• TommySoda@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    9 hours ago

    Like it or not, this is the easiest way to get Linux further into the mainstream. I’ve had Linux on my laptop for about a year or so and have been loving it, but I’ve still been wary about switching my gaming PC. I think the biggest issue with most people hesitant to switch is ease of use. From the outside Linux looks cryptic and kinda scary for most people. I mean you have to do research just to find out which distro to use and even then might not even find one you like on the first try. With Windows… You just install Windows and you can already do everything you need to do.

    • mesamune@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      2 hours ago

      One could argue it’s been mainstream for a while. We just don’t call it Linux. We call it android, game consoles, TVs etc… for consumers they look at hardware and software as one in the same.

      If I were to guess, if steam os takes off, we will have another word other than Linux for these machines.

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      7
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Honestly Linux market share doesn’t matter much.

      With that being said Linux can be used however you see fit as long as you aren’t violating licensing

      • iopq@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        9
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 hours ago

        Unless your game bans you from playing because you’re on Linux, then market share matters a ton

        • sheogorath@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          4 hours ago

          I want to move to Linux but the value proposition for game pass is too damn good, I haven’t bought games the last 3 years because the last 5 games that I bought all got into game pass. It’s like they have this one executive that has the same taste as me.

          I’ll stick with windows for gaming (sadly) until my financial situation improves ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ

    • Shirasho@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      24
      ·
      9 hours ago

      The biggest hurdle by far is that you need to compile the software you want to use from source more often that is acceptable for the average user. There is also a serious lack of proper hardware driver support.

      Linux is way too fragmented and trying to get up and running with basic apps requires way too much technical skill.

      I really do hope that SteamOS will finally solve these problems by having the backing of a foundation (company) that has years of UX experience (with multiple failures and successes under their belt) that targets a wide range of audiences. This should give hardware manufacturers confidence that developing drivers for that OS will not be a waste of time.

        • FoolHen@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          2 hours ago

          That doesn’t mean that others don’t have to. I installed Debian on a partition and couldn’t get the WiFi USB stick to work. The manufacturers drivers couldn’t be installed because they were ancient, and installing a generic one for the chip didn’t work. Had to give up. In windows it’s plug and play.

      • cm0002@lemmy.worldOP
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        8 hours ago

        compile the software you want to use from source more often that is acceptable for the average user.

        Wut? I’ve been using Linux in some form or another for years and that is greatly exaggerated even for back then

        Linux is way too fragmented and trying to get up and running with basic apps requires way too much technical skill.

        Um. WHAT. most distros are just some flavor of one of the handful of major ones, like Debian (Even Ubuntu is based on Debian). If it’s a Linux application, it’ll probably work on your distro. There’s some other cases, like FreeBSD which isn’t a Linux kernel, so things differ there, but it’s unlikely you’ll be running it at home unless you’re venturing out of “average user” domain, like Arch for Linux.

        Things have never been easier

      • naught@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        ·
        9 hours ago

        The majority of users won’t even touch the command line if they’re on a noob friendly distro. Been that way for a long time. Only Gentoo users are compiling from source, and even then, not that frequently

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        7 hours ago

        The biggest hurdle by far is that you need to compile the software you want to use from source more often that is acceptable for the average user.

        I’ve been using Linux as my main OS since 2007 and not had to do that once.

        Linux is way too fragmented and trying to get up and running with basic apps requires way too much technical skill.

        > open app store

        > search

        > install any flatpak you like

        If anything Windows is the complicated one in this regard.

    • themadcodger@kbin.earth
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      9 hours ago

      If you haven’t already, take a look at Bazzite for your desktop. I’ve actually replaced SteamOS with it.

        • Ketata Mohamed@mastodon.tn
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          2 hours ago

          @mesamunefire @themadcodger in tunisia at least, the number one way to play games is:-through piracy (I hate piracy but if you are born in tunisia then it is very very hard to pay for anything virtual like games) -via launchers like Battle.net for HS -via custom .exe like for Project Celeste… in short Steam is not the only way to get games, Steam OS and by consequence the Steamdeck is not even officialy on sale in tunisia anywhere and going to desktop mode requires intellect which is not common

          • mesamune@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            37 minutes ago

            Interesting. Yeah I can see that being an issue.

            I’ve heard it can be hard to get a steam deck or steam deck adjacent machines outside official stores.

  • fubo@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    10 hours ago

    The built-in Proton WINE does pretty darn well for me already. Baldur’s Gate 3 plays fine on my Pop!_OS system.

    • mesamune@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      2 hours ago

      Same bg3 works great! I’m running on steam deck and pop os at different intervals. It’s fun.

    • TommySoda@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      9 hours ago

      Same. Doesn’t play Deadlock very well which I find really funny since it’s a Valve game. But it’s a play test so I’ll give it a pass for now.