One of the biggest things holding me back from jumping definitively on Linux is possibly getting rid of the apps/games i’m comfortable with and know well. How do you exaclty use Wine/Proton? You install it, launch the app with it and pray it works? Are there ways to know what is not working and possibly try to fix them googling or reading the documentation?
Don’t you worry about it, wine has been around since the 90s. So many desktop apps you like on windows will be really functional, and you can see their individual compatibility ratings on https://appdb.winehq.org/ For games, it’s another mater. But most of the time it’s fine wether it be on steam proton or wine-ge. Try it for a few weeks and you’ll find yourself happy, but still harassing devs for a native Linux release :)
Gaming: I just Steam for most games, I use Proton GE for better performance in some games
General SW: For things that are light and work with Wine, I will use just that. For SW that needs the Windows “runtime” like the Xbox Accessories SW for my Elite controller, I use a VirtualBox.
Most of my needs are covered by regular Linux apps, such as a Browser, Development environment and Media.
Recently switched to Linux Mint.
There are really just a couple extra steps to set up Linux for gaming. In my opinion it takes less time to install proton ge, Lurtis or Heroic than downloading and installing GPU drivers on windows:)
For 90% I just download the game via Steam and enable Proton GE (if its not native) and play it straight away.
In some cases if Im not happy with performance I check the Proton DB page to see what settings/proton version/launch commands other people are using and that solves it 9 out of 10.
If you have GoG, Uplay, Epic, etc games just use Heroic or Lutris. Again, first time setup can take 20-30 min using a video tutorial, but after that its all good to go.
Both tools can be used from the terminal like most Linux programs, which should also give you better control during troubleshooting and also in the rarer cases of having to set up/run some more temperamental games. There are also graphical programs that handle Wine/Proton in a more friendly way, such as Heroic Launcher, Lutris and, specifically for Proton, Steam itself.
Bottles
Probably not the answer you want to hear, but I just use steam and proton db. If something doesn’t work or I can’t fix it, it’s the cost of freedom and I do without.
Bonus points you can be a moralistic douche when your friends give you a hard time. (You’ll have to do without friends too.)
