Gaming on Linux always sucked because of many factors:
1. Linux decades ago was not "new user friendly"
2. Wine and PLayOnLinux was all we had with endless problem, and heavy dependency on Windows files like DirectX and libraries
3. Windows dominated the gaming market
4. 3D GPU driver was non-existent
The single reason why gaming on Linux now is better than Windows, has one name: Valve
SteamDeck/SteamOS changed everything, the whole Wine process is managed by the OS and no longer by the user. You may need to change the Proton version, that is all.
That also pushed GPU drivers to be better supported on Linux.
Valve single handled what gaming on Linux has become.
I run Mint Cinnamon Linux, and even tho it is not "SteamOS", I can play Steam games just fine.
Microsoft terrible takes and AI, is also pushing gamers over to Linux, better FPS on Linux than Windows.
The only restriction is kernel anti-cheat software that only runs on Windows, but many games do not use that and the ones that do use it like COD(dead game), BF, etc, isn't everybody cup of tea.
If it wasn't for Valve, Linux gaming would still be as dead as it has always been.
To make it more perfect, users that use their computer for browsing, writing docs (LibreOffice), etc, can be done on Linux for free.
You as a computer user in 2025, you have little to no excuse to try Linux, but try something good like Mint Cinnamon Linux that is extremely new user friendly, good for browsing, good for development work, solid for gaming, video editing is chef kiss, etc, etc.
Avoid Ubuntu (they are going proprietary).
I don't really play multiplayer games other than a self-hosted Minecraft server, so for me the SteamOS experience (using Jovian on NixOS) is strictly better than what I had on Windows. A lot of games from the late 90's/early 2000's have trouble running on modern Windows but work fine with Wine or Proton.
I've been utterly astounded by Proton in the last year. Nearly every game I have run has run just about perfectly, often better than on Windows, and I'm able to play them with an Xbox One pad no less.
Valve absolutely deserves a lot of credit, but I do think that the constant effort from the Wine people should get a lot of credit as well. Wine has had constant progress for three decades, with every release getting a little better. I haven't worked on it, but I suspect 90+% of the work with Wine is figuring out all the weird edge cases that have popped up on Windows throughout the years, which is often slow, tedious, thankless work. Valve did a lot of work but there's a reason they opted to improve Wine instead of writing Proton from scratch.
The problem with Wine is that you most know what libraries to add, etc.
PlayOnLinux automates that process somewhat but still very manual.
Steam Proton makes the whole process painless, you only select which Proton version to run, and that info can be obtained from ProtonDB if you encountered any issue, it is beautiful.
As for Linux, even emulators works like never before.
I could never get PS4 emulator to work on Windows, I got PS4, X360, GameCube, and a bunch of other emulators running on Linux like I couldn't believe it.
You can do the same from within SteamOS itself, you just install an app, select the emulator and you ready which is far easier than me doing this from from Linux.
Oh no argument on any of that. Valve has done a superb job at making Linux 100x more approachable and easy to use.
I just want to give credit where credit is due, because a lot of this wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the Wine people. “Shoulders of giants” and whatnot.
True, Wine and even PlayOnLinux were making miracles.
Folks could even run Adobe Photoshop lmao before Adobe went downhill.
Wine and PlayOnLinux still the way to go to if you need to run a Windows software for whatever reason on Linux.
My little list of things I gave up in life and increased my overall happiness and well-being beyond comprehension:
1. Job: I used to take job as my heaven, over-work, over-deliver, over everything. You are let go the moment the company please coz you are just a number.
I stopped seeing workplace as heaven but as "it pays the bills", full stop.
2. Finance: Directly related to above, have an emergency saving preferably at least up to 6 months worth of paid bills.
I have been layoff twice up to 5 months before finding a job.
Nothing destroy you more than finance stress, giving up that fear of job loss alone will increase your well-being beyond your comprehension.
Some people give up working altogether, we all will get old one day, your "giving up" must include that.
3. Cash/Minimalist: Give up having the latest phone model, the latest car model, the latest everything, nobody cares, and definitely not the people from your social media.
Cash over debit card so you can easily see what you are spending on. Ban credit card and you will see money you didn't know you had.
4. Relationship: I never had much luck with it, but after ending a 6y long term relationship, I gave up.
I have hobbies, pets, that is all I need.
5. Friendship: People will only show you their side that they wanna you to see, and not who they really are.
Stop trying to please friends and you will see who are the real ones and who are after personal interest.
This is me giving up and yet, being happier, healthier, eating better, etc, etc.
Nearly all drivers look at the incoming headlights!!
True, driving at night sometimes can be an adventure and half but as long as you do not look at the incoming headlight, you are fine.
Drivers automatically look at the headlight, that is the issue.
Also, there is the old and gold quick high beam towards the incoming traffic, it still works 99% of the time.
Some drivers don't know or realised they are on high beam until you send a quick high beam towards them, it is all you need. It is an unwritten traffic rule.
My Suzuki Jimny allows me to lower the headlight beam so I don't blind incoming traffic.
I keep mine very low and for being a LED one, still allows me to drive safely and see everything.
With Microsoft (Behind GitHub) going full AI mode, expected things to get worse.
I worked for one of the largest company in my country, they had "catch-up" with GitHub and it is not longer about GitHub as you folks are used to but AI aka CoPilot.
We are seeing major techs such as but not limited to Google, AWS and Azure going under after making public that their code is 30% AI generated (Google).
Even Xbox(Microsoft) and its gaming studio got destroyed (COD BO7) for heavily dependency on AI.
Don't you find it coincidence all of these system outage worldwide happening right after they proudly shared heavily dependency on AI??
Companies aren't using AI/ML to improve processes but to replace people, full stop.
The AI stock market is having a massive meltdown as we speak with indications that the AI bubble went live.
If you as a company wanna keep your productivity at 99.99% from now on:
* GitLab: Self-hosted GitLab/runners
* Datacenter: AWS/GCP/Azure is no longer a safe option or cheaper, we have data center companies such as Equinix which have a massive backup plan in place.
I have visited one, they are prepared for a nuclear war and I am not even being dramatic.
If I was starting a new company in 2025, I would go back to datacenter over AWS/GCP/Azure
* Self-host everything you can, and no, it does not require 5 days in the office to manage all of that.
I didn't see a case made for self-hosting as the better option, instead I see that proposition being assumed true. Why would it be better for my company to roll its own CI/CD?
I worked at a bank that self-hosted GitLab/runners.
As the AI bubble goes sideways, you don't know how your company data is being held, CoPilot uses GitHub to train its AI for instance.
Yes, the big company I work for had a clause to forbids GitHub from using the company's repo from AI training.
How many companies can afford having a dedicated GitHub team to speak to??
How many companies read the contracts or have any saying??
Not many really.
Yeah sure, cloud is easier, you just pay the bills, but at what cost??
Problems like this is why I got a 2025 Suzuki Jimny XL.
I don't need a computer on wheels, it has all the ingredients for disasters but people keep ignoring it. XL:
1. No firmware update,
2. No OTA updates, you get what you paid for;
3. No internet access;
The most important thing:
* Standard key (AU version), no keyless ignition!
As it stands now, any car that is keyless ignition can be stolen by OBD devices sold at eBay and AliExpress.
The newer the car, the worst.
Toyota new cars in Australia are being stolen by drilling its passenger door which grants you access to the OBD located on the passenger side, hook the OBD device that cost less than AUD50 and you are driving an over AUD100k car away like you own it.
I am not even getting into cars systems have zero security, I remember watching in early 2000s, a hacker taking control of the reporter's car while on a highway and made the car stop. The reported had to change his underwear!!
Things got a lot worse 25 years later.
Back to Jeep 4XE Hybrid cars, they are 2025 models and people bought it even after everything that is going on around Jeep.
It is hard to blame only the company on this.
They are mad big techs aren't allowing them to receive back the money invested.
Since OpenAI made ChatGPT public, everything went to shit.
Company after company is firing folks to be replaced by AI, only to hire them back because everything went to shit. The IT job market was already broken, it is a complete mess right now.
System breach is all time high coz of vibe coding/AI/LLM is introducing vulnerabilities.
The brighter side???
Some companies are starting to realise that AI/LLM has been rushed and are creating more problems than solving them.
Where there is smoke, there is a fire.
Wait for more and wait for people to learn how identity theft is the worst problem you can have.
Imagine you trying to prove that you are you, while somebody else with your passport details, driver license, address, DOB, phone SIM swap, etc, is acting like you causing all sort of financial disaster???
1995 The Net movie, people in 2025 will learn the hard way that was not just a movie.
And yet you see some folks happy with Microsoft "investing" into open-source projects.
Microsoft never did and never will do something without personal interest.
It is so ridiculous that the simple fact of using VSCodium, blocks many extension from being installed because it must be VSCode.
If I cannot find the package elsewhere and manually install it, I'm going nowhere.
Microsoft is taking what matter to them while killing everything else.
Also, the major part of the problems within the open-source world is its own community.
Things are way too fragmented, competition is better than sharing and so on.
I mean, look at Ubiquity, how much did they give back to the open-source projects that helped them be who they are today??
Look at Ubuntu, the distro that dragged users away from Windows is now our enemy.
SNAP is fully managed by them only, thankfully Mint kept FLATPAK instead, not to mention privacy issues Ubuntu has been involved into.
Raspberry Pi project using Microsoft repos without making announcements, users found it out and the usual "We are sorry, not really because we go the money"
pfSense merged crappy WireGuard code with vulnerabilities into pfSense and FreeBSD forcing the WireGuard creator to fix the mess. Netgate, a company is backing up pfSense so nothing new there.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
If some project decides to take this secure boot mess seriously which has been a problem since forever, we will see tons of forks, more fragmentation, more competition and nobody gets anywhere.
1. Linux decades ago was not "new user friendly"
2. Wine and PLayOnLinux was all we had with endless problem, and heavy dependency on Windows files like DirectX and libraries
3. Windows dominated the gaming market
4. 3D GPU driver was non-existent
The single reason why gaming on Linux now is better than Windows, has one name: Valve
SteamDeck/SteamOS changed everything, the whole Wine process is managed by the OS and no longer by the user. You may need to change the Proton version, that is all. That also pushed GPU drivers to be better supported on Linux.
Valve single handled what gaming on Linux has become. I run Mint Cinnamon Linux, and even tho it is not "SteamOS", I can play Steam games just fine.
Microsoft terrible takes and AI, is also pushing gamers over to Linux, better FPS on Linux than Windows. The only restriction is kernel anti-cheat software that only runs on Windows, but many games do not use that and the ones that do use it like COD(dead game), BF, etc, isn't everybody cup of tea.
If it wasn't for Valve, Linux gaming would still be as dead as it has always been.
To make it more perfect, users that use their computer for browsing, writing docs (LibreOffice), etc, can be done on Linux for free.
You as a computer user in 2025, you have little to no excuse to try Linux, but try something good like Mint Cinnamon Linux that is extremely new user friendly, good for browsing, good for development work, solid for gaming, video editing is chef kiss, etc, etc. Avoid Ubuntu (they are going proprietary).