2024 is the Year of Linux on the Desktop, at least for my boyfriend. He’s running Windows 7 right now, so I’ll be switching him to Ubuntu in a few days. Ubuntu was chosen because Proton is officially supported in Ubuntu.
Aha, just popping in here to suggest taking a look at PopOS!
Proton works extremely well on it, its compatible out of the box with everything Debian based (this includes Ubuntu) so it has a huge selection of free software, has great documentation for the PopOS! specific stuff and for all the debian/ubuntu stuff you can nearly always use older wikis on the internet if you run into a snag, and its got a custom DE that I personally find better than KDE and Ubuntu’s latest rendition if GNOME.
Also, while Ubuntu is going hard into Snaps, which I hate, PopOS! is going into flatpaks, which are less bad than snaps, but still stupid imo.
If you care, its fairly easy to disable and/or remove flatpaks from PopOS. It doesnt come with any preloaded afaik, so all you have to do is go into the PopShop (the app store) settings and just remove the flatpak source.
Ive run Proton on Steam via debian sources on PopOS! for years, works fine.
Oh right! I am fairly sure that PopOS! nowadays just comes by default with graphics drivers pre-installed and preset to automatically update with the rest of your software when you run sudo apt update. All you have to do is pick the Nvidia ISO if youve got Nvidia, or the standard one if youve got AMD.
I’ve been running PopOS! for years now on a HP slice with 8gb of RAM and its still flawless and feels so modern! Making the switch was definitely the best thing I ever did
The trend is that the app developers officially support and push updates for the flatpak. So you always get the latest source directly from the devs. This makes packaging organic, instead of deb/arch/rpm/etc packagers trying to catch up (those packages are often waaay out of date, even on arch occasionally)
Well if this trend becomes the norm then that is great, but in my experience the opposite is true, dependencies get updated first, then things built off of them get updated later.
Lots of choices but I’d probably use Kubuntu if your boyfriend is new to Linux and you want this “official” Proton support (not sure that actually means much; Proton works very well on most distros). The plasma interface can be set fairly similar to windows for a newbie to feel comfortable.
It’s all just personal preference of course; I just find the Ubuntu interface annoying as someone who uses Linux and windows a lot. Personally I use Mint; very nice distro, good and stable, nice for newbies, and the default cinnamon interface is very windows like too.
As a former lifelong Windows user (from 2002 to 2019), I honestly don’t get why people continue using Windows in the future. It doesn’t make sense to me. They’re cracking down on liberties, increasing system requirements, and old software and games are gradually becoming less compatible. And people seem to be starting to realize that other options are becoming gradually more attractive, because Windows is now hovering below 70% while just ten years ago it was at over 90%. Meanwhile Mac has grown from 7% to 20%, and Linux is at an unprecedented 3%, and that’s not counting ChromeOS, which is slightly higher.
The mistakes Microsoft is doing can prove fatal. Because I think for most people, once they embrace Linux, even if Windows improves, they won’t wanna go back.
You’re right. And people continue to use Windows because all software is available for it. See… Adobe products, Notion, Windows games with just a double click, even the Whatsapp application, Full OneNote and do not even mention MS Office…
Yeah, I think the reason many don’t switch, is because of software availability.
Only reason I use windows is for work. All the software for industrial controls stuff is windows only. But luckily its so shit at being updated that I still have to keep a windows xp VM around for some stuff so hopefully I’ll be retired before I need to use windows 11+
I got my CNC router working via wine about 2 years ago. Was very happy when it not only worked but worked well. Thought I was going to need to setup a dedicated windows PC for it but I can just use my workshop/tinkering laptop.
I still might try and use Linux as a host for the windows VMS but I’d probably still need to keep a dual boot around can’t risk not having it in case of something that wouldn’t work with USB pass through.
Having recently replaced my laptop (with a used Lenovo T495) and set it up to dual boot Win11 and Endeavor…Windows 11 was by far the most difficult and time consuming to get from “boot off installation media” to “open functional web browser”. Would have been even easier had I asked Endeavor to just use up all of the partition I left free from installing Windows.
So when I got the T495, I went through the Win 11 OOBE to check it out. Turned it off until I got the Ram upgrade for it in the mail. That was my first problem, because “turn off” doesn’t mean what you think it does in Windows. If you want to get to the Lenovo system settings/boot order/diagnostics, turns out you have to “restart”. Go figure.
Then I did the switcheroo with NVMes in my old T470s and the 495. Took my 1TB out of the 470 into the 495, and took the 256 that came with the 495 and put it in the 470.
Then go to start the 470 and it boots fine to Win 11 but I can’t login with my PIN because my PIN is now expired. I’d enter a password but it never even let me do that. I tried to connect to my wifi and it wouldn’t connect.
Obviously this is because the host system changed and the TPM isn’t there anymore, but still frustrating to not be able to use the laptop offline just the same. I ended up just formatting and installing Endeavor on that, too. This was just where I finally realized that “reboot” means “give me the option to change boot order this time”, because I couldn’t get back into BIOS after it booted to windows.
I highly recommend Linux Mint (cinnamon) as an entry level Linux distro. It looks and feels similar to Windows, and it’s based on Ubuntu, so it has a lot of support and compatibility.
Really liked Mint, unfortunately the kernel was not new enough to support my 7900 XTX when I upgraded GPU so I ended up switching to Pop_OS which works fine as well.
I strongly reccomend Zorin OS. I was in his exact shoes when I decided to switch to Linux and for very similar reasons. It feels pretty similar to Windows 7 IMHO, and I like its default dynamic background that changes throughout the day. Steam games run great on it btw.
The other reason I reccomend Zorin is that it is aimed at windows users and Mac users. There’s an “app store” that is in fact a software manager, most windows apps run pretty well (although I reccomend using Bottles for that) and the layout is designed to feel similar to Windows. All the fun Linux stuff is still right there for you to use, it’s just slightly out of sight so it doesn’t overwhelm you at the beginning.
If your friend ends up not liking the GNOME desktop environment because it’s so radically different from the Windows UI, then maybe add the K in Ubuntu, I guess.
Well it very much does just work on mint. Selinux could potentially screw people but it seems better than that one arch based “extremely optimised” (forgot name) distro which broke on my first install. And fedora base is quite solid.
The only reason my windows partition still lives is so I can stream VR to the quest 2, literally everything else I do in Linux and I’m so close to 100% I can taste it!
I think Linux holds you back. Stop edging “when will this ancient technology support come?” and migrate to the best operating system 🪟1️⃣1️⃣ worldwide.
We support your VR, 1999 wifi drivers, we have drivers for every plastic you own. It takes one step. Come to us.
It might not fuck over people as bad as their abandoning XP did, but its still really fucking shitty that they abandon OS’s like this.
Simply because it means people who have games they used to be able to play on old machines, now cant get those games anymore, cause the service itself wont run on it on those machines.
They should at least fork off a special legacy version that lets people download their old games on their original platforms.
but they dont want to do that, not because of supporting it, because they dont want people to remember how sleek, slim, and fast steam used to be.
because there are games that people fucking own that don’t run on newer platforms, that they should still be allowed to fucking play and not have defacto taken away from them?
How is that hard to understand?
I swear to god the absolute short sightedness of gamers. If this prevented you from playing one of your games you’d be here spewing shit and fire and brimstone over it.
“how dare you call me out for defending the corporation when all i’m doing is viciously trying to attack you and shift the blame to you for your mild criticism of them!”
Expecting Valve to support an operating system that the creator of the OS doesn’t even support isn’t tenable. How much longer should Valve be forced to support Windows XP by that logic?
Valve sold games on steam that only run on XP via its digital download service
It should support XP with a legacy downloader for as long as people want to play their XP games on XP.
This shouldnt even be a controversial opinion, Y’all are whats wrong with modern gaming and why its become such a festering cesspit of microtransactions and theft.
Don’t LEASE digital games on a DRM platform then be surprised when it doesn’t work forever on outdated software that isn’t even supported by the original creator.
No one owns these games and pretending you do is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
You’re the one trying to keep Windows 7 alive and commercially viable.
And if you want to really get off topic to “original hardware/software”, I’m a big advocate for FPGA replacing original hardware for most users. The MiSTer and similar projects are real preservation and very much not “corpo dick sucking”.
“I’m not corpo dick sucking, now why don’t you go buy a 500+ dollar device from one of the companies selling it instead of doing your filthy peasant retrogaming”
The DE-10 nano is sold by Intel typically at a loss to assist with educational endeavors. The retro gaming community just kind of adopted the platform due to its cheap nature.
I think the MiSTer is the exact opposite of what you’re saying. It’s a corporation essentially subsidizing video game preservation for a period of time.
MiSTer is also open source software and hardware.
Again, you’re the one buying digital games on steam and calling others corporate dick suckers. You’re the one funding it without paying basic attention.
I’d rather blame the customer who keeps buying from the corporation but claims some moral high ground over the company.
Put your money where your mouth is. This isn’t the first time Steam has dropped support for an Operating System and you’re acting like this is some new revelation.
If you’re so against what these corporations are doing, stop giving them so much money. I’m not sure how much more you can glaze a company than you already have with your wallet.
All the blame should be on the customers, We should never try to hold the blessed companies accountable or criticize them in any way for their behavior, because it is the filthy customers fault for it all.
afterall, the customers just downright refuse to use their future sight to avoid problems, so they deserve it.
Yes yes, it’s all the companies fault even when the customer refuses to read the terms of service or acknowledge the company’s history of similar moves.
If you really cared, there are other platforms you could be using.
Anything to avoid personal responsibility.
Your comments read like someone who eats at McDonald’s and then blames them for being overweight.
Your comments read like someone who eats at McDonald’s and then blames them for being overweight.
Thats literally what you’re doing in this entire thread. “Customer should have known the coffee was hot and should have been more careful” is your entire argument.
Your ability to twist comments to fit your narrative in your own head are hilarious.
Steam leases digital games with a shitty Term of Service and the ability to change their agreements at any time. You’re the one blindly consuming then getting upset at the natural consequences.
Take some personal accountability for once.
I bet you’ll still be buying on Steam this time next year.
Your ability to twist comments to fit your narrative in your own head are hilarious.
Uh huh.
Steam leases digital games with a shitty Term of Service and the ability to change their agreements at any time. You’re the one blindly consuming then getting upset at the natural consequences.
And now we’re back to the same old “You should have known the coffee was hot, its your fault for being careless and getting burned” arguments.
Take some personal accountability for once.
Accountability for me, but not accountability for billion dollar businesses, Right?
You didn’t stop buying games when they killed XP support. They announced at the begining of this year (at least by March 2023) that they were dropping windows 7 support and you still kept buying.
Why do you keep doing the same thing but expecting a different outcome?
Stop spending money at places you claim are anti consumer. You are the problem. You. There are other companies you could support but you want to keep funding Steam while crying victim.
All this because I said valve should have a legacy downloader so people can still play the things they bought that dont work on modern OS’s.
Something that would cost valve, a multibillion dollar company, almost nothing in the grand scheme of things.
But apparently caused so much offense, that you’ve sat here clawing your hair out at the sheer audaciousness the comment.
You really need to go outside and take a few calming breaths and realize how fucked up it is that you are this defensive over criticism of a company that doesnt give a single shit about you.
Yes yes, a legacy downloader that doesnt effect you, is such an egregious and evil thing and totally deserving of this crazy, borderline mental illness reaction you’ve sustained.
And now we’re to the point where you keep repeating the same arguments and demanding the same answers, in an attempt to make the other person walk away so you claim a pathetic “win” and strut around like a high street cock.
I’ve been on the internet a long time, friend. Your tactics are not clever, or new.
I haven’t asked why you wouldn’t upgrade before, nor about the broken compatibility features included with Windows.
Direct your anger at the company causing your issues (Microsoft), not the one that hurt you because you couldn’t figure out hardware acceleration with remote play.
Upgrade your windows install to a supported version and then use the mods to make the game work. Then you’ll have windows 8 or 10 or 11 and a working game.
You’ve already tried that tactic, too, and I provided several links the last time you tried it.
If youre memory is this bad, and you are this prone to irrational anger, I strongly suggest you get someone you can trust to take you to the ER immediately for an evaluation, Your health matters.
You’re buying a license which is subject to conditions decided upon by the developer, publisher, platform, and others. If you want to own a copy of the game, don’t buy it on Steam.
Downvote all you want, reality isn’t changing to match your feelings. Stop supporting DRM or quit bitching while simultaneously strengthening the system you are choosing to ignore.
You should try plain Debian and KDE Plasma (the desktop it’s one of the options of the shelf, you just pick it with the installer). I have been doing that and it’s great, even with old hardware. Ubuntu is way too much bloated. And of course proton works like magic.
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