this is uniquely a linux problem that these consumer facing operating systems were designed to avoid. In theory all Steam needs is a proton version "good enough" to emulate a handful of major eras of Windows programs.
- AshamedCaptain 3y agoWindows backwards compatibility for games is abysmal, up to the point users are forced to use Wine libraries to run old Windows games on Windows. It's still not as bad as desktop Linux (e.g. some Loki games cannot even be loaded due to breaking changes in _glibc_ out of all libraries), but it is still bad enough to qualify as abysmal.