And this time, it's probably permanently.

I realized after having so many updates and issues with Windows that, honestly, I was just done with the headaches.

Proton was finally supporting many games in GNU/Linux and Steam, which meant just about 90% of all the games I play would finally work. My hardware all finally works through any number of drivers, and is mostly all fully supported by FOSS drivers.

Slackware is easier to manage to me, and honestly, even with the learning curve Slackware, as a distribution seems to have, it's so easy to use.

I tried FreeBSD and not everything worked. I fired up Slackware (thanks Pat for 15.0), grabbed Erik's compat32 and multilibs (thanks Erik), installed sbotools, pointed it at ponce's SBo repo (thanks ponce), and literally after a few hours of setup, configuration, and testing... well gosh darn'it, everything works.

Heck, even OBS works great, especially after putting FFMpeg VAAPI encoder in.

My system honestly, feels like my own again. I feel like, I own it, I can maintain it, I do almost anything with it, and most of all, it doesn't bug me about this and that, and I feel like I can breathe a huge sigh of relief.

This gamer and now livestreamer, is now a Slacker, 100%. Feels good to be home.

Welcome home.

For years, the only reason I used Windows was to do my U. S. income tax, as income tax software is not available for Linux (for very understandable reasons, as it is complex and must be updated every year and so on), and I'll be darned if I will do my taxes on line thank you very much.

I no longer use income tax software, mostly because my Win7 computer died and I decided that paying a tax preparer was preferable to buying a new Windows box, and I have discovered I don't need Windows for anything else I want to do with computers. I do have a VM of Windows 8 to access one of my favorite websites that uses the Real media format, but I hardly ever use even that any more, as I have discovered many alternative sites, and VLC can now play real audio files . . . .

Welcome home! I have one Windows 11 laptop for Minecraft(I suck at it). This Lenovo Legion isn't very Linux compliant. I wanted one gaming unit.
My main desktops in the family room run Slackware. Over the years I've tried a lot of different operating systems; I always come home to Slackware. I also own an old T410 Thinkpad which runs OpenBSD. I like the BSDs a lot, but, I prefer Slackware as my primary desktop.

I feel you sir. welcome home.

Welcome home.

I have one Windows machine that I have to have for work otherwise I wouldn't own one. I suppose I could run it inside a vm though...heh.

Bedrock Edition?

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Good to see ya.

I went permanent Slackware ages ago. It works, I am comfortable with it. I do not need the constant aggravation, annoyances of dealing with Windows.

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Welcome back ReaperX7

Nice report !

Keep them coming ( I enjoyed most of your LQ Posts of yesteryear )

-- kjh

Last time I used Windows (10) it shocked me how slow it was. Windows was fine up to 8.1, if you nailed it down with a good security suite (thank you, Dr Web). But Slackware spoils you for speed.

What I continue to miss about Windows is not the OS itself, but the raft of utility and boutique applications, usually developed by one person or a small team. In particular, Total Commander, Becky! Internet Mail, EditPlus, SumatraPDF and quite a few others.

It's ironic that after all these years I have found the best substitutes for these are on Android and iOS, not Linux. That is not to say, of course, that Linux does not have irreplaceable software of its own, which can be -- usually, but not always -- hammered into satisfactory shape.

Welcome back, now the obligatory song:

Welcome Back by John Sebastian

Welcome back!

I switched to using Slackware full-time on all my machines back in 2015 after using it to run a home server a number of years before then. Once you figure out the open source solutions to what you need to get done on the desktop there's not much else missing vs other OS's. Plus it runs great even on aging hardware.

I did pick up a new rig last year that came with Windows 10. Of course Slackware went on there but I kept windows on one of the drives. It only gets fired up to play Halo Infinite which I couldn't get to work on linux. I was kind of surprised because the Windows install does semi-frequent hard lockups due to some driver issue with the onboard audio card and I had to disable it (I use an external interface anyway). Slackware on the other hand runs until the power stops

Thanks for the reply! This is the unit I bought.

I bought the unit because after almost 20 years of Linux I became curious about Windows again; I wanted to experience Windows 11. The unit shipped with Windows 10 and it easily upgraded to 11. I also wanted to try out some gaming. I have not tried Linux on the unit. The early research isn't encouraging about Linux support. That's fine. I may try to throw -current on the unit.
I maintain three Slackware workstations and I'm happy with those.

15.0 w/ MultiLib and Steam+Proton works really nice on many systems. Wine is improving a lot though which is nice to see. Not all is perfect yet though, but it's getting there slowly but surely.

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Way too many times Windows has, without any kind of notice, reverted settings on patch days. Every single semi-annual update, settings reversions, registry keys renamed, GPOs renamed, more attempts at getting you to upgrade to the latest and "greatest" before you're ready, a shuffle in what ads and adware are included, and incorrect documentation that inspires madness. Effectively being a beta tester unless you pony up for Enterprise/LTSB. License terms that state "We do what we want, and you're gonna take it." This is all before getting into issues specific to Win11. I could go on (and on and on) but not worth the effort.

Just, so happy there's nothing to keep me in that adversarial relationship anymore.

In contrast, with Slackware (and linux in general), you can get at everything if you need to. Sure there are still challenges here as well, but little if anything is deliberately obfuscated or locked away from users. Surprises are rare. I get to use MY computer as I see fit, not how someone else decides is best.

Welcome back to what I'm inclined to say is the Hotel California of Linux, but in a completely good way. This is meant as a compliment to Slackware because it is so good.

I switched to Slackware 14.2 from Windows in Oct 2016 and never regretted it for a moment. As a complete newbie to modern Linux, it took 6 months to get it all going properly but it was worth every second of my time.

As I'm nearly 59, and thus approaching Old Codger Territory, It's going to see me out.

Hope it does the same for you too.