this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I primarily use my pc for gaming, and want to avoid upgrading to Windows 11. Beginning the journey of looking into alternatives.

I am ignorant, trying to be less so. I have a hard time understanding what exactly makes a game not work just because of OS.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

It all boils down to how such games (and softwares, in general) depend on dependencies. Imagine two teachers, both of which lectures to several students. One of these teachers are a mathematician, and the other teacher is an engineer. The first depends on math books, the latter depends on engineering books. Sure, there are mathematical aspects to engineering, as there are engineering aspects to math sometimes, but a math teacher can't use engineering books to lecture, while the engineering teacher can't use math books to lecture. They need their own set of books, even though these sets can overlap sometimes.

That's a similar situation to Windows and Linux softwares: one depends on Windows set of books, while the other depends on the Linux set of books. You can't just "import" the Windows books into the Linux classroom, because the classroom will also change: back to the analogy, the engineering classroom has engineering instruments and equipment, while the math classroom has scientific calculators and computers running R and Wolfram Mathematica.