Anyone using Linux as their daily computer system?

[Guest]

I am just wondering what everyone uses to play, like as we are on this website, for their modding experience.

But perhaps also as their choice of computing in general.

For a long time, i bounced back and forth between Windows and Linux. As a gamer it is quite hard to quit Windows and, as i discovered with Half-Life, it can be graphically very different in the outcome as well.

 

As a mobile user, and especially as a iPhone user, Linux can be also a turn off. I never got my iPhone working with Linux. There were several guides but none worked in the end.

 

But enough of me, i like to see what your opinion is or perhaps you do not have one.

Whatever the case, i think this can be a great learning experience.

Just one last thing. I try to stay as much with opensource even under Windows. Not always easy but possible.
An explainer why you are using one OS over the other would be nice as well.
After all, its all about sharing and learning.

Thank you and have a great day.

Edited November 13, 2021 by wutpickel

[tentacleCat]

I've been drifting more and more towards full Linux usage for several years now, and to be frank, gaming is pretty much the only reason I've kept Windows around this long.  I have a long grudge against Microsoft dating back to my first computer.  It was a surplus office computer one of my uncles pulled some strings at his job for me to get when I was thirteen.  It ran Windows 98SE and I only had it a short while before MS dropped support for 98 to move on to XP.  I didn't know about Linux then, so I just sucked it up and ran an insecure os for a couple years before I could afford to get a better computer.  The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth.  There was nothing actually wrong with my computer, it was just a giant corporation decided it was time for me to buy a new one, regardless of the condition of my existing computer or the condition of my bank account.  They continue to follow this pattern of forced "upgrades", and I resent it every time they do it.  It does not help that I don't like the direction of GUI design.  This is just my opinion, but I find newer interfaces to be dumbed down and annoying to use. I also don't like the direction they are going of intrusive spying on my every more.  Maybe I've drank rms' coolade, but I think my computer should work for me, not for MS, and not for the government.

 

As it stands, I use Linux Mint for my daily driver and plan to for the foreseeable future.  I used to run Arch, but a combination of laziness and real life time commitments made maintaining it untenable.  Mint just werks.  All my serious work is done in Linux, and the lion's share of my internet browsing and gaming too. I have a separate machine running Windows 7, and I've resolved that that will be the last version of Windows that I will maintain. Right now I still run it connected to the internet. In medium term, I'm planning to wipe it, run either legit/properly vetted games I pirated, and airgap it. In the long term, wine/virtual machines will be the future of that install for the games that just won't work natively on Linux.  As far as new games go, I'm only buying ones that run natively in Linux, or I don't even look at them.  I have enough old games it doesn't matter.

[Guest]

Just to throw in something from my experience.

 

It is funny in retrospect, but i actually started with Linux back in late 90s. At the time i had to buy Linux in a box. My Linux was Suse 4.x. My problem was that i failed to get the internet working.
The windows experience on the other hand was, well, ok. At that time, everything was advancing. Every year you got a new CPU that was better in most way than the previous one. Windows 3.11 was actually not that bad. But i still had many DOS applications that i really liked. Especially mod players* (*music/visuals from the demo scene).

Windows 95 & 98 were just cracks. I never bought them but these were great. I really liked them.

Today i am not sure. I think in a broader sense that Windows 10 is actually not that bad. Most of the things do work fine for me. As i had also a windows phone, i got accustomed to the tiles and so it was not a big deal for me personally.

Linux on the other hand has no coherent UI. Most of them are copies of Windows in many forms. Not to forget that many people hate either KDE or Gnome. I do use a lot of QT applications like Digikam which is absolutely great. I am not a purist at all.

Games play a lesser reason for me today than 10 years ago. If i had the money, i would probably switch to a console for games. If i read it correctly, most none Linux games should work with Proton and Steamplay.

But i remember the time before that, where you had to go through all kinds of traps and getting things running with Wine. What a disaster. It wasn't fun.
 

I never tried Arch but i had Manjaro running. This is actually a great Distro to be in the Arch world. Quiet simply to use and not as hardcore as Arch.
Though Ubuntu seems the way to go, since its referenced quiet often.

 

@tentacleCat thanks for sharing. I really enjoy reading experience of others and the struggle we share. Currently i have Ubuntu LTS on my stick.

 

[grey6joy]

Mainly I use linux and windows in nwork an entertaintment. I recently started in my future project healthcare app. According to the results of various studies, it is obvious that the number of apps created for the health industry is growing these days. But what is more important: it will continue to grow. Based on this knowledge we can make a conclusion that the demand for healthcare development will be growing as well. And the reasons for it are very simple to explain. I used help from https://www.aimprosoft.com/blog/how-to-build-a-healthcare-app/

Edited November 21, 2021 by grey6joy

[worik]

We have a windows gaming PC for only that single purpose.

[Anyoone]

MacOS for work, Windows for gaming and Linux for... other kind of works.

[KoolHndLuke]

Want to run a Linux distribution with my next pc build and get more familiar with it. Most of the syntax isn't hard to learn and I really love that it's open source and flexible. Only thing that's really stumping me so far is the folder/file names for some things and of course working with a command line input in power shell. Yes, I know there are lots of GUI distributions, but for some reason I prefer using shell commands. BTW, you can have more than one OS on your pc- especially with a VMM.

 

Found this; "Microsoft has just made the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) available in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11 systems. WSL is the application that allows Windows users to run a GNU/Linux environment directly on Windows without the overhead of a virtual machine or dual-boot setup."

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by KoolHndLuke

[Guest]

Well, i have to say that i am one of these people that have a hard time switching OS. Windows is just so familiar and in a way easy. Every dam software runs on Windows, which makes it very compelling.

 

The other day, i tried Ubuntu but for some reason we are no friends. I did not get GOG working. Problem with .NET.

I think i will try again Manjaro as this was surprisingly easy to work.

 

My main goal is, to have both system separate. Preferably each on its own drive but no dual boot, rather bios enabled disabled.

 

On Windows i am using mostly opensource software. Most importantly i am not using any Google software but stay with Mozilla for my web needs.

Linux has some great tools. One that i explore at the moment is Kali OS https://www.kali.org/ which enables you to test your system of any vulnerabilities. On the other hand, i got myself a paid version of Disinfect from heise.de ('ct) which has anti-virus signatures from 4 offerings. Its sadly only in German. https://www.heise.de/download/product/desinfect-71642

Linux is more flexible and very useful for problem solving.

 

Commands are not that bad. But, i tend to forget some all the time. I think this is because of my age. You can do everything with command. I remember that Manjaro had a flavor with just that. Like in the old days of terminals which is called I3. Its community supported.

 

Over the years i tried several distributions. Some swear on Fedora, other Debian or Mint. I had OpenSuse mostly.

But i can not decide on which UI i actually want. The software i mostly use, uses QT. I am also not a purist like some are. But the main thing for me is my phone. It just does not work with Linux no matter how hard i try. Of course its an iPhone. The best i can get is to have it as a drive but not able to feed my music files to it.

One of these days i will get me an Android.

 

My next project will be running a freaking Bethesda game on Linux.

 

In summary. It is not easy to run Linux and game but it is easier now then it was back then.

[tentacleCat]

Getting games to work properly on Linux is a pain. That really is the reason I keep a machine with windows installed around. I suck at configuring wine, so I can't give much advice on that end. If you are trying to run Morrowind, checkout OpenMW, it is an open source re-implementation of the Morrowind engine, and among other things, runs natively in Linux.  It doesn't support MWSE yet, but they are allegedly planning to include similar scripting support for mods at some unspecified point in the future.  As it stands, a lot of mods do work, but not ones that need MWSE.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, tentacleCat said:

Getting games to work properly on Linux is a pain. That really is the reason I keep a machine with windows installed around. I suck at configuring wine, so I can't give much advice on that end. If you are trying to run Morrowind, checkout OpenMW, it is an open source re-implementation of the Morrowind engine, and among other things, runs natively in Linux.  It doesn't support MWSE yet, but they are allegedly planning to include similar scripting support for mods at some unspecified point in the future.  As it stands, a lot of mods do work, but not ones that need MWSE.

My last experience with gaming and Linux was ok. I got Black Mesa running, Pillars of Eternity 2 and Life Goes On. But these were Linux native.

Wine, i haven't touched in awhile. Kind of always avoided it. Years ago i tried to get CSS going but that did not work for me. For some people it did.

Last i had problem with the GOG client. Did not work out for some reason. But i needed it for the cloud saves.

The one thing i noticed was the difference in graphics. For example Black Mesa looked really different with OpenGL compared to DirectX, Light night and day. DirectX was more detailed.

 

I will try again but not before i have another harddrive that i can activate at boot.

[Guest]

Well, i made progress.

 

Here is what i did.

On my motherboard is a M.2 SDD which is drive 1 or 0, since it takes priority over everything. This is were my Windows is.

I connected another SDD via SATA separately and plugged it in normally on the motherboard.

 

Before starting, i started Rufus to meld my Linux image onto my USB Stick. I chose Manjaro XFCE.

 

Restart the computer and went into the Bios. There i disabled my WIndows SDD and rebooted again, not to forget to plugin my USB Stick first.

Testing Linux started automatically, since there is no HDD detected at this point.

 

Install the distribution to my added SDD. Careful, Linux sees all SDD and will automatically select the M.2 SDD.

 

After that, all that needs to be done is do enable in the Bios the Windows SDD and the USB HDD.

Its not the most elegant way to do it but this has the advantage that you have two separate SDD that are real in independent of each other.

A boot menu is the more elegant solution but requires Linux to write onto the Windows drive.
Linux on the other hand can see the Windows drive no matter. Even if its disabled. Not sure why actually.

 

At boot you need to press a key to select the drives. In my case its F11.

Not a big deal. I think.

[beefers]

I dual boot Windows 7 with Linux Mint 19 but always use Linux unless I am playing Sims because I can't get it run well enough on the Linux emulators.

[Clea Strange]

I would use Linux if I could get Mod Organizer or Vortex to work

Edited December 25, 2021 by Hiderius

[NickNozownik]

I recently installed Linux and I use it for everything now. I don't know much about gaming because the only game that I tried to run on it is Rimworld. Runs perfectly fine, if there's a problem then it's caused by a massive mod list. I use Garuda Gnome at the moment, no issues so far. I still have Windows 10 because I'm too lazy to install the rest of my games on Linux, download all the mods and configure them.

 

I use Windows 10 only to play 3 games - Space Engineers, Assault Squad 2 and very rarely Tera. Win 10 isn't absolutely awful because I disabled Windows Update, Cortana, all kinds of other nonsense, disabled even more nonsense that was running in the background, installed a different firewall and basically locked Windows behind it. Third party firewall was installed JUST IN CASE Windows tries something funny, I don't even browse the internet there.

 

I'll stick to Linux and Linux only from now on. If I won't be able to run a certain game on it then too bad. I won't necessarily stick to Garuda for all eternity, but so far it's all I need.

 

[Zor2k13]

Can this be done? Some other OS with all these legit game launchers and services like steam, origin and others plus a way to limit what those launchers can do if possible. I HATE windows 10 and there is no way I will install that apple wannabe windows 11. I'm tired of dreading new hardware because there are too many versions of linux and they all can't run most games. There has to be a way to run some form of linux for beth games and other major games plus online gaming without any spy on me crap running a marathon in the background wasting resources for big tech to get their stats.

 

Lets not forget about unreal engine 5 movie making too.

[Guest]

I have now Manjaro XFCE running and i am actually very happy. Most stuff works fine and Linux is now my daily driver so to say.

I haven't run Windows for 2 weeks at least. Though i did not run modded games either.

On that i am still working on.

Not hating windows but i think i am ok with Linux.

[Guest]

On 12/25/2021 at 3:32 AM, Hiderius said:

I would use Linux if I could get Mod Organizer or Vortex to work

You need to use Lutris for that to work.

On steam there was a guide but in general you would run MO2 or Vortex through Lutris.
I have it installed and i am trying to understand it still. https://lutris.net/https://lutris.net/

[Oldwolf58]

1 hour ago, wutpickel said:

I have now Manjaro XFCE running and i am actually very happy.

You say you're happy with this Linux version but haven't tried modded gaming on it yet? If I could find a good Linux distro that I can run my games on with MO2 I'd drop Windows in a heartbeat. Now don't get me wrong I have 35 years in IT and have supported Window from it's inception but lately the last decade or so they have become more and more intrusive and proprietary in there mindset to the point I want NOTHING to do with them. I've tried Linux distro's in the past but all were huge gaming failures, mostly because I could never get modding to work on them. I'm retired so I don't have any real work stuff to do now days and my leisure time is spent gaming so if anyone has a recommendation for a Linux distro that can do that please let me know.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, Oldwolf58 said:

You say you're happy with this Linux version but haven't tried modded gaming on it yet? If I could find a good Linux distro that I can run my games on with MO2 I'd drop Windows in a heartbeat. Now don't get me wrong I have 35 years in IT and have supported Window from it's inception but lately the last decade or so they have become more and more intrusive and proprietary in there mindset to the point I want NOTHING to do with them. I've tried Linux distro's in the past but all were huge gaming failures, mostly because I could never get modding to work on them. I'm retired so I don't have any real work stuff to do now days and my leisure time is spent gaming so if anyone has a recommendation for a Linux distro that can do that please let me know.

Well, i wish i could tell you that i have MO2 running. I have not. But i know that it works for some. I haven't put a lot of time in it yet.

But i can tell that Skyrim itself runs just fine. So its just a matter of time before i figure it out on my own.

 

I have no IT background so i am doing it just as i go along. Step by Step.

 

What i can tell you is that Manjaro works for gaming. I will report back if i get MO2 to work as it does on Windows.

 

[Guest]

On 1/11/2022 at 8:47 AM, Oldwolf58 said:

Linux distro that can do that please let me know.

Ok, here is an update.

Generally i think any distro should be able to do that.

Since we relay on Lutris to do the job, all you would need to install is Steam itself and Lutris and of course Skyrim within Steam.

 

Once you did that, you need to install within Lutris Skyrim and MO2.

This is of course not foolproof. What may work on my system may need work on your end. But from what i see, it should work in general anywhere.

 

MO2 will open up as usual.

My next challenge is to have MO2 start Skyrim with Steam.

I am taking baby steps here.

Once i overcome the (hopefully) last step to have MO2 recognize Steam (registry key) i will report back.

 

If you just want to play the game itself, that works fine. Through Steam.

 

For Lutris everything should be installed for you. There is a script that will install Wine, and Mono.

Here is a screenshot of my MO2 in Linux.

 

Here are some helpful links.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Linux

https://lutris.net/games/mod-organizer-2/

 

p.s. for me Manjaro works fine. But i think most people use Ubuntu. And since Valve chose Ubuntu, it should be safe to use. But the distro is really up to anyone. Check the board of the distro to get a better picture.

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by wutpickel

[Oldwolf58]

10 hours ago, wutpickel said:

Once i overcome the (hopefully) last step to have MO2 recognize Steam (registry key) i will report back.

 

Thanks for the info I'll be looking at and reading up on the distro's and watching for how things go for you.

[Guest]

@Oldwolf58

Success!!!!!

 

Ok, here is what you need to do.

 

Install Lutris

https://lutris.net/games/mod-organizer-2/

Here is a discussion on Reddit about the problem i faced.

Spoiler

 

I had Skyrim SE installed through Steam and Lutris.

 

Next, you will need to do this.

 

https://github.com/rockerbacon/modorganizer2-linux-installer

Follow the instruction.

Essentially you need to modify some Steam settings.

See the screenshots for that.

 

This has the latest version of MO2.

 

You need to install Protontricks prior.

Also, you need to use Proton 6.3. I have Proton 6.3.8.

 

Check your installer (for Manjaro its

pamac search protontricks

).

 

Downloaded, extract it where you like and install it with sh install.sh

 

The installation is straight forward. It will explain you what you need to do first before continuing the installation.

 

So now everything is working fine.

 

You start MO2 as you start Skyrim in Steam. A script will run and bring you to MO2.

 

I can start MO2 and play along. Nice. ENB works at load. I was not yet in the game itself though. But it starts up.

 

Note!!! This is only one instance. For others you have to repeat that procedure.

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2022 by wutpickel

[Guest]

I can report that mods do work.

 

Where i see a problem is with FNIS at the moment. Will figure that out.

Sadly, i was not able to just transfer my data over. The folder structure is somewhat different.

Also, it seems that MO2 is somewhat sluggish. But it does work as it does on Windows nonetheless.

Since this is team work, any ideas are welcome. I am curious if anyone accomplished the same on their respective distro. At least there is an alternative.

 

p.s, there seems to be a solution to that problem

https://github.com/rockerbacon/modorganizer2-linux-installer/issues/57

Edited January 13, 2022 by wutpickel