Could be small or big.
My answer has always been that, Linux can’t handle everything I’d ask out of it that I normally can with Windows. I know the games issue has been progressing far from the days when that used to have been an archaic flaw with Linux for the longest time. Games might not be the issue except for some concerns I have for some games.
I was taking some time a few moments ago, to check if a program called Firestorm Viewer would work on Linux Mint which could’ve been my distro of choice. And the description written on the linux page described exactly the kind of concerns I’d have for compatibility and usability from going Windows to Linux.
They said that their viewer was tested and designed to function mostly with Ubuntu and while it could work with other distros, it’s not to be expected to be smooth.
That’s the kind of sentiment and concern I have always had with Linux if I were to go from Windows to it. There are programs and tools on Windows that I have that are used for specific purposes and I know they will not function on Linux. Furthermore, incase anything breaks down, any and all solutions would only be applicable to that thing that would be far easier to solve than just being SOL if I was on Linux.
It is something as a user that I just can’t simply afford to deal with on a regular basis if I made the switch.
So while I may not have too much of an issue running games, I won’t have too much of an issue using alternatives, I won’t have to deal with the Windows ecosystem .etc I will just be running into other walls that would simply make me second guess my decision and make me regret switching to the point where I would dip back into Windows in a hurry.
I’m lazy and haven’t gotten around to it yet
+1
I did flip my peripheral electronics, it’s just my main computer I haven’t changed yet. I made an attempt a while back ago but ran into enough snags, after already having a rough day, that I gave up and I haven’t tried again since. I’m pretty sure I know what the problem is, I just haven’t found myself wanting to sit down and burn the time it would take to install the new OS and get everything installed and tweaked how I like it etc. The latter part being a most-of-the-day project.
I will do it eventually though. I am sick of Windows. Now I just need to get over my fatigue and get off my ass.
For me, the snag is that I haven’t sorted through my files yet to decide what to keep
If you’re definitely making the hop, copy the whole windows file system to an external NTFS-formatted drive and then mount that and sort the files later haha.
You won’t be able to boot it as a backup, but the files will be there. If you have drive encryption you have to turn it off
You’ll find some things are broken and janky in Windows and Linux. Just different jank you’re not used to. I have friends who complain about how they have to do weird workarounds for Linux and then turnaround and fuck with RegEdit. You get used to either given enough time.
My Windows 10 PC is just as, if not more secure than any Linux machine on the planet.
But one of these days I’m going to have to actually power it on again and then I guess I’ll have to do something.
None, we only use linux.
At the house yeah its the family computers. Haven’t had to reimage for years. The windows 10 old lap had to get reimaged after the last windows update blue screened it haha.
Because my PC is an entertainment box. I don’t want to turn it into a problem to solve.
Also, Nvidia.
Unfortunately I’m addicted to a game that requires kernel level anti cheat. So I dual boot Fedora and Windows, but pretty much the only thing I use the Windows partition for is the game and that rare application that just works ™️ on Windows
just make a vm of windows and use Linux for EVERYTHING else
Man i wish Mint worked out of the box as well as virtually everyone on here says it does.
I am a former software engineer, and don’t want my home PC to be a hobby. I’m like 6 hours into trying to make my (simple) audio setup work on Mint Cinnamon and it’s intermittent at best. Never have even thought about it on Windows.
It is plug and play compared to Linux of old, it’s clearly come a long way. But it’s nowhere near as easy as Windows still, for anyone who isn’t trying to make this a hobby
That’s exactly how I feel about it as well and largely contributes to my hesitation.
I read and hear how so many people just gush and gush about how Linux Mint or this distro just ‘works out of the box’. What they don’t tell you, is how they must have had to spend hours getting something to work. Like sure, Linux Mint or a more friendlier distro will work out of the box - if you do nothing but just browse online and maybe install/uninstall programs you may want or need from the software package manager.
But I have had my battles before trying to make things work on linux distros, like getting proprietary functions of a browser to work. Hell, I have even had to fight a little just to get a displaying clock! Like with its formatting from 24hr to 12hr, I’m not saying getting it to display or anything but I don’t get this desire to default to a 24hr format. And I have had to fight at times to switch formats.
The point is, I or others should not have to spend more time than we need to, to get things to work when there is already an OS that readily does that without question. It doesn’t make us dumb, it doesn’t make us incurious or boring or uninterested in computers and technology. It’s about patience and respect of time and if some Linux distro is not going to respect my time or patience, regardless of how welcoming it appears, then it is not worth swapping to.
I made the change about a year ago now. I saw the end of Windows 10 coming up and decided to install linux in a dual boot and try my best to use it exclusively for a couple months until I properly got used to it. You will need to accept that not every program you use on Windows will be available and you may have to try out a couple replacements before you find something that works for you. But most things have decent alternatives. Especially considering how much is done in a web browser these days, there aren’t too many programs I really miss from Windows (mostly 3D CAD and RAW image processing).
Also, note that the differences between distros is way overblown when it comes to compatibility, it is mostly just a case of whether your package manager has the packages you want available and how bleeding edge the packages your distro uses are. Debian based distros (e.g. Ubuntu and Mint) tend to use slightly older packages than ones that are rolling release like Arch which should theoretically be a bit more stable.
I did. But I could easily see how people are put off by the “fan base”. I actually avoid talking about Linux at all irl because I don’t want people to think I’m a fossbro
Jesus yes, the fanbase, more primarily the die-hards.
The kind that feel they have to be the jehovah’s witness of operating systems. Can’t tell you how many times someone wants a software or even a hardware issue troubleshooted and it never fails, there’s that one guy or two going “GO LINUX!”. “Have you tried Linux?” they butt in, disrespecting the inquiring user just wanting their problem solved so they can continue using their computer throughout the day. They’re not interested in being marketed to or browbeaten, even if that thing is free.
It’s happened to me before. Game won’t run? Linux. Can’t boot? Linux. Your computer is on fire? Linux because I guess it is capable of virtualizing a fire extinguisher to cool your computer down. It is no wonder some users online find Linux users insufferable this way.
The only worst thing a Windows user can do to you is just nag you to upgrade the OS but you can tell them to fuck off. With a Linux user? It could turn into an hours-long debate.
Jesus, yes. And I’m a lady so I get the extra layer of dudes trying to gatekeep their “manly” hobby. I can go for a hat trick of perceived emasculation while I’m at it and tell them my deadlift form is better than theirs and that I know the best way to clean a trout.
Fusion360
I’ve found real solutions to pretty much everything but this. For Fusion, I still just have to run it in a windows VM under Linux.
I have terabytes of games, shit internet and no patience for things that don’t just work immediately. I can only tolerated windows because I’ve already fixed it and I don’t have to keep fixing it anymore.
Who knows what will happen with my next gaming laptop though, if it’s fresh and empty I won’t have that excuse, although there is always ‘cbf’ to fall back on.
I use Endeavour and it’s near flawless because all the drivers are imstalled, Steam knows when to use Proton, Heroic Launcher handles everything else. 6TB+ of games. All run. When they don’t it’s because of Epic Games’ login requirement. No crashes. No launch errors.
Basically, there’s no excuse for incompatibility any more. One exception may be some online multiplayer games with kernel level anticheat that’s not supported by Proton. But I don’t play those so idk
Compatibility my only concerns are modded games afaik. Forza I think has issues but I’m pretty sick of forza, anyway, fh5 gave me a ton of grief.
It’s literally redownloading everything. My internet is likely slower than the moon. Im not touching it without needing to start from scratch anyway, because it’ll knock my internet out for like a month.
You can back up your games using steam’s game transfer tool to another drive, then attaching that drive to the new install :)
It’s even designed for people with data caps. (Since most compatibility is through Proton it shouldn’t have any difference in the actual game files)
My data cap isn’t even the problem, hitting it is lmao.
Didn’t know the same game files worked though, good to know.
I recently switched to Linux, but the reason it took so long was primarily:
- Just getting the time to do it. I’m really busy these days and setting up a PC from scratch with all the stuff I need and how I want it to be takes a lot of time.
- Concerns about gaming, which turned out to be a complete non-issue. I can game completely fine and easily on Linux via Steam’s compatibility settings. I can even use it to install non-Steam games and launchers, like Battlenet.
- Concerns about stuff not “just working” and I will say, there are more small annoyances. Already had a few segfaults from KDE Plasma when waking from sleep which crashes all programs and leaves me with an empty desktop. We really collectively need to move away from memory-unsafe languages, but yea you just don’t get those sorts of bugs on Windows because Microsoft performs much, much more extensive testing of their code than Linux does (which is sad, but is the reality).
There is too concentrated which is bad (mac, win), and there is too fragmented which is bad (that is your Linux/distro universe). In other words, in one world, a single entity controls and is responsible for everything, and in another world, no one is. I am not getting into what is worse or better, rather what is usable for an end user.
And then there’s the tacit wisdom of the FOSS/Linux world savants: “Uh, if something is not done or not available – you can just fork it or raise a PR, can’t you?” completely escaping the fact that almost the entirety of the users of either world are just end users.
VR. Even my valve index, which is supposed to be the best supported on linux, has been nothing but hell on earth to try and get running. I remember reading about envision and if i can get that to work on arch, and the performance is acceptable, i might switch over to it sometime after windows reaches EOL.
