I’m going to go on a bit of a computer journey, which I’m also going to be blogging about here – I’m going to try to start the process of transitioning from being a primary Windows user, to a primarily Linux one.
A bit of my background in this – I’ve generally been interested in Linux since I learned about it back in college, but never really got into it for the main reason that one of the major things I use computers for is playing games. Now, for decades, I’d describe the Linux community as having about as warm an attitude for gaming as Steve Jobs did – they hated it. So consequently, I generally looked at Linux at a distance and as a curiosity. I was glad it was there, but I never felt the need to really use it
However, I feel like Valve’s work on SteamOS and Proton injected a bunch of people into the FLOSS movement who actually cared about games, and cared about them a lot, to the point where I found a situation where more and more of my game library became just plain playable on Linux.
Further, some of the elements of enshittification of Windows 11, to try and push the OS into something that is designed to sell services to users, along with hiding useful functions that make the OS easier to use lead me to realize that maybe it’s about time to give Linux a serious go.
So, as my computer has an open M.2 slot, I’ve ordered a SSD for it, and am going to start the process of getting this computer dual booting Linux, eventually with the intent to make it a primary Linux computer.
The Linux distribution I’ll be using is Bazzite. Once the hard drive arrives, I’ll do a follow-up post on the installation.
Here’s the software I’ll be installing on the drive, and the relevant links to the software and installation instructions.
Game Managers
- https://heroicgameslauncher.com/: Replacing GOG Galaxy and Epic Games Launcher.
- https://lutris.net/: As above.
- https://pegasus-frontend.org/: Also as above, also supports Emulation.
Streaming & Video Production
- https://obsproject.com/kb/linux-installation: Streaming
- https://apps.cloud.blackmagicdesign.com/davinci-resolve: Video Editing
Entertainment
- https://harmonoid.com/: Music Player
- https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/?cat=computer&plat=linux: Media Server
- https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/installation/linux/: As Above
- https://wiki.kavitareader.com/installation/native/: Comics and Magazines Manager
- https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Blu-ray: Blu-Ray playback
- https://mpc-qt.github.io/: Media Player
- https://snapcraft.io/pocket-casts
- https://snapcraft.io/apple-music-for-linux
- https://snapcraft.io/libation (Audible)
- https://wiki.kavitareader.com/guides/external-tools/comictagger/: ComicTagger
- https://flathub.org/apps/org.videolan.VLC
Emulation
- https://pcsx2.net/docs/setup/linux/: PS2
- https://www.retroarch.com/?page=platforms: Basically Everything Else
Other Stuff
- https://lutris.net/games/paprika-recipe-manager/: Paprika works through Lutris & Wine
Unfortunately, my current backup software – Backblaze Personal – doesn’t have a Linux version yet. So, likely my next project would be to set up an NAS and move some of the larger media files from my computer to there (along with the media server software), and then figure out from there how I want to handle my backup solution for this computer and the NAS.
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