Linux

The only bastion left is anticheat. Everything else are just (bad) old habits fueled by marketing.

To anyone reading this thinking "once SteamOS comes out, I'll switch", you should know:

Gaming on Linux is already here. Pick a distro and game. You can take advantage of Proton right now. You don't need to wait for one specific distro.

I've personally been gaming on Linux exclusively for about 3 years. Windows games, not Linux games.

Edit: based on other commenters' suggestions, I'll give you some.

I have gamed for those three years on PopOS. It is a distro based on Debian, ultimately, which means it's also related to Ubuntu and Mint. Realistically, you can pick any of those 4 and you should have a nice experience.

Arch is popular with the übergeeks, and I do use it on my laptop, BTW, but you shouldn't use it as a first distro.

The concept of "distro" doesn't really exist for Windows, because you pretty much get one monolithic product. But basically, it is a specific mix of software that works together and relies on the Linux kernel. Imagine it as a "version" of Windows with specific goals, some of which are overlapping (e.g. Mint and Ubuntu tend to cater to the same audience).

If you get far enough into it, the freedom that Linux allows means that you can turn any distro into any other distro.

I jumped into Linux, via Mint, about a year ago when I refreshed my hardware. The transition was pretty easy, and I haven't looked back. Steam runs fine and I haven't had a modern game that didn't work under default proton settings except for things I've run outside Steam and mods. Most of my personal PC's workload is gaming and handful of web-based apps that are effectively OS-agnostic; Everything else has an easy equivalent in the apt repos.

I would say that my decision to embrace Linux as my OS was primarily influenced by my Steam Deck. Gaming on it has been simple and the desktop UI was easy to adapt to. I replaced my laptop with the Steam Deck, bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and a USB-C dock with HDMI out (all things I already had for the laptop). I now just hook into whatever TV is handy as a monitor when I need a computer on the go.

I was a tech enthusiast when I was younger, and am thus familiar with fucking around on the command line, but now I'm an old man who just wants his stuff to work and it just has... The barrier of entry for the Linux Desktop is effectively gone. We just need PR now.

Also, I think I'd replace Mint on my primary PC with SteamOS, given a simple way to do so. About a year ago, the desktop/beta SteamOS was not fully baked.

the biggest wall imo is still getting companies with anticheat games on board.

To paraphrase the gay chant from the 90's: 4% is not enough RECRUIT RECRUIT RECRUIT!

When SteamOS releases on all devices people will say "I'll switch when every peice of Windows software is compatible" or some other unreasonable and impossible accomplishment. Even if every peice of Windows software was compatible people would say "ill switch to Linux when it looks and functions identically to Windows".

A Linux distro with a great OOTB experience for gamers would go a long way.

• Steam pre-installed
• trustworthy Flatpak packages for popular gamer apps like Discord (not uploaded by some nameless rando)
  • TeamSpeak for curmudgeons like me and my friends
• desktop environment tailored to Windows users
• auto-install and configure graphics drivers for AMD and Nvidia
• configurable automatic updates and system backup
• choice between Chromium, Firefox, etc. for default browser during setup
• included in Steam Deck compatibility testing

I've been using Linux exclusively for ~14 years now. Heavily gaming on Linux only for the last ~8 years.

It was possible (though sometimes headache inducing) to play most games back then (Wine and soon Proton to thank) the biggest change IMHO came with SteamPlay since it turned the headache into one click on most games (thanks to the amazing work of wine/proton developers and the tinkering of the community).

When the SteamDeck released people seemed surprised at the breadth of games that were running on day one. To me it was not really a surprise since I had been Linux gaming with SteamPlay all the time and was almost expecting games to "just work" (though I still would and still am checking ProtonDB before purchase).

What the SteamDeck changed in my view was

1. Showing "everyone" that Linux Gaming is a thing that's happening and been happening for a while. So maybe check it out?
2. That a Handheld that doesn't have to work around Windows but uses a purpose built OS just makes a lot more sense

I feel that the SteamDeck with SteamOS has really put Linux, especially Linux gaming on the map. Even though I want to be like "Linux Gaming has been a thing forever, I was doing it before it was cool" ;) I have to recognize that fact. In the past years I've seen so many people setting up Linux especially by the way of SteamOS (using HoloISO, Chimera ...) just to play/mess with it which is also why I think an Official SteamOS release will make a huge difference.

Tl;dr: Gaming on Linux was a thing before. But the SteamDeck/SteamOS 3 made a huge impact nonetheless.

I saw a post on bluesky saying Steamdeck can't be widely adopted because of linux. I asked why is that the case? He says "Linux doesn't run as many games as windows ". I said "only a few and the anti cheat ones". He kept arguing. I asked him about nintendo and he goes "It has the games to back it up" and I blocked him lol.

Millions of games are not enough because its FOMO.

I'm hoping to see more software support for Linux from this

I recently switched to fedora and I didn't think it would be difficult, but it was even easier than I expected. Every game I've tried to play has worked perfectly.

This is the fifth person I see misinterpreting what Steve said about doing Linux performance testing, they aren't going to start doing this soon, they will only start doing it WHEN SteamOS is released for desktops! It was very clear on the video FFS

I'm also really fucking excited for that tho, I recently switched to mint and helldivers 2 actually feels smoother than on windows, it has been such a good experience!! I cannot imagine how much better things will get with more people jumping to Linux and thus game makers actually pay attention to us

I've been saying for years: we need a dedicated gaming operating system.

Just in time for Windows 10 to lose support in October 2025 and for me to never switch to Windows 11 because it sucks and I hate it