Linux question...

Unfortunately, I have no useful information for you.  But I hope this thread develops because I'm interested in Linux and was wondering how to game with it (all the games just advertise MS versions they're compatible with).

Is it really true that no software can ever be installed on a Linux system without the owner's prior consent?  I like that.

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, I believe it would at least be very difficult for anything to be installed on a Linux system without the user's consent.  Keep in mind, I'm pretty much a Linux novice / noob, so take anything I say with a grain of salt...  But first of all, any installation needs to be authenticated by typing in the root password.  Second, all installations are handled through a "package manager" for the particular distribution you are using.  That package manager is accessed through the command line interface, or some have a graphical front-end.  But in either case, it will mostly be downloading software from a repository for your distribution, etc.  So as far as I know, it would be very difficult for a "drive-by, stealth" installation to occur in Linux.

As for Linux gaming, it is doable to an extent.  There still aren't too many game titles that are native to (or ported) to Linux.  I already owned Serious Sam: BFE and Doom 3, which both have Linux versions, so it was relatively easy to get those installed.  Serious Sam is through Steam, and once you have the Steam client installed, it handles the download and install of the game, just like in Windows.  I have the (Windows) retail CDs for Doom 3, so I had to look up how to get that installed on Linux.  Both those games are quite playable on Ultra settings in Linux for me, but they are not as smooth as in Windows.  I think part of that is due to the video drivers.  I did get the proprietary nVidia drivers installed [which also takes a bit of work], instead of the open source driver, but I'm not sure if it is as optimized as the nVidia driver for Windows.  I also don't believe I have SLI enabled in Linux.  I tried, but I don't think it is actually working.  But from what I've read, SLI is supported in LInux.

BTW, I think most gaming on Linux is through Wine, an open source Windows emulator, which I haven't even tried yet.  But from what I understand, its not a 100% thing, and even when it works well, I don't think you get near the performance you'd see natively in Windows.  I'm also not sure if DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 games are supported through Wine yet or not...  So realistically, I'm not sure if a serious gamer would be happy with Linux as their exclusive gaming platform.

If you are interested in experimenting with Linux, one easy, low-risk, low-cost way to do it is by burning a Live CD / DVD of a distro and booting from that.  A lot of the distros now provide Live ISO files for download, making it easy to "test drive" before you install.  And I believe there are even a few gaming oriented distributions that may come with some game trials installed so that you could even check out gaming performance off the Live CD / DVD to some extent.

I think it is also very possible to create a dual boot system with a Windows partition and a Linux partition.  But I prefer to keep it "cleaner" by just having them on separate hard drives.  Assuming most people already have a hard drive with Windows installed, there's always some risk that re-partitioning and installing Linux will partially destroy Windows.  I didn't want to deal with that, even if it is unlikely.

In any case, if you do give Linux a try, it is worth remembering that in any flavor, it is more of a command line oriented OS than Windows.  As a matter of fact, I gave up on one distro I tried because apparently the only way to change the time on the clock was through entering a command in the terminal!  To me, that isn't the most efficient way to set the time.  I don't think that's the case in most Linux distros.  But just be aware that each one may have their quirks, and some tasks that are easy in Windows, may seem like a major mission in Linux.  So approach Linux with some patience ;-)  Like I said, I have no intention of switching to Linux full-time.  It's just nice to have the option to play around with it.


Edited by Oxon - 29 Mar 2014 at 5:20pm

Yea, I'd have to say Linux is definitely for people who like messing with their computers.  Some of the flavors of Ubuntu are geared toward beginners, etc., but I think they still require that you have some desire to get into the "nuts and bolts" of the OS and use the command line to some extent...  I like that stuff enough to enjoy experimenting with it, but its not for everybody.  And like I said before, I still don't see hard core gamers being happy with a Linux only platform.

Lensis, no, should it be?  :-)

No, you are very perceptive.  My father was an Oxford University Professor, now retired.  I adopted Oxon as my screen name / identity because Oxon used to be part of the postal code for Oxford.  I don't think anyone else has picked up on that.

Thanks for your reply!

Yes, this is really just an exploratory adventure with Linux to see what its all about.  I like the power of the command line as well as the inherent security of Linux.  I'm also impressed with the responsiveness of most of these distributions.  I have a powerful machine [not quite as powerful as yours!], so Windows 7 runs very well.  However, some of the Linux distros are still noticeably more responsive.  Just the fact that one really doesn't need an anti-virus provides a performance boost...  Nonetheless, I am enough of a gamer to want Windows as my primary OS.

I tried Zorin, Pinguy, Sabayon, Manjaro, and Scientific Linux before ending up with an installation of Kali Linux.  That is a Debian based distribution dedicated to penetration testing / hacking.  I am by no means a hacker, nor do I really aspire to be one.  Somewhat ironically, everything just worked best "out of the box" on Kali Linux for me.  So that's what I currently have installed.  I just don't use any of the pre-installed hacking applications.

I did have to "jump through some hoops" just to get the proprietary nVidia drivers installed and Valve's Steam client.  But there are instructions one can find for these things online...  If I were retired with lots of extra time on my hands, I'd like to really learn Linux ground-up.  As it is, I'm enjoying dabbling in it, but even outside of gaming there are still a lot of tasks that would take me much more time and effort on Linux.  And that's not a bash against it per se.  I believe that's largely because I'm not familiar with all of the apps available for Linux and I don't know my way around the command line all that well yet.

I am generally impressed with Linux, and I'm glad it exists.