I want to use Linux again, but...

[x00-User]

Greeting everyone, first of all I want to say that it's been a long time since I used Linux the last time, it was 16 years ago and my last distro was Ubuntu. Back in the day the situation was very different compared to nowadays, and while I am happy to see lots of improvements has been made on Linux, especially towards compatibility with Windows native software, on the other hand there are things that still worries me and kind of preventing me to make the big jump and show the middle finger to Microsoft. 

Let's start by saying that yes, I am using my PC for gaming and yes, I am using Adobe software such as Photoshop and Premiere (you don't say, right?). Now, since I am getting a new pc build pretty soon, I wanted to take the chance and see if moving to Linux would be doable or still not (even after all these years). I've checked different Youtube videos, information from several Forums and even Reddit (if we want to consider the information from Reddit valid or not), and what are my takes after getting all these information? That is so confusing and not clear at all. Some of the people saying that is completely fine gaming on Linux, other saying that Linux is terrible, and so I am here  between the hammer and the anvil, struggling to get the correct answer. But, there is another scenario that most people talks about it, but other (again) saying it is not doable, and I am talking about virtualization. I am not sure what is your experience and opinion on this, but since we are already in this mess of confused information, why not getting yours as well.

What I understand is that with Virtualization (so to say, Virtual Machine), is it possible to run another OS within Linux, such as Windows, and giving to it lots of hardware resources in order to run softwares smoothly and effectively. But some instead says that this is not working, and there are lots of drops in FPS, lags and quality of the image, so again I don't know who to believe. You might ask, why don't you try and see by yourself, right? Well, is not that easy because the time I am using my PC is limited during the day (I am working full time) and I don't want to waste time just to figure out that maybe Linux is still not for me. And I don't want to even install dual boot, if I know that my games and software are on Windows, I am pretty sure my Linux installation will take dust and that's it. I want to be forced to get inside Linux and so I want it to be my main and only OS.

Ok, so let's get to the point and sorry if I did talk a lot about it:

1) Gaming on Linux is a thing, but what if one day I want to play something not supported by Proton, Wine, or whatever? Can I use the Virtualization method and having the same gaming experience I would have on Windows?
2) If I use the same Virtualization method, can I install and use the latest release of Photoshop and Premiere (or DaVinci) without having any performance issue?
3) How is the situation about the Hardware compatibility? I am getting an AMD RX 7800XT as GPU but what about the peripherals? I have mouse and keyboard from Corsair and I need their tool to configure the DPI of my mouse, as well as the RGBs. Can Linux support these settings?
4) As for ARGB, what is the situation and support on Linux?

That's a lot to ask, I know, but it's an OS afterall, right? So I am expecting that an OS should do what an OS is expected to do, regardless if it is free or not. I hope that you can give me some good news and reasons to finally move to the Penguin, otherwise I will shrug and returning back to the greedy and AI addicted OS. Thanks all!

[Mark Kaine]

Umm, I don't use Linux but I occasionally look at that stuff and it looks like you can almost do anything as you could on a windows PC, however it's often rather time consuming, convoluted and might not work as well... Lots of none gui solutions, etc. 

As for windows exclusive software you'd likely have to find alternatives (with similar issues as above, they might just don't work as well, have different features etc)

Gaming seems to have the most improvements overall so that shouldn't pose a big issue.

 

Lastly it really depends on the Linux version, gaming oriented ones seem to be the most promising, unsurprisingly.

 

Tldr: definitely possible, but most likely time consuming.

 

It does boil down to you actually have to try it out and probably with several distros I suppose. 

 

PS: no idea about the virtualization stuff, I can't deal with the performance and latency penalties so I never use that 

[Timme]

53 minutes ago, x00-User said:

Greeting everyone, first of all I want to say that it's been a long time since I used Linux the last time, it was 16 years ago and my last distro was Ubuntu. Back in the day the situation was very different compared to nowadays, and while I am happy to see lots of improvements has been made on Linux, especially towards compatibility with Windows native software, on the other hand there are things that still worries me and kind of preventing me to make the big jump and show the middle finger to Microsoft. 

Let's start by saying that yes, I am using my PC for gaming and yes, I am using Adobe software such as Photoshop and Premiere (you don't say, right?). Now, since I am getting a new pc build pretty soon, I wanted to take the chance and see if moving to Linux would be doable or still not (even after all these years). I've checked different Youtube videos, information from several Forums and even Reddit (if we want to consider the information from Reddit valid or not), and what are my takes after getting all these information? That is so confusing and not clear at all. Some of the people saying that is completely fine gaming on Linux, other saying that Linux is terrible, and so I am here  between the hammer and the anvil, struggling to get the correct answer. But, there is another scenario that most people talks about it, but other (again) saying it is not doable, and I am talking about virtualization. I am not sure what is your experience and opinion on this, but since we are already in this mess of confused information, why not getting yours as well.

What I understand is that with Virtualization (so to say, Virtual Machine), is it possible to run another OS within Linux, such as Windows, and giving to it lots of hardware resources in order to run softwares smoothly and effectively. But some instead says that this is not working, and there are lots of drops in FPS, lags and quality of the image, so again I don't know who to believe. You might ask, why don't you try and see by yourself, right? Well, is not that easy because the time I am using my PC is limited during the day (I am working full time) and I don't want to waste time just to figure out that maybe Linux is still not for me. And I don't want to even install dual boot, if I know that my games and software are on Windows, I am pretty sure my Linux installation will take dust and that's it. I want to be forced to get inside Linux and so I want it to be my main and only OS.

Ok, so let's get to the point and sorry if I did talk a lot about it:

1) Gaming on Linux is a thing, but what if one day I want to play something not supported by Proton, Wine, or whatever? Can I use the Virtualization method and having the same gaming experience I would have on Windows?
2) If I use the same Virtualization method, can I install and use the latest release of Photoshop and Premiere (or DaVinci) without having any performance issue?
3) How is the situation about the Hardware compatibility? I am getting an AMD RX 7800XT as GPU but what about the peripherals? I have mouse and keyboard from Corsair and I need their tool to configure the DPI of my mouse, as well as the RGBs. Can Linux support these settings?
4) As for ARGB, what is the situation and support on Linux?

That's a lot to ask, I know, but it's an OS afterall, right? So I am expecting that an OS should do what an OS is expected to do, regardless if it is free or not. I hope that you can give me some good news and reasons to finally move to the Penguin, otherwise I will shrug and returning back to the greedy and AI addicted OS. Thanks all!

Linux is Linux, and everything non-native is bound to have one issue or another.

If I understand correctly, there isn't any particular reason for you to switch. What about a simple Linux VM on your Windows that you can use whenever?              

[x00-User]

46 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Lastly it really depends on the Linux version, gaming oriented ones seem to be the most promising, unsurprisingly.

Which version of Linux specifically is more gaming oriented? Can you point to some?

Also I know that I could use some Linux alternatives for the software mentioned but there aren't, in fact, any valid alternatives. Let's be honest and real, Photoshop is unique, there are no alternatives that could be comparable to it. I also have other softwares (such as Reallusion iClone and Character Creator) that are only native and working on Windows.
 

30 minutes ago, Timme said:

Linux is Linux, and everything non-native is bound to have one issue or another.

If I understand correctly, there isn't any particular reason for you to switch. What about a simple Linux VM on your Windows that you can use whenever?              

I understand and I agree, I know that if a software is native for Windows than running on a different OS can be a problem and also it is expected to do not behave as it should be, but I really wanted to know if Linux nowadays is in a spot to say "you are not Windows dependent anymore" which unfortunately, by judging from your answers, it seems not the case.
 

[Bramimond]

I've been using Linux exclusively for over 20 years now.

 

There are of course ways to make pretty much everything work in Linux, worst case you have to write it yourself from scratch. But in practice....

 

You have to accept that some things won't work. You can't pop in an Xbox game into your PS5 and expect it to work, right? Having so many things work on Linux is already a small miracle.

 

If you need software made for Windows and can't make do with an alternative one, keep using Windows. There's no replacing Photoshop with anything that is native to Linux if you use it for anything more than surface level edits. And using Windows native software on Linux is not a great experience, even if you make it work.

 

You could try dual booting to see if Linux can fulfill your needs or put two PCs next to each other and use some way to have both share the same input devices.

 

There's a saying in my country that goes something like this: if you let go, you get two free hands.

 

Maybe Linux works for you or someone else reading this. But you should bring a mindset that is willing to let go. When I made the switch I completely abandoned Windows gaming. Now, if there's a game that happens to work I am happy, but if there is a game that doesn't work, that is just as expected.

[Timme]

6 minutes ago, x00-User said:

you are not Windows dependent anymore

Dependent in what way?

If it's the visual thing, Windows is pretty customizable. Start11 can take care of the Taskbar and Start, something like Ashampoo WinOptimizer enables you to tweak system settings. QTab for File Explorer..

[Ralphred]

2 hours ago, Bramimond said:

put two PCs next to each other and use some way to have both share the same input devices.

https://symless.com/synergy :- I use this to "share" the mouse and keyboard attached to my gaming VM so it gives the impression of a unified desktop. It's same mouse and KB as normal, just "detached" from linux and "attached" to the windows VM. I do it with scripts, but the way VMM works you can literally just unplug them and plug them back in and they get redirected to the VM. Incidentally this also provides a simple solution to:

4 hours ago, x00-User said:

I have mouse and keyboard from Corsair and I need their tool to configure the DPI of my mouse, as well as the RGBs.

For when no native software is available. I use the same technique to re-calibrate my DS4 controller and update the firmware in my mouse, when needed.

 

3 hours ago, Bramimond said:

Now, if there's a game that happens to work I am happy

I've always checked https://www.protondb.com/explore before buying new games, it's been several years since I've had to abandon a purchase because it doesn't work. YMMV with this though, some publishers are on my sh**list for other reasons, like calling an altered texture file "new content" and attempting to charge for it.

[Mark Kaine]

9 hours ago, x00-User said:

Which version of Linux specifically is more gaming oriented?

Bazzite, pop_os... But there's tons and new ones popping up constantly...

 

The point is I think they often come with preinstalled tools like proper drivers, fan control etc,but obviously that'll vary... 

 

Right now some new UwU Dragon thing is hip... I'd go with that, can't go wrong with UwU dragons!?

 

 

Spoiler

Sorry, Garuda, not UwU!

 

https://garudalinux.org/

 

 

[Bramimond]

47 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

The point is I think they often come with preinstalled tools

If that's all they do it's rather pointless, as you can just install everything you need yourself.

Better to go with something stable with lots of documentation online, like Linux Mint.

 

I use Mint since 2013 and also install that for all the computers in my family that I administer. There will always be issues not matter what operating system you use and it's a lot easier to deal with them if there are plenty of other people that dealt with them before and shared their experience online.

[Nayr438]

• You can run Windows in a Virtual Machine
  • If you want to have anythign actually usable for day to day use you pretty much need to spec your system as two and isolate resources. So if you need a GPU then you want 2 GPU's, if you want Windows to have 32G of memory and Linux 32G then you want 64G, etc...
    • You will also want a hdmi/dp dummy plug and probably take a look at looking-glass
  • Gaming is about as well supported as just using proton, chances are if it doesn't run on Proton/Wine+DXVK/VKD3D it wont run in a VM.
• Gaming on Linux depends, If you play anything online the chances are that if it has a AntiCheat it either currently doesn't work or wont in the future. If you mostly play single player offline titles or things you can self host then you might be fine.
  • If you want to see what currently works you can check the following
    • https://www.protondb.com/
    • https://areweanticheatyet.com/
    • https://lutris.net/games - Just because its here doesn't mean it actually works, read reviews and notes.
• Wine is not a reliable solution to running windows applications, its overall compatibility is rather poor outside of gaming and even if something works today it only takes one update from the software you are trying to run to completely break it, not to mention there is no guarantee that a application will run correctly.
• For corsair you can look at https://github.com/ckb-next/ckb-next, just keep in mind this is community maintained software.
• For RGB, https://openrgb.org/, also community maintained software

** Community maintained software does not guarantee any support or that it wont damage your hardware, while it's unlikely it is not impossible. OpenRGB for instance had a issue that bricked whatever controls the ARGB on MSI Motherboards.

 

In my opinion,

• If you rely on Windows software to do anything important and heavily play online games then I would just stay on Windows.
• If you are open to looking at alternatives and can live with the fact you wont be able to play every possible game then try out Linux.
• If you can live with limited game compatibility and can sink money into Virtualization for things like Adobe, then Linux with a Windows VM may be an ok option.

 

11 hours ago, x00-User said:

Which version of Linux specifically is more gaming oriented? Can you point to some.

Don't buy into the gaming nonsense, just pick a mainstream distro. With a AMD GPU do be aware that Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Manjaro all nuke Codecs.

Being a AMD GPU you preferably want to be as upstream as possible which means id probably cross off Debian and PopOS ( this is still stuck on Ubuntu 22.04 until they figure out their new Desktop Environment). Your drivers are part of the kernel and mesa stack which is determined by your distro, different distros ship different versions.

Given the current changes surrounding the stack id honestly go with one of the Ubuntu 25.04 LTS releases/spins when it lands here in the next week or two unless you want to deal with Arch, Mint should update to 25.04 in a couple months, and PopOS is still trying to figure itself out.

 

Community distros also come and go where as mainstream distros have been around for awhile so that is something to keep in mind.

 

11 hours ago, x00-User said:

Let's be honest and real, Photoshop is unique, there are no alternatives that could be comparable to it.

I'm not to familiar with current versions of Photoshop and my usage is fairly limited so I can't really compare them, but it may be worthwhile to look at Krita, https://krita.org/en/

[needshmeed]

16 hours ago, x00-User said:

Now, since I am getting a new pc build pretty soon, I wanted to take the chance and see if moving to Linux would be doable or still not (even after all these years).

This would be my approach: just avoid a complete switch-over. 2 computers. Have one with Linux. The other Windows. Use both concurrently & without anxiety / pressures about missing apps and games. Just learn about the software offerings on Linux at your own pace & avoid the pressures of a complete switch-over from the Windows SpywareOS. See how you find things. I don't game on Linux so I can't answer your gaming questions, but you might be surprised how much software is available to do what you want (I was), as well as alternatives to Adobe Subscription Spyware (ASS).

[wasab]

People pick a gaming consoles to play games, people don't pick games to use a particular console. 

 

Similarly people pick an operating system to use a particular set of softwares, people don't pick particular softwares so they can use a particular operating system, please do not confuse the ends and the means.

 

That said if you are willing to use certain softwares just so you can use Linux... Well, welcome to Linux fan club or the windows hating club for some. 

[Mark Kaine]

13 hours ago, Bramimond said:

If that's all they do it's rather pointless, as you can just install everything you need yourself.

Better to go with something stable with lots of documentation online, like Linux Mint.

 

I use Mint since 2013 and also install that for all the computers in my family that I administer. There will always be issues not matter what operating system you use and it's a lot easier to deal with them if there are plenty of other people that dealt with them before and shared their experience online.

Pretty sure that's mostly what they do and it's not pointless, because besides other differences I think what most windows users want when switching to Linux is a "plug and play" solution -- and in most cases that's not what they'll get at all.... so if you get a distro that already has drivers and specific apps installed - and it works - that would be an ideal entry point and you can deal with command prompts and "sudo" later (if necessary) 

[Mark Kaine]

9 hours ago, needshmeed said:

This would be my approach: just avoid a complete switch-over. 2 computers. Have one with Linux. The other Windows. Use both concurrently & without anxiety / pressures about missing apps and games. Just learn about the software offerings on Linux at your own pace & avoid the pressures of a complete switch-over from the Windows SpywareOS. See how you find things. I don't game on Linux so I can't answer your gaming questions, but you might be surprised how much software is available to do what you want (I was), as well as alternatives to Adobe Subscription Spyware (ASS).

This has one big downside... similar to dual booting... Most likely users would just continue using "what works" and what they know... Aka windows lol.

 

It's not that it can't work, but essentially that would require a lot more time and effort than just outright switching because, well you have to do everything twice now... (I do this currently with my win 11 laptop and win 10 desktop) It's not fun and rather tedious,and I end up using my desktop 90% of the time, because stuff just works... 

[x00-User]

First of all, thank you all for the answers and information provided, they helped me to understand better the situation and having a clear idea on what I should do or not. I do agree that moving to Linux it requires both sacrifices but also a radical change on the mindset. Even tho I don't think moving away from Photoshop or even After Effects would be a change of mindset, is simply something that is not existent in Linux and so if you want to use them then you don't have much choice. And I do also understand that running a virtualization is both pricey and time consuming, and even that we don't have a certainty that the results are even great.

I do believe that the sentence that applies to me is "If you rely on Windows software to do anything important and heavily play online games then I would just stay on Windows." as wrote by @Nayr438.

It's sad tho, that even after all these years, Linux is not in the place to completely discard the usage of Windows, and this is caused by both the Linux distro and also the Softwares dev. I mean, I am glad to see the great improvements made by Linux, but the scene is still dominated by Microsoft.

At this point I am going to stay with Windows and using Linux inside it, possibly a couple of distros just to get used to and familiar to them, but as my main OS this will be Windows only.

[Bramimond]

6 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

what most windows users want when switching to Linux is a "plug and play" solution

You don't get that with Windows and you don't get that with Linux. 

 

Best you can get is that things just work most of the time and for that to happen I would bet on a distro that many people have done all kinds of things to. Like installing ancient printer drivers, which can be a not so fun odyssey. Especially if you kinda need to print now to send back something you bought online, because for some reason that seller doesn't offer any other options for sending it back.

 

The way I think about it, preinstalled software I have no use for is bloat.

[needshmeed]

On 4/16/2025 at 7:56 PM, Mark Kaine said:

This has one big downside... similar to dual booting... Most likely users would just continue using "what works" and what they know... Aka windows lol.

 

It's not that it can't work, but essentially that would require a lot more time and effort than just outright switching because, well you have to do everything twice now... (I do this currently with my win 11 laptop and win 10 desktop) It's not fun and rather tedious,and I end up using my desktop 90% of the time, because stuff just works... 

Mostly agree with you. 

 

I would recommend it to a person on this forum though, because most likely they like to "play with tech" as tech enthusiasts, and they will find out that Linux has some better offerings in some areas, while Windows (and Mac) might have something better in others. That's what I have found, anyway. Lots of stuff works on Linux too, so...it all depends. It's not necessary to double-up on everything but rather use the best tool for the job, depending on what tasks you are doing.

 

If you are even a little concerned about privacy and keeping more of your data private, I'd say Linux (along with some privacy-conscious practices) are pretty much necessary. Most of the internet runs on Linux, so if you are into servers, it's necessary too. Over-all, I think it's valuable to have some experience with different operating systems because they will expand what you can do with your computers.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

4 hours ago, needshmeed said:

Mostly agree with you. 

 

I would recommend it to a person on this forum though, because most likely they like to "play with tech" as tech enthusiasts, and they will find out that Linux has some better offerings in some areas, while Windows (and Mac) might have something better in others. That's what I have found, anyway. Lots of stuff works on Linux too, so...it all depends. It's not necessary to double-up on everything but rather use the best tool for the job, depending on what tasks you are doing.

 

If you are even a little concerned about privacy and keeping more of your data private, I'd say Linux (along with some privacy-conscious practices) are pretty much necessary. Most of the internet runs on Linux, so if you are into servers, it's necessary too. Over-all, I think it's valuable to have some experience with different operating systems because they will expand what you can do with your computers.

 

 

True, but kinda really depends on how someone uses their computer - trust me I'd want to get away from MS, even though I don't outright hate it, some things are just very tedious and features often lacking (screen snip can now record everything. AT 30 FPS. what the..... And that's from the "Xbox company"? ) 

Spoiler

And yeah I know "gamebar" can record... AT RECOMMENDED 30FPS BTW, try at 60 and you'll likely run into issues

Notoriously lacking audio support, etc, etc.

 

But having to move *all my games and mods* to an entirely different platform, some highly specialized emulators... It is hard enough with win 10 --> win 11 , not that it's not working, but the way things have to be set up is just very very time consuming (and half the stuff in win 11 doesn't seem to work, and I mean standard features like "brightness" ... It simply won't work unless I use the AMD GPU which obviously has awful performance, and stability issues...)

 

But yeah when I ever have more time to be learning a new OS, it could be actually fun and useful ( I just wish it was more like Android - my fav OS, and not command line based like Unix/Linux - it just seems so outdated?)

 

I guess they're getting there eventually tho ...

[x00-User]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

It simply won't work unless I use the AMD GPU which obviously has awful performance, and stability issues...

Off-topic but, let me introduce the amazing Nvidia RTX 5xxx series

[Ralphred]

1 hour ago, Mark Kaine said:

But yeah when I ever have more time to be learning a new OS, it could be actually fun and useful ( I just wish it was more like Android - my fav OS, and not command line based like Unix/Linux - it just seems so outdated?)

My original switch to Linux was back around 2002-2003, because after testing it out I literally spent less time doing maintenance than I did with constant virus scans and malware cleaning in windows NT and XP. For well over a decade I still had to use windows for professional reasons, so my Linux desktop was (and still is) "as windows like as it can get" just to cut down on the size of the paradigm shift between work and play.

From what you have hinted at as your PC usage, one of the "meta distro's" would suit you down to the ground, you invest in making it work the way you want it to right from the start, then everything after that is just enjoying your creation with the odd bit of reactive maintenance. The "meta distro" Linux OS I'm using now is literally 20 years old this year, it's been moved to new hardware numerous times and sorting out the drivers for that takes far FAR less time than re-creating 10 years worth of tweaks and customisation let alone the levels I'm looking at now.

 

POI: Android isn't an OS, it's just a Linux GUI.

[Guest]

On 4/15/2025 at 1:34 AM, x00-User said:

on the other hand there are things that still worries me and kind of preventing me to make the big jump and show the middle finger to Microsoft. 

Computers are cheap.  Set up a computer for each different type of application that you want hosted.  Pick an OS that supports those apps for THAT computer.  You don't require your phone to be able to run the same apps that run on your desktop/laptop.  And, are probably comfortable with that distinction -- the phone has qualities that are different (and worthwhile) from the other options.

 

Note that you don't have to run ANY "current" software -- if you are willing to live with existing "bugs" and don't expose the machine to The Internet (which would suggest the need for a contemporary OS at the "current" patch level).

 

I run W7 x64 on most of my workstations -- simply because the quality of the tools hosted there far exceeds what's available on any FOSS OS (or Mac). I do 3D CAD, CGI-style animations, music synthesis, electronic circuit modeling and design, etc.  I'm not keen on wasting hours/days of my time to POTENTIALLY save thousands of dollars. But, I have a large budget for tools and am not trying to save money with "free" ones (there is a cost to even free tools -- especially if they make your task harder!)

 

OTOH, I use FOSS tools for software development -- largely because I can fix/enhance them when/if I stumble on a problem.  E.g., it would be hard for me to modify Microsoft's compiler to support different semantics that the language doesn't support. Also, they tend to be widely accepted so I don't have to coerce people to adopting some proprietary toolchain just because it happened to be what I was using.

 

Likewise, I use FOSS tools for network infrastructure.  Again, because I can modify them to fit my needs without waiting for some "support" group to decide that my needs are worth addressing (and HOPING that they do so correctly and in the manner I envision).  E.g., my DHCP server is more featureful than the "stock" offerings.

 

I use SPARCs for tools hosted there.  As well as providing a means of testing the portability of the code I develop.

 

I use a PSP as a handheld game console.

 

And, real "arcade pieces" for a REAL gaming experience.

 

I have a ~200TB SAN that hosts my VMs (as well as my archive) and several ESXi servers so I can run legacy apps without having to keep a "Windows 95" PC around.  Or, an app that worked differently under XP than W7 (and that I would need to keep around in order to make changes to some previous "work")

 

If you live in a small apartment, it might be difficult to find spaces for all of these things.  But, the computer aspect should be easily addressed with a few rescued laptops and some sweat equity installing a specific OS (and applications) on each.

[needshmeed]

14 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

But yeah when I ever have more time to be learning a new OS, it could be actually fun and useful ( I just wish it was more like Android - my fav OS, and not command line based like Unix/Linux - it just seems so outdated?)

 

I guess they're getting there eventually tho ...

While not exactly grandma-friendly, all the popular OSs have their commandline options, including android (lots of Terminal Emulator apps). It's not strictly necessary for Average Joe to be exposed to it, but it can be the easiest way to get things done somtimes.

 

Android is in fact a spyware OS spying on almost everything you do, at least it is in the forms we are most commonly allowed to use (new devices available to buy that come filled with proprietary non-open-source spyware). Your Location, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings, when you think they are OFF, are just for third-party apps. Google (and Apple) are exempt from those settings and turn those features on without notification. Rooting your android device and getting rid of Google apps and the spyware Play Store doesn't get rid of the proprietary spyware code constantly scanning nearby devices. Only open-source custom firmware will get rid of it and give you what you expect: OFF really means OFF. Apple devices are the same & even act as AirTags even when the power is off. There is no custom firmware that I'm aware of to offer Apple users some privacy, yet they love to advertise themselves as a privacy-centred solution. A sad joke. All these companies have deals with countless others to sell your data, and all earn more advertising revenue by knowing more about you.

 

This is without going into countless apps and games spying on you from third parties, and the phone manufacturer themselves bundling their own spyware apps. A good app to scan your apps to reveal the spyware is Classyshark 3xodus available on f-droid.org (f-droid is the best place for open-source apps for android). https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.oF2pks.classyshark3xodus/

 

There are very real health implications to all of this. 

 Nobody likes to talk about it, because the wireless industry is raking in bucketloads of cash and people love their pocket computers.

[maplepants]

I think you're getting the cart before the horse a bit here.

 

Question number 1 should be: What do you want to do in Linux?

 

You already know what software you want to run in Windows, so you need to know what you want to do in Linux too. Then you can decide stuff like whether you should use a VM, which OS should run on bare metal, do you need a full Linux GUI even or would WSL be enough Linux for you?

 

So you should lay out your Linux requirements, and have a basic idea of how important each requirement is. e.g. is it more important to have high frame rates when gaming, or to have as little telemetry as possible sent from your computer to data brokers?

 

Honestly once you've got a ranked list of requirements the questions will basically answer themselves.