I’m not speaking from personal experience as such because I’ve been using Linux since the late 90’s, but I do know a bunch of people who haven’t had great experiences with Linux, mainly due to eg wanting to run games – which is fairly easy nowadays thanks to Proton but it’s still not as stupid simple as just installing a game in Windows – or driver problems (esp graphics)
Gotcha, thanks for clarifying. I definitely recognize that gaming isn’t 100% perfect on Linux yet, and graphics drivers can still be a pain. I think both of those statements hold true on Windows though, and I don’t think I’d consider a gamer an “average” PC user. PC gaming is a niche hobby. A large niche maybe, but it’s not the main thing people use a PC for. So I think it’s a little unfair to point to gaming-related issues when trying to claim that Linux isn’t user-friendly.
I wouldn’t call gaming a niche hobby at all – I know plenty of people who aren’t “technically-minded” in any way but who still play games on their computers and not just on mobile devices or consoles. 54% of Europeans aged 6-64 played games according to a 2024 poll, 43% of them on a PC – that’s a huge chunk of the population.
So your argument is that because less than 51% of the population uses computers for gaming, it’s “unfair” to point to problems people have with Linux and games?
I’m not speaking from personal experience as such because I’ve been using Linux since the late 90’s, but I do know a bunch of people who haven’t had great experiences with Linux, mainly due to eg wanting to run games – which is fairly easy nowadays thanks to Proton but it’s still not as stupid simple as just installing a game in Windows – or driver problems (esp graphics)
Gotcha, thanks for clarifying. I definitely recognize that gaming isn’t 100% perfect on Linux yet, and graphics drivers can still be a pain. I think both of those statements hold true on Windows though, and I don’t think I’d consider a gamer an “average” PC user. PC gaming is a niche hobby. A large niche maybe, but it’s not the main thing people use a PC for. So I think it’s a little unfair to point to gaming-related issues when trying to claim that Linux isn’t user-friendly.
I wouldn’t call gaming a niche hobby at all – I know plenty of people who aren’t “technically-minded” in any way but who still play games on their computers and not just on mobile devices or consoles. 54% of Europeans aged 6-64 played games according to a 2024 poll, 43% of them on a PC – that’s a huge chunk of the population.
Same survey:
I know there’s overlap, people who play multiple devices, but even with that, 43% is smaller than the other numbers
I’m not sure what your point is? 43% of 54% is still 23% of the population – is a quarter of Europeans aged 6-64 “a niche”?
By definition, yes, as in “not the majority”
So your argument is that because less than 51% of the population uses computers for gaming, it’s “unfair” to point to problems people have with Linux and games?
No, I am just splitting hairs for no reason reason, ain’t got a horse in this race
Looks like the numbers are similar for the US: 64% of the population plays games, 45% of them using PCs: https://www.theesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2025-Essential-Facts-Booklet-05-30-25-RGB.pdf