As a Windows “normie” for a long time I used to roll my eyes when people said try Linux. But getting ads in Windows when trying to do a simple admin thing was the last straw. I followed instructions to install Debian on a spare drive and gave it a go and do you know what, it was fine. It made me realise 90% of what I do is in a browser anyway, so why did I have a hang up about having the exact same browser experience in a slightly different operating system?
Using libre office instead of word was a bit of a shift but, again, for the majority of what I wanted to do I it was fine. Libre office works with words .docx format. In fact, I noticed that for a quick document or spreadsheet I’d been using Google docs so much that this wasn’t affected at all.
Gaming was a concern, as this was something I (lazily) believed just didn’t work on Linux. But I was totally wrong. Not only is steam available on Linux, but even very recent titles work fine run through a Linux based windows emulator. I guess the important thing is that far more of this was automated than I thought it was going to be. There’s a stereotype that you’re going to be buried neck deep in obscure command lines trying to get basic things working but in my experience I didn’t have to do any of that, it all just worked.
Bonus was along the way learning that those “obscure” command lines were not actually that obscure and were actually convenient. Typing “sudo apt install vlc” on the command line and having VLC installed and ready to use about ten seconds later was amazing. (I know package managers are available for Windows, I’m just referring to the ‘norms’ of each platform)
I’m really just joking, but it’s a translation layer which has much less overhead compared to an actual emulator. That’s why you can get performance that is so close to Windows, and sometimes even better since the OS itself takes up fewer resources as well.
I’ve been running Pop OS strictly for a few months now, but in terms of gaming, it just doesn’t quite feel like it’s quite there for me.
Take Half-Life 2 for instance. Valve is one of the few devs/publishers actually making an effort with Linux, and it shows, but it still manages to be inferior.
By default, it uses OpenGL, which is… a mess. Just plain a mess. It’s bad. Busted lighting, models look off, effects don’t draw right. This has no business being the default.
So, command line options, turn on Vulkan. 1 billion times better. Looks right, feels right… crashes on boot occasionally… and the workshop uploader crashes too…
Well, there’s always Proton, except… yeah, performance is decreased a bit. That’s nothing major here, but since I don’t have the best hardware, it becomes more of an issue with newer games. In regards to HL2, though, it also introduces microstuttering, which is absolutely a big deal.
The graphics API isn’t something superficial. The source engine was designed from the ground up around APIs from 20 years ago. Any Vulkan adapter will be a bodge.
Source was branched off of GoldSRC, which was built around OGL and D3D simultaneously, but for Source, OGL was excised from the final engine. Meanwhile, D3D functionality was later removed from GoldSRC altogether. And further back than all that, the engines are both based on Quake, which only had a software renderer, so going by your logic, it could be said that every renderer in Source and GoldSRC is a “bodge”.
Besides all that, I said the Vulkan renderer is the absolute best way to play the game on Linux, so your point in the first place isn’t even totally really clear.
Eh, in my testing, I’ve found a drop of a few fps across the board, with a few games that are just plain problematic. I haven’t found any performance improvements yet myself, but I also only have a part of my library right now due to a drive failure.
I followed instructions to install Debian on a spare drive and gave it a go and do you know what, it was fine. It made me realise 90% of what I do is in a browser anyway, so why did I have a hang up about having the exact same browser experience in a slightly different operating system?
That’s how it’s done people. Alright let’s go 2025 Year of the Linux Desktop (Again)! Chop chop! Let’s move out!
For what it’s worth, if you want an office suite that’s perhaps not as feature-rich as Libre Office, but has an appearance and UX like MS Office, as well as better compatibility with MS Office out of the box, there’s always OnlyOffice.
It’s especially good if you’re putting it on a parent’s PC who’s only used MS Office before.
As a Windows “normie” for a long time I used to roll my eyes when people said try Linux. But getting ads in Windows when trying to do a simple admin thing was the last straw. I followed instructions to install Debian on a spare drive and gave it a go and do you know what, it was fine. It made me realise 90% of what I do is in a browser anyway, so why did I have a hang up about having the exact same browser experience in a slightly different operating system?
Using libre office instead of word was a bit of a shift but, again, for the majority of what I wanted to do I it was fine. Libre office works with words .docx format. In fact, I noticed that for a quick document or spreadsheet I’d been using Google docs so much that this wasn’t affected at all.
Gaming was a concern, as this was something I (lazily) believed just didn’t work on Linux. But I was totally wrong. Not only is steam available on Linux, but even very recent titles work fine run through a Linux based windows emulator. I guess the important thing is that far more of this was automated than I thought it was going to be. There’s a stereotype that you’re going to be buried neck deep in obscure command lines trying to get basic things working but in my experience I didn’t have to do any of that, it all just worked.
Bonus was along the way learning that those “obscure” command lines were not actually that obscure and were actually convenient. Typing “sudo apt install vlc” on the command line and having VLC installed and ready to use about ten seconds later was amazing. (I know package managers are available for Windows, I’m just referring to the ‘norms’ of each platform)
I was all worried about gaming then I had a revelation.
I almost never game.
Wine is not an emulator. It’s in the name.
I’m really just joking, but it’s a translation layer which has much less overhead compared to an actual emulator. That’s why you can get performance that is so close to Windows, and sometimes even better since the OS itself takes up fewer resources as well.
Yes, let the darkness flow through you.
Lol
I’ve been running Pop OS strictly for a few months now, but in terms of gaming, it just doesn’t quite feel like it’s quite there for me.
Take Half-Life 2 for instance. Valve is one of the few devs/publishers actually making an effort with Linux, and it shows, but it still manages to be inferior.
By default, it uses OpenGL, which is… a mess. Just plain a mess. It’s bad. Busted lighting, models look off, effects don’t draw right. This has no business being the default.
So, command line options, turn on Vulkan. 1 billion times better. Looks right, feels right… crashes on boot occasionally… and the workshop uploader crashes too…
Well, there’s always Proton, except… yeah, performance is decreased a bit. That’s nothing major here, but since I don’t have the best hardware, it becomes more of an issue with newer games. In regards to HL2, though, it also introduces microstuttering, which is absolutely a big deal.
You are talking about a game that was developed before Vulkan was a glint in Khronos’ eye.
That response doesn’t make any sense. You do know this game received a major update just last week and has native Vulkan support, right?
The graphics API isn’t something superficial. The source engine was designed from the ground up around APIs from 20 years ago. Any Vulkan adapter will be a bodge.
Source was branched off of GoldSRC, which was built around OGL and D3D simultaneously, but for Source, OGL was excised from the final engine. Meanwhile, D3D functionality was later removed from GoldSRC altogether. And further back than all that, the engines are both based on Quake, which only had a software renderer, so going by your logic, it could be said that every renderer in Source and GoldSRC is a “bodge”.
Besides all that, I said the Vulkan renderer is the absolute best way to play the game on Linux, so your point in the first place isn’t even totally really clear.
I’ve been playing Half Life 1 on windows (geforce RTX 3080, latest drivers etc) and it’s buggy as hell. I guess my expectations are low…
“Proton decreases performance” isn’t a fact. Benchmarks tend to very from very minor drops in some games to meaningful improvements in others.
Eh, in my testing, I’ve found a drop of a few fps across the board, with a few games that are just plain problematic. I haven’t found any performance improvements yet myself, but I also only have a part of my library right now due to a drive failure.
That’s how it’s done people. Alright let’s go 2025 Year of the Linux Desktop (Again)! Chop chop! Let’s move out!
For what it’s worth, if you want an office suite that’s perhaps not as feature-rich as Libre Office, but has an appearance and UX like MS Office, as well as better compatibility with MS Office out of the box, there’s always OnlyOffice.
It’s especially good if you’re putting it on a parent’s PC who’s only used MS Office before.
Never even heard of it, I’ll have a look thanks
Btw, you can change the look under Appearance > uh, “Benutzeroberfläche” in german.
Just so you know, Google owns your documents, not you.
The command line will be needed for exotic ways to solve a problem or troubleshoot unusual products.