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Linux might be the future of gaming on PC, yet I'm not doing anything to help
- Thread starter Arkanius
- Start date
Sephiroth_VII
Member
But it's been progressing year after year. Users and support is only going up.
Malio
Member
It's nowhere near ready for prime time, but it's nice to have it around. I run Linux Mint on a slower box while my main system is Windows 7, and there's no reason to switch right now, for gaming. Linux has had PLENTY of time to get this shit figured out, but there are still so many nuisances associated with gaming on Linux, I don't foresee it ever over-taking Windows as a gaming platform. Someone is really going to have to over-haul Linux and concentrate on gaming...which I thought SteamOS was going to do but no, after all these years, it's still not up to par.
I'll keep using it, as I do enjoy having an alternative, but my expectations for the future of it are low.
I'll keep using it, as I do enjoy having an alternative, but my expectations for the future of it are low.
It is progressing - but it's a super tiny portion of the overall market. SteamOS was the opportunity for Linux gaming to be in the sun and ultimately nobody cared.
MadYarpen
Member
I would like to move to linux entirely. I am currently using simultaneusly W7 and Ubuntu, and I like Linux much more. It runs simply better on my laptop.
However, I made one try with gaming on this, installed KSP linux version and it runs like garbage. Maybe I'll also try Pillars of Eternity. But at the moment I won't go all linux. Which sucks.
I imagine it is possible that linux does not turn my main GPU for KSP (however I know it recognizes both Nvidia GPU and intel's integrated GPU) - I don't know however how to check it and correct if necessary.
However, I made one try with gaming on this, installed KSP linux version and it runs like garbage. Maybe I'll also try Pillars of Eternity. But at the moment I won't go all linux. Which sucks.
I imagine it is possible that linux does not turn my main GPU for KSP (however I know it recognizes both Nvidia GPU and intel's integrated GPU) - I don't know however how to check it and correct if necessary.
Sephiroth_VII
Member
But people did care, and mainstream games are finally being made for Linux,to a degree. I'll take that.
It's not about Linux "figuring it out". Most og the current problems are caused by the lack of support from hardware manufacturers, but this is slowly getting better. AND cards are finally usable now, for instance, although it's only true for newer versions.
Look, OP, all us *nix users from the last millenium were all, we're going to crush Micro$haft and their evil embrace, extend, extinguish campaign of FUDmake with our ultra-pure open-source software (and hardware), and if we have to settle for Tuxracer and FreeCiv and Dopewars as games, so be it.
Then we either grew up, gave up tilting at meaningless windmills, and switched to OS X or Windows, or we became lonely crazy old men screaming at the clouds.
Let it go.
Then we either grew up, gave up tilting at meaningless windmills, and switched to OS X or Windows, or we became lonely crazy old men screaming at the clouds.
Let it go.
I've been feeling the same thing as OP over the years, i e I should move to Linux, but after using Linux for while (Ubuntu), I think that sure, this works, it's fine, but things were fine in Windows too and all my games and art software are over there.
When MS starts digging their fingers too deep into Windows, I admit I get nervous and I wish there was a fully functional alternative, but that's really the only reason (for me).
When MS starts digging their fingers too deep into Windows, I admit I get nervous and I wish there was a fully functional alternative, but that's really the only reason (for me).
undu
Member
I dispute the bolded
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3045...hier-than-steams-hardware-survey-implies.html
That is with this big caveat:
Nvidia added G-sync support to the Linux driver in 2014. I don't have a G-sync monitor, so I can't test it, but it's available and I've read reports from others using it in Linux.
Wow that's good.
I had the idea that it was not working in the Linux side. I should edit the OP
NoblesseOblige
Banned
As long as Microsoft continues to improve their OS like they did with 8(.1) and 10, then I have no desire to switch to Linux for my personal computing/gaming. And I'm somebody who works with Linux every day at work.
They have been saying this for 20 years. Is Linux on desktop even 1% yet?
Ive used Linux for years. Mint at home and Red Hat at work. They've come a long way but it's still no where near Windows or OSX.
shark sandwich
tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
No fucking way I'm going to switch to a platform that, for GAMING, is inferior to Windows in every way. Nobody but a tiny minority would ever make a jump like that if it's just for philosophical reasons.
Wake me up when Linux can play the entire catalog of PC games at equal/better performance, and supports all the same hardware/peripherals as Windows, and requires equal or lesser effort to get everything working properly. Until then, Linux gaming is a niche/hobbyist market and nothing more.
Wake me up when Linux can play the entire catalog of PC games at equal/better performance, and supports all the same hardware/peripherals as Windows, and requires equal or lesser effort to get everything working properly. Until then, Linux gaming is a niche/hobbyist market and nothing more.
UncleSporky
Member
I feel like Ubuntu came the closest to being the breakout Linux success story and then they threw that all away with Unity in their attempts to be modern and slick like Windows/Apple.
I had several friends who used Ubuntu and were really happy with it. Then Unity came out, they despised it, and kind of went adrift endlessly trying out other distros. From what I understand it's not an uncommon story.
I had several friends who used Ubuntu and were really happy with it. Then Unity came out, they despised it, and kind of went adrift endlessly trying out other distros. From what I understand it's not an uncommon story.
I stopped using Ubuntu in favor of Mint years ago because it got so bloated and slow.
unapersson
Member
Sounds more like a Window Manager configuration issue than anything to do with the GIMP. If you've got it set as "click to focus", it will do that, change the configuration to "focus follows mouse" or "sloppy focus" and it'll work as you expect.
unapersson
Member
Or bought a console and buy Linux games on Steam.
Sorcerer
Member
Something must be happening. Capcom is bringing Street Fighter to linux. Square is bringing over Tomb Raider. Sega has been open to linux for quite a while.
Its just seems strange to see Japanese game companies dip their toes in Linux. They seemed completely resistant to it for a while.
Linux? Lol, the future is already here, Windows 10 has all the best features for gaming, DirectX 12, Xbox App and support for everything out there, gamepads, GPU etc...you can use Steam for all the games, Origin, Uplay and Windows Store for their exclusives, and stop saying Microsoft will close it cause they won't.
Why bother installing another OS which doesn't even have a good support, awful to use and doesn't add nothing to what we already have???
Why bother installing another OS which doesn't even have a good support, awful to use and doesn't add nothing to what we already have???
protomouse
Member
So... Android?
Linux is as good for gaming as the support it gets from key industry players. Intel have been been supportive of Linux kernel development. Nvidia have, historically speaking, been a pain in the ass. Linus Torvalds expressed similar frustration, along with giving them a public middle finger a few years back.
Less CPU and RAM overhead.
Ability to have the Kernel tailored for gaming purposes.
Stability.
LordRaptor
Member
A hypothetical Linux distro solely designed around playing games and not expecting alt+tab behaviours or unnecessary background processes would be more performant than indentical hardware running Windows
Well, it's free. Other than that, many just don't like Windows as a whole because it has implications to security. This doesn't mean Linux is per se more secure in the way it's built but the reality is that the main attack programs are written for Windows and users have to actively take care of that. MS is working to do things better but the situation is what it is.
LukasTaves
Member
One question, why? It seems you have literally nothing to gain and even if linux manages to be successful for gaming you'd probably get as much support as you already get.
Also this.
It's a "what if" or "could be" at this point. Gabe needed to have something to fall back to just in case Windows went on full lock down only allowing their store. I think it was the smart thing to do since now Valve has an out where they won't get caught with their pants down if and or when Microsoft decides they want to push for what phone manufacturers have.
I mean how enticing is it for a company to see phone manufacturers being able to have a single store on their operating systems where they get a profit for every program sold? More than likely MS is going to play the long game and shift over in a couple of years while nobody is paying attention. It's in Valves best interest to make sure Steam has a platform to survive on even if there's a 50/50 chance of that happening.
UncleSporky
Member
Traditionally I believe the answer hasn't been rooted in any concrete performance benefits, but simply in the belief that Windows is a big scary closed source corporation with an unhealthy stranglehold on the market, and it'd be nice not to be complicit in their ongoing success.
Which overhead? In times like these, CPUs easily deal with the OS itself and RAM is also plenty available. Not to mention that Windows is low on resource usage since several years. And the min required systems for famous Linux distributions were also raised in the past years.
What ver of Android that is built for running games that isn't locked down am I not seeing?
Really? Windows 10 with no third party softwares running in background is the lighter Windows ever, what could be the gain with Linux(if there really is a gain) 2%??? also why would you want a OS only for gaming on your PC? It'd be so uncomfortable, you should have double booting or even worse a great PC running only linux for gaming, what a waste, whilst with Windows 10 instead you have both a productive PC and perfect gaming machine all in one...
PS: i'm not good in searching though it also looks that Windows 10 performs better than Linux in games with same drivers/specs, so.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRitBdb0rIw
You can't say it performs better and then say it's due to the OS. Drivers on Linux are mostly crap when it's not Intel and the quality is essential of the drivers is of course essential to performance.
shark sandwich
tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Because, for most people's use cases, Linux has literally zero advantages over Windows (aside from being free, which is a moot point because most people buy PCs with Windows pre installed)? And it requires quite a bit of learning. And it doesn't support all the hardware/software that Windows does.
"Linux can kinda sorta do everything Windows can do, as long as you're fairly computer savvy and are willing to put in the time and effort to learn how it works and to learn how to use alternatives to your Windows programs!" is NOT a selling point for most people. That may sound like an exciting challenge for nerds, but for most people it's a completely unnecessary pain in the ass.
Desktop computing isn't the future.
Microsoft is not stupid, they know that if they closed Windows 10 they'll just take shit from everywhere, Windows 10 is the last Windows, there won't be a Windows 11, only regular updates for 10, it's still open and will always be like that, they've always been saying that, despite people speculations
UncleSporky
Member
What's going to run VR devices? Laptops?
TheHellsLord
Member
A big problem with Linux as a destination platform for proprietary software (as in: most games) has to do with one of it's biggest strengths: it's customizability.
Different distributions use different package managers, window managers, graphics servers, etc. When you want to install software that is not from that distribution's own package repository you'd better hope that your distribution is one of the most used (Fedora, Ubuntu, SuSE) or close enough to one of those that the packages support it. Then you have to hope that two distribution upgrades later those same packages are compatible with the installed library versions.
This is not an issue with most Open Source software as it can be recompiled against the new libs - this likely won't happen for older games.
Think of the games that have issues with newer versions of Windows - similar issues are likely to arise on Linux but worse because there isn't one new version of the OS every few years but rather one every 6 months times the number of distributions you want to support.
I guess that is what they will have to work on the most to make it more interesting. Using SteamOS as the baseline that would have been targeted could at least have solved the issue of catering to different distributions.
Different distributions use different package managers, window managers, graphics servers, etc. When you want to install software that is not from that distribution's own package repository you'd better hope that your distribution is one of the most used (Fedora, Ubuntu, SuSE) or close enough to one of those that the packages support it. Then you have to hope that two distribution upgrades later those same packages are compatible with the installed library versions.
This is not an issue with most Open Source software as it can be recompiled against the new libs - this likely won't happen for older games.
Think of the games that have issues with newer versions of Windows - similar issues are likely to arise on Linux but worse because there isn't one new version of the OS every few years but rather one every 6 months times the number of distributions you want to support.
I guess that is what they will have to work on the most to make it more interesting. Using SteamOS as the baseline that would have been targeted could at least have solved the issue of catering to different distributions.
It's true Windows is pretty amazing right now. Linux in time can only at best be equal to what Windows can offer. But the point of switching isn't really for a performance boost. It's just another option for users to make. I imagine in the future when MS finally pushes for a single store solution for their OS, Linux will finally have caught up or at least be really close to matching performance.
So what will essentially happen is, you'll be choosing Linux and Steam or Windows and Windows Store. From what we've seen so far with those sandboxed Windows Store games, you probably won't be getting mod support or any graphical options to set on your games. You'll just be getting the settings with whatever is coming out on the Xbox Two or Three. Because Microsoft is shooting for parity in their games and a one platform for all devices solution with their OS.
Right now there really isn't a reason to switch unless you feel so inclined to try it out. I personally really like Linux. But I like tinkering and learning about computers and it's a bit of a hobby for me. Hopefully SteamOS could get those people who want absolutely nothing to do with a computer apart from playing some games.
Microsoft is not stupid, they know that if they closed Windows 10 they'll just take shit from everywhere, Windows 10 is the last Windows, there won't be a Windows 11, only regular updates for 10, it's still open and will always be like that, they've always been saying that, despite people speculations
They'll close it. Just not in any way where you notice. Little steps at a time. It makes sense from a business stand point. They want to make money from their Storefront. They see that as the future. I mean they're already starting to put up advertisements on the lock screen unless you opt out. If there's a way to make money they'll do it. They'll take 5 to 10 years, but they'll get there.
Palculator
Unconfirmed Member
Thanks for the tip, but not really a viable solution since I'm using i3wm with which sloppy focus is an absolute pain for general use, in my opinion. And since I'm talking about Gimp's single window mode it shouldn't be down to the window manager to distribute focus throughout a single window.
A traditional PC is not required for VR, and while high end experiences do require one today, that is not the end goal. It's a stopgap. There are already ways to run VR without a PC and tech is only going to get better. The end goal is not a giant box with wires running to the headset.
I could also argue that once VR is hooked up to a traditional PC, it's not really a "desktop computer" anymore. Certainly not in the traditional sense.
unapersson
Member
I think the issue is that for a lot of people Windows is the only operating system they have any familiarity with, so the idea of other operating systems is almost alien. Linux isn't a cheap Windows knock off, it's a different operating system. If you don't see the value in different operating systems then that's on you. Linux has plenty of "advantages" that Windows doesn't have, most of those advantages come from the fact it does things differently. It's nothing to do with open vs. closed source or Windows being evil, or with Linux being for "nerds".
I've had years of experience of Windows as well, but have never enjoyed using it because of lots of little niggling and fundamental annoyances it has always had, and despite all its new versions they never seem to quite go away. I admit that some of those are due to expected functionality I have coming from Linux which is just missing or broken in Windows, I hold out hope it gets there eventually as it will make my day job more pleasant.
unapersson
Member
Ah sorry, I missed your reference to single window mode. I've always used it with floating docks on its own desktop, but that wouldn't be good on a tiling window manager.
protomouse
Member
Well, OUYA for starters.
Don't you still have to buy the game from their store? Or can you use Steam on it? Or any of the other stores?