8 ms·

Geez, the more I read about it the more I think about migrating my gaming machine to something like Pop_OS. I heard people are having great experience, and Stea

by xlii 2y ago

Geez, the more I read about it the more I think about migrating my gaming machine to something like Pop_OS. I heard people are having great experience, and Steam through Steam Deck has considerably improved gaming on Linux experience. I think I get it - there are plenty of people using Windows as their primary OS and they want bells and whistles while not caring about telemetry. But just.. let people disable things. IMO fact, that Microsoft is pushing spyware on their users and make it harder and harder to disable it is much more important topic than EU focusing on Apple (which is monopoly inside their ecosystem, but not a provider of "default" software used in offices etc.)

themoonisachees 2y ago
I've done that. I kept a windows install on the side for the few games that don't have a permissive enough anticheat, but I basically never use it anymore since The Finals has allowed Proton. It's going great.
- dudul 2y ago
  Same. I have a dedicated gaming machine with windows 10 where I do nothing except games. Still trying to delay the upgrade to 11 as long as I can though.
masklinn 2y ago
Yeah I’m looking at building a new machine because mine is getting very long in the tooth (although I don’t play very demanding games anyway), I’ve been waffling about using linux and proton for it even though my gaming PC has been windows since forever, I think at this point it’s petty much a done deal.
- Zhyl 2y ago
  You can also dual boot and/or swap out hard drives. It took me a goodly while to get immersed and comfortable with Linux, so I'd definitely plan a discovery and/or transition phase before hard switching over.
  - masklinn 2y ago
    My dayjob is on linux and my personal dev machine is a mac so I don’t foresee an unfathomable amount of issues, unless I get into driver hell. Dual booting would rather defeat the point / message of leaving windows behind for Microsoft’s shenanigans.
- totallywrong 2y ago
  There is GPU passthrough these days, where you can have a Windows VM with dedicated graphics and native performance running under Linux. No dual boot required. It does take a bit of work to get it right but I consider my current setup near perfect.
treprinum 2y ago
Everybody cries about Microsoft but Android's level of spying is unmatched and MS is just catching up. Yet for some reason Google is a darling of folks here. Just try to turn off WiFi on your Android phone and see how much longer your battery lasts... All of that power goes to spying on you.
- beeboobaa3 2y ago
  Got any actual proof? About stuff that can't just be toggled off that is
  - Zhyl 2y ago
    So literally just now I opened the Google photos app and it came up with a nag screen to turn on auto-backup which I had already explicitly turned off. The message was worded to make it sound like they were doing me a favour and it was difficult to close the banner (I just exited the app because what I needed to do was possible with a less invasive version). I would not go so far as GP as to say that this dark pattern is better or worse than what Microsoft is doing, but I think it is a fair point that a Google/Microsoft account is needed on the biggest mobile/desktop platforms respectively and their attitude to privacy and user agency is somewhere between laissez-faire and contemptuous. With Android there does at least feel like with F-Droid, different OEMs, alternative apps, the web and even Other android spins that these aren't quite the lockdown that Windows is, although it's fair to say that in either case you shouldn't really be constantly on your guard for the next way that your operating system is going to try to trick you into giving away more of your stuff to them.
    - beeboobaa3 2y ago
      Google is naggy, which is annying, I agree. But as far as I know they let you turn everything off.
      - Zhyl 2y ago
        Can you download apps and use the app store without a Google account? That's probably the biggest analogue to TFA here.
I_am_tiberius 2y ago
Also, Pop OS (and linux in general) will soon get a new desktop environment called Cosmic. Clearly, it will take one or two years to get it to a level where it's stable, but it's fantastic. It's the first desktop environment that combines the best of KDE, Gnome and i3.
- tmtvl 2y ago
  I just hope they thoroughly test Cosmic with Orca, people usually don't think about accessibility (a11y) until they need it and that's a shame.
  - mtndew4brkfst 2y ago
    I'm not closely informed here, especially about Orca, but my understanding is that Cosmic uses or will use AccessKit by way of using the iced crate, and that some of the same developers are contributing to both projects. So it's not totally off their radar. https://blog.system76.com/post/may-flowers-spring-cosmic-showers https://blog.system76.com/post/may-flowers-spring-cosmic-sho...
rak 2y ago
It is getting to the point where I am really considering giving up games that require anti-cheats that only support windows. They were already getting to be too much but this is getting crazy.
- hypeatei 2y ago
  Yep, I think I'm okay with not being able to play some games and I'll probably just keep a dedicated machine if I really feel the need to play those games.
hypeatei 2y ago
I'm going to build an all AMD system, install Linux Mint, then slowly migrate everything over and completely switch. It was bad enough when they started the spyware / bloatware train with Windows 8 / 10 but this is the final nail in the coffin.
- qskousen 2y ago
  I have been running an AMD system on Linux Mint for several years, and it has been fantastic. The only things that don't work in general are games with invasive anti cheat.
  - masklinn 2y ago
    > The only things that don't work in general are games with invasive anti cheat. That sounds like a feature, I’ve got plenty enough games to play that I don’t need to have my machine rootkitted. I swore off of all EA-published games on those grounds 15 years ago so having the information upfront would be a strict improvement.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
darkteflon 2y ago
I made the switch. It’s fantastic. Pop with the pre-packaged Nvidia drivers. Other than Warzone and Tarkov (for which I keep a separate drive with Win10), the only things I haven’t quite managed to get sorted yet are (i) a convenient system-wide replacement for the frame limiter in RTSS, and (ii) relatedly, proper frame-pacing when streaming using Sunshine. Also, Steam seems to have a weird and widespread bug where if you use Big Screen, exit to the desktop mode, then launch BS again, you get like 5fps in the BS front-end itself (after launching a game, it’s fine). The workaround is to just kill the client when you exit Big Screen (usually when your gaming is done anyway). Really happy I made the switch and fully expect those niggles to get sorted (or my aptitude to improve) in due course. Windows has been shit for a while but recently it’s really crossed over into unbelievably shit.
- juandemarco 2y ago
  MangoHUD should solve your frame limiting needs, and you can even set multiple limits and switch between them!
  - darkteflon 2y ago
    Yes I use MangoHUD and it’s pretty good! It’s not quite as seamless as RTSS, though. MH is a bit fussy about which graphics API you’re using, and can’t be applied system-wide (afaik) without going through that 3rd party (open-source) UI. Plus, even when it’s applied and working, it doesn’t seem to solve my Sunshine frame-pacing issues, which for me is the main use case (the physically attached monitor is VRR so I don’t need limiting locally). Great project though! I think I’m also a bit spoiled by the Steam Deck, where it’s so easy to set and change custom limits. I kind of just want that, for Pop, ha.
    - juandemarco 2y ago
      I've applied it system wide by setting `MANGOHUD=1` inside `/etc/environment`, which might be a little bit excessive but it works for me. You can also set hotkeys to toggle the Hud and the frame rate limits within ~/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf, but I think there is a GUI tool that does it for you. As for the frame pacing, try with the beta NVidia drivers (v555) and Wayland, though I don't use Sunshine so I'm not sure if it'll help.
jppittma 2y ago
I have a gaming PC running arch, and the experience has improved immensely since I last tried it 4 years ago. Legitimately incredible what valve has done for the platform, and my suspicion is that AI/ML investment will continue to have secondary effects that make gaming on Linux even better.
Mesopropithecus 2y ago
Do it. I recently built a beefy machine, the first time in years that I have something I can play on, it's Linux only and it's great. Deepening on the games you play, check protondb first.
politelemon 2y ago
> much more important topic than EU focusing on Apple The EU is not a single threaded application. They can, and should, be focusing on multiple areas where there is wrongdoing. Both are being egregious and abusive, and need attention. And the EU has shown that it can! > (which is monopoly inside their ecosystem, but not a provider of "default" software used in offices etc.) A good phrase to use here would be 'platform abuse'. Focusing on the 'default' is an attempt to justify what they are doing, and I notice it gets used to defend Apple rather than call them out. In the sense that "Oh well, it's their platform, they can do what they want"
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  If the EU started using and funding LibreOffice that would be great.
layoric 2y ago
+1 to recently making the switch and to PopOS. There are still small experience pains coming from 2 decades of almost exclusively using Windows, but gaming has been pretty smooth, especially for recent titles. Valve has done an exceptional job with the SteamDeck. I hate monopoly like companies as much as the next person, but honestly it is hard to fault their platform. I still get games on GoG and Itch.io occasionally, but man is Steam miles ahead of the rest of the options, especially for Linux gaming.
DelightOne 2y ago
No wonder Sony goes after Windows people. Half of them soon need a new device.
k4j8 2y ago
Before switching to Linux for gaming, I recommend checking compatibility of your favorite games using https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/, an unofficial site for Proton compatibility.
CuriouslyC 2y ago
The main issue with Linux as a desktop OS is hardware support (still, sadly). If you get a gaming rig with newer equipment stuff is likely not to work, or require a LOT of hacking to make functional, to the point that it's easier just to install windows and use WSL for everything. I say this as someone who got his start with Linux using Slackware 96.
- mattboardman 2y ago
  I just built a rig with new, top of the line, hardware and installed fedora on it without an issue. What components are you talking about specifically?
  - CuriouslyC 2y ago
    I have an Asus ROG Strix mobo with integrated networking and audio, and both of them were extremely problematic.
    - tryptophan 2y ago
      I had the opposite experience actually. Windows didn't include network drivers for my custom PC mobo+chipset, while linux had them included. Actually had to download the windows drivers on linux then boot into windows and install them...
    - mythz 2y ago
      I've a new AMD 7800X3D build with an ASUS ROG Strix board, had Network Manager issues (100% CPU) on Ubuntu but everything works great under Fedora 40.
- totallywrong 2y ago
  This is outdated, with the exception of perhaps webcams I've had hardly any issues with hardware on Linux in years, and that includes a couple of Intel MBPs. Just got a latest model laptop with a RTX 4080 and everything worked out of the box. I had to install Windows recently for someone and I had way more issues there.
itsoktocry 2y ago
Can you use Steam or play your Steam Deck without logging in?
mococa 2y ago
I have been gaming in Pop_OS, the only issue I had was in RDR2, then, when I switched to Proton Experimental it solved. I am right now using the Xbox Wireless Dongle with a custom driver (xone), that driver says that it supports audio through audio jack. No audio though. Probally because I am not very experienced in Linux on Desktop.
giancarlostoro 2y ago
This is what I did. No regrets, the only one is my usual one for Linux. I want a "nearly bleeding edge" distro. AppImages and Flatpacks are nearly what I want, and do use them, but for development I want to be able to install development tier packages with the confidence that it wont break. I guess I want Debian, bleeding edge but assurances on how reasonably stable it should be. VanillaOS 2 looks promising to me. I am NEVER going back to Windows unless I get a modern version: * Targeted for professionals / gamers (why call it pro if its just Home without dumb restrictions?) * Offline-first accounts only * Zero ads for Microsoft products (I'll literally pay $50 a year to stop them, and stop the update nagware). * Stop pestering me to update * And this is more important, decouple your OS so you can update while I use it, requiring a restart only under kernel tier changes.
- woodrowbarlow 2y ago
  endeavour OS is a rolling-release Arch-based distro with a convenient installer and full desktop. i installed endeavour when my AMD GPU was still brand-new because i needed to be at the bleeding edge for driver support. i figured i'd switch to a more stable distro eventually but i never made the switch because i'm pretty happy with endeavour.
  - giancarlostoro 2y ago
    I'm currently undecided between endeavour and Fedora. Fedora updates every 6 months, which is recent enough for me, vs years old major versions of things on Debian / Ubuntu.
    - TimeBearingDown 2y ago
      Nobara is a nice flavor of Fedora optimized especially for desktop and gaming. I’ve started recommending it to others, while personally I’m happier with Arch’s more transparent and simplified architecture and development, plus rolling release to avoid mass breakage on full upgrades.
    - woodrowbarlow 2y ago
Lockranor 2y ago
I went with Pop Os, had a little stability and audio issues, and went with Arch. Everything works really well now. YMMV. I took the opposite extreme; the only things running are the things that I enabled. It took a little more work, and it was worth the afternoon it took.
ryanjshaw 2y ago
I've been a Windows user since 3.1. I'm a professional Microsoft stack developer (.NET, SQL Server, Power Platform, M365). I first tried Linux in the late 90s, never stuck with me. But 2 weeks ago I installed Linux on my home setup to run 24/7. There's some seriously dumb issues with it: Ubuntu snaps are terrible with no local fonts in FF and other snap-based software has surprising bugs and crashes you don't realise are the fault of snaps until you waste hours researching it, everybody pushes AppImages but you can't get launcher shortcuts without doing it all manually in a friggin .desktop file* (you could do this 30 years ago in Win3.1 without having to search around for an icon!!!), you can't consistently pin stuff to a taskbar, etc. But I think I'll be sticking with it all the same. Microsoft could ban my Microsoft account and then what, I can't use my PC anymore?! * Yes I know there's some software you can download to do it but seriously it's not been updated for ages and this should be core OS GUI functionality. I switched to Debian and KDE which at least has more flexibility.
- pmlnr 2y ago
  > Ubuntu There's your problem ;) Mint has been much more user friendly for a long time. I've been on Manjaro for some time now, and I'm quite happy with it.
  - Aerbil313 2y ago
    Agreed, Mint is the better Ubuntu. And if you squint hard enough, you can find people like me who'll claim NixOS is more beginner-friendly than any other distro.
    - dartos 2y ago
      The amount of background Linux know how you need for nixos is insane. Basically nothing you’ll want to do is googleable. I’d recommend arch to a newbie before nix. Once you get a handle on things, nix is pretty nice.
    - fransje26 2y ago
      At that level, it's not a squint anymore. It's full strabismus..
AlienRobot 2y ago
The reason I hate Linux is that every time there is a problem I need to Google third-party tutorials that tell me to run arcane programs I don't understand and just trust random sources of software. And nowadays that's the same thing you need to do in order to de-bloat Windows. Don't want to create Microsoft account? Google how to do it, read about pressing a random keyboard shortcut during install, and running a random command in the terminal. This is literally the Linux experience. It's the same thing, now on Windows! Your tablet doesn't work on Linux? Install OpenTabletDriver from who knows who to fix it! Your Windows doesn't work? Install power tools from who knows who to fix it! Want to bring back the old context menu? Install this. Want to bring back "my" computer? Install that. Want to get rid of OneDrive? Run this .bat file! If things continue like this one day Microsoft will get rid of backwards compatibility altogether and people will migrate to Linux to run old Windows programs in WINE.
- sergeykish 2y ago
  Distributions provide trusted open source software. That's opposite from Windows where basic system tools are not included, found in Web as shareware, could contain viruses. I was uneasy about Ubuntu PPA, that's binaries from unknown source. I prefer AUR, it provides packaging instructions but source trusted by user. Linux issues possible to investigate, search brings grounded instructions. Windows is closed source, "solutions" is guesswork. Linux distributions build experiences, maybe there is already group of people like you, issues solved.
solardev 2y ago
Windows had gotten so bad that even as a lifelong PC gamer who grew up on MS DOS and built my own machines for decades, I gave up a couple years ago and switched to Mac. Now I do my gaming on GeForce Now as much as possible (soooo much nicer than fighting Windows updates, UAC, game bar, drivers, etc. all the time). And Crossover/Whisky sometimes, Parallels almost never. I wish Proton worked on macos :( Together this means I can only play maybe 50% of the games I used to be able to (specifically anti cheat can be a problem, if the game doesn't support GFN). But otherwise the small performance penalties are totally worth not having to deal with Windows anymore.
chaostheory 2y ago
Why would you need to migrate a gaming machine? I would imagine that said gaming machine also relies on cloud gaming services even if the games run local. Just keep it exclusively a gaming machine. I have separate machines for separate purposes.
ysofunny 2y ago
it's better and easier than ever I do all my gaming using linux. I haven't used Microsoft's shit since windows 7
idkdotcom 2y ago
[dead]
Aeolun 2y ago
> migrating my gaming machine to something like Pop_OS I’ve done this around 4 year ago and I’ve literally never felt compelled to move back.
consf 2y ago
[dead]
glenstein 2y ago
>and Steam through Steam Deck has considerably improved gaming on Linux experience. My mind went here too. I know a lot of people questioned the first iteration of "Steam Machine" PCs. Created by independent hardware vendors, with a Steam-flavored Linux distro, a lot of people asked what was the point. But increasingly, every month that goes by Windows seems to add a new task bar thing you need to disable, something new on the login screen, and now, apparently, changes to something as fundamental as user management. It seems inconceivable that Valve would want to willingly tie their fate to the unpredictable twists and turns that Windows may have in store.

by xlii 2y ago

themoonisachees 2y ago

I've done that. I kept a windows install on the side for the few games that don't have a permissive enough anticheat, but I basically never use it anymore since The Finals has allowed Proton. It's going great.

dudul 2y ago
Same. I have a dedicated gaming machine with windows 10 where I do nothing except games. Still trying to delay the upgrade to 11 as long as I can though.

masklinn 2y ago

Yeah I’m looking at building a new machine because mine is getting very long in the tooth (although I don’t play very demanding games anyway), I’ve been waffling about using linux and proton for it even though my gaming PC has been windows since forever, I think at this point it’s petty much a done deal.

Zhyl 2y ago
You can also dual boot and/or swap out hard drives. It took me a goodly while to get immersed and comfortable with Linux, so I'd definitely plan a discovery and/or transition phase before hard switching over.
- masklinn 2y ago
  My dayjob is on linux and my personal dev machine is a mac so I don’t foresee an unfathomable amount of issues, unless I get into driver hell. Dual booting would rather defeat the point / message of leaving windows behind for Microsoft’s shenanigans.
totallywrong 2y ago
There is GPU passthrough these days, where you can have a Windows VM with dedicated graphics and native performance running under Linux. No dual boot required. It does take a bit of work to get it right but I consider my current setup near perfect.

treprinum 2y ago

Everybody cries about Microsoft but Android's level of spying is unmatched and MS is just catching up. Yet for some reason Google is a darling of folks here. Just try to turn off WiFi on your Android phone and see how much longer your battery lasts... All of that power goes to spying on you.

beeboobaa3 2y ago
Got any actual proof? About stuff that can't just be toggled off that is
- Zhyl 2y ago
  So literally just now I opened the Google photos app and it came up with a nag screen to turn on auto-backup which I had already explicitly turned off. The message was worded to make it sound like they were doing me a favour and it was difficult to close the banner (I just exited the app because what I needed to do was possible with a less invasive version). I would not go so far as GP as to say that this dark pattern is better or worse than what Microsoft is doing, but I think it is a fair point that a Google/Microsoft account is needed on the biggest mobile/desktop platforms respectively and their attitude to privacy and user agency is somewhere between laissez-faire and contemptuous. With Android there does at least feel like with F-Droid, different OEMs, alternative apps, the web and even Other android spins that these aren't quite the lockdown that Windows is, although it's fair to say that in either case you shouldn't really be constantly on your guard for the next way that your operating system is going to try to trick you into giving away more of your stuff to them.
  - beeboobaa3 2y ago
    Google is naggy, which is annying, I agree. But as far as I know they let you turn everything off.
    - Zhyl 2y ago
      Can you download apps and use the app store without a Google account? That's probably the biggest analogue to TFA here.

I_am_tiberius 2y ago

Also, Pop OS (and linux in general) will soon get a new desktop environment called Cosmic. Clearly, it will take one or two years to get it to a level where it's stable, but it's fantastic. It's the first desktop environment that combines the best of KDE, Gnome and i3.

tmtvl 2y ago
I just hope they thoroughly test Cosmic with Orca, people usually don't think about accessibility (a11y) until they need it and that's a shame.
- mtndew4brkfst 2y ago
  I'm not closely informed here, especially about Orca, but my understanding is that Cosmic uses or will use AccessKit by way of using the iced crate, and that some of the same developers are contributing to both projects. So it's not totally off their radar. https://blog.system76.com/post/may-flowers-spring-cosmic-showers https://blog.system76.com/post/may-flowers-spring-cosmic-sho...

rak 2y ago

It is getting to the point where I am really considering giving up games that require anti-cheats that only support windows. They were already getting to be too much but this is getting crazy.

hypeatei 2y ago
Yep, I think I'm okay with not being able to play some games and I'll probably just keep a dedicated machine if I really feel the need to play those games.

hypeatei 2y ago

I'm going to build an all AMD system, install Linux Mint, then slowly migrate everything over and completely switch. It was bad enough when they started the spyware / bloatware train with Windows 8 / 10 but this is the final nail in the coffin.

qskousen 2y ago
I have been running an AMD system on Linux Mint for several years, and it has been fantastic. The only things that don't work in general are games with invasive anti cheat.
- masklinn 2y ago
  > The only things that don't work in general are games with invasive anti cheat. That sounds like a feature, I’ve got plenty enough games to play that I don’t need to have my machine rootkitted. I swore off of all EA-published games on those grounds 15 years ago so having the information upfront would be a strict improvement.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

darkteflon 2y ago

I made the switch. It’s fantastic. Pop with the pre-packaged Nvidia drivers. Other than Warzone and Tarkov (for which I keep a separate drive with Win10), the only things I haven’t quite managed to get sorted yet are (i) a convenient system-wide replacement for the frame limiter in RTSS, and (ii) relatedly, proper frame-pacing when streaming using Sunshine. Also, Steam seems to have a weird and widespread bug where if you use Big Screen, exit to the desktop mode, then launch BS again, you get like 5fps in the BS front-end itself (after launching a game, it’s fine). The workaround is to just kill the client when you exit Big Screen (usually when your gaming is done anyway). Really happy I made the switch and fully expect those niggles to get sorted (or my aptitude to improve) in due course. Windows has been shit for a while but recently it’s really crossed over into unbelievably shit.

juandemarco 2y ago
MangoHUD should solve your frame limiting needs, and you can even set multiple limits and switch between them!
- darkteflon 2y ago
  Yes I use MangoHUD and it’s pretty good! It’s not quite as seamless as RTSS, though. MH is a bit fussy about which graphics API you’re using, and can’t be applied system-wide (afaik) without going through that 3rd party (open-source) UI. Plus, even when it’s applied and working, it doesn’t seem to solve my Sunshine frame-pacing issues, which for me is the main use case (the physically attached monitor is VRR so I don’t need limiting locally). Great project though! I think I’m also a bit spoiled by the Steam Deck, where it’s so easy to set and change custom limits. I kind of just want that, for Pop, ha.
  - juandemarco 2y ago
    I've applied it system wide by setting `MANGOHUD=1` inside `/etc/environment`, which might be a little bit excessive but it works for me. You can also set hotkeys to toggle the Hud and the frame rate limits within ~/.config/MangoHud/MangoHud.conf, but I think there is a GUI tool that does it for you. As for the frame pacing, try with the beta NVidia drivers (v555) and Wayland, though I don't use Sunshine so I'm not sure if it'll help.

jppittma 2y ago

I have a gaming PC running arch, and the experience has improved immensely since I last tried it 4 years ago. Legitimately incredible what valve has done for the platform, and my suspicion is that AI/ML investment will continue to have secondary effects that make gaming on Linux even better.

Mesopropithecus 2y ago

Do it. I recently built a beefy machine, the first time in years that I have something I can play on, it's Linux only and it's great. Deepening on the games you play, check protondb first.

politelemon 2y ago

> much more important topic than EU focusing on Apple The EU is not a single threaded application. They can, and should, be focusing on multiple areas where there is wrongdoing. Both are being egregious and abusive, and need attention. And the EU has shown that it can! > (which is monopoly inside their ecosystem, but not a provider of "default" software used in offices etc.) A good phrase to use here would be 'platform abuse'. Focusing on the 'default' is an attempt to justify what they are doing, and I notice it gets used to defend Apple rather than call them out. In the sense that "Oh well, it's their platform, they can do what they want"

robertlagrant 2y ago
If the EU started using and funding LibreOffice that would be great.

layoric 2y ago

+1 to recently making the switch and to PopOS. There are still small experience pains coming from 2 decades of almost exclusively using Windows, but gaming has been pretty smooth, especially for recent titles. Valve has done an exceptional job with the SteamDeck. I hate monopoly like companies as much as the next person, but honestly it is hard to fault their platform. I still get games on GoG and Itch.io occasionally, but man is Steam miles ahead of the rest of the options, especially for Linux gaming.

DelightOne 2y ago

No wonder Sony goes after Windows people. Half of them soon need a new device.

k4j8 2y ago

Before switching to Linux for gaming, I recommend checking compatibility of your favorite games using https://www.protondb.com/ https://www.protondb.com/, an unofficial site for Proton compatibility.

CuriouslyC 2y ago

The main issue with Linux as a desktop OS is hardware support (still, sadly). If you get a gaming rig with newer equipment stuff is likely not to work, or require a LOT of hacking to make functional, to the point that it's easier just to install windows and use WSL for everything. I say this as someone who got his start with Linux using Slackware 96.

mattboardman 2y ago
I just built a rig with new, top of the line, hardware and installed fedora on it without an issue. What components are you talking about specifically?
- CuriouslyC 2y ago
  I have an Asus ROG Strix mobo with integrated networking and audio, and both of them were extremely problematic.
  - tryptophan 2y ago
    I had the opposite experience actually. Windows didn't include network drivers for my custom PC mobo+chipset, while linux had them included. Actually had to download the windows drivers on linux then boot into windows and install them...
  - mythz 2y ago
    I've a new AMD 7800X3D build with an ASUS ROG Strix board, had Network Manager issues (100% CPU) on Ubuntu but everything works great under Fedora 40.
totallywrong 2y ago
This is outdated, with the exception of perhaps webcams I've had hardly any issues with hardware on Linux in years, and that includes a couple of Intel MBPs. Just got a latest model laptop with a RTX 4080 and everything worked out of the box. I had to install Windows recently for someone and I had way more issues there.

itsoktocry 2y ago

Can you use Steam or play your Steam Deck without logging in?

mococa 2y ago

I have been gaming in Pop_OS, the only issue I had was in RDR2, then, when I switched to Proton Experimental it solved. I am right now using the Xbox Wireless Dongle with a custom driver (xone), that driver says that it supports audio through audio jack. No audio though. Probally because I am not very experienced in Linux on Desktop.

giancarlostoro 2y ago

This is what I did. No regrets, the only one is my usual one for Linux. I want a "nearly bleeding edge" distro. AppImages and Flatpacks are nearly what I want, and do use them, but for development I want to be able to install development tier packages with the confidence that it wont break. I guess I want Debian, bleeding edge but assurances on how reasonably stable it should be. VanillaOS 2 looks promising to me. I am NEVER going back to Windows unless I get a modern version: * Targeted for professionals / gamers (why call it pro if its just Home without dumb restrictions?) * Offline-first accounts only * Zero ads for Microsoft products (I'll literally pay $50 a year to stop them, and stop the update nagware). * Stop pestering me to update * And this is more important, decouple your OS so you can update while I use it, requiring a restart only under kernel tier changes.

woodrowbarlow 2y ago
endeavour OS is a rolling-release Arch-based distro with a convenient installer and full desktop. i installed endeavour when my AMD GPU was still brand-new because i needed to be at the bleeding edge for driver support. i figured i'd switch to a more stable distro eventually but i never made the switch because i'm pretty happy with endeavour.
- giancarlostoro 2y ago
  I'm currently undecided between endeavour and Fedora. Fedora updates every 6 months, which is recent enough for me, vs years old major versions of things on Debian / Ubuntu.
  - TimeBearingDown 2y ago
    Nobara is a nice flavor of Fedora optimized especially for desktop and gaming. I’ve started recommending it to others, while personally I’m happier with Arch’s more transparent and simplified architecture and development, plus rolling release to avoid mass breakage on full upgrades.
  - woodrowbarlow 2y ago

Lockranor 2y ago

I went with Pop Os, had a little stability and audio issues, and went with Arch. Everything works really well now. YMMV. I took the opposite extreme; the only things running are the things that I enabled. It took a little more work, and it was worth the afternoon it took.

ryanjshaw 2y ago

I've been a Windows user since 3.1. I'm a professional Microsoft stack developer (.NET, SQL Server, Power Platform, M365). I first tried Linux in the late 90s, never stuck with me. But 2 weeks ago I installed Linux on my home setup to run 24/7. There's some seriously dumb issues with it: Ubuntu snaps are terrible with no local fonts in FF and other snap-based software has surprising bugs and crashes you don't realise are the fault of snaps until you waste hours researching it, everybody pushes AppImages but you can't get launcher shortcuts without doing it all manually in a friggin .desktop file* (you could do this 30 years ago in Win3.1 without having to search around for an icon!!!), you can't consistently pin stuff to a taskbar, etc. But I think I'll be sticking with it all the same. Microsoft could ban my Microsoft account and then what, I can't use my PC anymore?! * Yes I know there's some software you can download to do it but seriously it's not been updated for ages and this should be core OS GUI functionality. I switched to Debian and KDE which at least has more flexibility.

pmlnr 2y ago
> Ubuntu There's your problem ;) Mint has been much more user friendly for a long time. I've been on Manjaro for some time now, and I'm quite happy with it.
- Aerbil313 2y ago
  Agreed, Mint is the better Ubuntu. And if you squint hard enough, you can find people like me who'll claim NixOS is more beginner-friendly than any other distro.
  - dartos 2y ago
    The amount of background Linux know how you need for nixos is insane. Basically nothing you’ll want to do is googleable. I’d recommend arch to a newbie before nix. Once you get a handle on things, nix is pretty nice.
  - fransje26 2y ago
    At that level, it's not a squint anymore. It's full strabismus..

AlienRobot 2y ago

The reason I hate Linux is that every time there is a problem I need to Google third-party tutorials that tell me to run arcane programs I don't understand and just trust random sources of software. And nowadays that's the same thing you need to do in order to de-bloat Windows. Don't want to create Microsoft account? Google how to do it, read about pressing a random keyboard shortcut during install, and running a random command in the terminal. This is literally the Linux experience. It's the same thing, now on Windows! Your tablet doesn't work on Linux? Install OpenTabletDriver from who knows who to fix it! Your Windows doesn't work? Install power tools from who knows who to fix it! Want to bring back the old context menu? Install this. Want to bring back "my" computer? Install that. Want to get rid of OneDrive? Run this .bat file! If things continue like this one day Microsoft will get rid of backwards compatibility altogether and people will migrate to Linux to run old Windows programs in WINE.

sergeykish 2y ago
Distributions provide trusted open source software. That's opposite from Windows where basic system tools are not included, found in Web as shareware, could contain viruses. I was uneasy about Ubuntu PPA, that's binaries from unknown source. I prefer AUR, it provides packaging instructions but source trusted by user. Linux issues possible to investigate, search brings grounded instructions. Windows is closed source, "solutions" is guesswork. Linux distributions build experiences, maybe there is already group of people like you, issues solved.

solardev 2y ago

Windows had gotten so bad that even as a lifelong PC gamer who grew up on MS DOS and built my own machines for decades, I gave up a couple years ago and switched to Mac. Now I do my gaming on GeForce Now as much as possible (soooo much nicer than fighting Windows updates, UAC, game bar, drivers, etc. all the time). And Crossover/Whisky sometimes, Parallels almost never. I wish Proton worked on macos :( Together this means I can only play maybe 50% of the games I used to be able to (specifically anti cheat can be a problem, if the game doesn't support GFN). But otherwise the small performance penalties are totally worth not having to deal with Windows anymore.

chaostheory 2y ago

Why would you need to migrate a gaming machine? I would imagine that said gaming machine also relies on cloud gaming services even if the games run local. Just keep it exclusively a gaming machine. I have separate machines for separate purposes.

ysofunny 2y ago

it's better and easier than ever I do all my gaming using linux. I haven't used Microsoft's shit since windows 7

idkdotcom 2y ago

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Aeolun 2y ago

> migrating my gaming machine to something like Pop_OS I’ve done this around 4 year ago and I’ve literally never felt compelled to move back.

consf 2y ago

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glenstein 2y ago

>and Steam through Steam Deck has considerably improved gaming on Linux experience. My mind went here too. I know a lot of people questioned the first iteration of "Steam Machine" PCs. Created by independent hardware vendors, with a Steam-flavored Linux distro, a lot of people asked what was the point. But increasingly, every month that goes by Windows seems to add a new task bar thing you need to disable, something new on the login screen, and now, apparently, changes to something as fundamental as user management. It seems inconceivable that Valve would want to willingly tie their fate to the unpredictable twists and turns that Windows may have in store.