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Toying with the idea of running linux
twodayslate
Member Posts: 724
in Hardware
Never used any of them before, but from what I understand, running most games on a linux-based system requires a windows emulator. Does anyone have any recommendations for a distribution that can be used for gaming? Or should I just forget it and go with Win7?
Comments
If ur new to linux I would recommend installing Ubuntu.
I would also look at installing (Wine) http://www.winehq.org/
I love linux, but not for gaming. I've tried it for the games I play and I just had too many issues with frame rate and other things even after tons of tweaking. Linux is a ton of fun and I prefer it over Windows, but just not for gaming
If you want no hastles and are not 100% sure about linux dont do it, just go with Win7 and avoid alot of tweeking and messing about.
If your familiar with Linux and know the ins and outs then Linux all the way.
Ubuntu is one of the better distributions, especially for people just coming to Linux. There are literally hundreds of distributions to choose from though.
However, I'm also going to agree with what's been said here before:
Don't come to Linux expecting instant easy gaming performance improvements. It takes a lot of tweaking, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of stuff just flat out won't work. You need to be willing to do a lot of research and have a lot of patience if you are going to try to do WINE/Windows emulation gaming on Linux - it's not just install and play.
I do love Linux. Just not for gaming.
If you want an easy no-risk way to play around with it, download VirtualBox (free from Oracle), and use that to make a virtual PC, and install any distribution you want on it. It won't mess up your hard drive, screw with partitions, need a boot manager, or anything else. It will impact graphic performance (graphics are emulated in a virtual machine), but it will have enough horsepower to fire up XWindows and play around and see if you like the flavor or not.
Alot of people have recommended Ubuntu as a distribution, It really is a good one. But i would recomend the "Kde" version called "kubuntu" its the same thing but the GUI looks more moden where as Ubuntu skin looks like something from the 80's...
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Another distro that I find good for people just starting out using Linux is Linux Mint.
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You can dual partition windows and linux. If you don't like it just remove the partition. Many linux distributions are free so you have nothing to lose.
I've been running Linux for years so a few facts:
Wine means "Wine is not an Emulator"
Wine is an open source set of Windows Binaries. These Binaries are used to actually run a windows based program through a windows-core in order to make the game run. The windows core uses Linux's graphic drivers and Linux's Networking Drivers along with Linux's Sound Drivers too.
You can "emulate" a desktop if you wish. I've worked for years under WineHQ's Apps Database to make applications compatible. My main usage for Linux + Wine is three fold)
My answer to you is to run both (I do this...Dual Boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu Linux) as there ARE things Windows does better in gaming. However there are things Linux does better in gaming and Linux has its own games too with a 90s attitude to them in their communities.
Sorry for sounding like a biased punk, but there is a prerequisite for dual booting Linux:
1) You must have an Nvidia card as ATI drivers are horrible and nearly non-existent for linux and most 3D applications both native and through WINE crash under ATI cards.
2) Do yourself a favor to have an actual physical HDD for a Linux install. Don't do the ubuntu option of installing in a windows partition. It slows down a lot faster.
3) Learn about Desktop Shells, Command Line Interface commands and File Systems. Once you do this, you will have basics to install and run most Linux Builds and make your way around them.
There are builds out there which are 50MB Operaing Systems with a desktop interfaces (Damn Small Linux) which is perfect for OS booting through a flash drive. There are builds out there which are 4GB or more too.
Ubuntu is good to get started as it has the widest support. I run ubuntu and come from Gentoo, Debian and Slackware. I run ubuntu because while there is a lot of Linux Support out there, there are fewer professionals who have experience to solve the deepest problems. I work on making programs ran under Wine Compatiable through the Apps Database.
Once I get over 60 FPS in any shooter with good condition in Linux,. it means i no longer need to run it on Windows 7 and I save my Windows 7 installation for the most demanding games. For the first time running a 480 GTX SLI gives me over 60 FPS in practially every single game I've ran under linux including present day games. However not every game has good compatability.
This was true a few years ago.
According to the Wine HQ's Apps Database there are actually a lot of games with a GOLD and Platinum Rating which means you can simply install a copy of Wine, Install the game and it will run fresh out of the box with no errors or few errors. Its Silver to Bronze games which require tweaking.
Every three months we run tests on "out of the box" experience for practically every game in our library on a three year span released.
I almost forgot in my last post.....
Do not download Linux for MMORPGs. While some work like Guild Wars and Runes of Magic. Any MMORPG with Gameguard/Nprotect will NOT work under Linux since the Linux community knew and dismantled what Nprotect really was. In fact in Windows I create my own Gameguard server, point my hosts file to it and have all the files downloaded to it and run the Nprotect validation from my end to prevent some fat bastard with a controller from remote-hijacking my system as GG is a Kernel-Level Rootkit that allows anyone to network hijack your system.
Some Developers have made clients to work on things other than Gameguard. but Windows is the OS if you want to play MMORPGs.
An entirely seperate hard drive for the install, you mean? And what size? I would imagine that the common 1tb would be way overkill.
You only need a 7200 RPM HDD between 60GB and 320GB. Since most of your work is on Windows, Linux is a secondary OS for you, so you just need the basics.
I use Linux a lot to put in the basics so I dont have to install so much on Windows. Windows for me is mostly games...I get slight performance increases because I am not clogging up the registry on Windows.
Besides, if you are sending email and working on documents, it pays to use a more secure operating system to do it.
If you need directions on installing Nvidia Proprietary drivers better than most of the sites out there, I will be happy to post them.
I love Linux. it is my prefered OS. I have been also a tester/contributor to the WINE community aswell as Cedega and Codeweavers Crossover series. Linux can be used for games but not easily (as previously mentioned) and even when you do get it working you will have issues or tweaks that need to be done to get the game running correctly.
It can be done, I would recommend Ubuntu/Kubuntu as a very user friendly distro for someone new to Linux.
However quick note DON'T try gaming on Linux with an ATi card. The Linux drivers are just not up to scratch. In fact if you don't have a nVidia card give up on gaming in Linux now.
@gonesolo
Linux is my prefered OS. I was refering to the thread starter.
Notice I mentioned that I "use windows for games" because that is all Windows is good for and once you reach 60 FPS on any game that has no errors (or almost no errors) on Linux + Wine, you no longer need to run that game on a Windows Box...
I've used Gentoo, Slackware, Debian and around 20 other builds. I currently use Ubuntu since it has a lot of support working at times for the Wine HQ Apps Database.
This is also the main reason I prefer Nvidia over ATI since Linux Drivers for ATI as so horrible that they dont just suck, they blow!. I run a GTX 480 SLI and run 90% of my things on Linux while right now the only reason I am typing this post on Windows is because I have a game running in the background that is highly demanding. ^^
I'm an IT professional. I love Linux, and believe it is far superior than Windows in all but one way; gaming.
I eat, sleep and breathe *nix, and making most games work is a major headache even for me (then again, if they don't work precisely the way I want them to, I won't play them, so you could say I'm just anal lol). That being said, if you've never used Linux, and you're looking to game and not stand up a production environment, then go with Windows.
True mages don't die. They strategically miscalculate.