Is now the right time to switch to Linux? (midwest.social)

submitted 1 year ago by mouse@midwest.social to c/linux_gaming@lemmy.ml

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Experience: I have a bit of experience with Linux. I started around 2008, distro-hopped weekly, decided on Debian until around 2011, when I switched to Windows as I started getting interested in gaming. Tried switching back around 2015, this time using Arch Linux for about a month, but had some bad experiences with gaming and switched back to Windows. I have had a Debian and Arch VM in Virtual Box since then for testing different applications and a more coherent environment to work with servers.

Understanding: Which brings me to now, I am really interested in using Linux for gaming, I know there is Proton from Valve and that they have been really pushing Linux gaming forward with it.

Thoughts: I have been contemplating dual booting by installing Debian to an SSD and simply using the UEFI boot menu to choose instead of having to install to the EFI of Windows.

I guess, I should just do it, as it won't affect my Windows installation, and I could test different games and if all works well, move over. This would also allow me to try different distributions, though my heart is for Debian, I even like Debian Unstable.

Note: I am sorry for the wall of text, I am just kind of anxious I guess.

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[-] Thad@brontosin.space 1 points 1 year ago

@Anomandaris @mouse My experience has largely been that games Just Work if you stick with Steam, but that running games from other sources is a lot more hit-or-miss. Lutris and Heroic are great but can be really fiddly.

Dual booting is a great way to start. I did it for years. Linux gaming eventually got good enough that I don't need to dual boot anymore, but YMMV; your use case may be different.

(I still keep a Windows machine around for TurboTax and Comic Collector Pro, but not for games.)

this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023

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