Newbie here: is proton a bad thing?
this post was submitted on 08 Apr 2024
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Yes and No.
In the short term the answer is a clear "yes", as it allows players to play nearly all Windows games on Linux without modifications, and game developers to ship their games on Linux without any extra costs.
In the long term it might have a bad effect on the market, as it further helps to cement Microsoft's control over multimedia APIs, since game developers now have little incentive now to target anything other than DirectX...
In this case it's a bit weird though, as the game lists Linux as supported platform, but obviously just ships the Windows build with Proton instead of having a native Linux build that uses open cross-platform APIs.
In the short term the answer is a clear “yes”, as it allows players to play nearly all Windows games on Linux without modifications, and game developers to ship their games on Linux without any extra costs.
How does that make Proton bad?
It's the dual-edged sword of making it more accessible now with a workaround, which disincentives developers from building with actual support in mind.
So Proton is allowing more people to switch to Linux for gaming, which is good! However, instead of putting pressure on developers to make Linux versions of games and software they can just use Proton, so they will continue making only Windows versions, which is bad.
Wow, now you've got me imagining this weird future where everyone has switched to Linux for desktop use because of how bad windows has become, but developers still make games only for windows because of Proton. 😵💫
When Linux has comparable market share we will have some Linux-only games and Windows runs them in WSL
Proton is just the compatibility layer, which allows you to play Windows games on Linux.
It's one of the main reasons so many people switched to Linux in the last months and years, since Proton gets even better from week to week. Something, games designed for Windows run even better on Linux (Proton) than on Windows!
From what I've heard, requiring Proton isn't that bad, especially for the devs. Often, games engineered for Windows run better on Linux than the same ones for Linux.