It's mainly Linux enthusiasts who evangelize other people to use it. So if others don't want to move to Linux, let them be.
this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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I feel the someway about people who say "I'm moving to Linux after W10 support ends".
I think it takes one of two things for people to move.
- Linux has to have several features that are unavailable on Windows that makes it worth swapping.
- Windows has to do something so egregious that they no longer consider it viable.
In my case, I swapped back 3 years ago when ads appeared in explorer for a preview version. In combination with the work the community had done for Valve to consider the steam deck worth selling with Linux, I was confident enough that I could have a good enough experience with Linux.
I think the only thing that will really push adoption is if more systems ship with Linux preinstalled and those laptops are advertised primarily with linux. People aren't going to go buy a usb drive, figure out how to download an image and how to download and install a flasher and how to use that flashing tool, not when google and apple actively hamstring computer literacy in schools. They probably won't even click the "budget penguin thing" unless they already know what it is and have been sold the story of linux on that specific laptop.
100%, what would be needed for linux to become mainstream is more stuff like the steam deck, i really hope we get a return of steam machines but done properly this time
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The problem with that mentality is that you can easily run an OS without support for a very long time and win 10 LTSC support ends in like 2032.
anyone thinking of switching should just dual boot with separate drives and linux as default boot. I still have my windows drive but it's been a few months since I've needed to boot into it at this point and honestly don't think there's any reason left.
That's a perfectly legitimate approach. Switching your OS is always a hassle. I can understand that people like to stick with what works for them.
I think a big reason is, people always think it's an all or nothing migration. Personally I still have a windows install on my system from when I migrated. Sure I can count on one hand the number of times ive had to actually use it, nor have I had to at all in the past few months, but it's there in case I needed it.
I think people would be much more apt to do that, if they could realize that you can "try it" and if it doesn't work then switch back again without much difficulty. Which most user friendly installs support dual booting, and the worse case scenario from it is that Windows decides to nuke the bootloader (which doesn't happen as much anymore due to it changing to UEFI boot) and then at the end of the day, they still have the windows OS to fall on, and the linux OS still exists, it just doesn't know its there which is a simple fix with just a google search and a boot repair disk (available on the same install medium that the original install was done with)
Honestly it's like people saying they are going to eat better after the new year. Most don't and the people that are most of the time just do it right then not waiting for some event to start.
IDK, that could be different. I bought some surfaces ~2 years ago that apparently aren't capable of upgrading to 11. They're perfectly usable, so I'll have to put Linux on them. I think anyone that's capable will find that they have to do that, or throw out perfectly good hardware to buy the next shiny thing.
The only problem is I did switch my laptop to Ubuntu back in the day to avoid W7. Or maybe to was 10? All I did was stream video, like Netflix, on it. Turns out, Netflix wouldn't run because they locked it down to specific OSes. WINE could run it, with a horrible stutter. So I had to dual boot, then I switched to a VM of Windows in Linux, which ended up just being another step to get to stream a movie. Coupled with hours of driver problems to solve, it just wasn't worth the hassle.
Now, it's a matter of "can I stream?" Because otherwise, they're e-waste. I really hope they can, because while I'll have to keep my gaming PC on w11, my htpc and tablets I will gladly switch.
I can't imagine I'm alone. If people can get their programs out of the walled garden of Microsoft, I think they will. Not so much new features, but that they can just do what they always do. We're creatures of habit. We probably won't see adoption in high numbers, but more than before.
Also, it's entirely possible I'll have to eat these words if streaming still doesn't work right.
Netflix works flawlessly on Fedora. No streaming problem except with Nba basketball.
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Why does it matter? All that matters is that plenty of people do use Linux - literally millions of people. There is a healthy vibrant ecosystem of distros, and devs working on Linux.
I don't care if people aren't interested in Linux. I'm much more interested in ensuring those people who choose Linux are happy because that is good for all.of us.
And the best thing anyone can do is donate to the projects they care about. That helps projects fund development and support. It's much more useful than trying to convince people to try Linux when they have no real interest in it.
I can understand if the game they play is online and it has an anti-cheat that makes it uncompatible with Linux. (Mainly game devs not allowing Linux to work). Otherwise, my experince with gaming on Linux has been pretty good
I'm finally moving myself and my parents over to Linux this weekend. I'm putting them on Mint and I think I'll probably be using Debian 12.
For the longest time it was games that prevented me from moving, but with what MS has been doing as of late, and especially with them trying to force copilot/recall onto systems/my Win 11 install refusing to get security updates anymore, I went and checked my entire game library on steam against the proton db and found the following.
95 of my games run natively on Linux. 31 of my games are rated platinum. 73 of my games are rated gold. 12 are rated silver. 3 are rated as bronze. 3 are unplayable.
This shocked me a little when I counted it out as this is a huge improvement compared to a few years ago.
The actual difficulties I will be facing are getting all of my music/sound production stuff functioning well enough to use.
But yes, anyone who claims they won't move to Linux due to gaming in the contemporary is either sorely out of the loop or hard stuck silver in a game like Valorant which they cannot bring themselves to drop and artificially refuses to run on anything where it can't have kernel level anti-cheat.
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Since ProtonDB (and obviously Proton itself, Wine with its own WineApp DB, SteamOS) there is an easy way to check if your favorite games do work. That being said I understand that people are afraid. They might think "OK... well Elden Ring works but what about the DLC, or upcoming Elden Ring Nightreign?" and believe, probably rightfully so to be honest, that because Windows is still the most popular OS for gaming on PC and that game publishers are economically rational actors, more testing and fixes will be done against that target platform.
So... 100% is a ridiculous coverage because it's impractical but IMHO they are not that silly to "want" it. It's just a simpler way to say they are scared and do not want to bother. They would rather follow the crowd than take a risk themselves and be trail blazers.
All that being said now that ProtonDB exists and Valve is actively radically improving support via Proton, that gamers see in the wild SteamDecks popping up literally around them, in flights, airports, waiting rooms, etc they just can not ignore the fact that support is improving enough to have fun. Mentality will change but it takes time and Microsoft is fighting back because despite having Azure as their dollar printing asset, they are just hooked on bundling.
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That list keeps getting smaller
Of you want something you'll find a solution, of you don't you'll find an excuse
I've used linux on my laptops and non-gaming devices for a long time, but it took me a long time to switch my gaming desktop over. I've felt i could use linux full time most of the last 8 years (and especially for games since 2020 as i rarely play anything with anti-cheat anyway), but i only went linux on all devices as of 2 years ago when i built a new gaming PC so it required starting from scratch anyway, and aside from a few components i intended to retain for the new one, i could easily drop back to play a game if i ran into problems.
They won't do it, whether they just fear change or think it'll break stuff or they can't bother
Not everyone has the time nor feels the need to just rip and replace on a dime. Not everyone has the luxury of multiple devices to gain confidence. Some people only have a handful of hours a week to play games, so switching OS isnt going to be an immediate priority sven if its their desire.
And I'm not going to lie, I don't hate them or debate with them for it, I just hate the bold lies they tell just to get with the crowd
The world already has enough things to tear us all down, why flip a table and possibly be unable to game for a time just because doing it right away, according to you, is the only way to be honest or whatever. A vocal desire to dump windows doesnt equate to lying. Let people be excited about linux even if they dont make the switch themselves. Maybe their excitement inspires someone else to take the plunge who wouldn't have done so otherwise.
Also, if you felt the need to write this rant, seems like you do kinda hate them.
At least don't lie that you'll move to Linux at a goal post that you'll just move whenever you get close, maybe say that you'll move to Linux when you finally get a new pc with a new disk or something?
even tho i knew i was "done" with the windows since like 2018, I just simply waited until it was convenient to switch. Should i have qualified every conversation where i discussed linux gaming with this? Idk, maybe just let people be excited about something, even if it takes them a long time to get to it.
Maybe they will, due in fucking 2028 or something when they invent a really easy way to use built in Linux tools to move your files from NTFS to Linux and then when you launch steam you have a perfect library of Linux compatible games that are as good or better than windows
Uh... This has existed a long time. Mounting ntfs on linux is rather easy. Even a windows boot disk. Just point steam at the library folder. In fact, my steam library is installed on ntfs in case i ended up dual booting or using gpu passthrough to a windows vm for a few items. If you're gonna sit here and virtue signal about who is a real linux gamer or not maybe you'd at least know something as basic as mounting ntfs in linux...
I switched to linux because Windows10 is going EoL, and my hardware is ineligible for Windows11. It's been fine, once I got it set up. There wasn't any single thing that pushed me over the edge. I just had a free weekend and I knew I had to do it eventually.
I really wanted the install to be smooth so I could tell everyone how great it was. It was not. Somehow it borked itself, and I couldn't boot from the usb stick a 2nd time until after I manually edited a file on it. Then installer hung on the last step, and I couldn't find any answers other than "Use the previous LTS". At least that worked.