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General discussionLooking to move to Linux - could use advice(84 posts)(84 posts)
(84 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted August 05, 2021
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timppu: One GOG game that did not work out of the box was Diablo, it wouldn't work if I just installed it normally with wine and then tried to run it.
For Diablo we have a great Public Domain native engine: DevilutionX.
It has already reached a state where it is much better than the original experience on Windows ;)
Posted August 05, 2021
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vv221: For Diablo we have a great Public Domain native engine: DevilutionX.
It has already reached a state where it is much better than the original experience on Windows ;)
Interesting to note that the licensing described is all over on that. They describe it as public domain, but try to encumber it with viral licensure that requires copyright to work. It is simultaneously commercial allowed and prohibited. README.md and LICENSE conflict with each other.
Posted August 06, 2021
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Sensenacai: So there isn't much that's keeping me on Windows besides game support and the DX API and i notice that many games I am interested in or have on GOG are not natively supported on Linux but i am slightly familiar with the fact that you could use a compatibility software like Lutris or Wine-DXVK or some such to play Windows-based games on Linux. Does anyone here use Linux as their main OS and play Windows-based games from GOG using Lutris / Wine-DXVK
Does the DRM-free aspect of GOG games help reduce the likelihood of in-game performance issues?
Does the GOG Galaxy launcher need to be installed?
Just don't. You can have both Linux & Losedows installed parallel. Use Losedows for gaming and Linux for everything else. Simple. Do you know how to partition hard drives?
Posted August 06, 2021
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rojimboo: I don't recommend Linux anymore to people, I stopped doing that after I realised how complicated even simple tasks seem to be to so many people.
This has been my philosophy as well. With anything it's best to just be and let people be. If a person is at the point that they are willing to try it, they will and they already know who to ask for help if they have users in their circle.
Posted August 06, 2021
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rojimboo: I don't recommend Linux anymore to people, I stopped doing that after I realised how complicated even simple tasks seem to be to so many people.
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Arcadius-8606: This has been my philosophy as well. With anything it's best to just be and let people be. If a person is at the point that they are willing to try it, they will and they already know who to ask for help if they have users in their circle.
A number of them; While others there's gui's and front-ends to do the work for you. I was just going through a walkthrough on how to connect wifi from the commandline, while in a tool it's usually a couple clicks and entering a password.

Perhaps Linux is too much 'under the hood' for most, and is too complicated. Although i don't know the internals enough to do what i should be doing with it.
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ConanTheBald: Just don't. You can have both Linux & Losedows installed parallel. Use Losedows for gaming and Linux for everything else. Simple. Do you know how to partition hard drives?
Well i do use windows almost exclusively for gaming... So it's good enough advice.
Post edited August 06, 2021 by rtcvb32
Posted August 06, 2021
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Sensenacai: Does anyone here use Linux as their main OS and play Windows-based games from GOG using Lutris / Wine-DXVK
I do (use Linux as my main OS). Lately I play most of my DRM-free games with my own wine prefix (DXVK).
gog does not support Linux so you will need tools like GameHub (similar to Playnite) to download and install your gog games from GUI. or you can use offline installers directly.
learn how to use wine, create few prefixes for different situations (one for .NET 4.8+, one for Vulkan, maybe one for very old games for win xp - 32bit). install antimicrox if you play with controller - it will allow you to remap anything and you can use controller in games that won't support it otherwise. Q4Wine is a nice gui for wine.

You can start with Lutris but this is not very reliable app (it creates separate prefixes and takes too much space if you have many games installed) but having own wine prefixes and reusing it for every game is more efficient and faster (you don't have to install anything, just run game executable with existing prefix).

anticheats and DRM like Denuvo is still a pain. chances are these games won't run at all (windows versions in wine/proton). but if the game has Linux build usually it has no DRM.
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Arcadius-8606: When games get updated on Steam you lose the older versions unless you back them up but for some games they will not run regardless.
you can get your older versions if you want. by using steamcmd. you can download older depot, place it somewhere, add steam API dll/so from goldberg emulator or use steamless to unpack steam stub. once done you have DRM free version, old one.
Post edited August 06, 2021 by djoxyk
Posted August 06, 2021
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timppu: One GOG game that did not work out of the box was Diablo, it wouldn't work if I just installed it normally with wine and then tried to run it.
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vv221: For Diablo we have a great Public Domain native engine: DevilutionX.
It has already reached a state where it is much better than the original experience on Windows ;)
Yeah it could be Lutris uses that too, at least optionally. I don't recall for sure.


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ConanTheBald: Just don't. You can have both Linux & Losedows installed parallel. Use Losedows for gaming and Linux for everything else. Simple. Do you know how to partition hard drives?
I generally agree, but you don't have to necessarily do at least all your gaming on Windows.

While I do dual-boot on many on my PCs and Windows is mainly there for games, sometimes it would be nice to just play from the Linux desktop, without having to first boot to Windows. That's why I've started experimenting more and more playing my Windows games in Linux (with wine, Lutris etc.). Sometimes it is effortless and I have absolutely no reason to play some game on Windows, instead of Linux, sometimes it is more effort.
Post edited August 06, 2021 by timppu
Posted August 06, 2021
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rojimboo: I don't recommend Linux anymore to people, I stopped doing that after I realised how complicated even simple tasks seem to be to so many people.
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Arcadius-8606: This has been my philosophy as well. With anything it's best to just be and let people be. If a person is at the point that they are willing to try it, they will and they already know who to ask for help if they have users in their circle.
I am not really trying to convince any of my Windows 10-using friends to switch to or even try Linux. If they have everything they want on their Windows 10 machine, then that's it.

It is mainly if someone has e.g. an old usable laptop with Windows 7 or similar on it, and maybe too little RAM to use Windows 10 comfortably or no SSD but HDD etc... then I might propose would they like to try Linux on that old laptop or PC, just in order to use some more modern OS that gets security fixes etc. (if Windows 10 is not necessarily a realistic option). The same might be in 2025 when Windows 10 support ends and if someone is using an older PC with no TPM 2.0, I might suggest they can continue using their old PC with Linux.

For people who are willing to use Linux, I remind that casual use (going online with a web browser etc.) doesn't differ much at all from using Windows, but maintenance, configuration etc. is quite different in Linux. So yeah they must be willing to learn new things, if they want to also maintain their Linux machine themselves instead of asking me to do stuff for them.
Posted August 06, 2021
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djoxyk: You can start with Lutris but this is not very reliable app (it creates separate prefixes and takes too much space if you have many games installed) but having own wine prefixes and reusing it for every game is more efficient and faster (you don't have to install anything, just run game executable with existing prefix).
I assume you're talking about Lutris installation scripts? Configuring a game manually, you can enter the path to your prefix under 'Game options -> Wine prefix'.
Posted August 06, 2021
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vv221: [DevilutionX]
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mqstout: They describe it as public domain, but try to encumber it with viral licensure that requires copyright to work. It is simultaneously commercial allowed and prohibited. README.md and LICENSE conflict with each other.
Thanks, I missed that.
It seems to be discussed in Devilution issues: Question about the License and Legal Section in the Readme
Posted August 06, 2021
Initially, I installed a dual-boot configuration. And very soon realized, that I don't need Windows for any software, but native Windows games.

Then I encountered two games in a row ( Syberia 3 and Amerzone ), which refused to run on Windows at all. So I tried Wine, and these games worked perfectly fine on Linux.

I tried other games on Wine + dxvk and found out, that they actually run better on Linux than on Windows in terms of performance, stability, input responsiveness, audio quality, etc.

Now I use Linux as my only operating system.

***

Reading this topic, one can imagine, that it is a complex task to even try playing a game on Linux.

In fact, it is as simple as that:

- Install Linux from LiveDVD / flash-drive ( the same way as Windows )
- Install Wine from repository
- Download and install dxvk ( simply, run the provided script )

And you can play out of the box pretty much any game you want. Only DirectX 12 games' support is not completed yet.
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rojimboo: I realised how complicated even simple tasks seem to be to so many people.
I have a completely different experience.)

I find Linux simpler to learn for ordinary people than modern Windows versions. If there is someone to teach them use-cases for their daily tasks. Or provide well-written instructions and occasional support.

And it does not take much time.
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Sensenacai: Does the DRM-free aspect of GOG games help reduce the likelihood of in-game performance issues?
Definitely, DRM can cause a lot of issues on any operating system.
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Sensenacai: What are your recommendations for a complete beginner with little to no technical experience and knowledge about Linux or programming?
You don't need any special technical experience to use Linux. Choose a popular distribution and you will find a lot of advice and examples, how to do this or that.)
Post edited August 06, 2021 by AlexTerranova
Posted August 06, 2021
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AlexTerranova: Reading this topic, one can imagine, that it is a complex task to even try playing a game on Linux.

In fact, it is as simple as that:

- Install Linux from LiveDVD / flash-drive ( the same way as Windows )
- Install Wine from repository
- Download and install dxvk ( simply, run the provided script )

And you can play out of the box pretty much any game you want. Only DirectX 12 games' support is not completed yet.
It's really not that simple, especially with pure Wine used separately without Lutris or Proton. For example for installing DXVK you need to at least point it to the right wine prefix with an environment variable. In the terminal. THat step alone discards most potential users. This stuff is child's play for you, but not really for many others.

And just because a gamer got a fairly recent Wine version installed from his/her distro's repos (maybe even Wine staging if they figured out what that is) and didn't screw up the default wine prefix, or maybe even made their own wine prefix and got DXVK setup, it *still* doesn't guarantee the game plays well or optimally without issues or annoyances. That requires more troubleshooting, some of it potentially extensive.

Now I would agree gaming on Linux is almost plug and play, out of the box, in STeam with Proton. There you can literally just press Play and play the game, most of the time. Lutris also to an extent, though the options there will boggle the mind of the uninitiated if explored (wtf is Esync and PULSE_LATENCY?). But standalone Wine? Come on man, let's not misrepresent things.

I wish things were like you describe. And that most gamers/users could figure this out and they were willing to, but from my experience they decidedly do not.
Posted August 06, 2021
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timppu: It is mainly if someone has e.g. an old usable laptop with Windows 7 or similar on it, and maybe too little RAM to use Windows 10 comfortably or no SSD but HDD etc... then I might propose would they like to try Linux on that old laptop or PC, just in order to use some more modern OS that gets security fixes etc. (if Windows 10 is not necessarily a realistic option). The same might be in 2025 when Windows 10 support ends and if someone is using an older PC with no TPM 2.0, I might suggest they can continue using their old PC with Linux.
I would let them go on their journey of trying to install older Windows or current Windows on their older tech. If they ask me, then I step in. If they voice frustration and such, then I make suggest for them to check out a liveCD/USB and see how they like it but they would have to be very vocal.
Posted August 06, 2021
Oh, one more thing.

There's more than one desktop on Linux, in fact, there's a lot.

Use the one that fits your need, and keep in mind you'll probably need a few days to figure one out. I myself beloathe Gnome and everything it stands for, and recently ejected KDE. So I have Windowmaker, i3, Sway, XFCE, and TWM.
Posted August 06, 2021
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Darvond: I myself beloathe Gnome and everything it stands for,
That's - Simplicity, Beauty and Elegance; for those who don't know.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionLooking to move to Linux - could use advice(84 posts)(84 posts)
(84 posts)