Akseli got tired of the Windows 10 Updates and Gave Linux a Try


Hi, been listening to this podcast for a while and I really like it. Here's a very long enthusiastic ramble I wrote about Linux I just really wanted to share. 

To start, I am not completely new to using Linux though, since I installed my first Linux on my Xbox (the classic, first one)! It was called Xbox Damn Small Linux or XDSL for short, I think. Back then watching Youtube on your console was mind blowing. I've also tinkered with it every now and then with my other devices, but never really fully committed to it. 

Anyways, I switched in summer since I was tired of Windows 10 updates, but most importantly, I read all around internet that games are now working better and better on Linux. Now I like gaming a lot, and I also like making games, and I felt like it's now or never, I gotta try this! I got myself Kubuntu ISO and did the switch, although I left my Win10 installation on my other drive. 

And here I am, almost 6 months later.. And I haven't touched my Windows installation at all. I've rediscovered my enthusiasm for computers, due to being able to actually look inside of everything, see how things work. I can fix my issues myself, me and some others on Github figured out how to fix GSP 670 headset to make it work properly on Linux: github.com/szszoke/sennheiser-gsp670-pulseaudio-profile/issues/13 And now that fix is in kernel!! That's super cool to me. On windows I would have had to wait for the manufacturer to fix the issue, but on Linux we just rolled up our sleeves and began to figure things out! 

All games I play, from EVE Online to Quake Champions work really well thanks to steam proton and that is BIG for me. Sure there are issues sometimes, but then the community of that game will either butt heads together and figure things out, or work with the developers if they're chill enough, and soon we're back to gaming. 

On gamedev side, I've felt way more productive too. Unity works really well on Linux, I started learning how to use neovim (i really really love it) and my open source game project is much much easier to work on on Linux, since C development is much easier to set up. (Game link, it's still very barebones though github.com/Akselmo/artificial-rage) 

I also created a tool for Elder Scrolls Online players, a native GTK app that downloads addons for the game, since the semi-official tools don't really work with wine. It's not as feature rich, but it makes the addon updating way easier. (Link to the tool github.com/Akselmo/ESOLinuxAddonManager ) 

Just being able to contribute to a community of computer enthusiasts like this, just.. Do things and help each other. It's really great. And I am super enthusiastic about it! I hope I can contribute to Linux community in future too, and my future games will be made Linux first. :) 

All in all, I'm super happy that I switched to Linux. I haven't had this much fun using my computer for a long time. And I think it's pretty much all thanks to gaming being way more possible on Linux now, since it is a very big part of my life. 

Hopefully this cheered up your day! Keep up the good work with your podcasts, it gets me through my work days!