Linux? Win? Mac?

[Bash]

Linux? Win? Mac?

 

I run ET in a virtual environment (emulated windows) in Linux that eliminates most of the problems I use to have when I ran windows os. With Linux I rarely have issues with the game or the settings. Don't get me wrong there can be problems if you don't have compatible hardware. For instance when I was first learning Linux doing a legacy driver install was a tough one. Or finding a compatible driver that is needed and then install and get it running properly can be a true nightmare if you don't know what your doing. But for the most part the problems just aren't there like there use to be when I ran windows. But It took a lot out of my schedule to learn Linux through the years and to me has been worth the effort. I have seen the Linux open software community grow in leaps and bounds making games and software for drivers ever so easy to install and use.

I'm sorry to say that I have no experience on Mac OS so I can't comment on it. At the time it was touted as the greatest OS and Machine, I just couldn't see paying the cost for a machine because its called brand "X" and everybody thought it was the "new pair of Levi's " at the time to get. Those of you from the 70's know what I'm saying. lol

Well anyway to get to my point, the reason I posted was I wanted to see actually how many people in the community actually use Linux, Win, or Mac to run there ET game.

I run into a lot of peeps in the Linux community that argue just how great Linux is. And I'm on windows forums I hear the same from them. Now we can argue the pros and cons all day, I really don't want to start an argument over what is better and what is not because this is not what this post is about. So you can quote me on this, tell them it's fiction or fact from Bash's Alamanac, but the real fact is this "Whatever Operating System is the most satisfying for you will always be the best for you no matter what anybody else says differently." 

 

So I ask "What is the most satisfying OS to run ET for you and why?"

 

Thx,

Bash

Edited May 25, 2014 by Bash

[SunLight]

I run ET in a virtual environment (emulated windows)

You run ET through wine? why not using the native Linux version of ET?

 

normally I play from Linux

 

pros:

- Linux is my OS so I don't need to reboot

- no antivirus and bs running in background

- stable fps, in servers with pb it's much smoother (but pb is semi-dead except for some etpro servers)

- in_dgamouse setting (no negative acceleration even with high dpi) - but on Windows you can use rinput and similar tools.

- the terminal where you run ET has more console history than the console in ET itself

 

cons:

- some settings are missing (no r_ignorehwgamma)

- no xfire, but I don't care. Pidgin + gfire can connect to xfire but there is no ingame gui.

- no minimizer. I use openbox as desktop, and I run et in windowed mode with undecorated window on another desktop so I can switch, but if I ran fullscreen I would have troubles

- you can't paste in the console (but you can paste in the terminal, which is the same. and you can also copy from there)

- when I used to play etpro with tzac I had to run windows, now I don't play etpro and tzac is dead, but still a potential problem with developers doing stuff only for Windows.

 

to answer your question:

ET on Windows is probably better but who cares... Linux all the way

[Shana]

Mostly it's up to you. Sope frefer linux and others windows.

Configuration means a lot. For example arch linux vs windows.

I definitely prefer arch because I can edit anything I want. And in windows I need to seek for programs that change stuff...

Also I have feeling that linuxes are more stable than windowses.

If you are up to challenge try gentoo linux

 

Th3o

[SunLight]

I definitely prefer arch because I can edit anything I want. And in windows I need to seek for programs that change stuff...

I use Arch Linux as well.

 

I took me a while to install (if compared to Ubuntu it takes a lot, I remember it took me like 2 hours just to have a root login without other users, no desktop, etc.) and sometimes you need to fix a couple of things manually (when there are updates).

 

But at least I have only things I've installed myself and my pc doesn't do things behind the curtains.

[Vanaraud]

Tried ET on Ubuntu, didn´t see improvements on FPS\lag.

 

So using Windows for ET.

[Shana]

Ubuntu is ram hungry, and I have feeling that ubu acts slower than windows.

@SunLight Yea, it's fun to play with it. Try gentoo and you will say that arch is easy to install

 

About fps, et should work faster on light systems(gentoo>arch>windows>ubuntu). Also while using linux choose for example xfce environment rather than gnome or kde. Once again the biggest part about fps is getting good configuration. As an example I could run et on stable 60fps on 1,2ghz single core, 768mb ram, 64 vram while being on arch linux. On different pc, 1,6 ghz dual core, 1gb ram, 256vram barely stable 20 fps on windows. Maybe It's just me but I saw the difference

 

Th3o

[Bash]

I run Red hat, FreeBSD, Mint, and openSUSE. But I only play ET in Mint. The other flavors I use strictly for Admin purposes. I have tried Ubuntu an ran it for about a month and as Th3ory said it is a big ram/resource hog. Beside the fact that the owners (Canonical) do collect data about your web searches and those get sent to third party advertizers as well. Even if you don't install the Ubuntu One program within the OS they still track your searches.

The Mint Linux is a Ubuntu based distro but I dont have the problems like I did in Ubuntu. You just have to be careful what you install and update to keep the little gremlins that run behind the scenes in this Ubuntu based Linux from coming up. 

I'am going to goof around this week and install Arch Linux and see how it does. Never tried it before. I'm kinda looking forward to it after reading what you guys had to say about it. See if I can tweak a good configuration out of it. Thanks for the info on it. Also I plan on re-installing Debian and seeing how ET runs in its native environment. I'll let you guys know my results on Arch, hope it runs good for me.

[parrot]

I run Mint at home (game on it, native Linux client), Arch on my work machine, along with a windows box (I use Synergy) and Arch on my kid's computer. Most of my servers that I admin are Cent, including my webserver. A few are Ubuntu (like our LTSP server).

 

I use the windows box for Active Directory management and for things I have to be joined to the domain for. I love Linux, don't see any reason to change.

 

P.S.

 

I also play a ton of games from Steam, natively on Linux. Metro is badass.

[BadRonald]

I played in Windows for years, but I play it now on Linux.  The only difference for me is that I can't ALT+Enter to the desktop, and the keypad doesn't work with numlock on.  Otherwise it works just fine.

Edited May 27, 2014 by BadRonald

[SunLight]

A thing to say about Arch Linux is, since it updates things very often and to the (almost) latest version (anyway usually newer than Ubuntu), sometimes updates will break something (but it happens everywhere, not only on Arch).

 

And Linux in general is still a pain in the *** for many things...

 

For example, I used to watch videos with mplayer or vlc.. now it crashes the X server out of the blue, and I have to change an option to make it work, but with hd videos it's slower than before. I go on Windows and it uses the gpu to accelerate, all smooth, etc. etc. in other words Windows might be crappy and slow for some things, but 'it just works' (usually).

 

On Linux you upgrade and suddenly something that was working stops working, I mean, it's not nice for someone who would like just a 'usable' system, without too much worries and headaches.

[Shana]

@SunLight 

Thanks God for dual-boot

And I'm used to use different programs on arch than on windows. And It's rare for me to repair some programs cause they stopped working after update

 

Th3o

[SunLight]

And I'm used to use different programs on arch than on windows. And It's rare for me to repair some programs cause they stopped working after update

generally I wait for them to work again after some other update

[Shana]

generally I wait for them to work again after some other update

Hahaha, Best solution ever!

I'd like to merge linux with windows. Like one big company would work on "perfect system". Where we can edit everything and everything works as we want to!

 

Th3o

[BadRonald]

On Linux you upgrade and suddenly something that was working stops working,

 

That's typical with Arch, but there are many other distros besides Arch, many of which are perfectly stable after an update.

 

Go with Mint/Ubuntu, OpenSuse, or Fedora if you want something that is actually stable enough to use on a regular basis.

Edited May 28, 2014 by BadRonald

[PiNoY]

I am  quitenew to Arch-based OS specially Arch linux itself, and find it very customizable and amazingly fast. I was surprised to see booting in less than 7 and powers down in 3 secs, not to mention it's simple and not bloated. I did Arch updates very often to see for any broken usability but so far so good considering that I have tried other linux flavors around including server-side OS. 

 

As a beginner to Arch linux, I spent hours trying to learn only the installation itself but since it was not my first linux distro, I find online help  by using an extra PC for reading those well documented wikis. From then on, I was testing many stuff like Gnome, XFCE4, Fluxbox and Openbox from the past days and I must say that users can extremely customize their setup the way they want their desktops to be. I started with Openbox with it just today and I find it as my fav among the mentioned ones. I would suggest to get another PC if it would be your very first Arch installation as the wiki would come quite handy when doing the installation by hands.

 

With the concern, I could say the OS you would choose would depend on the type of user would be. Some end-users prefer to use out of the box apps that is good to go, not requiring further settings and simply accepting the default setup as it is. I think (I could be wrong) that Linux would not  be quite easy acceptance for them.  While Mac on the other hand is also good though not as affordable as the rest. For extravagant choice, you could go for it. I am never was a Mac user so I could not say anything further than that.

 

On the other hand, if users *really* wanted to get away with Windows and swim along with Linux as an alternative OS, I would suggest Manjaro Linux OS which is also Arch-based. This OS runs quite well with my Dell lappy and other desktops that I have access to, easily detecting all devices that I have including WiMax and Nvidia.

 

I guess, it would up be to end-users on the factors of how you want your own desktop to be. Goodluck and sorry for long post.

Edited May 28, 2014 by PiNoY