Linux vs Windows
I relatively recently switched to Linux from windows for my main machine and use virtual machines for my most powerful machine. I made some experiences that might have some use to you.
Gaming
1 hour ago, jkeasley said:
OK, so what about running linux on the gaming pc and windows on the streaming pc?
My answer:
Depends on the games you are playing, nearly all games I play are available on linux (steammachines may suck, but debian gamesupport is finally a thing). But I there are a lot of AAA games that simply don't have Linux versions. There is stuff like WINE that in theory allow you to run windows programs on linux but it is more than sketchy and platforms like steam will just not allow you to run non-linux games on linux.
The external drive solution
1 hour ago, jkeasley said:Well look, I plan on getting a 4tb hard drive for all my games, that drive can be shared between windows and linux so that all my games are accessible on both operating systems
My answer:
Well depends: I tried running a NAS that stored my steam library and it worked abominable, you could however have a usb 3.0/3.1 drive that you physically replug every time.
Also and more importantly, remember that Linux and Windows can't run the same programs, most games use DX9-DX11 as well as .NET and they are mostly run via a .exe file, all of which are big no-gos for Linux. What you could do is having the assets of the games (like textures, sounds and models) stored on the harddrive and having dummy files on the Windows and the Linux machine that link to the harddrive. You could write a script to do this automatically but I think this might not be worth it unless your programming skills are up to it, you value your time at less than half a dollar per hour and/or enjoy debugging.
Running both OSs
1 hour ago, jkeasley said:Yeah, I think I'll run both windows and linux on the gaming machine, then run windows on the streaming pc
My answer
Depending on how you do it, this could be good but could also be a terrible experience.
2 Virtual Machines:
First of, to achieve performance that is enough to browse the web on a VM it needs to be hosted inside a proper OS. Personally I'd recommend Unraid for its ease of use. Then there is also the issue of resource allocation. As far as I know there is no way to run 2 VMs in a well performing way that also allocates resources dynamically. This means you will have to allocate your GPU and your CPU cores semi permanently. So either you will have to buy a modern octacore and 2 GPUs, or you will have to go into unraid, shut down both machines, reallocate your resources and restart, effectively sharing all the downsides with option 2.
Both systems installed to select during booting:
Here the main "issue" will be a mess. Since all the devices are connected you will see all the stuff from the Linux installation when you are booted into Windows and vice versa, effectively giving you a bunch of folders with cryptic names that are unprotected and if messed with can lead to catastrophic failure of your other install.
It also won't allow any cohesion or quickly switching between the two, since you have to reboot every time. From my experience this means you will pretty much select one of the two and almost never run the other one. At that point you should ask yourself why you are even doing this.
Downsides of Linux
- Even if your games are on Linux, check for other software. EG there is no version of MS Office for Linux, this isn't an issue for me since I don't use Excel and Access since I left school and I know my LaTeX but if you are reliant on Office programs and hate Libre Office as much as I do than Linux is not for you.
- The start is not nearly as simple as it is on windows: Ninite doesn't work, you will need to use the Terminal for some installations etc. If you didn't use the cmd in windows it is best to follow step by step guides for these installations
- The learning curve isn't too nice, you will get started within a short time but after that you won't necessarily find the great features of your distribution.
- Distributions are a mess. Installers for Linux generally work only for specific kernels. What is a kernal and how do you know whether a "Debian/Ubuntu" installer works on OpenSUSE for example? The best (non comprehensive ) way to check is this image on Wikipedia. The closer your OS to a listed one the better, as a rule of thumb all things Debian are pretty compatible
Some upsides
- Make it you own. You want something changed? You can change it! Not only are there almost as many different versions of Linux as there are users (check out the image linked above), but even if you simply can't find an option to change something and no version that has it, you can still (in theory) resort to scripting and coding. Automated filing systems are a great way to start!
- Small is a word that describes most Linux distributions very well, saving you space on a potentially small bootdrive (the one in my big ass desktop is only 128GB). It even fits onto a USB drive, meaning that you could carry your personalised OS install everywhere. This is great if you are going to a school where they have a barely functional completely locked down version of Windows, that is too much for the PC on its own
- Since performance is often better on Linux than on Windows 10 since there are few background processes and no strange backend, lets max out your CPU for no apparent reason bs
Conclusion time I guess?
In my humble opinion I would recommend trying it out, most Linux distributions can be installed on bootable USB sticks.
You will see if you miss a program or a feature, if you don't that is great since Linux can be very light weight (especially a consideration on Notebooks) and isn't that different from Windows anymore. If you miss something, by all means go with Windows. There is no shame in using it. Every operating system has its pros and cons, even Debian, Windows and El Capitan. But unlike the latter one you can experiment with Linux and Windows without buying special hardware.
Does Linux offer other upsides? Sure it does!
Will you be able to replicate your Windows experience in Linux? No.
So check whether you need to or not and make an informed decision.
Let me know what you came up with and keep us posted
EDIT: I could swear the clock said something about 1:XX when I started! I think it is broken...
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