Linux Gaming Thread

[Aaron44126]

47 minutes ago, Etern4l said:

M$s attempts to force people off of Win 10 might get more people to move to Linux. My guess though is they will drop the HW requirements closer to the dealine.

I’ve been poking around BlueSky and it keeps serving me up discussions on this. Lots of people switching to Linux and figuring it out… but also lots of people pushing back on that.

 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/windows-itpro-blog/tpm-2-0-–-a-necessity-for-a-secure-and-future-proof-windows-11/4339066
Microsoft is apparently doubling down on the requirements, or at least the TPM one.

 

It is easy enough to bypass the requirements and run Windows 11 anyway. However, with so many PCs still on Windows 10… There will be some that move to 11 (supported hardware or not), or to Linux, or that just get chucked, but I think the most likely scenario is that… the biggest share of them will just stay on Windows 10 even after MS support expires.

 

(Moved my “home server” from Windows 10 to Linux over the “holiday break”. Wasn’t even hard, just had to commit the time to actually do it, which also involved finding temporary holding space for 20ish TB of stuff so that I could switch my disk pool from Storage Spaces to MDRAID. Just my work PC remains running Windows, and that will hopefully be addressed later this year…)

[Linux]

People are lazy. I don't think this will have much positive impact on Linux. They will try, but they have to figure sth out for more than 20 mins they are already out. Lazy morons all the way.

[Etern4l]

People are just not that technical and need something that's foolproof. Chromebooks seem quite popular, and that's Linux under the hood, but obviously someone would need to commit the resources to making something more open along those lines without having to rely on monetising people's data.  

[Aaron44126]

I watched this LTT ( — mixed feelings over the "quality" of LTT but this one is not bad — ); seems like Valve might be making a push this year to get modern SteamOS on things other than Steam Deck. If they could make it a bit easier to install and support more hardware out of the box then I think there is a sizeable segment of people who might give it a shot.

 

[Papusan]

 

Linux users do the impossible: FSR 4 with RX 7900 XTX

I've been gaming on Windows for over 30 years, but now I'm giving Linux a shot

[Papusan]

 

Finally I see smart people make smart decisions... Here is something Microsoft could learn from @Mr. Fox

 

Ubuntu To Disable Intel GPU Security Mitigations To Improve Graphics Performance By Up To 20%

[kojack]

Hopfully all linux distro's do this. I can't move yet as Space Engine does not work smoothly on linux. YET!

[Papusan]

 

Linux will be an good option once Microsoft push Windows 10 over the cliff. 

 

Windows loses 400 million users as mobile, Linux, and Mac use grows

Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base

 

 

[Mr. Fox]

The biggest problem with Linux is support for the latest hardware. Sometimes it take 6 months to a year for proper support. I think most Linux developers are not early adopters of new tech. And, until some of them buy new hardware get the kernel updated and drivers working using Linux is not an option no matter how much you want it to be.

 

I have had the most difficult time imaginable installing Linux on the X870E platform. It seems like none of the Linux developers have AMD's most current platform and haven't given it enough effort. When I started web searching I discovered I was not alone. Most distros are broken and installation fails at the point of installing the boatloader. I even removed all other OS drives thinking maybe Micro$lop was interfering by blocking access to the EFI partition, but that was not it. I tried numerous Arch, Ubuntu and Debian derivatives and all ended with the same error.

 

But, I did not give up and I finally got Zorin installed after 2 days of farting around with more than a dozen failed attempts on both the ASUS and Gigabyte mobos. I tried GRUB, systemd and rEFInd bootloaders on each distro and tried different SSDs. All failed during the installation of the boatloader. Very weird. I guess that is one of the compromises when stuff is free. I'm using a USB ethernet adapter because the onboard NIC and WiFi are not supported. I can't identify why it finally worked and it was not the first try with Zorin. 

 

Supposedly kernel 6.15 supports the networking, but I tried updating to the latest kernel and it breaks the NVIDIA drivers. It seems there are no NVIDIA compatible headers for 6.15.

 

[Papusan]

9 hours ago, Mr. Fox said:

Most distros are broken and installation fails at the point of installing the boatloader. I even removed all other OS drives thinking maybe Micro$lop was interfering by blocking access to the EFI partition, but that was not it. I tried numerous Arch, Ubuntu and Debian derivatives and all ended with the same error.

 

But, I did not give up and I finally got Zorin installed after 2 days of farting around with more than a dozen failed attempts on both the ASUS and Gigabyte mobos.

 

Those that make the Linux distros have a huge opportunity to get bigger userbase.. They need to fix it. This has to be first priority over making more pretty GUI.

 

Windows 11 is becoming synonymous with Copilot+ PCs, while Linux is now a real threat

 

Interestingly, a group called End of 10 has been pushing for users to transition to Linux as Windows 10's end-of-life approaches. Its campaign encourages Windows 10 users to ditch the Windows ecosystem entirely and switch to Linux with their outdated devices. The small group is using a lack of ads and telemetry tracking as the key selling points to get users to make the transition.

[Mr. Fox]

11 hours ago, Papusan said:

 

Those that make the Linux distros have a huge opportunity to get bigger userbase.. They need to fix it. This has to be first priority over making more pretty GUI.

 

Windows 11 is becoming synonymous with Copilot+ PCs, while Linux is now a real threat

 

Interestingly, a group called End of 10 has been pushing for users to transition to Linux as Windows 10's end-of-life approaches. Its campaign encourages Windows 10 users to ditch the Windows ecosystem entirely and switch to Linux with their outdated devices. The small group is using a lack of ads and telemetry tracking as the key selling points to get users to make the transition.

I agree with you. Even with the rolling release options there's a lag in support for the newest hardware. Day one hardware and driver support needs to be a top priority. Unfortunately there's going to be some of the sheeple that value form over function. If their OS isn't loaded up with a bunch of disgusting eye candy and other gimmicky crap they won't embrace it. Just like the rainbow puke they adore so much even when the hardware they own is anemic and lackluster. It's ironic that an OS that has been popular among poor people and third-world countries will probably eventually end up being the only acceptable OS for the people that are not Kool-Aid drinking idiots.

[Mr. Fox]

So, I finally got my hands on the latest VMWorkstation and VMTools and now have my Windoze VM set up in Linux.

[Mr. Fox]

This is the Dune Awakening Benchmark run in Linux using Proton...

[Papusan]

 

 

[kojack]

I am back on my Zorin OS equipped Dell insprion 3169 right now. I love this litte machine.  I have a few setup issues I need to fix, like getting waydroid to work correctly. It does not access the wifi/Bluetooth etc on the laptop, the scrolling speed is WAY too fast, and I don't know how to slow it down. ha ha.  Other than that I can live with this distro without issue.  Next up is getting my server finally built and on linux. 

 

I was planning on doing that while I was recovering but damn, time flies.!

[Mr. Fox]

19 minutes ago, kojack said:

I am back on my Zorin OS equipped Dell insprion 3169 right now. I love this litte machine.  I have a few setup issues I need to fix, like getting waydroid to work correctly. It does not access the wifi/Bluetooth etc on the laptop, the scrolling speed is WAY too fast, and I don't know how to slow it down. ha ha.  Other than that I can live with this distro without issue.  Next up is getting my server finally built and on linux. 

 

I was planning on doing that while I was recovering but damn, time flies.!

There are ways to control the scrolling speed in the mouse setup options. Sometimes things are harder to find and more limited in Zorin. It's a great OS for those new to Linux though. Probably the best option overall.

 

KDE Plasma DE has much more robust configuration options. It can be installed on Zorin.

 

Depending on what kernel you are running you might find WiFi/BT support in a newer kernel. 

[Mr. Fox]

On 7/7/2025 at 5:46 AM, Mr. Fox said:

So, I finally got my hands on the latest VMWorkstation and VMTools and now have my Windoze VM set up in Linux.

I haven't needed to use Windows with a Windows 10 VM available to run the stuff for work that doesn't function on Linux. It's good having a largely Windoze-free experience. The only game that I have tried lately that is not working (yet) on Linux for me is Doom: The Dark Ages. All prior versions of Doom run like they are native.

On 7/8/2025 at 7:05 PM, Papusan said:

 

 

I decided to play with Bazzite and installed it alongside Zorin, Windows 10 and 11. It's OK but I am not liking the distro. One of its features that many actually like I do not like. The OS itself installs to a relatively small read-only ext4 partition and everything else on a btrfs partition. Installing applications using apt and other repositories is more restrictive as well. That's the part I do not like. I think for a user wanting it to function as a Steam OS for gaming and doesn't do much else with the OS it is an excellent no-fuss option that remains very stable and reliable. I don't really care about having or need for the OS to be in such a guarded state. Security is fine until it interferes with freedom or slows things down, then I'm done caring about it.

[kojack]

What sucks is that every linux distro I have tried, even mint, is a compromise of what I get with my windows 11 user experience. Hate to say it. For old machines, HELL YES,  for newer ones that run 11 without issue, it's a bigger question. 

 

I am going to load mint on my system that has garuda on it and try again.  

[Mr. Fox]

3 hours ago, kojack said:

What sucks is that every linux distro I have tried, even mint, is a compromise of what I get with my windows 11 user experience. Hate to say it. For old machines, HELL YES,  for newer ones that run 11 without issue, it's a bigger question. 

 

I am going to load mint on my system that has garuda on it and try again.  

If you haven't already, maybe give kubuntu a try. I like Mint with Cinnamon DE a lot and it used to be my favorite. But now I prefer KDE Plasma over Mint. Both are an easy GUI for Windows users to embrace.

 

One of the nice things about Linux is you can change the desktop environment on almost any distro to satisfy personal preference. Imagine how much happier some Windows users would be to have the ability to install a Window XP, 7, 2000 or 8.X desktop environment on Window 10 or 11 if they dislike the default GUI. Using "skins" works to a degree, but it is never more than a partial and superficial transformation. And doing it tends to break things and sometimes requires some pretty sketchy tweaks.

 

There is certainly a learning curve and those of us that have grown used to Windows over the decades can find it frustrating navigating unfamiliar waters. I am forcing myself to become as well-versed in Linux as possible so I can eventually (hopefully) no longer have any use for Windows. I am closer than ever and hope I can reach a point that Windows becomes as irrelevant and worthless to me as MacOS.