I am building a new PC, and I will attempt to move to Linux permanently this time, no more Windows for me.

Still, I have no clue where to put the games...

Also, gog galaxy seemly will eventually have a Linux version, do anyone know where it will default to install the games? This way I can already create a partition for future gog galaxy, because I love gog.com that much :)

I create a "Games" directory in my home directory & install them there. No idea about the Linux version of Galaxy, as there's no information about that right now.

Nope, but those hybrid installers default to /home/<username>/GOG Games/ and it basically doesn't matter where galaxy installs them as you can symlink it to where you like it even in the worst case where you can't choose your own directory.

I hope you don't mind if I mark your post as spam..
btw, how come a new user with just one post can add a link?

Well, basically, you have "/" (root parition, like "C:"), where all global stuff is installed.
Games go into /usr/games, typically.

There is also place for global proprietary stuff, which goes into /opt/ directory. But its for globally available installs (all users of your machine).

If you do a local installation, you have your profile in /home/$your_user_name/
Unfortunately, only just recently there was agreement at Freedesktop standard, that LOCAL (your user) configuration fo should go into /home/$your_user_name/.config/..., and any DATA (like, notes for notetaking software) goes into /home/$your_user_name/.local/share/... which reflects the global paths (/usr/share/... for global data and /etc/... for global config).


Previously a LOT of software just wrote into /home/$your_user_name/, with directories starting with a dot ".example_of_dir", which hide them, but caused irritation if you turn ON the "show hidden files".


That said,... I create a "bin" directory in /home/$your_user_name/bin/.
Its actually standartized in Debian (should also be in Ubuntu) for per-user installed software...

Example: /home/$your_user_name/bin/KerbalSpaceProgram.


The rest does not matter.


The "Desktop links/Menu links" are just files, which go into likewise standard location:
/usr/share/applications - globally (to all users) available links to applications, and
/home/$your_user_name/.local/share/applications/

They just name the application, set category, icon and then point out where the binary is located.

No magic here.

Quotes.

Interesting.. thanks for enlightening me!

I have a games directory in my home directory and then a Linux directory and a dosbox directory (one for each type of different game system) . I also have a wine directory for a bunch of prefixes for using wine individually for each game.

Then I can mv any game directory onto my SSD which is the root file system and link it back to the relevant directory allowing me to put heavy games on the SSD when I am playing them and park them on my large slow HDD when not playing them.

My setup:
Home
- GOG
- Steam
- Testing

GOG Galaxy allows you to install games where you want, so it won't be a problem when it finally launches on Linux.
I keep the GOG games in the GOG folder. Steam games separate from the main Steam folder, in case I want to reinstall Steam, so I won't download/install all the games again. And testing usually for playonlinux or similar stuff.

/tmp is a good place

Linux gamer here.
GOG automatically installs their games in /home/USERNAME/GOG Games/ (this can be changed to whatever you like)

Also if you want to play Windows games on Linux I highly recommend PlayOnLinux.

My advice would be to put them wherever you feel like, since (as of today) there's no estimated release date for the Linux version of GOG Galaxy. And at the rate the Windows and Mac versions are updated, chances are you'll have time to switch distros at least twice before that happens (if it happens at all).

Suggest that if you use the shell at all, change every space to an underscore. So, "GOG_Games" instead of "GOG Games". Spaces in filenames can be a pain. Then again, it might mess with galaxy's expectations instead.

To be honest, it doesn't really matter where you choose to install your GOG Linux games.
Space wise, it might make sense to use a separate partition/disk.

If you really want everything to appear in one location, consider using symbolic links.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_link

WARNING: Symbolic linking has a EXTREMELY strong possibility of messing up your system if you don't pay attention

In Linux symbolic links are created/modified using the "ln" command.
The best way to learn symbolic linking in Linux is trying it out on a sacrificial test machine.
I recommend using a Linux VM instance (with VM snapshotting) for easier recovery from mistakes when learning the "ln -s" command.
The optional VM snapshotting allows for near instant recovery to a earlier state....as long as you took a snapshot BEFORE starting the ln attempt.

Here is a askubuntu forums link about using the "ln" command.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/56339/how-to-create-a-soft-or-symbolic-link



WARNING: Symbolic linking has a EXTREMELY strong possibility of messing up your system if you don't pay attention


e: feel free to PM me if there is any questions. Symbolic Linking is pretty cool and pretty dangerous at the same time.