diff --git a/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-2/index.md b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-2/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9d7e25 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-2/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,89 @@ +--- +url: "/posts/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-2/" +date: 2026-05-03T01:00:00Z +description: "How to set up Steam and Proton on Linux, use ProtonDB, and my real experience gaming on CachyOS - including Baldur's Gate 3 and the state of Nvidia GPU support." +draft: true +slug: "gaming-on-linux-in-2026" +tags: ["linux", "gaming", "cachyOS", "steam", "proton"] +categories: ["tech"] +title: "Migrating to Linux in 2026: Gaming on Linux Actually Works" +series: ["migrating-to-linux"] +series_order: 2 + +--- + +In [Part 1](/posts/moving-to-linux-in-2026/) I covered why I left Windows and how I installed CachyOS. Now let's talk about the part everyone is worried about - gaming. + +--- + +## How Does Installing Games Work? + +If you followed my guide from Part 1 you should already have Steam installed via the `cachyos-gaming-meta` package - you don't need anything else. All the default stuff is already installed in the distribution. + +Now comes the fun part. There is one thing you need to be aware of: obviously most games don't support Linux natively. So for that reason you have to use Proton. I won't go deep into how exactly Proton works but it's basically something that translates instructions so Linux is able to run Windows executables. Think of it like macOS Rosetta. + + + +### Setting Up Steam for Linux Gaming + +I recommend going to Steam settings and setting the compatibility to the Linux Proton / Steam OS / CachyOS version. If you choose this option you should be good to go - Steam will try to use this Proton version each time you install and start a game. + + + +--- + +## ProtonDB - Your Best Friend + +You need to get familiar with [ProtonDB](https://www.protondb.com/). It's incredibly helpful for gamers on Linux. + +I recommend logging in via Steam. First you will see all the games you own and you can directly see each game's support score. You can also help the community by writing your own findings and research. + + + +### Understanding the Scores + +- **Platinum / Native** - you don't have to worry about anything, just start the game +- **Gold** - you might have to do some tweaking or research to improve the experience +- **Silver / Bronze** - expect more issues, but solutions often exist + +I must have been lucky but so far I have not seen worse than gold. Not sure how badly the games would run on silver or bronze. Luckily I did not have the chance to find out. + +I always recommend searching for the game you want to play on ProtonDB before launching it. If you see platinum you can play without any extra configuration. If you see gold you might have to consider doing some tweaking or check if recently a native Linux binary has been released. Actually this keeps happening more and more - Linux gaming is finally getting a much needed boost. + +And last thing I recommend based on my experience - don't give up. If you find some problem or the game is just buggy, keep searching. There is a very high chance you will find a solution that fixes the issue. + +--- + +## My Experience: Baldur's Gate 3 + +For me a good example is trying to run Baldur's Gate 3. I started the game and what happened - for the first time I had low FPS. I was afraid of this, but I kept doing research on Reddit and the internet. + + + +![Baldur's Gate 3 on Linux](files/019d81a6-590f-7369-ae8d-ceb5de6b3e62/image.png) + +After a while I found that there is actually a native Linux binary which I had to select manually since the default option was to use Proton (this happens when a game shows as gold but there is a native binary available). After switching to the native version I had full vsync FPS experience. + +**Lesson learned:** Don't fully trust ProtonDB scores. It may seem like Proton is working fine but there might be a native binary that runs much better. Always check. + + + +--- + +## Nvidia Gaming on Linux + +It's a well known fact that gaming on Linux is better for AMD GPU users. As of early 2026 the support for Nvidia GPUs is still not ideal but it's getting much better - we might get full Nvidia GPU support this year. + + + +I am considering upgrading in the near future to an Nvidia 5070 Ti. Although currently the support is not great - based on my research current Nvidia users see about 30% lower performance. This is a huge limiting factor! However there are new drivers coming to CachyOS which promise to remove this limitation, which is great news for Nvidia users and may bring more people to CachyOS and Linux in general. + + + +--- + +## What's Next + +In the next and final part of this series I'll cover the tools and optimizations that made my Linux gaming experience even better - overclocking with LACT, fan control with CoolerControl, FSR tweaks with Optiscaler, and more. + + diff --git a/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-3/index.md b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-3/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a7515c --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-3/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,100 @@ +--- +url: "/posts/moving-to-linux-in-2026-part-3/" +date: 2026-05-03T01:00:00Z +description: "The tools and tweaks that took my Linux gaming setup to the next level - overclocking, fan control, FSR mods, AI terminal helpers, and more." +draft: true +slug: "linux-gaming-tools-and-optimization-2026" +tags: ["linux", "gaming", "cachyOS", "optimization", "tools"] +categories: ["tech"] +title: "Migrating to Linux in 2026: Tools and Optimization" +series: ["migrating-to-linux"] +series_order: 3 + +--- + +In [Part 1](/posts/moving-to-linux-in-2026/) I covered why I left Windows and installing CachyOS. In [Part 2](/posts/gaming-on-linux-in-2026/) I covered gaming with Steam and Proton. Now let's talk about the tools and tweaks that made my Linux experience even better. + +After a while I started doing research on how to get better performance. Honestly for me this might be more fun than just playing games - I feel my friends think I am weird, but I find this to be a game in itself. If you are like me and want to try some improvements, I prepared a few topics I found that can be useful but are not required. + +--- + +## Overclocking on AMD with LACT + +The first thing you will miss coming from Windows is AMD's Adrenaline tool. But on Linux we have [LACT](https://github.com/ilya-zlobintsev/LACT). + +This tool adds overclocking support for AMD GPUs. Nvidia GPUs sadly have limited support right now. + + + +![LACT overclocking interface](files/019d81a3-a45a-76bd-8ab7-a43891a8910d/Screenshot_20260412_130252.png) + + + +--- + +## Optiscaler - Enable FSR3 or FSR4 for Games That Only Support FSR 2 + +This is still an experiment but I am trying to give it a chance and see improvements. + +Sadly FSR 4 is only supported on RDNA 4 architecture - I feel AMD copied Nvidia here. Although there is someone trying to find a compiler that will add FSR 4 support to RDNA 2. I might consider upgrading if that succeeds. + +Note that Optiscaler only supports Windows, meaning on Linux it only works via Proton. If you have a native Linux binary you cannot use Optiscaler - however most games are being played via Proton so I don't think this is an issue. + + + +--- + +## CoolerControl - Fan Control for Linux + +If you follow JayzTwoCents you might have heard of FanControl on Windows - a great piece of software that makes it easy to set up fans for maximum cooling. On Linux there is [CoolerControl](https://docs.coolercontrol.org/) which works basically the same way. The UI is different but the functionality is the same. + +You can have multiple profiles like GPU or CPU which you can bind to each cooler in your PC, or use a MIX profile which works the same way as on FanControl (the coolest feature IMHO). + + + +![CoolerControl interface](files/019da79e-fa82-732b-a78b-c70d0b4b95da/CoolerControl-screenshot-1.png) + + + +--- + +## opencode - AI in Your Terminal + +I highly recommend this tool to anyone. I think it can help beginners or anyone who has knowledge of Linux. Since it's 2026 you don't need to ask forums or Reddit for help - you can use AI right in your terminal. + +Install it from [opencode.ai](https://opencode.ai/) or via AUR. Why opencode? It's very convenient - instead of using Copilot or ChatGPT in a browser, this runs in the console and can update your configuration locally. Just tell it your problem and what you need to fix. The better you describe the problem, the better it will work. + +You don't need to log in - just install it and use the free models which are good enough. No need to pay for extra models, though if you have a ChatGPT subscription you can use their API token. + + + + +--- + +## Little Snitch - The Best Firewall + +On my personal Mac I have had this program installed for about 10 years and have never been happier. It's not an antivirus - just a networking monitoring tool. The irony is that it can be better than any antivirus since some malware will never trigger if you have this tool watching your network traffic. + +I was very happy to hear that this year they released a [free open source Linux version](https://obdev.at/products/littlesnitch-linux/download.html) - from the same company. + +I don't plan to use antivirus on Linux, however I will definitely use this tool. Installation on CachyOS is a little tricky though - I installed it via AUR and then used a PWA from the Firefox browser. There is also an option to natively build it by cloning from GitHub. + + + +--- + +## Vicinae - Spotlight for Linux + +I am used to Raycast on macOS which is not yet supported on Linux. Vicinae is a similar tool - like Spotlight for Linux. I recommend it but it's not strictly needed. CachyOS actually has a native spotlight-like feature - just press `Alt + Space`. + + + +--- + +## Final Thoughts + +After three weeks of daily driving CachyOS I can confidently say - Linux in 2026 is ready for gaming. The combination of CachyOS, Steam with Proton, and the tools I described in this series made the switch almost painless. There are still rough edges, especially for Nvidia users, but the trajectory is clear. + +If you've been sitting on the fence, just try it. You might be surprised. + + diff --git a/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026/index.md b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec96735 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/2026/moving-to-linux-in-2026/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ +--- +url: "/posts/moving-to-linux-in-2026/" +date: 2026-05-03T01:00:00Z +description: "I finally decided to move to Linux and I want to share my experience for anyone thinking about making the switch in 2026." +draft: true +slug: "moving-to-linux-in-2026" +tags: ["linux", "gaming", "cachyOS"] +categories: ["tech"] +title: "Migrating to Linux in 2026: Why I Left Windows and Never Looked Back" +series: ["migrating-to-linux"] +series_order: 1 + +--- + +As many others I decided that I have enough of Microsoft's random updates and breaking things all the time, telemetry, forced Microsoft products like Teams, OneDrive and AI **everywhere**. I simply said enough and although there is sort of hype right now to move to Linux, honestly I was not sure if this is a good choice. I have good experience with Linux on all platforms like servers (honestly Linux is now almost everywhere) but not exactly with desktop - the gaming desktop. + + + +--- + +## Choosing the Right Distro + +The most important step here. Or is it? There are a lot of choices today - there are [so many distributions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions) to choose from. + +In 2026 it does not really matter - there are many stable distributions that can be used for gaming. However I noticed one specific Linux distribution that caught my eye. It's **CachyOS**. + +There is currently huge hype around CachyOS and I thought why not try it. Everyone keeps saying that this distribution is really stable, has great drivers - after installation no need to do anything else. + + + +--- + +## My Hardware + +- CPU: AMD 5600 +- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800 +- System runs on NVME SSD 1TB +- 32GB RAM + +Resolution I use on my monitor is 3840×1600 (ultrawide 2K) with refresh rate 75Hz. + +--- + +## Installing CachyOS + +The installation was pretty easy and simple. I had zero issues and honestly I was blown away that everything worked since first boot - I did not have to install any drivers, compile any additional kernel - none of that. Although you can, but for me that's overkill since I wanted to just give it a try and simulate being an average Windows user. + +After a couple of minutes I had the installed version on my PC ready, no need for extra configuration - I chose mostly the defaults. + + + +### Post-Installation + +After the installation I installed the gaming packages: + +```bash +sudo pacman -S cachyos-gaming-meta +``` + +```bash +sudo pacman -S cachyos-gaming-applications +``` + +And that's it. The system was ready. + + + +![CachyOS desktop after setup](files/019d88f1-22ed-767b-ac7d-889c4d38bbe3/image.png) + +--- + +## First Impressions + +I had zero issues so far and I am shocked. Yes I had to do some configuration but overall it's all good. Every game I tried runs smoothly. + +So far I have zero reasons to go back to Windows. With my current hardware I am happy. And remember - it's not about the distro, it's about Linux. Find the distro that works best for you. I might also migrate to a different distro in the near future but for now I am very happy where I am. + + + +--- + +## What's Next + +This is just the beginning of my journey. In the next parts of this series I'll cover: + +- **Part 2: Gaming on Linux** - how to set up Steam, Proton, and ProtonDB. My experience with games like Baldur's Gate 3 and the current state of Nvidia GPU support. +- **Part 3: Tools and Optimization** - overclocking with LACT, fan control with CoolerControl, FSR tweaks with Optiscaler, and other tools that made my Linux experience even better. + +