If you do these 5 things... You should NOT use Linux 

"Linux community over promises and under delivers." Sometimes I think people using Linux are so used to finding workarounds or accepting less convenient alternatives that they forget it's a skill one needs to develop.

0:36 Gaming 4:38 Microsoft Office 5:31 Photoshop 7:15 Ecosystem of Linux 9:39 Hardware compatibility

Now what about a video like "5 things you should use Linux for!"

Music production is another area where I think Linux is still behind Windows. Not necessarily because of DAW software - Reaper runs fine on Linux for example, but plugins, virtual instruments and the like are often windows and mac only.

As a hardcore linux user. You are on point. It is what it is. And we should work forward to make it better hopefully.

I've used Linux exclusively since 2010 as a fulltime freelance illustrator, and honestly I'm not sure anyone could pay me to switch back to proprietary systems. My loadout: Krita for illustration (the multibrush engine absolutely crushes any commercial app I've tried, which is most of them), GIMP for batch photo processing, Inkscape for posters and covers (vector layout over raster art), Synfig Studio for vector animation, kdenlive for video compositing, Audacity and Ardour for audio editing, and Scribus for book layout and printing. I live a comfortable life with this array and every program listed has made me significant chunks of money.

When I retired from the IT industry I still had friends/relatives who expected me to provide support for their PC issues. Fortunately, most don’t do much beyond web browsing and lightweight word processing/graphics. I managed to transition almost all of them to Cinnamon Mint and have consequently reduced their demands on my time to almost zero! I spent more than a year doing everything possible using Mint and only running what was only possible in Windows in a VM. As you say Chris, over-promising and under-delivering is the big downside to Linux, but then that’s been the norm in the computer industry since the very beginning! Heartfelt thanks for your W10 debloat script BTW. Your blood’s worth bottling as we say here in the Land of Under.

I run ALL my games on Linux, and there are many of them. And something in me really, like really wants to dislike this video, regardless of the counter, because... Well, it works. But I can't. Because what Chris is saying is true: SOME games are not so simple to get going. It's not a showstopper by any means, but you need to keep in mind that tinkering WILL be REQUIRED at least at some point and with SOME games. And if you don't LIKE doing that, you might get annoyed and rage-quit... Well... The whole OS. And when you do like doing that and just getting a game working is a game in itself for you, it's quite easy to forget that many people are simply not like that. Giant kudos for Valve for making this easier on the less tech-inclined user.

After using Linux every day since Mandrake 5. I would, and have given many people the exact same advice. Also, I have never been on any Linux machine/distro for more than half an hour without opening a terminal. What you say is just reality. To be honest I've never met any one of my windows or mac computer using friends that I would even think of suggesting they use Linux. I'm not a gamer, but have some friends who game exclusively on Linux, but they are people who are extremely proficient in managing Linux - well beyond the abilities of ninety percent of desktop linux users.

Simply if you switch to Linux, you already acquired the "Tinkerer" badge, not using the Terminal is just refusing to level up your experience. I love how honest this video is, i hate FOSS advocates who just shove GIMP down anyone saying PS throats, it is not always an option, Use whatever gives you the most value for your life, I personally use Linux because i like control, i like tinkering around and i like how fast and lightweight i can make it

totally agree. What I tell everyone is if a Chromebook handles all your computing needs then you can probably put mint or ubuntu on a thrift store pc and do your deal. If you need to use specific software or hardware for a workflow your better off getting a $15.00 OEM key and go winblows. I have likes and dislikes for every platform. I played WOW for a year on mint and the game ran fine but it was a knife fight in a closet every time my addons were updated. my game rig is windows (and you help me keep it debloated), I have a raspberry pi with your OS to run discord and light browsing next to my game rig. another raspberry pi with open media vault for NAS, my wife has a windows rig for her work, and my old bulldozer rig is our pop os w/ cinnamon desktop test machine for trying new things or just browsing the internet. We actually use a bit of everything. I have repurposed old PCs for friends and family and put mint on them and they still use the machine because all they do is browse the web and email. There are many makes and models of vehicle and its the same with consumer tech. Remember the price point for each and make your choice from there.

I appreciate your honesty. A lot of Linux people would try to convince you that the alternatives are just as good or better, but the reality is, in most cases, their simply not, for your average person.

I just switched fulltime to Manjaro-KDE from dualbooting Linux Mint and Windows for over a month. I briefly switched to Linux last year but I had some scientific applications that could not run and I was a noob so I rage quit after a few attempts. Now, I have configured a virtualbox with all the software I need. As none of them are cpu/gpu-intensive, they run smoothly on the VM. I love the feel of using Linux and learning to use to terminal really gave a lot of confidence towards this switch. Now, I can proudly say I am no longer a noob and I like where I am. And spending the extra five-twenty minutes where I get stuck, I just fall in love with the learning process.

Thank you for this, it honestly makes my experiences with using linux feel credible. Everytime I interact with people who are more "hardcore" users I mention I have hardware work on linux and what they say is buy new stuff. I do love linux but I can't fully switch like people say to do.

avoid Linux if you want to do these things: 1. gaming 2. use microsoft office 3. use photoshop 4. hate terminal 5. using windows only hardware

I think you've forgotten how most people use their computers. People who want to use Chrome OS have no reason to need to learn how to use a terminal. Most people don't want a laptop or desktop, but they use it for their work. They might have some benefit that would come from a terminal, but it might not be worth it for them to put in the energy to learn it.

I fully agree on everything you say here. One thing I'd like to add is the lack of backwards compatibility. Linux evolves so quickly that it's pretty common for old applications to just break randomly unless they're actively maintained. That is a huge problem for some people, particularly corporate IT. Welcome to my life. This is a big reason why many software companies do not publish Linux versions of their apps. They know all too well that if they do, they're signing up for a lifetime of product maintenance across multiple distros, and that'll just cost too much money for little to no gain. Besides that, pretty much nobody (in the corporate world) is asking for it either. I've been in big tech since the early 90s, and today pretty much everyone runs Linux (or BSD) on servers, and pretty much noone on desktops/laptops.

I use Linux all the time on my pc and laptops. I use Windows at work. I am just a casual (not hardcore) gamer, but I enjoy gaming on Linux using dosbox , DeSmuME, and Steam. I use the free Libre Office for all my home office use and it is great! I stopped using Windows when Windows 7 security support ended and learned Windows 10 had no privacy at all and was sending almost all user data to Microsoft. Linux Mint is my distro of choice and I don't miss most of my old Windows apps (FastStone image viewer being one of a few exceptions). I have found alternatives for my Windows apps in almost every category (and all my Linux apps are free. I have spent exactly $0.00 on Linux apps). Having said all that, do what works well for you in your particular situation, whether using Linux, Windows, Apple (or a combination).

Ask yourself: Why Linux? If the asnwer is something along with: "Because I'm told to" or "Because the other cool kids are" Then you're in for a bad time. Don't. Just... don't. Spare yourself the embarrassment and time. Stay on windows. There is where you're doing well. You do *not* want to use Linux in any way, shape or form. Stay away! If the answer is: "Because it has " or "I want to learn" Then.. Welcome! Head over to the community channels and say hi. We'll help you along.

Console gamers, hearing "Windows just works when it comes to games"! It's one of the things that's made me laugh with the hubbub from LTT series. Windows folks talking about how Windows "just works", having spent decades having that back and forth with Console gamers about why PC's worth the extra agro over consoles.

Ive given Zorin OS to long-term Mac/Windows user in my family. No terminal needed. Theyve had no issues

Chris: "If you're a gamer, don't use Linux." Valve releasing the Steam Deck: "I missed the part where that's my problem."

FOR MY NEEDS (disclaimer) Gaming in Linux is really nice through steam with mostly no tinkering. There are only a handful of games that I play that the developers haven't updated the anti-cheat for yet. I keep a small Windows partition for those two games. AAA titles with updated anti-cheat (compatible with Steam Proton / WINE) work wonders. Just click install and play :)

Really commend you for the truth spoken in this video. I like Linux because it feels so lightweight and it's a nice break from seeing the same boring desktop of Windows. But the Linux community is what I can't stand. They keep telling me I'm wrong and that I haven't installed the right drivers on my Linux or whatever BS excuse they can think of. It's good to see there are a few Linux lovers who tell you like it is. I WANT Linux to succeed, maybe in 5 years we get gaming to be fully compatible with Linux at least with the upcoming games because of SteamDeck? But as of now, it's not worth daily driving Linux being a serious gamer.

I enjoy Linux for geeky and nerdy reasons, but these days I most use my computer to get my work done (which is web dev and graphic design). I used to use Linux as a daily driver back in the day, and while it made me fall in love with the Unix way of doing things and the terminal, I felt like I spent a non significant time tinkering with my OS or figuring out problems. Back then it was fine, but now a days I don't want to waste time wrestling with my OS. I still enjoy the Unix way, so I use a Mac as my daily driver and have been super happy for years. To me it really comes down to preference and your daily workflow and needs. Different OS'es fit for different people, and that's a good thing :)

I am waiting for your reaction on linus linux challange 2

this is a timely video considering the second episode of Linus's linux series. I think it is important for people to talk about these things and become educated on all the pros and cons no matter what platform you choose to use.

If you produce music of any kind. Good luck to you on Linux. Things have definitely improved, especially within the last decade, but Linux is still domain of people who just use a web browser, programmers and systems engineers.

Nice video and great points. The lack of perspective from other linux youtubers is honestly so astounding it's sad.

I really appreciate your videos of this nature. Like you say, a lot of people oversell Linux. For me, that's a real turn-off because I've had enough experience with Linux to know that it's not the silver bullet that some advocates make it out to be. For a large class of users, I think you can really make do with Linux, Windows, or Mac. Although if you're really into Gaming, Windows is likely going to have substantial advantages. And in other areas, Linux and Mac have substantial advantages too. I have an older machine that has always been challenged by Windows 10 and even though I'm going to try giving it a SSD I suspect I'm probably going to try a Linux distro on it because that's one of the areas in which you might do better with Linux. And fortunately, my Epson printer does work with Kubuntu, which is likely going to be my distro of choice... although I don't recall if I got any of the scanning functions working! It's just nice with your videos to get away from these extreme Linux advocates that act like it's Linux do, or die! Frankly, for a lot of users going to the trouble of learning a whole new operating system just isn't going to be worth it. If you already have years of experience in Windows, Mac, or Linux, for many users it's just not worth the trouble. If you're techier, maybe, but for many users, no way. It's like, so if it's a Toyota, Ford, or Nissan... they don't care. If they push on the gas pedal, stir the steering wheel, and the car gets them from point A to point B that's all they really care about. Familiarity with the interface makes a bigger difference than anything else. All the experience built up over years in how to get whatever you need to get done does count for quite a bit.

I've been messing around in Manjaro for a couple months now, and trying to get any game working has been a nightmare. My pc is all AMD, which is apparently supposed to be better for Linux? It took me over a week of troubleshooting to get Doom Eternal working. After all that messing around I was keen to start killing demons on Manjaro. I normally play with controller, so not it was time to set up my Xbox controller. Most of the info online is "it just works" but I'm very quickly discovering that phrase being used in the context of Linux is an oxymoron. I installed xpadneo, and paired my controller. So far so good. The controller was detected in the system, I was able to test it using the gamepad settings app in Manjaro. It also worked great in Steam Big Picture mode, so I confidently booted up the game, ready to play Doom Eternal on Linux for the first time... and... No controller responsiveness. Nothing. I managed to get the game to show Xbox buttons at one point, but it just didn't see the controller. Another day of troubleshooting. It turns out that enabling just the Xbox controller in Steam wasn't good enough. I also had to enable the generic ganepad. Why would I have to do this for an official Xbox One controller? No idea. From what I could find online this is supposed to fix compatibility with 360 controllers. Very counter intuitive in my opinion, and Valve should just roll the generic support into the Xbox support. Or enable it by default as "required" when Xbox is enabled, like some of the other options are. Why would I think to enable the generic option when Xbox is an option? So now my game works, my controller works. It was finally time. I got in game, started to play Horde mode and... Performance was good but inferior to my Windows install. So after all that time and effort, the promise of a gaming experience as good as Windows was a lie. I'm sure there are more tweaks I can make... But why bother at this point? Now that Doom Eternal works, that's only the second game in my large steam library I can confirm works. And none of the Linux based tutorials helped me get it working. You know what did? A tutorial for Windows that told me to install the VC libraries (an exe file for Windows) I installed it with Wine and the game started working.

If you can get away with the web app version, the "real" Microsoft Office can be used quite nicely on Linux (or anything with a web browser). Sure, doesn't have all the features, but if you occasionally want to use the real thing, and don't need the full desktop app, it's a nice option to have.

Even if you need to use Microsoft Office, you can easily setup a VM with VirtualBox or even Gnome Boxes to use that on a virtual Windows in there. Why? Simply because of the privacy issues you can sandbox that way. Overall you have more control, moving files between host system and a VM got quite convenient over the years. So it doesn't require much tinkering at all (probably nearly zero with Virtualbox... or at least everyone can do it). This is probably much better than dual-booting and you can even backup/snapshot your Windows to be safer of ransomware attacks. The only reason this is less attractive when you are gaming instead of dual-booting is that you would need a secondary GPU to pass-through. Otherwise the performance penalty is too high. But for document editing and such... VMs are totally fine.

Another issues I have seen in forums is the attitude of "It's good enough". That simply does not apply to your average gamer/streamer. In that scenario, you want to provide the best possible experience to your viewers. Sadly, that often requires very high (or at least higher) end hardware to achieve. It is not about what you would tolerate but what your viewers will.

I'm honestly glad you made this video. I recently watched your older "Gaming On Linux Is Better Than Windows" video, and that video left a bad taste in my mouth because it's just not true, and I felt like you were (unintentionally, perhaps) lying to your audience.

I've made the switch to linux recently (i love it even with the headaches) and my troubles come from setting up a retro speedrun setup, its been fun i almost have it going! Unfortunately I havent found a way to run retrospy controller input display. So console game streamers might be able to make the switch if your capture card is supported in linux. I really think its worth to switch to linux if you dont have any big issues like gaming or proprietary software

One of my thoughts is that with KVM being fairly robust now I would like to see something like Proxmox or Unraid but that's even more focused on an easy set up for consumer hardware so everyone can just use GUI and easily install things like GPU passthrough or gpu paravirtualization without being a very daunting task: the heavy lifting is already done so it's just making sure things like Proxmox improve even more to support these kinds of set up so it's basically a Linux machine but that virtualizes a Windows desktop: It would be transparent for most people but if it's done right and is convenient enough it would be like an even more powerful version of dual booting if you could just boot your Linux box to a very simple GUI that lets you pick "Ok Windows here, Linux here, Macos here" and that was it. That would help a lot more people get a lot more comfortable with transitioning into Linux full time and it's not as implausible as one might think.

**_Angry Linux Enthusiast Noises_**

There are so many older games from the Windows XP era, that I can't get to run on Win 10. No matter what compatibility mode I use, patches or even GOG version. (Gothic 1 and 2 for example). I even downloaded Windows XP and installed it via VMWare. The amount of Win XP service packs required was a headache plus some games are not compatible with WinXP Service Pack 3, and/or require specific patches that take forever to find. It's hours and hours of work to get a single game running. Though I did manage to start some games, most still glitched and had poor performance due to VMWare. The only way I could get my older games to run with good performance and no glitches, was on Linux via Crossover. All the games I tested that did not work on Win10, worked out of the box on Linux via Crossover. No fiddling around in config files, it just worked.

I jumped the Microsoft ship 4 to 5 months ago, first tried Mint for a couple of weeks but ended up daily driving Manjaro Gnome. Haven't looked back since. It does what I need it to do, including gaming and it has treated me well. Can't say I miss anything Windows used to offer. Maybe it's not for everyone but it's definitely for me.

The Problem with the terminal is that it is blisteringly fast. BUT ONLY if you know all the commands, package names and other stuff by heart. If you're new, haven't used command lines isnce DOS days, sitting there and have to look up AND understand every single thing you type in the terminal is a heartbreakingly awful experience. And an infuriatingly slow one too. It takes months to get used to and you better have A LOT of free time and a good memory. And there is no other way to learn it than memorizing it like a bloody poem with ten thousand verses.

Great video, I've been doing my own Linux challenge and I like to play games. Its not been smooth sailing in that respect. You really hit the nail on the head on reasons why Linux may not be a good fit. I really want Linux to work, but its not a good fit. I'm a big believer of getting the right tool for the job.

you can add DJ/music producer to that list because all the biggest names in the industry (Pioneer DJ, Native Instruments, Akai Professional, Ableton, Steinberg) collective give a whole zero eff about Linux support

The thing about docks really surprised me too. I use a docking station with my laptop and I fully expected it not to work with Linux, but it just does. I had to update the kernel to get video working properly, but I think that was more of a Ryzen 5000 thing and older kernels not being fully supported. Upgraded to 5.13 and all works great.

Very nice. This is like the best warning to anyone trying to daily drive linux. Daily driving versus trying it out is like the difference between moving to a place where you don't speak the language versus going on a vacation there. If you have other goals than to just move to that place in that same time frame they may conflict and you may end up moving back because it "just didn't work out." This video definitely helps set the expectations for a new user a bit better. :-)

anyone who works in a corporate or enterprise environment simply can't use linux desktops. Even the dev teams would use a hybrid setup. It's extremely rare to see any organizations that can be pure linux.

Thanks Chris! I’m new to Linux. I would love to jump the “Mac/Adobe ship” for privacy reasons. I need to edit video, I’m thinking of trying Davinci Resovle on Manjaro. Do you have a video showing what hardware is best for building a Linux box?

Y'know, the one lesson that I think none of these 'try linux' videos have adequately communicated is that switching cold turkey to linux is a really bad idea. There will be software packages that you need that's a hassle to get going when you switch. I've always advocated for a more gradual switch for people who are interested. For the first month, just play with linux on a VM and figure out what you can get running without any tinkering. Once you have a solid read on that, dual boot linux+windows and use the linux partition just for productivity/school. Libreoffice works just fine out of the box and is compatible with Word 99% of the time. Things like matlab have linux versions that are well supported. Anything that doesn't work, run on windows. Most of your games will fall under this category. After you're comfortable with the dual boot situation, experiment with porting windows only software one-by-one to linux. Start with a single non-steam game (for example) and experiment with getting it running on lutris. Do this one by one and gradually reduce the number of software packages that you absolutely need windows to run. Eventually, you'll get to the point where you're naturally using linux all the time except for that one game running anti cheat that there's no workaround for. At that point, you can make the call and decide to uninstall windows. Congrats! You've transitioned to linux without having a meltdown on an online forum.

Fair assessment. I‘m using on Windows for my Desktop and Linux on several VMs. Tried Linux several times on the desktop but it just doesn‘t work for me because of games. Even Dual-boot is not an option for me, because it means updating and maintaining 2 os instead of 1.

That's what I said on Linus's daily Linux gaming challenge video. It's impractical. If you primarily run Windows software use Windows. To switch to Linux means to primarily use software native to it. Don't be a Windows user on Linux. Back when I daily drove Linux I was primarily playing games with native ports.

As a hardcore photo and video editor, you also have to look carefully as Windows vs Mac, as the released versions of apps for different os's can lead to a lot more work. Some apps in windows have features that mac does not and vice versa. If there is no dedicated support for an app that is evolving in any os, either skip the app or selectively boot / switch machines. It's easier to make compatible file systems vs work around features like cutting out frizzy hair from a background or merge a 3d fx into 4k and 8k video.

As for using the terminal: just being able to replace a long and thirsty search through loads of GUI menu layers with a simple copy-pasted command is so extremely convenient!

I went over to Mint about 6 months ago I was tired of windows endless updates and total control. I am far from an expert on linux but I have found it really is not that hard to leave Windows most of the products I use regularly I have found linux based programs that are as good and some better than what was out there for Windows. Yes, I still have a Windows computer but I am finding myself using it less and less so I guess I am becoming a Linux convert. You are partly responsible for that so please keep teaching me.

As far as terminal goes I love it. I started creating software in DOS many moons ago. I have to use Windows for work but I still user CMD and Powershell constantly! I'd rather go into cmd than Windows Explorer :) I guess I'm wired like that. I love Linux and have used it since a whole distro would fit on a floppy disk. Command line is nothing to be scared about.

I learned visual design work via Adobe's products like most people. Photoshop/Illustrator specifically. I actually started using GIMP on Windows before I ever moved to Linux, and when I did make the switch Inkscape was a pleasant surprise.

The thing with gaming is that if you expect to use Linux to play all your Windows games, you will likely be disappointed at least part of the time. However, that doesn't mean that Linux is a bad gaming platform. I play almost entirely native Linux games because I have more Linux games than I have time to play as it is. Linux is fine as a gaming platform as long as you are OK with the library that is available, including some Windows games that do just work. It's just like any other gaming platform. You live with the library available or you choose a different platform. There are more than enough Linux games at this point so that it is not worth it to me to boot into Windows just to play games. As to the command line: There are a number of casual computer users who can use Linux without ever going to the command line. I know this because I have given Linux computers to people who used them that way. I find that kids in particular adapt to using Linux fairly quickly, and may start exploring the command line later, but usually just use the computer from the GUI at first. Adults who first use Linux casually only rarely find their way to a command line, but are still able to use Linux computers for basic operations and sometimes install software using a GUI software installer.

I think the last point about hardware/driver support is the biggest hurdle for most newcomers. I've learnt the hard way that to get the best experience on Linux you really ought to pick peripherals and components carefully.

"If you are a hardcore gamer, DON'T USE LINUX.." Wisest words ever heard. Thanks for stepping up and just plain saying it, Chris. When a game works on Linux, I play it on Linux (ie: Dota 2) but if a game is not supported, I don't waste time trying to make it run on Linux and jump back to windows only to play the game and once I'm done, I go back to Linux.

I'm a long time Windows user that is about 1 month into using Linux everyday. I have to agree about using the terminal. I quickly fell in love with it. I've been having an easy-ish time, with the consideration that I jumped straight into Arch (because I wanted to learn). When I was looking into which flavor I wanted to go with, I always seemed to find myself on the Arch Wiki. Definitely agree with knowing what you're getting into before making the jump. on your point of don't use Linux if you're a hardcore gamer....**phew** I'm just a filthy casual!

Hi Chris! At 1:55, how did you change the Brave homepage from the default one?

ON point, Chris. I love the idea and some fun Linux has brought me but at the end of the day, have to switch to my Win boot for games and other software because, well, it just works. Though with Win11 out, no doubt it will be like the Win7 days after Win10 was set. Not many people I know wants Win11 (privacy being the big one.) Until the mega corps get tamed and the Linux community comes back to the real world and improves Linux for the normal/gamer user, the "Big 2" will be the only choice.

Number 1 and 2 was the reason I come back from PopOS! to Windows. I really really need to use Offce 365 and I play a lot of games on Steam, Xbox, Epic, EA Play and Ubisoft (not mentioning PS and Xbox console), and more and more I was using more linux the windows to another daily jobs. Because, I was already on Windows to play or use Office, then I start to think why would I shutdown the WIndows and login no PopOS! (was dual boot) just to use linux, if I already logged in on WIndows and could do the same tasks I usually do.. Other reason was VMWare Workstation I really need to use this software for work, and on Linux it freezes more than my refrigerator (p.s. I have a hell of a machine, so, it wasn't the hardware resources)..... But I don't deny, I miss use Linux and I love Gnome workflow.

What would you say about the state of audio editing/music creation in linux nowadays? I tried that years ago and it was a hassle to get my audio interfaces to work, at best I experienced huge latency which I just couldn't get fixed, sometimes there was no sound at all. Tinkering is fine and all but thats unacceptable in a middle of musical inspiration. Just wondering what's the current situation.

Hi there is I believe between 4- 500 different linux. Few of them like Fedora, Mandrak and the have one Opensuse. Which one are u using it?

Linux gaming also depends on what your idea of gaming is. I play things like Alpha Centauri and Harpoon, very old games that run just fine in Wine. Now if you are gaming online with things like Call of Duty and Diablo, then you are going to have some trouble, because that kind of gaming is essentially a social act, and society by and large is not running Linux, and so is not configured for it. (Ironically, most of the gaming servers probably are running Linux under the hood.) Now again, if you are willing to change your idea of gaming and maybe give some things up, Linux has a large library of very good games like 0 AD and Sauerbraten. Don't be afraid of getting stuck with Tux Racer...believe me, you won't.

Thank you for being candid Chris. Windows is currently the go-to platform for gaming in general. I am waiting for SteamOS 3.0 to see what it can do.

Is it really faster to use the terminal, it seems that you are trading searching through a gui for searching through google? Also if I need to use windows for work or whatever, what would a good example of software that is linux exclusive? Or is it just the extreme customizability that would make someone want to install linux?

i run dual boot linux mint and winblows, I use winblows for gaming only , linux for everything else . I use your deblotor to clean up winblows , any chance you could add an option to optimize winblows just for gaming in your deblotor. so like a gaming only set up . ?

If all Steam users switch to Linux, then the gaming industry would be forced to develop games for Linux or go bust.

I too find myself in terminal so many times, it's just faster if you know what you are doing

Can you please show what CLI commands you're running when you do it in your videos? I agree with your point about the CLI: you have to learn it to use Linux effectively, so might be a help to highlight those commands you're inputting to have others get familiar even if it's only a few times a video. Love your stuff.

With web versions of MS Office and Photoshop/Illustrator now a thing. I think over time this software being a stumbling block to Linux adoption will go away. Gaming support has improved so much over the last 5 years. I honestly believe it will be a better gaming platform than Windows in the next 5-10 years. Yes we have odd bugs and workarounds necessary for many games outside of steam right now. But many older titles that are broken on Windows work perfectly on Linux and many new titles are receiving fixes on the day or within days/weeks of release. This never was the case until recently.

i don't agree that hardcore gaming is multiplayer only a lot of people play singleplayer games

thanks this is awesome video, i used linux for about 3 months [ubuntu>manjaro>arch with archinstall] and i loved and its freaking awesome but im learning 3d designing stuff [blender+substence painter+quickel mixer+unreal engine] part of my workflow can't get done on linux due to that specific software compatibility so i end up in windows 10 ltsc 2019 and it works great. but i still wanna use linux cuz there is something that i feel so damn great when fixing stuff and figuring stuff also i learned a lot of different way to operate pc. hope linux will get more software support and thanks chris you are superb

@9:06 Not necessarily. You don't NEED to use it but those in the know have an advantage over those who don't. @11:05 Yes, if you don't use obscure hardware but pretty common stuff you have little to no problems. @13:47 Legacy harware is the opposite. It is better supported on Linux. :)

How did you get this desktop look on debian? is it easy to install or have you done these things by yourself?

And I'm sitting here playing all my favorites via steam on POP OS, not worrying about any Windows or Mac BS... going... Whatever.bro

I do believe that the recent light that's being shined on Linux is probably going to make things better for the Linux gamer. Distros are going to keep improving and the community is going to keep putting out software and updates. Hopefully.

Anyone else never have problems gaming on Linux? I've had games that don't work on windows work with proton, and every game I play just works. I don't play many triple A games, but I'm actually astonished how easy it is now

The "over promise, under deliver" is a general trait of software developers. When planning any software development you plan time for all the things you can think of, you triple it to allow for all the things you didn't think of and then half way through you realise your gonna have to drop half the planned features to get it out the door a month late.. it's not our fault computers are dumb.... of course I didn't mean to pass a pointer to f**k all.

Do people expect that when they change from MAC to Windows or from Windows to Mac that all of their Hardware ans Software will still work? Why do they think Linux will do that?

At first I was like, "what the hell happened Chris, who hurt you?" but then I saw the end and it's a valid point. I'm thinking about switching, I'm not a hardcore gamer but I do like to tinker with things so having a bit of a rough time trying to install some games is something I consider a learning experience rather than something annoying. If most of my stuff works I'll be happy trying to figure out the rest if that means getting rid of Windows for good :)

As a long time Linux user, I believe you're spot on and that's the reality with Linux to be honest. It's not for everyone and don't mean this the "elitist" way. On the flip side, I've found Linux is a better fit for older people (50+), less versed in tech than your average Windows user. E.g. Linux Mint is much simpler to use for someone who only uses e.g. Chrome to access the web for Facebook/e-shopping etc, Skype/Viber/Messenger to video chat or watch an occasional video. You know, basic PC stuff / usage. I've found that these users can quickly get frustrated with Windows (especially its updates), not to mention when using low powered devices that come bundled with Windows. Linux will be less of a hassle for them and in most cases much faster to use... An idea for a new video perhaps? ;)

That last part is really true, I said the same exact point in other Linux channels who just praise Linux and act up like there's not going to be any problem when NEW USER is moving / trying Linux.

I'm still using linux because for me it was a breeze when i transitioned. I have a AMD GPU and i don't have obscure stuff to break, even the accelerometer in HP elitebook laptop works (too much in debian)

Yup, really wanted to make the switch from Windows, complete control over your own system, no Windows bloat - sounded like a dream. But none of the competitive online games I have played/play work on Linux. Linux gaming is only for casual / single-player gaming, doesn't look like that is changing anytime soon sadly.

On the point with the gaming, the work around for the Linux issue you mention, KVM (qemu) using GPU pass through. I use that for games that just hard don't work on Linux and i have no issues with it. My system i have two NVME drives one dedicated for the KVM instance. then you can use looking glass to play those games on the Linux desktop without having use it as another computer. i suspect you could also use steam to stream these titles too.

I don't know if you could say I switched because I actually have 2 desktops - one Windoze 10 & one Linux Mint. I had intended to keep Windoze around for school & do everything else in Linux, but some of the googling/tweaking I've had to do has really aggravated me on the Linux box. So much so that it sits neglected on one corner of my desk gathering dust.

I switched 2 months ago. Performance wise, Linux is superior. From Opening files to downloading torrent files. Customization is far greater too. I play fighting games. Sf V runs flawlessly, mp included. Tekken 7 runs but the performance is slightly worse so I ditched it. Skullgirls runs flawlessly. Although running steam games is definitely easier I managed to install and run void bastards from the epic store and runs flawlessly too! Besides that I play a lot of gog games and emulators. I set up dual boot however I don't want to go back to win blows..

Finally, the truth about linux. I use it for everything except playing games because I play games that just completely fail on running on linux. Indeed linux is powerful, i build kernels for a device or making a automotive ECU to work with my car. I assure you everyone has to fight the pc when you install linux at some point.

I think you just sold me on Linux. I don't game like I used to, and I'm content being pigeon-holed out of the latest and greatest stuff, especially with kids taking up most of my free time. But I really love tinkering around, and I'm flat out sick of Windows regularly screwing up any modifications I do make (limited as they might be).

What finally made me switch entirely to Linux (Mint Cinnamon) was a laptop that was clogged by Windows 10 and a desktop that suffered a hard drive failure, making me reinstall Windows 7, only to be unable to find the driver that would recognize a 1920 x 1080 monitor. I'd been using LibreOffice and Gimp for years by that point, and Mint is like the best that Windows 7 had to offer without any of the toddler behavior that is the curse of any Microsoft product. If the apps that I use on my iPhone are ever made available on a Linux phone, I'll go entirely Linux from then on.

Hi Chris...I'm afraid you're right unfortunately. Switched to linux late last year . I do love the FOSS but pretty much all my games either don't work, work with problems, crash and break things....I've had enough messin around getting games to run unsuccesfully. Dual boot looks like the only option for me.............been a computer nut long before win3.11 came out so I know a little about computers

Thanks for the honesty. This is what I experienced when I recently switched to Linux from Windows. I'll stick w/ it for now. It works OK, but there are so many things that are glitchy or don't work at all. One example is webcams. I was happy to find out that cheap action-cam type cameras make a pretty decent webcam... at least under Windows they do. Same with some other cheap generic webcams... just plug them in and they work, under Windows. Boot the same PC into Ubuntu and they don't work. Some of them will show up for a few seconds, others won't show up at all. Some of them show themselves when you "ls dev/video*" but they still won't work.

Chris, Linux is beating me up, but i''m learning...thanks to YT.

What window manager is that. Can we have a tutorial on ricing it. If you already made one. Can I have a link?

Dunno if I agree about gaming, I get a mutch smoother gameplay in most games on linux, and they look better then in windows. Ofc some games dont run at all or run bad, but I usually avoid those, take for ex now, pathfinder wrath of the righeous overheats my cpu in windows, but in linux I can run it without it crashing, its almost 5 c lower temp, taking me from 95+ C to 90c at most if I didnt ran linux I would not have been able to play that game. And a time ago, kings bounty game kept crashing constantly when played on windows, in linux no crashes at all.

Even with Windows you might encounter big troubles when gaming :) BTW I've no issue with Battlenet games and my Solus Linux distro.

Thank you for being honest and transparent about these topic. I also appreciate the recommendations you gave.

Thanks for making this video. I agree. I have used Windows, mac OS, and various Linux distributions. The times I have found myself trying to employ workarounds for gaming on Linux far out numbers those on Windows.