this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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Linux Gaming
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TBH I don't understand what's there even to be reluctant about if you're already a Linux user. You've probably already been dualbooting, it's not exactly a lot of effort to install Steam or a gog Linux installer.
How shit gaming had been on it, for the majority of it's lifetime.
Yeah do people not remember the pre proton era? Or before the push in the 2010s that got indie games to support Linux?
Linux gaming has seen wild changes in just the last 5 years.
Yeah for tech savvy people it wasn't a big deal. Download Windows game on the interwebs, check winehq and then game.
But it wasn't always plug and play. Also I always was flexible on what games I wanted to play.
Even then, it often crashed or glitched. I mean it was amazing for me at the time anyway, running Windows games on Linux. But nowadays it's on a different level.
I absolute do remember the pre proton era, but for Linux users it should have been common knowledge that Proton exists and worked pretty well for years. And it's certainly less effort to try at least a little to get a game working you already own (by looking it up on protondb if it doesn't work right away) than to boot into Windows specifically for gaming.
I AM VERY BADASS
Yes, so badass, clicking "install" on a Steam game.
If the game is not on Steam or doesn't have a native Linux port (which is actually worse more often than not) then manually setting up to run through wine/proton is pain the ass.
How many people only play games that this applies to?
There are a lot of people play such such games at least occasionally. And on Windows they just work. The moment gamer try to do this on Linux and realize that it doesn't, they will go back to Windows.
The paradise of easy gaming on Linux ends the moment you try to leave Valve's walled garden.
Sure, I understand not wanting to fuck around with WINE manually. But the commenter who said they're reluctant never even said that they don't use Steam - why wouldn't they at least try?