this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2025
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Linux Gaming

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Today, I switched the last of my Windows machines to Linux: my gaming PC. I've been using Linux on servers for many years but was a bit apprehensive for gaming.

Turns out it just... works. Just installed steam and turned proton on, have zero performance or other issues. I'm using Ubuntu 25.04 for the 6.14 kernels NT emulation performance tweaks. Aside from there not being a catalyst driver for it and so I can't undervolt my card everything is great.

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[–] Rooty@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

I'm glad gamers are finally escaping Microsoft's grasp. The latest corporate bloatware is simply too ineffective for users that are always looking to squeeze as much oomph out of their machines as possible.

[–] Joelk111@lemmy.world 24 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (5 children)

I moved to Kubuntu recently. I'm overall happier, but I've had a number of pain points.

  1. I bought DaVinci Resolve thinking they supported Linux. They do, just very poorly. Figuring out how to get that up and running was a faff. Davinci Resolve also doesn't support AAC audio on MP4 files on Linux, so I had to write a script to transcode the audio of media to WAV. It also doesn't play nice with window management. Overall, using resolve has been a huge pain.

  2. I use Insta360s software just to stitch 360 video, getting that set up with bottles wasn't the most straightforward but it works now.

  3. I still haven't figured out Fusion360, and I really don't want to spend the time learning a new software. I learned it before I'd started making an effort to only use cross-platform tools.

  4. I bought the Xbox Store version of Forza Horizon 5 so I could play it on my PC and Xbox. I no longer have the Xbox, and I'd have to re-buy it on Steam if I wanted to play it.

  5. My Index just isn't detected on Ubuntu. It was on Windows. I've tried a bunch of things, but it just doesn't show up, so I haven't been able to play VR. It might have a bad cable, but I'm not sure. Weird that it showed up before and doesn't in Kubuntu.

Linux is all about finding alternatives. There is an alternate workflow, but you might have to deal with inconveniences or put in effort to learn something new. It's been a lot of work. Also, I might need to dual boot windows to play VR stuff.

[–] vividspecter@aussie.zone 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Have a look at the Linux VR Adventures Wiki for possible VR solutions.

EDIT: And this compatibility site akin to ProtonDB I just found out about.

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Fusion isn't going to function fully. I think the cloud integration pipeline messes with it. You're better off with OnShape.

FreeCAD is fine with addons but it's just not streamlined in my experience.

If it weren't for CAD I'd have a linux workstation.

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[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 6 days ago (4 children)

Just in case you didn't know, odd numbered Ubuntu versions (in your case 25) are considered short term releases and won't be maintained beyond a year or two.

Unless you really need that version, you'll want to install 26 when it comes out next April (upgrade should be very seamless).

Even numbered versions are supported long term, often for several years.

[–] truthfultemporarily@feddit.org 16 points 6 days ago (2 children)
[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 19 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

You made the right call, for your situation.

They're just letting you know that you will want to apply each annual upgrade when they come out, to ensure your system stays secure.

This may contrast with any Ubuntu-running friends you may have, who may not be applying updates annually.

Once you've upgraded to ~~28 (in ~ 2028)~~ 26.04, you can safely skip the next four years of upgrades, if you feel like it, because ~~28~~ it will ~~(probably)~~ be the next Long Term Support (LTS) release.

[–] foo@feddit.uk 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

LTS for Ubuntu are every two years; April of the even years. Next LTS will be 26.04, then 28.04 etc.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Sweet. That's more often than I realized. Thank you.

[–] someacnt@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago

TIL that Ubuntu release denotes the year and month. I thought it was just quirky versioning..

[–] yoevli@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Assuming you're playing games through Proton rather than vanilla Wine, kernels before 6.14 already have fsync which is used by Proton and effectively does the same thing as ntsync.

[–] truthfultemporarily@feddit.org 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Good info, but I guess I just upgrade my way to 2604

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[–] CodeBlooded@programming.dev 6 points 5 days ago (5 children)

What games are you playing and what hardware are you running?

Linux has come a long way regarding the ability to easily play games made to run on Windows. It’s never been so easy and well performing. However, in my experience, it’s not quite “just works” yet. Yes, some Windows games will “just work,” but for now that’s still the exception to the rule in my experience.

I use Arch btw, with a i9-9900 and an Nvidia RTX 2070. I still have to tweak settings, research what others are tweaking, I have a few hours of research and tinkering invested into stopping up close jitters in VR(still unresolved), my graphic settings have to be lower than normal for decent performance and I do not enjoy the same frames I’ve enjoyed on Windows with this same machine.

I could probably get some better performance squeezed out of these games, but it’s going to cost me time and tinkering.

tl;dr I don’t think we’re in “just works” territory yet, but we’re getting closer and the progress over the recent years has been amazing. I can’t wait to be rid of Windows forever.

[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 3 points 5 days ago

I don’t think we’re in “just works” territory yet, but we’re getting closer

Based on the types of things you're talking about, Windows and macOS are also not "just works." I have to do stuff like that periodically for a lot of games regardless of OS.

If your primary reason for using Linux is to play all the newest games, don't use Linux. You cannot expect open source to compete with a game software monopoly. They intentionally have it this way. That being said, you can use Proton and Wine to play most games, but again, if you absolutely must play the newest releases and that's your reason for going Linux, don't main Linux.

For a few years what I did was just dual boot Mint with Win 10. I did most things on Linux as I tried to learn it, but would boot back to Win for certain work reasons or to play the newest game. Now that I don't care about new games so much, I erased my dual boot partition and am 100% Linux. I play many games on Steam, which is made on Linux, and I'm just fine.

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[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 17 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Holy hell, the Ubuntu ISO is 6.3GB now. Soon it may not even fit onto a DL DVD.

[–] zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 24 points 6 days ago (1 children)

We've moved on to usb sticks

[–] daggermoon@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

You've moved on to usb sticks

[–] y0kai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 6 days ago (3 children)
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[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (13 children)

Who on earth still burns disks (other than pizzas) in 2025?

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[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 10 points 6 days ago (3 children)

How many floppies is that?

[–] don@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 days ago

One, at least.

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It pleases me to read these things. I worked for M$ and coupled with more intense reasons I left Win/OSX about 10 years ago, and have never looked back. Carry the flame.

[–] eronth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yeah if you have your games on Steam it seems to (mostly) just work. Other services get a bit more janky. Xbox App is, sadly, impossible as far as I can tell.

[–] Randelung@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I mean, Xbox is MS. I wouldn't expect them to help dig their own grave.

[–] eronth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago

Yeah, I'm not surprised by it, but it's still a bummer/roadblock.

[–] Jayb151@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago (1 children)

My only hangup is installing repacks or modding games. It for sure works, but it's a bigger headache. I use mint on my daily driver laptop otherwise.

[–] seralth@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Iv always just run the modding software in the same wine/proton instance as the game and it just works like on windows.

Other then wabbajack for Bethesda games because the devs behind that are fucking asshats who break their shit on purpose if you try to use it outside how they want you to use it.

It's always been very easy to mod.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 days ago

I had the exact same experience: been doing Linux since the 90s, both for fun and professionaly - the latter mainly in pure server configurations - finaly got around to moving my home PC (which is mainly for gaming) to Linux (using Pop!OS, since I have a Nvidia graphics card and it just supports it out of the box) and it just worked.

Only problem I have with it is that on startup of X I usually get a blank screen and have to switch my monitor OFF and back ON again.

Oh, and startup times are a fraction of Windows startup times (my Windows 10 work machine literally takes longer to wake up from hybernation than my home Linux PC takes to cold boot, and they have equivalent SSDs.

I think I got more hassle with Windows than I do with Linux.

[–] Vraylle@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 5 days ago

I switched to Mint in January and it's been great. Most games just work straight out of Steam. I have Skyrim modded to an insane level and it can be a little finicky but works.

What really cemented it for me was when I wanted to run an old 32-bit weather software package. I decided to try adding it to Steam, and it...just worked. Like native.

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