Were it not so extremely expensive in my currency I’d already be using one. I just spent slightly more than that for a rig that will last me close to 10years. I really want to see more competition in the handheld space, near future is looking promising, but its not there yet.
It’s not so much about browsing on steam decks. It’s about the technical improvements Valve has brought to Linux gaming compatibility that has now made full Linux conversion without a Windows dual-boot for gaming (and many other Windows programs) a true reality. Once people don’t have to reboot every time they want to start a game they’ll stay in Linux full time.
I think SteamOS might help a bit, but the driving factor might be that Microsoft decided to ditch much of good hardware on their upgrade path to Windows 11.
Yeah my current PC is only just starting to hit it’s (gaming) limits now, still plenty strong for literally any other purpose, but yeah no I’ll just build a whole new PC just so I can be forced into an OS I don’t want when they stop supporting the one I’m on. It’s a fucking joke, I hate this ride and I want off of it.
I’m only just starting to get comfortable on Linux, I had a crack many years ago but switched back promptly to windows. Once I’m more comfortable and there’s better gaming support I’ll make the switch, it’s just not quite there yet for me.
I’ve been distro hopping a bit with my orange pi, I’m glad I didn’t dual-boot my desktop as I’m already struggling for storage with these 100+gb games being the norm now. I don’t think my steam library folders have seen more transfers between HDD and SSD ever.
With that said though, I did just order all the parts for a new PC, but that was only because of some good deals and am able to bring a bunch across. I’ve got a fair few parts that are still very new or low mileage, or were overspecced for the future and still have many years of viability left.
It seems like a nice one-two punch of Microsoft shitting the bed with Windows 11 at the same time Valve is taking big strides towards making Linux a viable option for gaming. I don’t think you would see this if either happened in isolation.
With MS enshitifying Windows at an ever increasing pace and the hard work of open source developers, volunteers, advocates, to make Linux better and more approachable, I won’t be surprised at all to see that percentage move up.
“You mean its free and doesn’t try to sell me other products the whole time I’m using it?”
There is the psychological factor that Windows behaves more like malware with their forced full screen overlays to shove the Edge into your ass. Over and over again. Microsoft doesn’t take No for an answer like an abusive partner.
You put words to the feeling I get whenever I turn on my work PC. It has relatively little to do with my actual work. It’s the dread of the psychological abuse of everything asking me to update, upgrade, and look at how cool our AI is, try all of our other products, share your opinion, etc. etc. etc. I would be twice as productive if they let me BYOOS (bring your own OS) and if my day to day tools were Linux compatible. There are best practices for this kind of thing, but many of the most “reputable” tech companies willingly disregard them in favor of mind games and dark psychology.
And Microsoft keeps enshitifying Windows because they know they can get away with it. So many businesses are backed into a corner and have essential parts of their business that are only compatible with Microsoft’s tech. They can’t switch, they won’t even entertain the idea (much less the time/energy required to test it out). The folks at Microsoft know they’ve won. I won’t be surprised when they make Windows 12’s compatibility even more egregious than 11’s.
I’m (deliberately) being listed as Windows, because some websites are cancer when they smell your Linux.
I honestly don’t remember what happened, but I remember raging at it about 7 years ago, before changing the user agent and since then I’ve always done it like this.
I’ve got LXC’s running on my Proxmox host and been playing or working with Linux for 25 years, but on my desktop I’ve always run Windows. Linux is great right up until it isn’t and then I spend more time than I’d like troubleshooting it. On my desktop I just want things to work and Windows does that. I hate the bloatware, spyware and the nagging to switch to Edge, but everything I run, runs, including games with anti-cheat. I’m sure I could get Linux to a similar state, but it would take a lot more effort.
I stopped distro hopping around a decade ago, and just use default Ubuntu LTS releases. No shade from me.
I’m not going to pretend that Ubuntu is the coolest, hippest, trendiest distro around, but it’s good enough, stake enough, and gosh darn it I’m just used to it.
Ubuntu is great because they have a huge community and an enterprise-class, fully supported product. No shade for using it. It’s not my cup of tea, I often find myself wanting to be more on the bleeding edge, and I’ve found Endeavor (an Arch variant) to be amazingly capable.
But I’ve also been using Linux on and off since 97 and exclusove (at least in personal life) since like 2015.
StatCounter statistics are directly derived from hits—as opposed to unique visitors—from 3 million sites, which use StatCounter, resulting in total hits of more than 15 billion per month.[5] No artificial weightings are used to correct for sampling bias, thus the numbers in the statistics can not be considered to be representative samples.
Doesn’t hurt that Microsoft’s official answer to “what if my computer doesn’t meet the required specs to run Windows 11 or later” is literally “switch to Linux”.
Dumb questions maybe. But I mostly keep Windows for like Battle.net games. Is there any way to play Overwatch II or Diablo IV in Linux? With proton or any other way? Legit would tip me into that realm. I’m a Debian fan if that matters. But I’m comfortable in other distros. Except Arch 😆
Diablo IV steam version has officiall support for Linux as far as I know. Or rather, support for Steam Deck via Proton, which is practically the same thing.
That would be the easiest path, but would cost you!
You can try to install the battle.net version via Lutris: lutris.net/games/diablo-iv/ and it should work. I haven’t tried this game in particular, but had a great experience with Lutris in the past.
It is a great front end for Wine/proton and a database of install scripts and configurations for many games.
Bit off-topic, but if you would want to also play games from the Epic store or GOG, be sure to try Heroic Launcher.
I play StarCraft II regularly, have played Diablo IV and just started WarCraft 3 recently, all without any issues. All you need is proton or install steam and add a non-steam game.
Battle.net games have been some of the most reliable non-steam games you’ll find. You’ll have trouble in the Riot Games space (League on Linux, Windows 7, and 8 are all dead in the next month due to Vanguard), and some Epic Games (Fortnite), but if you’re a Battle.net/Steam gamer Linux is ready for you.
gs.statcounter.com
Hot