Three months of Linux monoboot !
The coexistence between two operating systems is not an easy thing, as it is possible to abandon one partition more than another. Strangely, my use of Windows has become more anecdotal lately. So little by little, I abandoned my 500GB SSD, in favor of the second one installed on my main machine and much smaller (256GB). While my laptop has migrated entirely to Linux monoboot, for more than two years now, I had little opportunity to take advantage of a free OS, during all my time spent in front of the two screens of this wonderful machine (I7 6700K + GTX1080). I must say that after nearly four years of testing and experimenting with the Linux universe, the last three months of using only this open system has allowed me to understand that the total emancipation of the services Microsoft offers is finally a more than viable reality...
A spoiled gamer's itinerary!
Of course, there is still a long way to go to get rid of the dependence we have on Windows, especially for the fun aspect. As a major gaming consumer, it seems obvious that we cannot fully get rid of the Redmond firm's environment, since the majority of the industry dedicates almost all of their production to it. Obviously, with a market share of nearly 90% it is difficult to ignore and focus on the remaining 10% (8% for MacOs and 2% for Linux and related). Despite this observation, Proton's arrival on Steam allowed me to free myself from making this intermittent switchover, while taking advantage of the increasing number of titles, compatible with this technology more than easy to access. With a simple click and without going through a tedious configuration phase between Wine and DXVK, our game is displayed and remains playable for my greatest pleasure !
Modularity !
Games are not the only reason that caused this long stay with Linux. The fact that I evolve within a light, functional and permissive system in many aspects has given me an impression of comfort and safety with each use. The choice of desktop environment, the display system and the optimization that can be done with its package allows the user to customize the operation of his operating system according to his needs. Although I have a very comfortable hardware, I am not a fan of resource-intensive ensembles. However, I also like to own a desk with a beautiful aesthetic that is pleasant to the eye. XFCE, despite features that are behind other desktop environments, gives me the opportunity to have a customizable interface that allows all kinds of graphic fantasies. Moreover, its light weight in terms of disk space usage but also in terms of hardware resources makes my system ultra-reactive and allows me to save resources if necessary. And how nice it is to have such an environment !
We have total control and the possibility of multiple interactions with our system. This freedom of movement is a great satisfaction in terms of system administration, the field of possibilities is open and it is not uncommon to enjoy modifying some scripts, sometimes at the cost of a few mistakes (I myself shot my Xorg display server down, by performing a rather risky manipulation). Beginners can be impressed by the fact that from time to time they have to get their hands dirty in order to fix a mistake or possibly a bug. However, there are many guides and other manuals, and learning the command line helps us understand and analyze the behaviour of our environment. We find ourselves at many moments enriched by the discovery and assimilation of certain functionalities. We don't use Linux stupidly without understanding what's going on behind it, we observe and study its functioning in a pedagogical way !
My SSD is a bit lonely !
Not everything is bright and it turns out that we sometimes face walls. Not because of Linux itself, but because of the incompatibility of certain components due to massive use of Microsoft products by the general public. To overcome this, it is necessary to use alternatives that will more or less fulfill their roles well. There is still a long way to go on the part of developers and industry players. However, it is more than possible to use this open source solution fully on a daily basis, as long as you are willing to make some concessions. As soon as you have learned to do without and rely on other software, the experience is only pleasant ! So I celebrate this new step and sincerely hope that the future will be more than bright for free technologies !