Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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ELI5: What causes a Steam game not to run on an operating system like a Linux distro? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by Kayday@lemmy.world to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I primarily use my pc for gaming, and want to avoid upgrading to Windows 11. Beginning the journey of looking into alternatives.

I am ignorant, trying to be less so. I have a hard time understanding what exactly makes a game not work just because of OS.

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[–] verdigris@lemmy.ml 13 points 2 days ago

First of all, many games can very easily be built and packaged for Linux, devs just don't target it as often because it's a fraction of the market share.

But as for Windows-only games... It used to be because functions games were trying to access simply didn't exist in Linux. Wine is a translation layer that could help with that, but it was both underfunded and had a general focus on all windows apps, not just games.

However these days, thanks in no small part to Valve bankrolling the Proton project -- a gaming-specific branch of Wine that has also contributed plenty of improvements back to Wine itself -- virtually any game you care to play will run on Linux. At this point, if a game doesn't run, it's because the publisher or developer is choosing to not let it run -- likely because of specific anti-cheat software. In the case of Easy Anti-Cheat games like Fortnite and Apex Legends, EAC runs fine on Linux, but the devs chose explicitly to turn off Linux support.