I switched to Linux!
(And why you should too)

7/24/2026

Happy first blog post! I will hopefully have more writings in the future, about many many more topics than just computers. But, as this has been a scary topic for many people, I wanted to share it here.

As a computer science student, the idea of running linux has always been at the back of my mind. I have to use linux machines at university, and it is genuinely a lot easier to do anything coding-wise on Linux. There are many, many other reasons to switch though. Nevertheless, I always came up with the same complaints: everything I use now will be unsupported, I won't be able to play games anymore, blah blah blah. Well, the gaming one is partially true. Any game with an annoying enough anti-cheat (the kernel-level stuff) will usually have zero chances of running on Linux, at least as of writing this. There is ONE game that I play with such an anti-cheat: Fortnite.

So, I made a compromise. I kept my windows operating system, and installed Linux Mint on another SSD. I installed/migrated everything as much as possible onto my new Linux OS. It took about two to three hours to go from downloading the ISO to installing the last application. Turns out, everything works, almost always with the same app. There are some things, like for example Runescape, that require me to switch launchers. But the third-party launcher is better than the first-party one. In fact, this is the case for many things on Linux. There is almost always an open-source, third-party alternative to whatever you used on Windows -- but it's usually better. Also I have in fact installed neovim, because I just love increasing my prospects of getting laid.

Another huge pro is that there is no spy-ware, no big company controlling your entire OS, no Microsoft-Edge-installed-and-unable-to-be-uninstalled. I understand that it's annoying to have to start from zero when your current setup probably works fine, but in almost every case, it will end up being worth it. In our current political and economic climate, maxizing the amount of third-party, decentralized things is what will help us break out of the opression by the corporations. Why would you want another undemocratic, monopolistic company controlling everything you own? In the past, the case could've been made for staying on Windows due to OS stability general software support. But in the past few years, as Microsoft has lost touch more and more with what its users need (allowing them to be more in touch with their quartlerly earnings), the few things one loses in switching to Linux are greatly outweighed by the things that one gains. Who would say no to democracy?

As far as gaming goes, the Proton compatiblity layer built into Steam allows you to run basically anything. If Proton doesn't work, you can try WINE (which is what Proton is built on). There are most definitely other ways, but Proton has worked for everything that I've tried to run. You may be wondering, what's all this talk about switching away from first-party big corporations if I'm just going to turn around and use Steam? Well, I'm not telling you to spend money on the platform. You can add any .exe file you want to Steam and in the game's Properties tab enable the compatibility layer. Steam just facilitates running the game. Also, I'm pretty sure you can install Proton separately from Steam on your computer, if you prefer. Here's the proton repo on github.

I am not sharing this just to preach, but rather to illustrate how it is certainly possible, if not plausible, to switch to Linux and still be able to use the majority of what one used on Windows. The built in software manager makes it so much easier and intuitive to safely install software. The command line is, in my opinion, much more intuitive than the windows command line (I just prefer bash). Also, if you don't have the fastest system, you will likely notice performance improvements. Linux has much less things running in the background, and the way memory is handled seems to be better than Windows. The customization is so much better, which I think takes us back to the main philosophy behind Linux: freedom. You are free to do whatever you want, which requires more knowledge, yes, but permits much greater outcomes.

If you are a Windows user, don't feel shamed by this. I just want this to serve as a not-so-brief account of my perspective on the matter. I don't believe in forcing people to "convert" just because you believe it's correct. People have to do things because they want to. Do what makes you happy, life is short and time is the most valuable thing we have.

P.S. If you are an arch user or whatever and want to clown me for using Linux mint, I don't care! Mint makes me happy, and that should be enough for you to be happy for me. As a lifelong Windows user, it's simple, intuitive, and has everything that I need. I don't need hypercustomization, the amount provided by Mint is enough for me (and already much more than Windows). I don't live in my computer, I just use it.