Linux for home use? What OS do you use on your main PC?

kait

Gaming: Windows 10 (Will go linux gaming when I have the money)
Laptop: KDE Neon (Will go with Arch when I finish my school/internship)

ahnlak

@komdsfojn said:

@nocloud said:

@komdsfojn said:

@nocloud said:

@komdsfojn said:
Windows is the only option for PC gaming, Linux is the one to use for servers, macOS for everything else.

But have you tried Linux for gaming? I mean a modern distro like Nobara, which is already preconfigured. Even my xbox controller connected first time on this distro and after the fist run (where vulcan shader cashe runs) it runs about the same as windows. Some games run faster some slower but overall seems on par.

I know there are still bugs, but seems worth the sacrifice imho.

I guess I should rephrase it to Windows is the best option for PC gaming. Certainly there are games you can play on Linux, but it isn't ideal.

You make it sound like there are just a handful of windows games that run on Linux.

It depends what you mean by ideal. For me it's not ideal having a closed source OS.

But I was kinda asking have you tried from personal experience. have you used steam with proton enabled, or lutris? have you ever tried a linux gaming distro?

You know there are not many windows games that don't run on linux with proton enabled. I have yet to find one although i know there are some games that proton has not got to work. for the steam deck it's about 20% but the vast majority of those are due to screen size issues with the HUD/GUI or text on screen, so they would also not work if the steam deck ran windows.

For proton compatibility on a full size laptop or desktop, the number is much much lower.

I am not a gamer so I would actually go down the path you suggest here if I want to try a game.

But I think that if someone does want the best gaming experience and best performance, Windows is the way to go. I don't doubt that Linux has gotten much better at running Windows games, but it's certainly not the best way.

I literally have nothing in my Steam library that doesn't run on my (Ubuntu) desktop. A handful of them need me to switch down from Proton Experimental to Proton 7, but that's two clicks in Steam.

Using Steam is literally an identical experience. Your view of Linux gaming is roughly 10 years out of date.

rcy026

Main desktop Windows 10, secondary desktop FreeSBD/E or Elementary OS, laptop Windows 10, 99% of the servers run linux or bsd.

I put no "religion" or bias into choice of os, I simply use what gets the job done most efficient and for me nothing beats Windows on the workstation. It's simply an os that should make my hardware work and launch the applications I need as effortless as possible, and Windows is very good at that.
Same reason I use linux on most servers, it the most efficient and effortless choice when it comes to servers. However, if something can be done more efficient with BSD or Windows or whatever, I will use that.

People that claim an os to be superior without stating in what areas and why are clearly delusional and biased.

nocloud

@ahnlak said:

@komdsfojn said:

@nocloud said:

@komdsfojn said:

@nocloud said:

@komdsfojn said:
Windows is the only option for PC gaming, Linux is the one to use for servers, macOS for everything else.

But have you tried Linux for gaming? I mean a modern distro like Nobara, which is already preconfigured. Even my xbox controller connected first time on this distro and after the fist run (where vulcan shader cashe runs) it runs about the same as windows. Some games run faster some slower but overall seems on par.

I know there are still bugs, but seems worth the sacrifice imho.

I guess I should rephrase it to Windows is the best option for PC gaming. Certainly there are games you can play on Linux, but it isn't ideal.

You make it sound like there are just a handful of windows games that run on Linux.

It depends what you mean by ideal. For me it's not ideal having a closed source OS.

But I was kinda asking have you tried from personal experience. have you used steam with proton enabled, or lutris? have you ever tried a linux gaming distro?

You know there are not many windows games that don't run on linux with proton enabled. I have yet to find one although i know there are some games that proton has not got to work. for the steam deck it's about 20% but the vast majority of those are due to screen size issues with the HUD/GUI or text on screen, so they would also not work if the steam deck ran windows.

For proton compatibility on a full size laptop or desktop, the number is much much lower.

I am not a gamer so I would actually go down the path you suggest here if I want to try a game.

But I think that if someone does want the best gaming experience and best performance, Windows is the way to go. I don't doubt that Linux has gotten much better at running Windows games, but it's certainly not the best way.

I literally have nothing in my Steam library that doesn't run on my (Ubuntu) desktop. A handful of them need me to switch down from Proton Experimental to Proton 7, but that's two clicks in Steam.

Using Steam is literally an identical experience. Your view of Linux gaming is roughly 10 years out of date.

Yer that's my experience too, there are some games that are unplayable on my steam deck but that's all to do with screen size. On my linux desktop they all run fine.

I know that lots of multiplayer games don't work properly yet due to anti-cheat integration with the Linux kernel , but Valve are working on that and a solution will hopefully land in 2023. Then there will be literally no reason to use windows over linux. Only reasons to avaiod windows imho.

I think Microsoft knows a possible exodus is just around the corner, and they are trying to lock down x86 chips to Windows only, what with AMD microsoft pluton chips and an Intel equivalent coming soon.

I read about pluton, but even info on AMD site is a little ambiguous as to what it means to the end user. New laptops and cpus are locked down to Windows, with even more hoops to jump through for linux users, it's looks really bad for the x86 world. Apparently in BIOS's on lenovo / thinkpad machines there is an option to use a 3rd party UEFI CA. But what if one day MS put pressure on to remove this option for new laptops, or worse it's auto removed with a bios update that a user has not fully read the terms and changelog.

Ive tried to figure out is it's still possible to install linux on these chips if BIOS's don't have the 3rd party UEFI CA option. It probably is but you would need a non-official BIOS made by a community member, which will no doubt probably void your warranty on a new laptop.

If they do make it seemingly impossible to install linux soon without a 3rd party BIOS, I think we could see a noticeable swing towards ARM and Risc-V hardware and it will no longer be known for just smart phones, macs and raspberry PIs etc , Linux will adapt to that shift no doubt. Even if the the 3rd party UEFI CA option remains an option forever, I really don't like the idea that MS has some small amount propriety hardware inside my machine.

I mean i'm not a windows hater (yet), but the more they try to squeeze out competition, the more evil I see them. I would never buy a machine that can only run windows, which looks like it could start happening this year. I think the only reason it hasn't happened yet is MS are worried about monopoly laws. But Smart App Control rolled out, and no one even cared that now you can only run MS approved apps on windows.

I think as we are all tech people here, we can see the risks of MS, Google, Apple. With these companies, we have become the product and we are being sold and our freedoms eroded. So we should all at least try Linux.

nocloud

@vitobotta said:
Linux on servers, macOS for work computers. I wouldn't change macOS with anything

Is there a reason that you wouldn't change it for anything ? like some software or just Apple loyalty? are you an iPhone user?

nishantk

i switched to Linux Mint after wasting time on win10(AKA win spyware) and never looked back.

nocloud

Linux is the only way I can see to protect our privacy. I hope it's only a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream. although usage overall still only sits at 3% for desktop / laptop / workstation use. Happy to see it at 34.78% in the poll on this thread though. Like with telegram, becoming more popular, it remained very niche until the pandemic. Now many people have it and use it more and more.

I hope Linux has that moment where non tech users start to give it a try. I guess it would be daunting for the average person. I still see people who say they need a new computer. I ask them why, and they said windows is broken bla bla etc. They literally have no idea they can reinstall, and if they do know they can, they have no clue how to do it or that windows is not the only option.

I really want to know who voted for "Other" OS in the poll, and what they're running day to day.

lorian

Manjaro

bgerard

@nocloud said:
Linux is the only way I can see to protect our privacy. I hope it's only a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream. although usage overall still only sits at 3% for desktop / laptop / workstation use. Happy to see it at 34.78% in the poll on this thread though. Like with telegram, becoming more popular, it remained very niche until the pandemic. Now many people have it and use it more and more.

I hope Linux has that moment where non tech users start to give it a try. I guess it would be daunting for the average person. I still see people who say they need a new computer. I ask them why, and they said windows is broken bla bla etc. They literally have no idea they can reinstall, and if they do know they can, they have no clue how to do it or that windows is not the only option.

I really want to know who voted for "Other" OS in the poll, and what they're running day to day.

It will never become mainstream until it comes installed by default on more machines, which it probably won't. Most normal users don't know how to install an operating system nor do they care.

I switched my girlfriend over to a chromebook and it's perfect for her. But she still doesn't really understand why she can't install windows applications etc etc. People want simple Microsoft Office, simple game installs, so Linux won't win, ever. Unless a large Corp built stuff on top of Linux, but then you'd probably have the spyware so it'll be no different

nocloud

@lorian said:
Manjaro

You mean you voted other OS in the poll, because manjaro is Linux. or am I misunderstanding, and your post is not related to the last part of my post just above yours ?

nocloud

@bgerard said:

@nocloud said:
Linux is the only way I can see to protect our privacy. I hope it's only a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream. although usage overall still only sits at 3% for desktop / laptop / workstation use. Happy to see it at 34.78% in the poll on this thread though. Like with telegram, becoming more popular, it remained very niche until the pandemic. Now many people have it and use it more and more.

I hope Linux has that moment where non tech users start to give it a try. I guess it would be daunting for the average person. I still see people who say they need a new computer. I ask them why, and they said windows is broken bla bla etc. They literally have no idea they can reinstall, and if they do know they can, they have no clue how to do it or that windows is not the only option.

I really want to know who voted for "Other" OS in the poll, and what they're running day to day.

It will never become mainstream until it comes installed by default on more machines, which it probably won't. Most normal users don't know how to install an operating system nor do they care.

I switched my girlfriend over to a chromebook and it's perfect for her. But she still doesn't really understand why she can't install windows applications etc etc. People want simple Microsoft Office, simple game installs, so Linux won't win, ever. Unless a large Corp built stuff on top of Linux, but then you'd probably have the spyware so it'll be no different

Yep true, that's why it's important to make sure people know windows sells your data, and it's only getting worse.

And if Linux preinstalled machines, came $30 cheaper, then maybe people would switch.

I mean why do people use MS office? when libre and open office are free. Scared of change or something unfamiliar. But eventually people will realise what google, Microsoft and apple are up to. Basically windows and apple users are victims of convenience .

ole_hansen

Debian since Ubuntu started began bundling spyware

hades_corps

I run Debian (Proxmox) on my workstation on which Windows is virtualized. I need Windows since pretty much all mechanical softwares solly on it. My wife needs MS Office since Libre is unstable with Office files. There are also numerous Alpine/Ubuntu/Kali containers for various tasks.

My 2 cents is: there needs to be less elitism in the community. Ubuntu and derivatives get a lot of hate despite it being "gateway linux" for me a lot of people. Proxmox for using too much resources (true, but the interface makes it much easier). Desktop/GUI/Web interface in general for making things too easy!?

I remember start learning Kali few years ago and want to change the default font. There are people on the forum say use something else because "it''s a serious tool". NGINX never got a simple install process or interface because "people who use it doesn''t need one".

velton

zorinpro & deepin

rustelekom

I use Fedora and open source programs like LibreOffice and GIMP. For home and standard office usage i guess it is enough.

bgerard

@nocloud said:

@bgerard said:

@nocloud said:
Linux is the only way I can see to protect our privacy. I hope it's only a matter of time before it becomes more mainstream. although usage overall still only sits at 3% for desktop / laptop / workstation use. Happy to see it at 34.78% in the poll on this thread though. Like with telegram, becoming more popular, it remained very niche until the pandemic. Now many people have it and use it more and more.

I hope Linux has that moment where non tech users start to give it a try. I guess it would be daunting for the average person. I still see people who say they need a new computer. I ask them why, and they said windows is broken bla bla etc. They literally have no idea they can reinstall, and if they do know they can, they have no clue how to do it or that windows is not the only option.

I really want to know who voted for "Other" OS in the poll, and what they're running day to day.

It will never become mainstream until it comes installed by default on more machines, which it probably won't. Most normal users don't know how to install an operating system nor do they care.

I switched my girlfriend over to a chromebook and it's perfect for her. But she still doesn't really understand why she can't install windows applications etc etc. People want simple Microsoft Office, simple game installs, so Linux won't win, ever. Unless a large Corp built stuff on top of Linux, but then you'd probably have the spyware so it'll be no different

Yep true, that's why it's important to make sure people know windows sells your data, and it's only getting worse.

And if Linux preinstalled machines, came $30 cheaper, then maybe people would switch.

I mean why do people use MS office? when libre and open office are free. Scared of change or something unfamiliar. But eventually people will realise what google, Microsoft and apple are up to. Basically windows and apple users are victims of convenience .

Honestly, having used libre and open office, they're just not as good, at least for me, especially if you're heavy into Excel. The only thing that comes close in my opinion is Google docs etc

Ultimately I don't think people care too much about their data being sold. Not enough to do anything else at least. I use Windows, Chrome, loads of Google tools, Android and honestly, at this point, my data is out there and I just don't care that much (obviously within reason, tiktok freaks me out). Working with computers, code, config, Linux etc all day, the last thing I want after a day of work is figuring out why my game won't boot or debugging driver issues.

Note: I've got nothing against Linux as a main OS (I run it as the main OS on multiple laptops), I just don't think there's that much of a reason for normal people to switch or care what OS they use

bdspice

Cracked windows 🥴 i think most of people in south asian country use cracked windows and you are talking about privacy 🤣😂

lorian

@nocloud said:

@lorian said:
Manjaro

You mean you voted other OS in the poll, because manjaro is Linux. or am I misunderstanding, and your post is not related to the last part of my post just above yours ?

I voted Linux, but I wanted to be a little bit more specific, as there are a few of them...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg

alt_

MacOS (mbp) for office, Windows (desktop) for gaming and Debian (rack) for servers.

blackhiden

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

nocloud

@bdspice said:
Cracked windows 🥴 i think most of people in south asian country use cracked windows and you are talking about privacy 🤣😂

all windows is cracked! The only question is, who cracked it ?

Maounique

I use windows without crack as I am playing lineage2 and alt-tabbing a lot.
I use desktop linux, but remote, with x2go. A 2k Eur laptop has no problems with performance in windows and, while I hate the arcane ways in which Windows could fail, I have daily backups running with Macrium Reflect and all fine.
Whenever I need a linux desktop (XFCE my love), it is waiting me there on a tab on the taskbar.

Andrey11

Linux Mint , great OS (with many pre-installed apps, app center and Easy to set up )

Carlin0

@Andrey11 said:
Linux Mint , great OS (with many pre-installed apps, app center and Easy to set up )

too many things pre-installed

TheGreatOakley

nocloud

49 out of 150 use Linux desktop on there main day to day PC. Not bad but could be better.

My picks for best distros would be.

• Endeavor OS - (Arch with Calamares installer for easy installs )
• MX Linux - ( good for low end machines and very stable with debian base)
• Linux Mint - ( good as a first step / gateway linux for use as Windows detox)
• elementary OS - ( good as a first step / gateway linux for use as MacOS detox)
• Debian - (rock solid linux granddaddy)
• Nobara Project - ( Fedora base with all the tweaks needed to run windows games out the box)

Honorable mentions

• Manjaro - classic arch based distro
• Ubuntu - hats off for getting so many people interested in Linux
• slackware - it's older than debian
• openSUSE - not tried it yet, but i heard good things.

Otus9051

fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora fedora

Otus9051

@TheGreatOakley said:

I once Quad Booted
Arch
Windows 10
macOS 11
ChromeOS

nocloud

@Otus9051 said:

@TheGreatOakley said:

I once Quad Booted
Arch
Windows 10
macOS 11
ChromeOS

did you spend all your time staring at the grub page?

I kinda get it... but ChromeOS

Otus9051

@nocloud said:

@Otus9051 said:

@TheGreatOakley said:

I once Quad Booted
Arch
Windows 10
macOS 11
ChromeOS

did you spend all your time staring at the grub page?

I kinda get it... but ChromeOS

1. no
2. yes