• yeehaw
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        3110 days ago

        The funny thing is there are lots of things that are designed better on Linux vs Windows/macos too.

        My memory is fading on some of them since I primarily use Windows for work and a steam deck for gaming now, but keyboard shortcuts was definitely one of them. Easier to get shit done automation-wise from simple scripts. CMD is so basic and PowerShell feels like my fingers are exhausted from doing a simple thing, and like you always need to write a paragraph to get a simple thing done.

        • @[email protected]
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          910 days ago

          Yeah, command lines just feel native on Linux, where in Windows it feels like it’s running off behind the scenes to fetch a grown up.

        • @[email protected]
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          1510 days ago

          Afaik from my limited interaction with bash: At least you have proper datatypes.
          Isnt bash essentially treating everything like a string and it’s up to you to resolve that?

    • FarraigePlaisteaċ
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      9710 days ago

      I consider myself a trans ally, but I’m struggling to keep up with the latest pronouns. Congrats!

  • Karyoplasma
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    20410 days ago

    Proton is a big deal for the change. Think back 5 years ago and switching to Linux was much less approachable because you needed to be an enthusiast to get your games running. Nowadays, you just click download on the Linux Steam client and >90% of the time, it’ll just work.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      1010 days ago

      I think it’s less Proton, more Vulkan/DXVK. Proton is just wrapping these amazing things. Before DXVK, games in Linux used to suck big time.

    • @[email protected]
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      8310 days ago

      I have been on Linux for over 15 years and even I don’t want to go back to the old days of manually installing Wine and having to create different prefixes to get different games to launch without sound. or some missing textures.

      • @[email protected]
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        2010 days ago

        not manually, yeah, but bottles and such are still really useful. it shows how much good GUI tools help with usability for everyone

        • @[email protected]
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          2110 days ago

          Not just UI, but simplicity of operation. The closer to “it just works” a system/program is, the more palatable it is to adopt.

      • @[email protected]
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        210 days ago

        I, on the contrary, prefer it when everyone uses mainstream Wine with winetricks and prefixes so if something doesn’t work, you can at least fix it using someone’s advice posted on winehq. With Proton it seems that everyone expects stuff to either just work or doesn’t bother. The Proton advice is usually as valuable as Windows problems advice.

          • @[email protected]
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            110 days ago

            Like I said, similar quality to googling for Windows problems. Reports on WineHQ are sorted by Wine version, OS version, usually involve specific actions taken.

            • @[email protected]
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              510 days ago

              That’s exactly how protondb works. And you also get hardware and distro information.

              You can search and filter reports by all of the aforementioned criteria for any game that’s listed.

              • @[email protected]
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                110 days ago

                OK, it just has utterly degenerate webpage design. I thought those were voluntary additions by users telling what they use, not common format. Inconvenient.

                • caseyweederman
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                  410 days ago

                  It’s okay, we don’t actually care that you were wrong about something.

        • Lka1988
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          310 days ago

          Proton is just Wine under the hood. I even use winetricks with it ¯_(ツ)_/¯

          • @[email protected]
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            110 days ago

            Yes, I do that too, except different things work and don’t. And making tweaks for Proton in Steam seems more bother.

      • @[email protected]
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        59 days ago

        Hear, hear!

        There is nothing wrong, and in fact there is something good, with FOSS being polished and user friendly out of the box.

        Historically that has not been a priority, because FOSS has been by the computer nerds, for the computer nerds. But if that priority shifts to being a bit more “by the computer nerds, for the normies” then that is a good thing as long as the developers don’t prevent the power users from accessing any part of the system they want. Fortunately that completely against the point of the FOSS world.

        I first learned Unix in the 90s, I use my Linux desktop more than my phone, I’m an engineer on embedded systems digging through C and C++ code all day, I have terminals open all day, and… I have Linux Mint Cinnamon installed on all my machines and love it. Change My Mind, lol.

      • @[email protected]
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        610 days ago

        I ended up wading into the world of WINE prefixes when I tried to mod some older games. I got it working in the end, but it sure made me grateful for how easy I have it with Proton

    • @[email protected]
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      1110 days ago

      Honestly, 5 years ago Proton was already in pretty good shape. 2018 is when I switched to Linux, and already had very little trouble gaming.

    • @[email protected]
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      1110 days ago

      Gaming on Mac was also more or less the same when it came to running windows games, had to use wine

      And I’m sorry y’all I know wine is awesome but using it manually is a pain in the ass and I hated it and I consider myself more of an enthusiast

      • FarraigePlaisteaċ
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        510 days ago

        Crossover isn’t cheap, but it can save so much time compared to WINE that I think it does pay for itself.

        • @[email protected]
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          310 days ago

          I haven’t used Mac in years, I wonder if Wine is now a much better experience as well compared to what it used to be.

          • FarraigePlaisteaċ
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            210 days ago

            It is. But in some cases there’ll be a game or something that has requirements that are hard to wrestle with. For me it was a video game that needed specific libraries to run (possibly directX or whatever is current these days). After hours of attempts I downloaded Crossover and it worked instantly.

            Desktop applications like the Office suites typically ran well for me in WINE. although my experience with those is dated by now.

            I’m speaking from a macOS perspective but I’ve used WINE on Linux too.

    • @[email protected]
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      3710 days ago

      100% this. I’ve been on Linux for 27 years now (ffs I’m getting old), and until proton, I just wrote off gaming as a hit or miss experience, usually not worth the trouble. Now I’ll buy Windows only games without even checking compatibility in most cases. Unless it’s a full price AAA game, I’ll risk the off chance that it doesn’t work.

      • caseyweederman
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        210 days ago

        Clair Obscur worked out of the box and it took a while for me to realize that I didn’t even check before buying.

    • @[email protected]
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      710 days ago

      If we can get close to that kind of support for productivity software, I think Linux usage would explode. One of the problems with business adoption is that specialized software almost always skips Linux. The Affinity suite, for example. I’m hoping we see some snowballing now that Linux is growing so quickly, but getting Wine/Proton working with more non-game software would also be an enormous win.

    • @[email protected]
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      410 days ago

      Absolutely. Linux in general has become very approachable. I recently came back to Linux after 15 years away and I have been very impressed with how well everything just works. I’ve only experienced very minor issues with peripherals that were solved with a simple Google search or update.

    • @[email protected]
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      610 days ago

      now is a good time to switch. Im so glad im off windows and their bullshit. a lot of games just work, including many online games, which is super cool. often there’s no difference between launching a game on Linux vs windows.

  • @[email protected]
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    10 days ago

    At some point companies will be forced to accept that they’re losing out on revenue by not releasing a linux version of their software.

    • @[email protected]
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      1510 days ago

      And the Windows version through Wine will still run better than the native… As is tradition.

    • anachrohack
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      310 days ago

      Companies don’t make native software anymore - most things are websites now

      • @[email protected]
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        10 days ago

        Adobe creative suite, most cad software, games (work with Proton already so little need for this), etc.

  • @[email protected]
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    1010 days ago

    That still seems high to me but actually checking the StatCounter website… it has more or less been steady at 5-ish% for three years?

  • @[email protected]
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    3310 days ago

    I made the switch recently for probably the strangest reason.

    I’ve been running win 11 for over a year using a shell tool that allowed me to move my task bar to the top of the screen and some other win 10 functionality.

    However win 11 removed the ability to move the task bar and my shell program lost most of its functionality. After that I was done.

    I’ve Linux off and on since 2002ish so it’s not scary to me and I’m pretty happy with Arch and KDE right now. Still the occasional crash that appears to happen sometimes when watching YouTube.

    • dil
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      39 days ago

      idk how you stayed on windows so long, had I tried linux sooner I wouldve dumped it faster, no software support or piracy for said software if it does have support is rough tho like houdinifx is hard to pirate if not impossible, davinci is easy tho, adobe has no support (no idea if it works well with wine pirated)

      • @[email protected]
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        19 days ago

        yo compiz is the shit. You can do ANYTHING with it. It took me a while to figure out because where the hell is the manual, but I have my own custom thing going on and it’s brilliant.

    • @[email protected]
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      49 days ago

      If anyone is stuck on windows and not able to switch there’s a program called wind hawk that will let you download customizations in windows 11 including moving the bar

  • @[email protected]
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    10 days ago

    Great, but I don’t think that graph is showing any particular spike, just a nice and gentle upward trend in share. The article also overlooks that there is a certain element of Windows and MacOS computers being replaced by tablets and phones, while Linux is already an enthusiast choice on the desktop, meaning it will be insulated somewhat and gain market share through attrition.

    On the plus side, Steam and Proton and maturing DEs/distros and enshittification of Windows certainly make Linux a much more viable “normie” option than it’s ever been. We’re a far cry from the CD-ROM of Red Hat that came with my “Intro to Linux” book in 1999 but couldn’t use my Winmodem or printer and really preferred to run XWindows in grayscale.

  • Jesus
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    1510 days ago

    Why are is that stat counter splitting Macs into OS X and macOS

    It’s the same OS.

    • Frezik
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      1310 days ago

      It’s worth noting that some data reporting issues mean OS X and macOS are sometimes split, even though macOS is the newer branding for OS X. When combined, Apple’s desktop presence is around 24%

    • @[email protected]
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      710 days ago

      I’m a Mac user and everyone in my family is too (I use a Linux desktop for work), but I have a hard time believing MacOS has a 25% market share.

  • Mark
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    149 days ago

    I put Ubuntu on my year old Windows laptop and to my surprise, everything is just better. I mean better than Windows AND better than Linux ever was before when I used it previously. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing some major manufacturers shipping PCs with Ubuntu pre-loaded in the coming years.

  • @[email protected]
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    7910 days ago

    inb4 Linux users sweepingly get declared as criminals for some flimsy reason. There was some news of Facebook filtering out Linux content because it seemed harmful to them.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 days ago

      With the current political climate, my bf worries about exactly this. (Linux users being viewed as criminals, I mean.)

    • @[email protected]
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      2110 days ago

      I’m less worried about any specific targeting of Linux than I am about some random tech bro whispering in Trump’s ear and suddenly he bans Open Source or something similarly unenforceable and insane.

      • @[email protected]
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        1210 days ago

        Banning open source would basically destroy the entire Internet in the United States. No tech bro is going to want that.

        • @[email protected]
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          1110 days ago

          Business tech Bros would absolutely love to force all open source closed, all long as it’s now their property.

          • @[email protected]
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            210 days ago

            The software tech bro thing started with a letter from Bill Gates to the hobbyists that despite learning to program on freely available software, and copying a freely available language with his new version of Basic, everyone needs to stop sharing and pay to use software. They all have wet dreams of pulling out the ladder and owning everything. I wouldn’t put it past them to try to nullify copyleft or something like that.

        • @[email protected]
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          910 days ago

          I know that and you know that, but have you seen the sort of thing Trump and those who have his ear think is a good idea?

          I don’t think they’d just ban using all open source software, it’d be something ridiculous like asserting that all FOSS licenses are null and void and those projects are now the intellectual property of the US. Likely propped up by the classic “security” justification.

    • @[email protected]
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      10 days ago

      Reminds me of the thing in Spain where the cops just immediately suspect anyone of drug trafficking for using pixel devices because thats what grapheneos runs on.

    • @[email protected]
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      310 days ago

      My understanding of that was Facebook just gave up on human moderation and let an AI do whatever it wanted. Still unacceptable but totally foreseeable.

  • @[email protected]
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    1310 days ago

    I mean good for the desktop experience on Linux, its taken the movement of most desktop apps to the web to make OS choice basically immaterial. I’ll still nitpick some things in linux that are still worse than Windows (i’ve replaced my htpc with a cheapo N100 and its better in most ways, worse in a few smaller things), but the most important thing is that the things I mostly use a desktop for (namely media consumption, browsing, some game streaming, and docker containers) its more or less the same as using windows or macos.

    • masterofn001
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      1710 days ago

      Windows

      (╯°□°)╯︵┻━┻

      Linux

      ¯\(ツ)/¯┬─┬