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Which Linux?
Ok, i am a very advanced computer user but have always been put off by Linux whenever i try it. To be honest im never completely sure which distribution to try, but in the past (its been a while since i used it) i tried Mandrake and Red Hat.
I'm really here to ask, as a gamer above all else, what distribution should i use? I want the best gaming performance / compatibility but i also want a distribution of Linux that is flexible enough to use for hosting web servers etc. At the moment i do all of this with Win XP - someone please explain to me what the current state of Linux's game compatibility is and whether it is even a feasible gaming platform, and which distribution is the best (for me?). Thanks all. :study: |
Theoretically, anything that can be done on one distro can be accomplished on any other....some things just take a bit of coaxing on some systems.
Gaming is something I've never been too deep into, but I've noticed it's been increasing its presence in Linux dramatically over the last couple of years. Some Windows games do have problems, even when run in WineX, but more and more developers are making Linux installers which allow them to be installed and run well in a native Linux environment. As for performance, some games do seem to run better in Windows, but mostly they are as good and sometimes better in Linux. I think you'll find over the next few years that Linux will become as much a gaming system as it is anything else...just takes enough exposure to get developers to realize it's a viable platform. |
Linux isn't really a good gaming platform at this time. No, let me rephrase that: Most games do not work well on the fully functional Linux gaming platform.
Few games get ported to Linux. UT2003, the Quake series, Wolfenstein Enemy Territory and a handful of others (most ported by Loki software before they went belly up) all work well - as good or even better than in Windows - but most game software houses do not directly target Linux users. Developing for Windows only is so much easier and requires less effort, because - let's face it - the Linux gaming community isn't making anyone rich at this time. A lot of games work more or less well under quasi-emulators like Wine and its fork WineX. Wine is a port of the win32 API to Linux which means it's not technically an emulator, but rather an implementation of the win32 API on Linux just like win32 was originally developed as an API on MS-DOS. You can go to the Wine or WineX websites and check their compatibility lists if you wish. I am pretty pleased though. Wolfenstein Enemy Territory is about the only game I play and it's free too. I don't quite understand why you get put off by Linux as you are a very advanced computer user. Most of us here aren't even halfway advanced and we like Linux anyway. ;) Anyway, what distribution you should try is entirely up to you. Download a few and try them, settle for the one that serves your preferences best. All mainstream distributions are usable both on desktops and servers so it's pretty much up to you. Depending on who you ask here you'll get different answers as everyone has their own favourite(s). Håkan |
get a minimal distro if ya are so advanced, realy, itll make ya build your own system so u wont get so muhc junk and in the end itll be just as good and any mainsteam distro
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Hehe, thanks for all the replies. I didn't mean to sound arrogant when i said i was so advanced, i just mean i've used computers for so many years now that i didn't want any laymans explanations ;)
Hmm, well last time i used Linux Wine had just been released and it sucked tbh, i hope its better now - i'm very happy to sit and tweak for hours 'if' i have a chance of getting increased performance out of a system, this is where i find Linux's flexibility tempting. |
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As for gaming, I still have to keep my Windows partition for the time being :( Still hope that will change sometimes soon. |
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