Basically the forced shift to the enshittified Windows 11 in october has me eyeing the fence a lot. But all I know about Linux is 1: it’s a cantankerous beast that can smell your fear and lack of computer skills and 2: that’s apparently not true any more? Making the change has slowly become a more real possibility for me, though I’m pretty much a fairly casual PC-user, I don’t do much more than play games. So I wrote down some questions I had about Linux.
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
And also, what distro might be best for me?
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
No. Thanks to Steam Deck, most popular windows games also work on Linux. See https://www.protondb.com/ for a complete list of 18,000 titles… Someone already mentioned that kernel level anti-cheat is the big, obvious blocker.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
Im guessing that most moders target Windows users therefore, don’t think mods would be AS easy. Not saying modding wouldn’t exist or work at all.Edit: see sp3ctr4l’s reply to this comment. They know more than meIf a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
There are workarounds. Linux has some great alternative software to popular paid stuff. See LibreOffice or Krita.
There are also more advanced options to run Windows apps under Linux, see Wine or Virtual Machines
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
Yes. Similar to the above answer/ similar to aforementioned Proton. For .NET specifically, there is a Linux runtime.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
This can depend a lot on what distribution you’re running, but definitely, there are ones with easy buttons for whole-system updates.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
It’s different and probably overall better than windows. Most distros are much better out of the box than windows.
Open source is ususually a security advantage because (long story short) security mistakes can be caught by more people.
I don’t have a good answer for you on anti virus. I am very privacy and security conscious and I dont use one on linux. My personal opinion is that you don’t need one and shouldn’t need one if you’re not downloading sketch stuff.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Totally. GPU drivers are much, much better than they used to be.
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
Theoretically. You would have to try really hard, but for normal use, no. More likely, you could lose data or access to the system if you misconfigure stuff (just like with Windows)
Distro recommendations. My personal opinions, don’t flame me.
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Bazzite. hard to mess up, gamer focused, super simple updates, and targeted support for gamer hardware. Feels like a cross between steam deck and windows. Less support for tinkering but if you never want to touch the terminal, this is my choice.
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Pop!OS. Simplified Linux with great driver and steam support with easy updates. More tinkering support than Bazzite
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Linux Mint. Easy to start on but more traditional back-end. Much more support (forum posts) than the previous two. A lot of what works on Debian or Ubuntu works the same on Mint, so you’ll be able to do all kinds of fiddling
To add in about game modding on Linux:
https://github.com/limo-app/limo
https://flathub.org/apps/io.github.limo_app.limo
Limo is a universal mod manager that is linux native.
And I do mean universal. It’ll work with literally any game, you just have to take a bit of extra time to configure things for games that do not yet have a supported preset configuration out of the box… but at this point, that includes most games that are generally reliant on some kind of mod manager type program on Windows, to keep track of 10s or 100s of simultaneous mods.
It works very much along the same lines as something like Mod Organizer 2, though there are some differences, read the wiki.
It sets up a virtual file system that allows mods to be set up outside of the main game directory itself, and will override them such that the mods actually load, but they can be ‘undeployed’ to revert back to vanilla, you can set up different profiles of different mod configurations and deploy/undeploy what you like.
It can also manage load orders, supports formats such as fomod and similar for games like Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim, you can set up tags and category groupings, and it also shows you conflicts between mods down to the specific files, showing you a chain of overwrites to the final file from the final loaded mod.
It doesn’t support things like LOOT, which purport to autogenerate correct load orders… but frankly, thats fine, because shit like that doesn’t even work properly in situations you’d use it in on Windows 90% of the time.EDIT: Wow, apparently it does support LOOT now, it did not a few updates ago.
…
I have successfully gotten FONV working using Limo to set up uh… there’s a variant of the Viva New Vegas mod setup guide aimed at Steam Deck users, but it tells you to set up Mod Organizer 2 on the Deck… which you can do, but its rather input laggy and there are other inconveniences…
Here it is, Mirelurked Viva New Vegas:
https://ashtonqlb.github.io/mirelurked-vnv/intro.html
I had to alter a few steps from this to get it working with Limo, but they were basically just… set up Limo instead of MO2, and you have to handle NVSE a bit differently, because it literally replaces/overrides the entire main game exe.
…
I have also used Limo to mod Cyberpunk 2077, works with more in depth frameworks like CET, RedExt, etc, as well as using the Decky Framegen plugin to insert FSR 3.1 Upscaling and Framegen into CP77, which gives better quality and fps than the official FSR 2 and 3 implementations that come with the vanilla game and are vanilla supported on a Deck.
You basically just have to launch the vanilla game via the normal launcher first, check the ‘enable mods’ switch, fully load the game…
Then you can set up the Framegen mod, which adds a custom command in steam to the launch parameters… and then you can also setup the ‘skip intro’ mod, which is reliant on both the mod being present, as well as additional command line parameters…
There are a bunch of reddit posts complaining that the FrameGen mod doesn’t allow other additional launch arguments, but they are wrong.
All you have to do is append those additional launch args … at the end of the FrameGen mod’s launch arg. This just doesn’t seem to be explicitly documented anywhere, by anyone… I may have been the first person to figure this out?
Anyway, after that bit of silliness, setting up other mods for CP 77 using Limo is fairly straightforward.
…
… I am doing all this on Bazzite on a Deck, but you could do it on… presumably any linux distro that supports flatpaks and proton (the translation layer that allows Windows games to run on Linux).
There will always be a few ‘weird’ mods that are just totally reliant on a whole bunch of Windows specific things to work, or just cannot be made to work without actually overwriting some core game files in the main, real directory itself…
And, some of these mods will require a windows component dependency, like vc_2017 or vc_2022, you set those up with something like ProtonTricks or SteamTinkerLaunch to modify the proton config per game, instead of trying to install the exe system wide as 99% of the windows oriented mods will tell you to do…
But so far, I have found either my own solutions for these cases, or someone else already has, or someone has just made basically a linux compatible equivalent for such a windows reliant mod.
… You can also just choose to run MO2 on Linux, it will work, its just… buggy, and overlycomplicated, imo, you’ve got to set up a custom wineprefix for the MO2 UI to not do dumbshit, give it thr dependencies it needs, and then you’ve got to do this for each different game you want to mod with MO2.
I found that Limo is sufficiently capable and much less hassle to use once you take the time to understand its differences from MO2.
EDIT:
Also, for anti virus, ClamAV exists. I… think it is literally the only AV for linux?
Ooh, Limo has a Flatpak? Nice. I’m running Bazzite on my laptop and have been wanting to play FNV for the first time but I’ve got it on Epic through Heroic Launcher. I’m guessing the file paths will be different but it should otherwise mod more or less the same as you said, I’ll have to try it. What kind of weird stuff did you have to do to get NVSE working?
My FNV is through Steam… but… i think Limo does support GOG… I… would think you would, yes, have to set up your own filepaths, point it properly to where the game dir is, and it… should work?
You can launch a game from Limo, like, I do test runs of that in desktop mode on my Deck…
But the way the deployer system works is that you click deploy… and the even if you launch the game from some other way, like via Steam, in game mode on the deck, or… presumably via Heroic… it just now is the modded game. To revert, undeploy in Limo, and then either play vanilla, or swap to another modset profile and deploy that.
For NVSE, I just literally did the old school method of go into the real game dir, rename the main exe to .exe.old, and then rename the NVSE exe to the proper FONV game exe’s name.
That and manually install the dlls and other files that come with NVSE into the real dir.
This isn’t much of a problem with older games, but with newer games, that method would potentially be undone by ongoing update patches.
This is the kind of ‘some mods you just have to manually install’ thing… but in fairness… most of the time those mods are the same way on Windoes as well, unless some kind of mod manager goes far out of their way to specifically support that exact mod.
Down vote cause no arch. (no I didn’t.)
But in all seriousness, don’t use arch as a Linux noob.
There is exactly one type of noob that should be using arch and that’s the kind that has already built an Exocar or at least understands why somebody would.
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Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
Depends on what you play. As a general rule I would say that unless you like competitive multiplayer games you’re probably going to be fine. That being said the vast majority of games don’t support Linux natively so you need to use workarounds. Steam has a workaround built-in, so if most of your gaming is through Steam it should be an almost seamless transition (all you need to do is enable a checkbook in the settings). But like I said, it depends on what you play, I recommend you check out https://www.protondb.com/ and look for the games you play to see how they run on Linux.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
Same answer as before, if the game runs okay then modding it would also work okay, but if not it might worsen an already bad situation. Also be very careful here, because when you run Windows games on Steam they’re sort of sandboxed, i.e. they’re running isolated from other stuff, so installing mods is not as straightforward as it would be on windows where binaries are installed globally. It’s not a big deal, but just the other day someone was complaining that they installed a launcher needed for a game and the game wasn’t finding it and this was the reason.
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
As a general rune there’s a workaround, it’s called WINE (which is an acronym for WINE Is Not an Emulator) which is an “emulator” for Windows (except it’s not really an Emulator as the name implies). Then there are some apps built on top of that like Proton (which is what Steam has embebed) that include other libraries and fixes to help. It’s not perfect, but unless the program is actively trying to detect it or uses very obscure features on Windows it should work.
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
Yes, you can use WINE like mentioned above to run Windows binaries that use .NET, but also .NET core is available for Linux.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
Oh boy, this is the big one, this is the Major difference for m Windows to Linux. Linux has a thing called a package manager, ideally everything you install gets installed via that package manager. This means that everything gets updated together. And here’s the thing, we’re not talking OS only stuff, new version of the kernel (Linux)? New version of the drivers? New version of Firefox? New version of Spotify? All gets updated together when you update your system. This is crucial to the way Linux works, since it allows Linux to have only one copy of each library. For example, if you have 5 different programs that use the same library, in Windows you’ll have 5 copies of that same library, because each program needs their own in the specific version, but in Linux since they will all update together it’s easier to have just one library that gets updated together with the programs. This makes maintaining Linux a piece of pie in comparison, just one command or one click of a button and you’re all up to date with everything you have installed.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
As a general rule open source programs are more secure than their counterparts. Closed source programs always remind me of Burns going through several security measures, that sort of thing is imposible in open source because if everyone can see all of the security measures, so someone would notice the gaping hole in the back, whereas in closed source only attackers might have found it. Like cyber security experts say: Security by obscurity is not security. As for Antivirus you don’t need to worry, Linux is inherently more secure than Windows, and also has a small enough user base (most of whom are security experts) so the number of virus written for Linux is extremely small. Also because you should install stuff through a package manager it’s very difficult to get someone to download a bad binary since there’s lots of security in the package manager to prevent this sort of thing. In short almost every antivirus program for Linux checks your computer for Windows viruses to avoid being used to store or transmit viruses to Windows computers, so it’s completely pointless in your home machine (it’s used for example in email servers).
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Yes… But actually no. It depends, if you have a relatively modern AMD GPU (as in last 10 years) the answer is a resounding YES, AMD currently has wonderful Linux support and their cards work excellently with drivers being fully open source and integrated into the Linux Kernel. For Nvidia the story is unfortunately not as nice. Essentially there are 2 drivers available,
nouveau(open source driver written by the community and purposefully hampered by Nvidia) andnvidia(closed source driver written by Nvidia that has gaping incompatibilities with Linux). Since you game your only option isnvidia, whilenouveauis great for several reasons it can’t match the performance of thenvidiadriver. For 99% of stuff thenvidiadriver should work fine, but I haven’t had good luck with getting Wayland to run on it, which means you’re probably stuck in X11 (I know this doesn’t mean much to you, but in short it means that you’re somewhat limited in your choice for graphical interface and have to use stuff that people are trying to deprecate but can’t because of Nvidia)Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
Technically yes, so can Windows by that matter. But realistically no, unless you’re writing your own kernel drivers you won’t be in any position to cause hardware damage.
And also, what distro might be best for me?
I would probably go with Mint, it’s beginner friendly and I’ve been recommending it for decades. One thing to bear in mind is that in your knowledge level the distro you choose won’t make that big of a difference, try to pick something beginner friendly and you should be fine, no need to overthink this.
PS: some extra notes that you didn’t asked but I think are good to know:
- Any Linux can look like any other, it’s just a matter of installing the right packages
- You should keep your
/and/homein separate partitions, this makes it possible for you to reinstall (or even change distros entirely) without losing your files and configuration. This is due to how Linux manages partitions, which in short is not like on Windows where you have a C and D drives but instead any folder can be a different partition or disk. - You can dual boot, i.e. have 2 OS and choose which one to use every time you turn on your computer.
- You should probably install Linux on a virtual machine first to check it out safely. And do a backup before installing it on your computer just in case you make a mistake.
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
If you play competitive multiplayer online games, yes. Otherwise, no.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
Depends on how you mod games. But probably yes. The NexusMods app is newly available for Linux but with very minimal support at this point.
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
It depends. Sometimes you can run them through WINE/Bottles. The main place you may run into problems is in peripherals.
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
Through WINE/Proton, yes.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
Depends on your distro. I use Bazzite and updates take place seamlessly in the background so you don’t need to do anything.
How does digital security work on Linux?
Kind of a vague question. Keep in mind pretty much every server on the planet runs Linux, including incredibly sensitive ones.
Is it more vulnerable due to being open source?
Quite the opposite.
Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Every modern OS has antivirus built in, and third party solutions should be avoided like the plague.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
As long as you’re not using Nvidia.
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
Not anymore than any other OS can.
And also, what distro might be best for me?
That is an eternal argument in the space. There are 2 recommendations that come up most often for beginners: Linux Mint and Pop!_OS. Although I don’t like either of those visually, so I can heartily recommend Bazzite for beginners. I won’t go into too many details as to why but it comes with lots of goodies and configurations “out of the box” that enhance and simplify the experience, especially for gamers.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
As long as you’re not using Nvidia.
removed please.
I really don’t understand how you can say things like that when Nvidia-specific problems are regularly reported. Just because you don’t personally have problems, doesn’t mean lots of other people don’t. Having dealt with it personally, I can confirm it’s absolutely a problem on some machines. Especially older ones.
I’m using an RTX 5800 with Nobara and although I can game fine I get multiple graphical bugs in the desktop (parts of windows not fully rendering, flashing artifacts when moving windows, and aliasing artifacts around fonts (yes I’m running the correct resolution). So Ulrich is right, it’s absolutely a problem even on newer hardware too.
I have a 3090 in one machine and a 7900XTX it my primary desktop. Pretending AMD “works fine and has no issues” is pure hogwash. When I primarily ran the 3090, I had no issues other than than the same standard ones I had with AMD (tearing in Xorg without picom, hardware playback in Youtube, etc).
Every person who parrots “AMD good Nvidia bad” is the same type that believes “if it ain’t open source, it sucks”, and usually is in the “I run some gaming focused, Windows-like distro so I can play my non-open source games” camp.
All I want is a simple questionnaire when someone signs up. “Would you run Linux on your desktop if it didn’t have Steam/Proton support?” that would just lock all you XBox lobby/Windows refugees into a LinuxGaming community.
You’re just imagining a bunch of shit no one said.
On the gaming side, it depends a lot what games you play. Generally the rule is (at least for single player) that it will work through Proton or a native version, unless otherwise specified. Personally, pretty much all of my Steam library works perfectly on Linux, even some games on launch day (Persona 3 Reload was flawless day 1). For modding your mileage may vary but if the game runs there’s a very high chance the associated modding tool will work too, although it might require some more tweaking than you are used to in order to get it to work properly as quite a few tools will assume you are running Windows. Multi player games are where there can be some trouble - for example Fortnite is a notorious example of a game that refuses to run on Linux because Epic Games does not allow its anti cheat to work on Linux. ProtonDB and a good old fashioned go on your favourite search engine should be able to tell you if what you play works, doesn’t work, or needs tweaks to get working.
Running non-Linux apps is a mixed bag. Some things (most notably games through Proton) can work through compatibility layers perfectly fine, even if they need you to install .NET or some other dependencies. Others will be totally unusable, at least for now. Make sure you check all the applications you need to work on a regular basis work before jumping in, so search up their compatibility with tools like WINE (translation layer to let Windows apps run on Linux, also what Proton is based on).
For updates, you’ll love it far more than Windows. Since almost every app you could ever need is installed through either a package manager or Flatpak (closest analogy I can give is like a phone app store, but allowing you to install pretty much anything, including system stuff), your updates will all come in one place. For example, on my Fedora KDE install, all I need to do for updates is go into the Discover app (KDE’s package management software) and into its update section, download, and install. This not only updates system software (desktop, kernel, drivers, so on) but also your applications. This means updating your system and apps is a breeze that’ll take far less time than the usual pain that is Windows Update.
For security, you’ll have a lot less to worry about than Windows, and I have to admit part of it is because Linux has a fairly small user base. Few malware writers are going to care about a few Linux desktops compared to plenty of unpatched Windows systems out in the wild. However, the open source aspect also helps a lot - rather than showing vulnerabilities to hackers, it’s been valuable more to show these vulnerabilities to people who can fix them since the software is on public display. There’s more eyes on the code, and more people who can fix problems before they become major vulnerabilities. For most regular desktop users, you will not need any antivirus. If you’re really worried about viruses, I have heard ClamAV can scan for some things, but I haven’t tried it myself as it really isn’t necessary for desktop use.
GPU drivers can be a bit complicated. AMD and Intel are incredibly simple, since (at least for anything made within the last 10 or 15 years, if not older) the drivers are built right in and need zero configuration (it just works!). NVIDIA cards can be a bit more of a challenge. On a lot of distros, you can install the NVIDIA drivers usually during or right after install fairly easily, but they will be separate from the rest of the built in drivers. You can have a good experience with NVIDIA on Linux, but just expect there to be anywhere from a bit to a lot more effort needed to get some things working compared to AMD and Intel GPUs due to this separation. Of course, this will depend on your exact set up.
There’s no real risk of damaging your hardware installing Linux, the only real danger is deleting files already on your main boot drive during installation, so make sure to double check your installer to see if it’s doing what you want it to. Make sure you have a back up of your important stuff too, just in case. The only thing I can think of maybe is extreme overclocking through LACT or something maybe causing damage, but that’s part of what you sign up for with overclocking even on Windows anyway.
Distros are a very debated topic, and there’s no real “best” one, just one that fits your needs. If you’re new to Linux, my personal recommendation is to go with something boring and well supported like some variant of Fedora or Ubuntu. There will be plenty of documentation for both to help you with things, and they both are fairly solid distros with good track records. However, one thing to keep in mind is what kind of desktop you want. Linux has multiple desktop environments (DEs) that can provide differing experiences (different way of launching applications, arranging icons, file managers, that sort of thing). If you’re used to Windows, KDE definitely has the smallest learning curve, as a lot of things will be as you are used to, so it may be best to go for either the KDE variant of Fedora or Kubuntu. The main difference between Fedora and Ubuntu you will notice is that Fedora has a far faster update cycle, which means you get new features quicker, but you will have to restart for updates more often. In addition, I have heard that the NVIDIA drivers can be easier to handle on Ubuntu, so if you have an NVIDIA card it might be more optimal to go for an Ubuntu variant.
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
It depends on how often you play games with aggressive anti cheat, or games on non-steam platforms. Games like Valorant and Fortnite probably won’t work at all. But I do a ton of non-competative multiplayer (and single player) gaming that is not inhibited at all.
Heroic launcher is your best bet for non-steam platforms (GoG, Epic, Amazon), and lutris/bottles should probably be your 3rd option (I’ve used both for battle.net). But steam games running through proton should “just work”.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
The actual modding should be arguably more accessible. You technically have control over the entire kernel, so nothing is going to stop you from doing whatever you want. The only problem you may run into is if you’re dependent on modding tools that were only made for windows. Some of those tools are basically spyware anyway (ex. Curse), and often times the open source community has made its own alternative you should be using instead.
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
YMMV. Valve has done a lot of heavy lifting to get proton to be a one-stop-shop for running windows games on Linux but you can add a program as a non-steam game, launch it through steam, and it often just works.
Wine is your other option. Sometimes the community has gotten windows apps running reliably in wine or proton, other times no one has ever tried it or it’s too much of a headache to get working. protondb.com has user reports for how various games run.
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
The short version is yes. The long version is the same as the previous answer.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
Most distros come with some form of package manager that works similarly to an app store on your phone (an app store is basically a package manager with purchases). Ideally, everything you want to run can be installed through the distro’s package manager, and then you use the package manager to update everything. But sometimes the software doesn’t exist in the package manager, and you have to download, run, update, and sometimes even build from source, your own programs. Those programs usually have a guide on the best way to run it on popular distros.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
It is actually more secure due to being open source. Source code can be audited by anyone rather than relying on “security by obscurity”. There are antivirus programs, but I don’t know much about them. Generally, don’t run programs from shady sources, don’t expose your machine to the open internet, and don’t run everything as root and you should be fine.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Yes, though historically AMD has better support for the newer features asked for by Linux compositors (namely Wayland). Nvidia’s drivers are still not fully open source, but otherwise work fine. Driver bugs are rare in my experience.
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
To the same extent that windows can, yes. But if your concern is YOU misconfiguring something to cause Linux to do that, you shouldn’t have to worry about it. It is unlikely you will be interfacing directly with the kernel at all. Most distros configure the kernel in some specific way they want and you never worry about it. And still, a proper kernel-level driver should ensure that it will never send commands that could damage something, even if the config vars are incorrect.
And also, what distro might be best for me?
First off, install Ventoy to a USB drive. Then take advantage of Linux’s ability to “live boot” by downloading several .iso’s for several different distros onto the USB. Then boot off the USB, and you should be presented with a handy menu of ISOs to pick from. This will make trying out a bunch of different options really easy, without actually installing anything to your hard drive.
I’d say try grabbing mint, fedora, Pop!Os, and opensuse to start. Maybe also try Zorin. These are all geared toward new Linux users.
I’m pretty much the same as you. A lifelong Windows user who got fed up with the direction windows is going. I just recently switched to Linux for my new gaming PC and I haven’t had any major issues. The only thing I still haven’t figured out how to do yet is modding.
As for which distro to use, I would recommend something that comes with the graphics drivers already installed to reduce any initial setup difficulty.
I use Bazzite on my machine. It’s a Linux gaming distro which comes with all the stuff you’ll need to get right into gaming. It’s an immutable distro so it’s pretty difficult to really mess it up but it also makes things a bit more difficult to install anything that isn’t a flatpak.
Re: modding
Nothing is consistent with modding. The idea of a game having “modding support” is a relatively recent concept. For most of gaming history, “modding” meant hacking the game (or sometimes hardware) to do what they want in spite of the creator’s intentions, rather than in accordance with them.
All that said, if you can get a vanilla windows binary running on Linux, getting mods working is usually the same process that it is on windows, especially if the mod is just swapping out files. The same files exist somewhere in your Linux filesystem and can be tampered with just like they can on windows.
If the mod involves running a 3rd party tool to edit a process’ memory in real time, that could be more involved since the windows version of the tool might be making some assumptions that are not necessarily valid when running in a Linux wine/proton environment. In order to get it working, you may need technical knowledge of how the mod is doing what it’s doing.
I have used Windows all my life, and I have some questions
This is a great place to ask
But all I know about Linux is 1: it’s a cantankerous beast that can smell your fear and lack of computer skills and 2: that’s apparently not true any more?
Yes and no, the primary skill that you will be tested when using Linux is the ability to learn new things and adapt to changes. People misinterpret this as being complicated when in many cases its simpler but different.
I’m pretty much a fairly casual PC-user, I don’t do much more than play games. So I wrote down some questions I had about Linux.Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
Depends, if you mostly play single player games then most likley not. If you play online games than maybe not also maybe not.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
Depends on the game, for something like Minecraft or Doom youll be fine but games with less support may not have good Linux support.
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
Yes, Wine has alternative frameworks and libraries
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
OS updates can either be done through the package manager or your distributions GUI software center
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source?
On the surface it may seem so because more CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exploits) are found on Linux but they’re also patched faster than Windows and mostly before they find their way into the wild. In addition Linux is designed more securely such as, using repos (so software can be verified as legitimate), not allowing user mode software to run in kernel mode (so no anticheat), and having more eyes on the code.
Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Not really and nobody uses it, it’s like MacOS in that regard
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
For the most part yes but keep in mind there are new drivers that arent ready to be used, as long as you stay on stable drivers you’ll be fine. Also hardware damage will most likley only occur if you do heavy overclocking and. Ignore temps.
And also, what distro might be best for me? Pop_OS
In regard to question one: it depends. Pretty much everything without a shitty, Kernel-Level Anti-Cheat (my autocorrect corrected to antichrist — for good reason!) will run either by default on steam or with something known as Proton. But you still may run into occasional difficulties.
For example, if you play Counter Strike 2: up until January this year, playing on Linux meant ≈20% less performance (CS2 is unoptimized for Linux and Vulkan unfortunately); this number has changed since the last few updates and since the new Nvidia driver, so I need to re-run the benchmarks. Your going to occasionally experience things like that, where performance isn’t on par. In the case of CS2, the devs love Linux, so they will optimize for it in the future. It’s just going to take a while.
Another example: I had to use Proton on a game that supposedly was native to Linux. Native implementations may sometimes suck; the good news though, is that you can easily use Proton, both inside and outside of steam. Seriously, I freaking love Valve for Proton, it’s a fantastic tool.
This is all to say, that while gaming is absolutely possible nowadays, you will occasionally need add some flag, or familiarize yourself with proton, etc.
The exception, of course, being Kernel antichrists. Goddamn them. I can’t play LoL anymore because of it. Well, I hate Riot so much now anyway, I’m not sure I’d want to anymore.
First off, welcome to the light side.
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
It will be affected, but not significantly. Almost every Windows game works well on Linux. The notable exceptions are games that use anticheat software. They can detect that they are running in Linux and generally disallow it.
Many games perform better in Linux. A few perform worse. The vast majority perform exactly the same.
If you run games through Steam, everything should just work. You might need to enable the option “Enable Steam Play for all titles” in the settings. Honestly, if a game has a Linux version, I usually set the compatibility option in Steam to use Proton instead, because it just works, really well.
If you run other games, I recommend using Heroic Launcher for the game stores it supports, and Lutris for anything else. (Oh, and Prism Launcher if you play Minecraft.)
Something to note is that Windows games run through a compatibility layer called Proton, which is based on Wine. You can kind of use the terms Proton and Wine interchangeably, because Proton is just Wine + some enhancements for games. To the game’s perspective, it’s just running in Windows and making Windows system calls. Proton translates those calls to Linux system calls. It doesn’t emulate anything though, it just provides a Windows compatible API.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
Maybe. Probably. If it’s running in Proton, then mods should work fine. You may need to add some launch parameters in Steam to load the mods first. You’ll also need to figure out the “Wine prefix” of the game to install the mod. The prefix is just the directory that Proton presents to the game as the C: drive, so it’s like having a specific drive for each game.
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
This depends. Most programs will run through Wine. You can use Lutris to install them. I do this to run WinSCP on Linux. Some programs (notably, Adobe Creative Suite) don’t work with Wine. It’s usually better to find a Linux native alternative instead, but this isn’t always an option, so it’s nice to have some Wine once in a while. ;)
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
Yes. Steam, Heroic, and Lutris will automatically install them for you.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
OS upgrades are a lot easier in Linux. There’s one program that updates all your system software and apps at once. On Gnome, it’s Gnome Software, and on KDE, it’s Discover. This is also where you go to install apps. Don’t ever download anything from a website to install it (with the exception of Windows installers that you will be installing with Wine), just find it in these apps. It’s safer.
System software is installed through the package manager. Apps can be installed through Flatpak to make it easier.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Security is generally better than Windows. Most Linux users don’t bother with antivirus for two reasons, viruses are really uncommon in Linux, and software isn’t installed from random websites, but package managers instead. A lot of things in Linux, like Flatpaks, are run in a sandbox too, so access controls are granular and permission based.
That being said, if you’re installing Windows software with Wine, then you’re at risk of installing a Windows virus on your Linux machine. Just like most Windows programs work well in Linux through Wine, most Windows viruses work well in Linux through Wine.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Very. If you’re using an Nvidia GPU, install the Nvidia driver through your package manager. If you’re using anything else, they’re already installed.
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
Probably not. Technically, yes, but it’s extremely unlikely and isn’t something you should worry about. Windows can too, btw.
And also, what distro might be best for me?
Fedora, Mint, or Pop OS should be your starting points. Steer clear of Ubuntu. Ubuntu used to be very user friendly, but lately it’s been atrocious. Fedora has always been awesome, and it’s very user friendly. Same with Mint.
More importantly, what desktop environment should you use. Fedora Workstation offers both Gnome and KDE, the two big ones. Either one will work great for you, but KDE is more similar to a Windows layout by default. Mint uses Cinnamon, which is very user friendly and similar to a Windows layout. Pop OS uses Cosmic, which is new, and in development. It’s promising though.
Some final thoughts I want to share with you:
Linux uses a Unix like file structure, so you don’t have drive letters. Instead, you have a root file system, and other file systems are mounted within it. Your root file system is just a slash
/. It’s like your C: drive. Directories are separated by forward slashes, not backslashes. Not something you should worry about, just something to know.Linux is a diverse field of operating systems, and some work very differently than others. They range from super easy and approachable, to wildly difficult to learn. Some are specialized for gaming, like Bazzite, while others are general purpose, like the ones I mentioned above. Technically, “Linux” is just the kernel, like “NT” on Windows, but most people mean a complete operating system when they say Linux.
You should learn about the difference between Wayland and X11. Just some basic overview of them. You don’t really need to know, but it might be worth it. Basically, Wayland is new and more secure, X11 is old and less secure. Wayland can run X11 apps just fine, so it really shouldn’t matter to you. Wayland is also the default nowadays.
You probably won’t need to use the terminal, but if you do, don’t be scared of it. It’s just a way to launch programs that generally don’t have a UI.
Lastly, Linux is free and easy to install, so don’t be afraid to try out a bunch of different distros and desktop environments and see which works best for you. Once you find one you like, you can always switch to something else in the future if it stops working for what you need. Also, backup early and often. I use Pika Backup. It’ll help if you forget to grab something before you reformat your drive.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
Package managers. Linux had this before Windows. Granted, Linux needed package managers, because of the myriad and complex dependency trees that software can have. I prefer to install software through a package manager because it not only takes care of dependencies for me, it will take care of updates, too. I will only install something downloaded from a website as an absolute last resort. (And then, of course, making sure it’s a trustworthy source.)
How does digital security work on Linux?
It’s rather complex, but you probably won’t have to deal with it unless you have to do some kind of systems administration. On a day-to-day basis, the OS might ask you to enter your password to install software or make an update, and that’s the extent of it.
Basically, every file has 3 categories of permissions: user, group, and others, and each category has 3 permissions: read, write, and execute. This is transparently handled by the system for you, though, and I can’t even remember the last time I had to change permissions on a file. It’s a good thing to be aware of if you have to do troubleshooting, though.
Is it more vulnerable due to being open source?
Just the opposite. Vulnerabilities get spotted sooner because there’s more eyes on the code, and they’re often patched quicker because anybody can submit a patch to an open-source project.
Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
I’ve never heard of any distro shipping with antivirus software, but I’ve also never heard of a Linux virus. Of course, I’m sure they exist, but I’ve just never heard of one. I’ve been using Linux for over two decades, and I’ve never used an antivirus or gotten a virus in all that time, and I’ve never even heard of a Linux user getting a virus. Part of that is due to Linux being more secure and part of that is due to Linux being less popular. If you’re writing a virus, you aren’t going to try to jump through the insane hoops of Linux security when you could target Windows which is A) less secure and B) has a fuckton more users.
Obviously, use common sense, don’t install from untrusted sources, etc. etc., but viruses aren’t the omnipresent threat on Linux like they are on Windows.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
This is known as a package manager. The package manager (along with some default settings and preinstalled packages) is what makes each Linux distro different. For instance, Debian uses apt, Arch uses pacman, Gentoo uses emerge.
Each package manager uses a different way to upgrade software. For instance
apt updaterefreshes the global list of available software and versions andapt upgradefinds differences between that list and what you have installed, and upgrades as needed.There also snaps and flatpacks, but I don’t support the use of those.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Yes and no. Open source allows attackers to find vulnerability in code, but also means more eyes are on that same code and able to fix those vulnerabilities.
Although permissions can largely be ignored on Windows, its critical to Linux. Its a little much to explain here, but a standard install is fairly secure because of permissions. The important thing to remember is to harden the root account (no remote login) and be very careful what you execute with the sudo command.
Many people [incorrectly] don’t use AV because historically Linux hasn’t been much of a target due to low adoption. The trifecta of software I use are ufw as a system-level firewall, fail2ban to block an attacker who tries to bruteforce entry and repeatedly fails, and ClamAV for AV.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
Yup
And also, what distro might be best for me?
I think Mint is currently the recommended distro for new users. It used to be Ubuntu, but canonical has been doing some very anti-community things lately.
I wont reply point by point because others have already done a fantastic job at that.
Install virtualbox, get some linux images from mint, bazzite or what ever other distro you might want or was recomended and install them as VMs in windows.
Set up a list of things in 3 tiers:
- must have functionalities/workflows (crucial functionality)
- nice to have (important to have)
- optional (can live without)
Then in the installed VMs, test out this list, something like “can I change the volume per app, can I change the audio device per app” or what ever is important to you, according to your list.
This way you can test out if its for you or not, you wouldn’t even have to leave windows for it.
One thing regarding gaming, as I game quite a bit too - games with intrusive anticheats dont work, most of everything else works with steam proton. Check potondb.com for your games, you will see what works and what not.
Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?
Really depends on the games. For the vast majority, probably not. If you play competitive multiplayer games, then it’s 50/50.
Check out protondb to see if the games you play the most work well.
Also semi-depends on hardware. Old Nvidia cards may struggle. AMD is def king in the Linux world, but it’s getting better for Nvidia
But as you are probably aware, the steam deck has been pretty successful. That wouldn’t happen if Linux gaming was all bad.
Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?
Hit or miss. Sometimes the mod tools have to use wine and don’t work. Sometimes they use wine and work. Sometimes they don’t use wine and work.
I have just done some modding of Monster Hunter Wilds, and it was about 50/50
When it works, it’s just as easy as Windows.
If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?
WINE or a Virtual Machine
Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?
.NET is cross platform as of several years ago.
How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a “Linux Update” program like what Windows has?
It depends on the distro. Typically you just run a command in the terminal to “update all packages” or click a button in a store front.
It’s way easier than on Windows and is never forced.
Genuinely one of if not the best thing about Linux is how software management works.
How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?
Less vulnerable due to being open source. You have all the security experts in the world, including Microsoft’s, able to view and fix any vulnerabilities as soon as they appear. Thousands of people getting their eyes on it.
There’s a reason that Linux is the back bone of the internet and nearly every server runs it.
And FYI, you don’t use antivirus on Linux.
Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?
If it works, it will always work.
Whether it works is dependent on your GPU.
Like I said, AMD is basically perfect, Nvidia can have problems, but these days that’s less and less true (I use a GTX 3080 w/ out issue).
Mostly if you have an old, less-supported nvidia card (like pre-GTX) you may have issues.
Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?
I’ve never heard of something like that happening.
And also, what distro might be best for me?
For beginners the correct option is almost always Linux Mint
Your questions will have different answers depending on which flavour of Linux you choose.
A good chunk of windows programs can be run using a program called “WINE”. WINE is just a command line program but you can get a GUI version easily.
Updates depend on your flavour but Debian based Linux (like Ubuntu) you just type “sudo apt get update” and then “sudo apt get upgrade” and bam everything is updated. No restart required.
If a program doesn’t work in Linux there can be workarounds or alternatives but that really depends on what program you are talking about.
You can play almost every game that exists on steam on Linux with the exception of games that have kernel level anti cheat like some competitive multiplayer games.
You’re arguably safer security-wise on Linux. Most people are on windows so that’s the majority of all viruses. Your security updates are included in system updates. No antivirus required.
I have never heard of Linux damaging hardware. I don’t think you need to worry about this.
Recommendation: get Bazzite. It’s a special type of Linux that is closest to a windows experience than anything else. It won’t let you do dumb things and mess up your install. It has all NVIDIA drivers preinstalled as well as gamepad drivers and everything you’d need for gaming (including dock support). It’s a no configuration needed OS. Linux on easy mode. You don’t even need to use the command line ever. Updates and apps are installed through the Linux equivalent of the Microsoft App Store (except this time it is great and doesn’t suck). And I say this as someone who only used windows until 15 years ago I messed around with Ubuntu and other Debian based Linux distributions.
A few more thoughts here:
- for a first Distribution, Ubuntu is fine, too. Also, you could ask people arounf you what they know best und whether they like to help you. For example, Debian is a bit harder to install but is rock solid once it runs.
- if you are concerned about security, you should practice a strict separation between trusted software installed by you, and untrusted data presented to you via web, mail or Internet. Never run untrusted code. Windows blurs that line and this is fatal.
- In respect to hardware support: Most standard PC hardware will work very well with Linux, even old scanners that have no more Windows driver support. NVidia is the bad exception, and the bad rap is still justified because of Wayland, the new graphics display server. If you are not really poor you might consider to buy something better. The hardware support landscape is different for laptops. Here, refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad or Dell laptops are first choice, and also best value for the money.
