Feral Interactive one of our new favourite porting houses has asked the big question. Why do we game on Linux?
Linux gamers! Tell us: why do you game on Linux? Please spread this question hither and thither. @GameLinux @ROOTGAMERcom @gamingonlinux
— Feral Interactive (@feralgames) September 3, 2014
Feel free to twitter them, or comment here if you answer isn't a short one. I am sure they are watching.
My reasons
It's an interesting question and one that has been asked a lot by many interesting gamers across the years to the Linux community.
For me it's not about why I game on Linux, but more about why I use Linux which directly translates into gaming on it.
I love customization and having the choice to do lots or do nothing. For me it's not always about source code access (I feel that is important though!), but more about being free to do what I want with it, and never having to pay for system upgrades. I spend enough money on games and hardware without wanting to fork out x amount for the latest operating system.
With Linux I have OpenGL and can get updates for it whenever my chosen graphics vendor pushes out a driver for it, but on Windows at times you have needed to upgrade your entire operating system to get it.
On Linux if I don't like how the entire desktop works I can install another one with a few quick commands, or finding the main package in some package manager. That's an important one to note: I dislike Gnome Shell and Unity a lot, so I use Cinnamon and it works perfectly for my needs. I tried Windows 8 and the new UI was utterly a pain to work with or to find anything on (I gave it a real good go too), and I was stuck with it until I installed Linux on my laptop.
On Linux I have choices, and lots of them. I can tinker with almost anything, and if a game doesn't work you can do simple things to find out why. Running a game in the terminal for example will generally be pretty clear on what you are missing and fix it myself, and I can't say the same for broken games on Windows.
I also find Linux to perform far better at most general day to day tasks, and I come from a Windows 95/98/2000/xp/7 and recently a little of 8 background (yes I've used nearly all Windows operating systems, and a lot to).
There's also the community aspect. The amount of times of looked to find out how to do something, and someone helpful already has the answer and shared it with everyone. Linux users can be very, very helpful.
Right now Linux has also helped me fall in love with games I would never had tried if I was on Windows.
That is all off the top of my head, but that's my honest answer to it.
nsa (or other kinds)backdoors are impossible to maintain. The os is fast, stable and a wide community support. in short i love linux and i love that games are finally coming here!
Toost Inc. Sep 3, 2014
Not that I never used Windows; I can get my work done there, and I could even play more games, but I never felt like I should have to change my habits because they apparently were against some developers' interests.
Also, like liamdawe, I get annoyed I can't change all the silly details whenever I do pay Windows a visit ;)
Now, why is Linux my primary OS is a much more complex question. Mostly it's because it's free software - free as in freedom mostly, but also price. I'm a software engineer by profession, so I don't believe *all* software should be open source and free; writing proprietary software pays my bills (although nowadays it's possible to make a living writing open source) and I'll gladly pay for some software (video games being one example, specialized software like IntelliJ's IDEs another, heck even Microsoft Office but that's kinda borderline because of the shady crap they pull off with their obfuscated file formats). I honestly believe humanity would be better served by the dominant operating system being free software in the long run. Obviously that's a long ways off what with Linux's minuscule desktop market share but I still feel good practising what I preach and getting involved, if only by using it, reporting bugs and talking about it.
Linux also gives me an excellent dev environment, but if it was only about that I'd probably just have a Mac.
Lemme put it more clear.
I game on Linux because Linux is my OS and I think we should all follow healthy trends which helps all marked.
Why did I pick Linux and why IMO it's healthier to everybody it's on my last post :D
Additionally I like to be able to contribute and make changes to the software I use daily.
Qantourisc Sep 3, 2014
Linux was always faster, and the only reason I still had Windows was because of games.
The pain of Windows was even worth the pain of lack of games, and ditched it.
The only reason I still use or run Windows is for work, if a paying customer "forces" me to use Windows.
Disclaimer: this was back when Windows XP was standard, or even earlier, don't recall :)
Windows 7 would have offended me far less.
- Having a limited *NIX environment. OS X made me discover the power of command line combined with a strong OS but didn't offer me the possibility to dig deeper.
- Their shift in target market. I had the feeling that they were no longer targeting users like myself.
- FOSS projects of course. I realised that I used a lot of FOSS software but that there were not enough on this OS.
Then, why gaming on Linux? Because it is my OS of choice. I don't see myself going back to Apple ever, and they proved me right with their increasing closure, limiting users' power over their hardware and software. I also went Microsoft several times and always hated it. That's just the way I feel it.
So yes, I have no technical reasons to explain why Linux more than anything else, it's just that it's the OS that feels the most comfortable to me. It suits my needs. The two other major OS don't.
dual booted for years with windows for gaming and ever since Feral Interactive (XCOM) and Aspyr (Civ5) have started giving us awesome AAA ports I'm 100% Linux now. plus D3 and Hearthstone run great on wine... so I'm good for awhile.
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