Gaming Question

[nankura]

Hey guys

now i know this has been asked before, but alot consistantly changes in the linux world, im semi new

i started linux back with freespire, i loved that version of linux, everything worked out of the box and it was simple. and good looking, but that died

so i took a long break from linux and now im back and using Mint 10 Gnome, Ubuntu and looking at OpenSUSE

Now i have not had many issues with Mint 10 or any distro, linux has progressed alot and yes i understand no matter what release you use, you'll still end up using Playonlinux or crossover linux for gaming

My question revolves around opinions and experiences

Basically. to make things short, which linux distro have you guys found to the best for gaming, graphics wise, support wise, installation wise, support for crossover/playonlinux

[Nagarjuna]

Hey, nankura. Welcome to Linux-Forums.

I'm still learning the ropes as well, but I've used quite a few distributions and have been running games on Linux for awhile now. From my personal experience, I find that games generally perform the same on most distributions.

However, in my opinion the best gaming machine would be minimalistic. It has the bare-essentials for running games, and that's it. The less processes using up your memory and CPU means more room for games to run. All Linux distributions depend really on the same stuff, which is your video drivers and the WINE libraries.

So, for minimalism I would recommend Arch Linux (which I tend to recommend for everything). It's light-weight with an excellent package manager. It will require a little work to setup however. Here is an excellent guide if you choose to do so: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners%27_Guide. Also, Gentoo and Crux are great too.

I hope this answers your questions. I'm sure a pro here will have a few more insights that I've failed to see!

Have fun with your new gaming machine.

[nankura]

ive actually heard of gentoo been one of the best gaming releases, not just for the light weight system, but its the first linux to go for the "play and play" gaming scene without needing emulation software

the only problem with gentoo is theres so many iso's to download and i have no idea which one to get, which one has the GTK/Gnome desktop/installers/etc

[Nagarjuna]

ive actually heard of gentoo been one of the best gaming releases, not just for the light weight system, but its the first linux to go for the "play and play" gaming scene without needing emulation software

the only problem with gentoo is theres so many iso's to download and i have no idea which one to get, which one has the GTK/Gnome desktop/installers/etc

If you choose the Gentoo route, I recommend reading the Gentoo Handbook. Find it here for the x86 architecture: Gentoo Linux Documentation -- Gentoo Linux x86 Handbook

As far as which .iso to download, this depends on your CPU architecture. Likely you'll want the x86 installation. You can download it here: http://mirrors.kernel.org/gentoo/rel...l-20110322.iso

Again, I recommend you follow the handbook as you install Gentoo onto your system.

Have fun, and if you run into any walls.. Just ask us!

[nankura]

im confused already haha

my processor is an AMD Phenom 2 955 Black edition

i have no idea which linux is best for me, im not good with advanced stuff, i just want simple

yet i am aware of what linux requires compared to windows, u do need some knowledge, ofc i can setup wine/playonlinux etc, stuff like that

but complicated installs stump me. lol

i like the whole "next next next thing" but, i have to say , gentoo ( unless u know otherwise ) is the only linux ive seen with pure "gaming" support so i really do want to try it

[Nagarjuna]

It's no sweat! Gentoo probably isn't for everybody, at least in my opinion.

If you'd like a intuitive, easy to use, yet powerful system, I'd say stick with Ubuntu for now.. At least until you feel more comfortable with Linux. It's certainly one of, if not the most popular Linux distribution, which means you will likely find more support and information on the Internet applied towards Ubuntu. Also they have an excellent community. I used to be a regular on their forums.

Ubuntu was my first real Linux system back during the Gutsy Gibbon days. I ran World of Warcraft, Half-life 2, Counter-Strike and many more games. They all ran I'd say just as good as they did on Windows, with maybe a few small glitches here and there.. Nothing that couldn't be ironed out. However, you will find games that just don't run, or don't run very well.

Here is a link to WINE's application database. Here you can look up a game and see how it's rated. As you can see, a majority of these are tested on Ubuntu WineHQ - Wine Application Database.

Anyways, I'd say try out Ubuntu. I really don't think you'd see a huge difference between any distribution when it comes to gaming. You can always kill off high CPU/MEM processes before you game.

And if Linux doesn't work out for your gaming needs, you can always dual-boot with Windows. Just boot-up Windows for games and Linux for everything else

I hope this helps. If you need help with installation, there is TONS of information on the Internet. But, if you can't figure something out, feel free to ask here.

Good luck and have fun.

[nankura]

Ok!

Ive decided on linux mint :P, idk its pretty much the exact same thing as ubuntu and just something about it i really like more than ubuntu

But there are only 3 things stopping me from switching to linux as a main OS, gaming is fine, ive done research and all my games are supported by crossover and playonlinux, im buying crossover if i switch

the 3 things stopping me are

1. the taskbar and applications, ok one thing i love about windows is the "taskbar" and when you hit X, or lower an application, it goes into that little taskbar section in windows 7, i cant find this in linux, if i hit X on messenger, or a program, it closes it

2. Windows Live Messenger 2011 - im a heavy msn user, all my contacts are there, but i adore my profile pics, and the interface, i cant stand the messenger mint comes with, and i have no idea which messenger is most "windows live" like. i need my msn looks

3. The Email client, ive tried both on ubuntu and mint, both email clients they offer dont seperate folders, thunderbird just puts all my emails in an inbox. and theres no junk folder, and my seperated important folders arent exsistant


If i can get fix's to these problems, i will surely switch to linux in a click of a finger, linux mint is so nice and smooth and fun

[rajatmendus]

I think u should use Ubuntu. Its good for playing games. You can make the task bar attractive in ubuntu and add many desktop and menu effects which is awesome. In ubuntu it is very easy to install new softwares and updates because a software center is provided. So there is no need to go in search of packages. Everything needed almost all is available in the Ubuntu software center. I think windows live messenger is also available there.

If u like windows then i think u can install the ubuntu windows theme. There are many other email clients in ubuntu. Just download and install it from the ubuntu software center and try it out.

Well just remember this. Linux based servers are the best as compared to windows. Linux based desktops editions are in the developing stage. When its fully developed linux will be the best.

[nankura]

yea i understand were linux is at, and ive already researched which games work and which dont and thats fine

its just those 3 little things i wanna workout before i move. once those are worked out, im all set in linux to get up and running

and i thought mint 10 basically is the same thing as ubuntu

[ramin.honary]

But there are only 3 things stopping me from switching to linux as a main OS, gaming is fine, ive done research and all my games are supported by crossover and playonlinux, im buying crossover if i switch

There is one problem with Games, they are NOT open source. Non-open-source software does not work well with open-source software. One of the biggest problems is graphics drivers. But the real problem is the open-source philosophy, and most game makers see this as a threat to them making money, so they intentionally make it very difficult or impossible to use their games on Linux (I talk more about this here). However, if you are talking about playing open-source games, then you will have lots of fun with Linux. Radeon graphics cards are nice, and the AMD corporation usually has good graphics drivers that work well with Linux.

1. the taskbar and applications, ok one thing i love about windows is the "taskbar" and when you hit X, or lower an application, it goes into that little taskbar section in windows 7, i cant find this in linux, if i hit X on messenger, or a program, it closes it

Are you using "Gnome"? The Gnome Panel is the same thing as the Windows "Taskbar". Before you login, you can choose which Session you use, and you can switch to Gnome. You can also open the Gnome Control Center and goto the Appearance settings, and set your windows to include the [_][O][X] buttons in the window decoration. Clicking the [_] button will minimize the window into the taskbar.

If your taskbar doesn't show minimized windows, you can add this feature yourself. Right-click on the Panel, select the popup-menu "Add to Panel...", and then add a Window List to the panel

2. Windows Live Messenger 2011 - im a heavy msn user, all my contacts are there, but i adore my profile pics, and the interface, i cant stand the messenger mint comes with, and i have no idea which messenger is most "windows live" like. i need my msn looks

I am sorry to say I have bad news. Like the game makers, Microsoft makes it impossible to use their software with Linux; they do this on purpose! They think Linux is a threat to them making money, so they make it impossible for people who use their software to change to Linux unless they choose to leave all of their old favorite software and data behind. The way Microsoft thinks is: "Hey, if people want to change to Linux thats fine. Its their choice if they want to loose all of their personal data. (Ha Ha!)"
...But it is kind of your fault for using Microsoft to begin with! You should have known just how bad they are. This is the reason we use Linux, to never let them hold our data hostage ever again, to never let them force us to use their software.

3. The Email client, ive tried both on ubuntu and mint, both email clients they offer dont seperate folders, thunderbird just puts all my emails in an inbox. and theres no junk folder, and my seperated important folders arent exsistant

Which e-mail service do you use? Is it IMAP or POP3 type? Both Thunderbird and Evolution allow you use folders, and folders-inside-folders if your mail server allows that (like "gmail.com" allows folders and folders-inside-folders). You need to search your "File" menu in Thunderbird or Evolution for a "subscribe to folders" function. Finally, if you use "www.msn.com" or "www.gmail.com" for e-mail, the filters are part of the web application. It is not possible to export mail filters from online mail clients to regular mail clients like Thunderbird. Maybe "msn.com" allows you to synchronize mail filters with Outlook, but this feature is a specialty of "msn.com", and most other mail services do not allow you to do this.

If i can get fix's to these problems, i will surely switch to linux in a click of a finger, linux mint is so nice and smooth and fun

I hope you switch to Linux forever, otherwise you will always be stuck with Microsoft software, no matter how good or how crappy the software is. They force people to keep using their software by holding your data, documents, buddy-lists, and all other personal things hostage to their software. And you can't change because they make it impossible to switch your data to a different computer. It is really terrible, but that's how they make money. So I hope you can learn to stay away from non open-source software from now on.