Latest 30 Comments
News - Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana enter the GOG Preservation Program with a Square Enix sale
By Rrhapsody, 26 May 2026 at 9:03 pm UTC
By Rrhapsody, 26 May 2026 at 9:03 pm UTC
Bad, I want the original Trials of Mana, the SNES version.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 8:58 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 8:58 pm UTC
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get.I have a bunch of microsoft fonts installed on my linux laptop and just that immediately nails me down to 1 person according to eff's fingerprinting test😭
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By shadow1w2, 26 May 2026 at 8:35 pm UTC
By shadow1w2, 26 May 2026 at 8:35 pm UTC
Hello kitty bandaids not gonna fix it.
Infact they seem to like them with the creepiest grin.
No surprise there.
Infact they seem to like them with the creepiest grin.
No surprise there.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 8:21 pm UTC
I then used railway-gtk to get access and it worked at first, but next day also blocked ...
Next I tried to get a Flixtrain route booked, they did not accept my legit payed email address with own domain. German public infrastructure is as bad as media tell us ... But this is a different story.
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get. In comparison your sex only half the amount of people from 8 billion to 4 billion while the exact birthday tells "you are one of around 267k people" with no additional information.
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 8:21 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I was on a developer meeting this weekend in Germany and was affected by this bullshit. A friend is working on trains and told me the DB did not even know themselves what is causing this issue ... sounds like a vibe-coded bug, lol.
I then used railway-gtk to get access and it worked at first, but next day also blocked ...
Next I tried to get a Flixtrain route booked, they did not accept my legit payed email address with own domain. German public infrastructure is as bad as media tell us ... But this is a different story.
Quoting: CaldathrasAren't we already there with websites that offer the "login with your Google Account" pop-up?I never had any issue to create an own account, since I do not own a Google acc. As long as this is optional, people just expose themselves and until now I never saw I was forced to use the Google acc.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPThere's really not much power in a company having the answer to the question if a user is 18+ or not.Again someone spread these false information. Age verification is a huge problem. Sure, you are 18+ at the beginning, you do not expose a lot of information. But with your opinion you force all kids below 18 to expose their birth-dates. Once they hit 18 they have to change the entry to "being adult". Even if they do it a week after their birthday, there are less than 300.000 people each day that become 18. In additional services also often know where you are coming from (where you connect to their page from) and may collect further data and you are exposed very easily.
Nor is there a problem with that information.
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get. In comparison your sex only half the amount of people from 8 billion to 4 billion while the exact birthday tells "you are one of around 267k people" with no additional information.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By TheSHEEEP, 26 May 2026 at 7:36 pm UTC
Nor is there a problem with that information.
Quite frankly, it could be public, next to all our profiles, and it wouldn't really matter.
I'll tell you right here: I'm 18+. Crazy, huh?
Feel powerful now? No? Exactly.
If it was done reasonably, it could just use the same kinds of service that already exists in many countries for citizens/residents to identify themselves for various services (banking, taxes, insurances, etc.), which usually means some kind of app verification.
The one asking for that information then only gains the minimum amount of data from that source (whatever it is they require to do their thing) and you can still just decide to not use given service.
So for this case, the only information would be "Is this user 18+ or not?" (or different age group ranges, whatever).
The one holding all that information is then just whoever you entrusted with that info already (mobile provider, bank, whatever).
The information isn't given out to any rando, either, but only to entities that have been checked first.
Honestly, this issue has already been solved in many places and nobody makes a fuss about it there.
The only problem would lie in a shitty implementation that would leak way too much information than what was initially asked.
Which... I won't lie, in some places is probably a possibility.
By TheSHEEEP, 26 May 2026 at 7:36 pm UTC
Quoting: STiATAge checking on OS-Level is nothing more than a patch on a severed limb.There's really not much power in a company having the answer to the question if a user is 18+ or not.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
Nor is there a problem with that information.
Quite frankly, it could be public, next to all our profiles, and it wouldn't really matter.
I'll tell you right here: I'm 18+. Crazy, huh?
Feel powerful now? No? Exactly.
If it was done reasonably, it could just use the same kinds of service that already exists in many countries for citizens/residents to identify themselves for various services (banking, taxes, insurances, etc.), which usually means some kind of app verification.
The one asking for that information then only gains the minimum amount of data from that source (whatever it is they require to do their thing) and you can still just decide to not use given service.
So for this case, the only information would be "Is this user 18+ or not?" (or different age group ranges, whatever).
The one holding all that information is then just whoever you entrusted with that info already (mobile provider, bank, whatever).
The information isn't given out to any rando, either, but only to entities that have been checked first.
Honestly, this issue has already been solved in many places and nobody makes a fuss about it there.
The only problem would lie in a shitty implementation that would leak way too much information than what was initially asked.
Which... I won't lie, in some places is probably a possibility.
News - Colorado and California age verification bills exempt open source operating systems
By Philadelphus, 26 May 2026 at 7:34 pm UTC
By Philadelphus, 26 May 2026 at 7:34 pm UTC
Two states down, woohoo!
Only another few hundred sovereign states in the world of which not a single one needs to enact this sort of legislation ever in the future, and we're home free!
(Okay, that's slightly hyperbole. But as this shows, all it takes is one "big enough" state to do something like this to affect everyone.)
Only another few hundred sovereign states in the world of which not a single one needs to enact this sort of legislation ever in the future, and we're home free!
(Okay, that's slightly hyperbole. But as this shows, all it takes is one "big enough" state to do something like this to affect everyone.)
News - Retro fantasy slashers Witchaven and Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance get delisted in June
By Technopeasant, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
By Technopeasant, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
Quoting: williamjcmOn a more serious note, while they are pieces of video game history, those games are, uh, not very good.The issue is that the weapon leveling makes no sense in a linear action game with no option to grind. So you just end up with weapons that feel made of cardboard for half the game. Fortunately if you just use a leveling cheat ("whango" in this case), and of course a modern engine like BuildGDX, it proves a reasonably entertaining hack-and-slash with a curious art style.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By STiAT, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
By STiAT, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
Age checking on OS-Level is nothing more than a patch on a severed limb.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
That's it.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
That's it.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Kithop, 26 May 2026 at 6:52 pm UTC
By Kithop, 26 May 2026 at 6:52 pm UTC
I'm Canadian, so maybe my level of trust in government is slightly higher than most (or I've resigned myself to the fact that '...as far as I can throw them' means nothing when you're physically disabled~), but I feel like this is the sort of thing I'd want the government to run, hear me out:
We already have digital logins for things like filing our tax returns, and there's ways to do this stuff double-blind - heck, probably even with something relatively basic like digital signatures.
(My likely not-fully-correct implementation spitballing follows)
Do the same thing for your app store or whatever, have some OS path to do it, and as long as it's just 'get this random token signed by your government ID login', no creepy image recognition, no 'AI', etc., then I don't have that big of a problem with it. If all of the government legislative efforts that basically amount to 'we don't care how you do it, this is the private sector's responsibility', read between the lines: it's not worth the effort for them to set this up themselves, because the headache of managing that signing service would still be too onerous for the nearly non-existent 'return'.
But if the private sector's involved, and it means they get to legally ask all those invasive questions, for copies of your photo ID, or whatever, and tie it into their AI spyware crap? There's money there; the age assurance stuff is just a convenient excuse. THAT's the problem I have with it.
We already have digital logins for things like filing our tax returns, and there's ways to do this stuff double-blind - heck, probably even with something relatively basic like digital signatures.
(My likely not-fully-correct implementation spitballing follows)
Spoiler, click me
- Canadian citizen wants to provide 'proof of age' to some online service - said service gives them some randomly generated token, says 'get this signed and bring it back to us'
- Copy/paste the token into gov't website where they've already got a valid login/ID. Gov't site has no idea where the token came from, what it says, what website it's for - nothing. It's just a string. But sure, here's a digital signature for it (-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- or whatever) to say 'yes, you are An Adult(tm)', with a short expiry time, like 5 mins or something to minimize the potential for reuse.
- User takes that back to the first site - see, I'm echoing back the exact same random token you first gave me, but now it's been Signed by the Government of Canada to say 'yes this person is an adult', please flag my account as such and never ask me again.
Do the same thing for your app store or whatever, have some OS path to do it, and as long as it's just 'get this random token signed by your government ID login', no creepy image recognition, no 'AI', etc., then I don't have that big of a problem with it. If all of the government legislative efforts that basically amount to 'we don't care how you do it, this is the private sector's responsibility', read between the lines: it's not worth the effort for them to set this up themselves, because the headache of managing that signing service would still be too onerous for the nearly non-existent 'return'.
But if the private sector's involved, and it means they get to legally ask all those invasive questions, for copies of your photo ID, or whatever, and tie it into their AI spyware crap? There's money there; the age assurance stuff is just a convenient excuse. THAT's the problem I have with it.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 5:04 pm UTC
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 5:04 pm UTC
Quoting: StellaYeah sorry, I was wrong. I read was due to proton, thanks for clarification.Quoting: artikThat isn't what I'm referring to. The game is currently broken on Nvidia (even with Hotfix/Experimental) and they said they are bringing out a fix in an upcoming driver: https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/595-release-feedback-discussion/362561/433Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By pete910, 26 May 2026 at 5:03 pm UTC
Cant log in to their services without one. Basically smart card reader on the lappy/desktop push card in which does a credential check so you can log in ect .
By pete910, 26 May 2026 at 5:03 pm UTC
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandThink this will be the push for ID/smart cards thing. Like what they use in corporate places like NHS does.Quoting: mr-victoryBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks.
Cant log in to their services without one. Basically smart card reader on the lappy/desktop push card in which does a credential check so you can log in ect .
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 5:00 pm UTC
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 5:00 pm UTC
Quoting: SlayerTheChikkenAren't we already there with websites that offer the "login with your Google Account" pop-up?Quoting: RustyThese laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself.Only a few steps away from things like the Google app being required to access a website.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:45 pm UTC
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:45 pm UTC
Quoting: RustyThese laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself.Only a few steps away from things like the Google app being required to access a website.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:41 pm UTC
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:41 pm UTC
I took my pirate hat off a long while ago, in favor of supporting creators of things that I consume, because I like supporting creators of things I consume.
However if I can't access my content anymore from something like steam or crunchyroll without doing an eye scan I will be putting it back on.
However if I can't access my content anymore from something like steam or crunchyroll without doing an eye scan I will be putting it back on.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:37 pm UTC
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:37 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryQuoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!But android also reports linux, it doesn't make sense. Do they check linux + x86_64?
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.From what I understand, the end service only sees an age response and no other recently introduced, extra info so they have no way of distinguishing and no liability. The fault is at the response generation by the OS, not interpretation by the website / service / app etc.
Quoting: CyberwormMaybe they fixed that. I usually do not use their services in the first place: https://www.heise.de/news/Deutsche-Bahn-Keine-Auskunft-unter-Linux-11300742.htmlQuoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I can both view the schedules and buy a ticket
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
Quoting: artikThat isn't what I'm referring to. The game is currently broken on Nvidia (even with Hotfix/Experimental) and they said they are bringing out a fix in an upcoming driver: https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/595-release-feedback-discussion/362561/433Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Colorado and California age verification bills exempt open source operating systems
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
Quoting: PlayingOnLinuxphoneTo answer the question about "are smartphones affected?": while ASOP or its free software forks are technically not, all smartphones are affected by default.And it's not like that information isn't being collected already. I was configuring my wife's new cellphone and Samsung insisted on access to her birthdate while setting up her Samsung Account (acquired from her connected Google Account). Had to do with using the Play Store and the Samsung Store, I think.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Rusty, 26 May 2026 at 4:28 pm UTC
By Rusty, 26 May 2026 at 4:28 pm UTC
These laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself. There aren't a lot of app stores on Linux that'd meet the requirement to require age verification outside of game stores, and those will likely start collecting age verification as part of their account sign-up process, as Ubisoft has already started doing. I don't think Linux will be locked out, I think the OS-level age signal will probably just become redundant as the stores will be the ones collecting age verification info. The bills really don't seem to have much thought put into them.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Cyberworm, 26 May 2026 at 4:21 pm UTC
By Cyberworm, 26 May 2026 at 4:21 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I can both view the schedules and buy a ticket
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 4:11 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 4:11 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!But android also reports linux, it doesn't make sense. Do they check linux + x86_64?
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.From what I understand, the end service only sees an age response and no other recently introduced, extra info so they have no way of distinguishing and no liability. The fault is at the response generation by the OS, not interpretation by the website / service / app etc.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:02 pm UTC
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:02 pm UTC
As a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!
Official explanation "Bot protection" yeah ... let me tell you one thing, as someone working in E-Commerce, bots don't run by "Linux X11" user agents. They all mimic Windows 11 or 10. Only half backed bot protection is to check ASN ... but user agents? Ha! Morons...
Anyway. If they even get THIS wrong ... I fear the age of age verification.
Official explanation "Bot protection" yeah ... let me tell you one thing, as someone working in E-Commerce, bots don't run by "Linux X11" user agents. They all mimic Windows 11 or 10. Only half backed bot protection is to check ASN ... but user agents? Ha! Morons...
Anyway. If they even get THIS wrong ... I fear the age of age verification.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 4:00 pm UTC
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 4:00 pm UTC
Also, these regulations are piece of shit, because not only Linux users could avoid it. Linux users are just in better place, because they can download source code, revert sh*t changes and compile.
But...
There are debuggers. I can type:
gdb firefox
break read_age_of_user
run
...
set ?? user_age 888
I think this is enough.
But...
There are debuggers. I can type:
gdb firefox
break read_age_of_user
run
...
set ?? user_age 888
I think this is enough.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 3:55 pm UTC
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 3:55 pm UTC
I think I can install Firefox for Windows using WINE, set age in registry and viola. I think there must be a field/value telling no information about age. In this case, each validator should recognize you as allowed to view content. In case, if my distribution does not comply with new laws, Firefox (for Linux) would send no information, because my OS does not deliver specific API. Of course, only root should be able to set this value or age for some user. If system lacks API to obtain age, software should return no information.
I think, this should not be obligatory. Law vendors should only force to create standards to check age and force content delivers to use this API.
I think, this should not be obligatory. Law vendors should only force to create standards to check age and force content delivers to use this API.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Liam Squires-Hand, 26 May 2026 at 3:50 pm UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 26 May 2026 at 3:50 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 3:22 pm UTC
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 3:22 pm UTC
Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 3:03 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 3:03 pm UTC
that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks. This doesn't even have to be done by the distribution maintainer, a 3rd party software can do it. Which makes the checks moot. Which hardens the checks so linux / foss can't implement them even if required. Oh shit this is like Play Integrity bypass in a new coat of sugar.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By spacemonkey, 26 May 2026 at 3:02 pm UTC
By spacemonkey, 26 May 2026 at 3:02 pm UTC
I hope governments will apply the same logic here as using seatbelts:
When your are driving a car you have to wear a seatbelt, but when you're on a motorcycle nobody cares about your safety.
(In this metaphore an OS like Windows is a car. Linux, of course, is like driving a motorcycle)
When your are driving a car you have to wear a seatbelt, but when you're on a motorcycle nobody cares about your safety.
(In this metaphore an OS like Windows is a car. Linux, of course, is like driving a motorcycle)
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By syylk, 26 May 2026 at 2:35 pm UTC
By syylk, 26 May 2026 at 2:35 pm UTC
I understand the concern.
BUT.
Just as much as I actually love to not have rootkit-like anti cheat "solutions" available for my gaming machine (I consider them an RCE-in-the-making), I will be extremely happy to be excluded from those services that will need to ask my (admittedly ancient) age without a reasonable motive.
You're a bank? A credit card circuit? A governative agency issuing driving licenses? A municipality celebrating marriages? A weapons or liquor store? Other goods/services provider which must be reasonably sure I'm an adult? No? Then I don't need to do age-verified business with you, thank you. You can keep your pictures of kittens for yourself, I'll live happily without them.
BUT.
Just as much as I actually love to not have rootkit-like anti cheat "solutions" available for my gaming machine (I consider them an RCE-in-the-making), I will be extremely happy to be excluded from those services that will need to ask my (admittedly ancient) age without a reasonable motive.
You're a bank? A credit card circuit? A governative agency issuing driving licenses? A municipality celebrating marriages? A weapons or liquor store? Other goods/services provider which must be reasonably sure I'm an adult? No? Then I don't need to do age-verified business with you, thank you. You can keep your pictures of kittens for yourself, I'll live happily without them.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 2:33 pm UTC
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 2:33 pm UTC
Europe is going towards Linux, people around the world are going towards Linux. What should we scare about? We people just have to be a bit more serious about what we want and at some point the money loss will change things automatically to our advantage.
As I told, as more European countries rely on Linux as more important it will be to them to support competition which includes Linux itself or European companies start to do their own businesses to fit into the new service holes. If current companies want to dig their own graves, let them do so. No need for any fear. We are strong together - stronger than them. Look how Microsoft starts to advertise how they become better, just after a few percentages of people moved to Linux. We just need to follow our principles.
As I told, as more European countries rely on Linux as more important it will be to them to support competition which includes Linux itself or European companies start to do their own businesses to fit into the new service holes. If current companies want to dig their own graves, let them do so. No need for any fear. We are strong together - stronger than them. Look how Microsoft starts to advertise how they become better, just after a few percentages of people moved to Linux. We just need to follow our principles.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 2:21 pm UTC
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 2:21 pm UTC
Does that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?
News - Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana enter the GOG Preservation Program with a Square Enix sale
By Rrhapsody, 26 May 2026 at 9:03 pm UTC
By Rrhapsody, 26 May 2026 at 9:03 pm UTC
Bad, I want the original Trials of Mana, the SNES version.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 8:58 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 8:58 pm UTC
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get.I have a bunch of microsoft fonts installed on my linux laptop and just that immediately nails me down to 1 person according to eff's fingerprinting test😭
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By shadow1w2, 26 May 2026 at 8:35 pm UTC
By shadow1w2, 26 May 2026 at 8:35 pm UTC
Hello kitty bandaids not gonna fix it.
Infact they seem to like them with the creepiest grin.
No surprise there.
Infact they seem to like them with the creepiest grin.
No surprise there.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 8:21 pm UTC
I then used railway-gtk to get access and it worked at first, but next day also blocked ...
Next I tried to get a Flixtrain route booked, they did not accept my legit payed email address with own domain. German public infrastructure is as bad as media tell us ... But this is a different story.
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get. In comparison your sex only half the amount of people from 8 billion to 4 billion while the exact birthday tells "you are one of around 267k people" with no additional information.
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 8:21 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I was on a developer meeting this weekend in Germany and was affected by this bullshit. A friend is working on trains and told me the DB did not even know themselves what is causing this issue ... sounds like a vibe-coded bug, lol.
I then used railway-gtk to get access and it worked at first, but next day also blocked ...
Next I tried to get a Flixtrain route booked, they did not accept my legit payed email address with own domain. German public infrastructure is as bad as media tell us ... But this is a different story.
Quoting: CaldathrasAren't we already there with websites that offer the "login with your Google Account" pop-up?I never had any issue to create an own account, since I do not own a Google acc. As long as this is optional, people just expose themselves and until now I never saw I was forced to use the Google acc.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPThere's really not much power in a company having the answer to the question if a user is 18+ or not.Again someone spread these false information. Age verification is a huge problem. Sure, you are 18+ at the beginning, you do not expose a lot of information. But with your opinion you force all kids below 18 to expose their birth-dates. Once they hit 18 they have to change the entry to "being adult". Even if they do it a week after their birthday, there are less than 300.000 people each day that become 18. In additional services also often know where you are coming from (where you connect to their page from) and may collect further data and you are exposed very easily.
Nor is there a problem with that information.
The almost perfect birthday is one of the best identifiers a company can get. In comparison your sex only half the amount of people from 8 billion to 4 billion while the exact birthday tells "you are one of around 267k people" with no additional information.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By TheSHEEEP, 26 May 2026 at 7:36 pm UTC
Nor is there a problem with that information.
Quite frankly, it could be public, next to all our profiles, and it wouldn't really matter.
I'll tell you right here: I'm 18+. Crazy, huh?
Feel powerful now? No? Exactly.
If it was done reasonably, it could just use the same kinds of service that already exists in many countries for citizens/residents to identify themselves for various services (banking, taxes, insurances, etc.), which usually means some kind of app verification.
The one asking for that information then only gains the minimum amount of data from that source (whatever it is they require to do their thing) and you can still just decide to not use given service.
So for this case, the only information would be "Is this user 18+ or not?" (or different age group ranges, whatever).
The one holding all that information is then just whoever you entrusted with that info already (mobile provider, bank, whatever).
The information isn't given out to any rando, either, but only to entities that have been checked first.
Honestly, this issue has already been solved in many places and nobody makes a fuss about it there.
The only problem would lie in a shitty implementation that would leak way too much information than what was initially asked.
Which... I won't lie, in some places is probably a possibility.
By TheSHEEEP, 26 May 2026 at 7:36 pm UTC
Quoting: STiATAge checking on OS-Level is nothing more than a patch on a severed limb.There's really not much power in a company having the answer to the question if a user is 18+ or not.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
Nor is there a problem with that information.
Quite frankly, it could be public, next to all our profiles, and it wouldn't really matter.
I'll tell you right here: I'm 18+. Crazy, huh?
Feel powerful now? No? Exactly.
If it was done reasonably, it could just use the same kinds of service that already exists in many countries for citizens/residents to identify themselves for various services (banking, taxes, insurances, etc.), which usually means some kind of app verification.
The one asking for that information then only gains the minimum amount of data from that source (whatever it is they require to do their thing) and you can still just decide to not use given service.
So for this case, the only information would be "Is this user 18+ or not?" (or different age group ranges, whatever).
The one holding all that information is then just whoever you entrusted with that info already (mobile provider, bank, whatever).
The information isn't given out to any rando, either, but only to entities that have been checked first.
Honestly, this issue has already been solved in many places and nobody makes a fuss about it there.
The only problem would lie in a shitty implementation that would leak way too much information than what was initially asked.
Which... I won't lie, in some places is probably a possibility.
News - Colorado and California age verification bills exempt open source operating systems
By Philadelphus, 26 May 2026 at 7:34 pm UTC
By Philadelphus, 26 May 2026 at 7:34 pm UTC
Two states down, woohoo!
Only another few hundred sovereign states in the world of which not a single one needs to enact this sort of legislation ever in the future, and we're home free!
(Okay, that's slightly hyperbole. But as this shows, all it takes is one "big enough" state to do something like this to affect everyone.)
Only another few hundred sovereign states in the world of which not a single one needs to enact this sort of legislation ever in the future, and we're home free!
(Okay, that's slightly hyperbole. But as this shows, all it takes is one "big enough" state to do something like this to affect everyone.)
News - Retro fantasy slashers Witchaven and Witchaven II: Blood Vengeance get delisted in June
By Technopeasant, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
By Technopeasant, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
Quoting: williamjcmOn a more serious note, while they are pieces of video game history, those games are, uh, not very good.The issue is that the weapon leveling makes no sense in a linear action game with no option to grind. So you just end up with weapons that feel made of cardboard for half the game. Fortunately if you just use a leveling cheat ("whango" in this case), and of course a modern engine like BuildGDX, it proves a reasonably entertaining hack-and-slash with a curious art style.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By STiAT, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
By STiAT, 26 May 2026 at 6:55 pm UTC
Age checking on OS-Level is nothing more than a patch on a severed limb.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
That's it.
It solves nothing.
It just gives problems and more power to corporations.
That's it.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Kithop, 26 May 2026 at 6:52 pm UTC
By Kithop, 26 May 2026 at 6:52 pm UTC
I'm Canadian, so maybe my level of trust in government is slightly higher than most (or I've resigned myself to the fact that '...as far as I can throw them' means nothing when you're physically disabled~), but I feel like this is the sort of thing I'd want the government to run, hear me out:
We already have digital logins for things like filing our tax returns, and there's ways to do this stuff double-blind - heck, probably even with something relatively basic like digital signatures.
(My likely not-fully-correct implementation spitballing follows)
Do the same thing for your app store or whatever, have some OS path to do it, and as long as it's just 'get this random token signed by your government ID login', no creepy image recognition, no 'AI', etc., then I don't have that big of a problem with it. If all of the government legislative efforts that basically amount to 'we don't care how you do it, this is the private sector's responsibility', read between the lines: it's not worth the effort for them to set this up themselves, because the headache of managing that signing service would still be too onerous for the nearly non-existent 'return'.
But if the private sector's involved, and it means they get to legally ask all those invasive questions, for copies of your photo ID, or whatever, and tie it into their AI spyware crap? There's money there; the age assurance stuff is just a convenient excuse. THAT's the problem I have with it.
We already have digital logins for things like filing our tax returns, and there's ways to do this stuff double-blind - heck, probably even with something relatively basic like digital signatures.
(My likely not-fully-correct implementation spitballing follows)
Spoiler, click me
- Canadian citizen wants to provide 'proof of age' to some online service - said service gives them some randomly generated token, says 'get this signed and bring it back to us'
- Copy/paste the token into gov't website where they've already got a valid login/ID. Gov't site has no idea where the token came from, what it says, what website it's for - nothing. It's just a string. But sure, here's a digital signature for it (-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- or whatever) to say 'yes, you are An Adult(tm)', with a short expiry time, like 5 mins or something to minimize the potential for reuse.
- User takes that back to the first site - see, I'm echoing back the exact same random token you first gave me, but now it's been Signed by the Government of Canada to say 'yes this person is an adult', please flag my account as such and never ask me again.
Do the same thing for your app store or whatever, have some OS path to do it, and as long as it's just 'get this random token signed by your government ID login', no creepy image recognition, no 'AI', etc., then I don't have that big of a problem with it. If all of the government legislative efforts that basically amount to 'we don't care how you do it, this is the private sector's responsibility', read between the lines: it's not worth the effort for them to set this up themselves, because the headache of managing that signing service would still be too onerous for the nearly non-existent 'return'.
But if the private sector's involved, and it means they get to legally ask all those invasive questions, for copies of your photo ID, or whatever, and tie it into their AI spyware crap? There's money there; the age assurance stuff is just a convenient excuse. THAT's the problem I have with it.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 5:04 pm UTC
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 5:04 pm UTC
Quoting: StellaYeah sorry, I was wrong. I read was due to proton, thanks for clarification.Quoting: artikThat isn't what I'm referring to. The game is currently broken on Nvidia (even with Hotfix/Experimental) and they said they are bringing out a fix in an upcoming driver: https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/595-release-feedback-discussion/362561/433Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By pete910, 26 May 2026 at 5:03 pm UTC
Cant log in to their services without one. Basically smart card reader on the lappy/desktop push card in which does a credential check so you can log in ect .
By pete910, 26 May 2026 at 5:03 pm UTC
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandThink this will be the push for ID/smart cards thing. Like what they use in corporate places like NHS does.Quoting: mr-victoryBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks.
Cant log in to their services without one. Basically smart card reader on the lappy/desktop push card in which does a credential check so you can log in ect .
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 5:00 pm UTC
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 5:00 pm UTC
Quoting: SlayerTheChikkenAren't we already there with websites that offer the "login with your Google Account" pop-up?Quoting: RustyThese laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself.Only a few steps away from things like the Google app being required to access a website.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:45 pm UTC
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:45 pm UTC
Quoting: RustyThese laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself.Only a few steps away from things like the Google app being required to access a website.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:41 pm UTC
By SlayerTheChikken, 26 May 2026 at 4:41 pm UTC
I took my pirate hat off a long while ago, in favor of supporting creators of things that I consume, because I like supporting creators of things I consume.
However if I can't access my content anymore from something like steam or crunchyroll without doing an eye scan I will be putting it back on.
However if I can't access my content anymore from something like steam or crunchyroll without doing an eye scan I will be putting it back on.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:37 pm UTC
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:37 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryQuoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!But android also reports linux, it doesn't make sense. Do they check linux + x86_64?
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.From what I understand, the end service only sees an age response and no other recently introduced, extra info so they have no way of distinguishing and no liability. The fault is at the response generation by the OS, not interpretation by the website / service / app etc.
Quoting: CyberwormMaybe they fixed that. I usually do not use their services in the first place: https://www.heise.de/news/Deutsche-Bahn-Keine-Auskunft-unter-Linux-11300742.htmlQuoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I can both view the schedules and buy a ticket
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
Quoting: artikThat isn't what I'm referring to. The game is currently broken on Nvidia (even with Hotfix/Experimental) and they said they are bringing out a fix in an upcoming driver: https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/595-release-feedback-discussion/362561/433Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Colorado and California age verification bills exempt open source operating systems
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
By Caldathras, 26 May 2026 at 4:29 pm UTC
Quoting: PlayingOnLinuxphoneTo answer the question about "are smartphones affected?": while ASOP or its free software forks are technically not, all smartphones are affected by default.And it's not like that information isn't being collected already. I was configuring my wife's new cellphone and Samsung insisted on access to her birthdate while setting up her Samsung Account (acquired from her connected Google Account). Had to do with using the Play Store and the Samsung Store, I think.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Rusty, 26 May 2026 at 4:28 pm UTC
By Rusty, 26 May 2026 at 4:28 pm UTC
These laws only require implementation on app stores, not in any web service or application itself. There aren't a lot of app stores on Linux that'd meet the requirement to require age verification outside of game stores, and those will likely start collecting age verification as part of their account sign-up process, as Ubisoft has already started doing. I don't think Linux will be locked out, I think the OS-level age signal will probably just become redundant as the stores will be the ones collecting age verification info. The bills really don't seem to have much thought put into them.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Cyberworm, 26 May 2026 at 4:21 pm UTC
By Cyberworm, 26 May 2026 at 4:21 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!I can both view the schedules and buy a ticket
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 4:11 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 4:11 pm UTC
Quoting: The_Real_BittermanAs a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!But android also reports linux, it doesn't make sense. Do they check linux + x86_64?
Quoting: Liam Squires-HandBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.From what I understand, the end service only sees an age response and no other recently introduced, extra info so they have no way of distinguishing and no liability. The fault is at the response generation by the OS, not interpretation by the website / service / app etc.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:02 pm UTC
By The_Real_Bitterman, 26 May 2026 at 4:02 pm UTC
As a fun side note "Deutsche Bahn AG", the major train operator here in Germany, blocked all Linux users to buy tickets or even look at train schedules online if they detected "Linux" in the Browsers user agent... You could even trigger it by setting the user agent on Windows to Linux. Blocked!
Official explanation "Bot protection" yeah ... let me tell you one thing, as someone working in E-Commerce, bots don't run by "Linux X11" user agents. They all mimic Windows 11 or 10. Only half backed bot protection is to check ASN ... but user agents? Ha! Morons...
Anyway. If they even get THIS wrong ... I fear the age of age verification.
Official explanation "Bot protection" yeah ... let me tell you one thing, as someone working in E-Commerce, bots don't run by "Linux X11" user agents. They all mimic Windows 11 or 10. Only half backed bot protection is to check ASN ... but user agents? Ha! Morons...
Anyway. If they even get THIS wrong ... I fear the age of age verification.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 4:00 pm UTC
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 4:00 pm UTC
Also, these regulations are piece of shit, because not only Linux users could avoid it. Linux users are just in better place, because they can download source code, revert sh*t changes and compile.
But...
There are debuggers. I can type:
gdb firefox
break read_age_of_user
run
...
set ?? user_age 888
I think this is enough.
But...
There are debuggers. I can type:
gdb firefox
break read_age_of_user
run
...
set ?? user_age 888
I think this is enough.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 3:55 pm UTC
By Lachu, 26 May 2026 at 3:55 pm UTC
I think I can install Firefox for Windows using WINE, set age in registry and viola. I think there must be a field/value telling no information about age. In this case, each validator should recognize you as allowed to view content. In case, if my distribution does not comply with new laws, Firefox (for Linux) would send no information, because my OS does not deliver specific API. Of course, only root should be able to set this value or age for some user. If system lacks API to obtain age, software should return no information.
I think, this should not be obligatory. Law vendors should only force to create standards to check age and force content delivers to use this API.
I think, this should not be obligatory. Law vendors should only force to create standards to check age and force content delivers to use this API.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By Liam Squires-Hand, 26 May 2026 at 3:50 pm UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 26 May 2026 at 3:50 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryBut the end service / app / whatever still needs to show they are properly doing these checks. If lawmakers see a simple bypass on Linux, and the service allows it to happen - fines? It’s never as simple as you think.that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 3:22 pm UTC
By artik, 26 May 2026 at 3:22 pm UTC
Quoting: StellaDoes that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?Forza Horizon 6 works using Proton Experimental, and deactivating Ray Tracing. The fix will come with a Proton Experimental update.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 3:03 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 26 May 2026 at 3:03 pm UTC
that correctly adheres to these lawsAfaiu, since we are exempted, we don't have to correctly adhere ie. we can just yes-man the checks. This doesn't even have to be done by the distribution maintainer, a 3rd party software can do it. Which makes the checks moot. Which hardens the checks so linux / foss can't implement them even if required. Oh shit this is like Play Integrity bypass in a new coat of sugar.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By spacemonkey, 26 May 2026 at 3:02 pm UTC
By spacemonkey, 26 May 2026 at 3:02 pm UTC
I hope governments will apply the same logic here as using seatbelts:
When your are driving a car you have to wear a seatbelt, but when you're on a motorcycle nobody cares about your safety.
(In this metaphore an OS like Windows is a car. Linux, of course, is like driving a motorcycle)
When your are driving a car you have to wear a seatbelt, but when you're on a motorcycle nobody cares about your safety.
(In this metaphore an OS like Windows is a car. Linux, of course, is like driving a motorcycle)
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By syylk, 26 May 2026 at 2:35 pm UTC
By syylk, 26 May 2026 at 2:35 pm UTC
I understand the concern.
BUT.
Just as much as I actually love to not have rootkit-like anti cheat "solutions" available for my gaming machine (I consider them an RCE-in-the-making), I will be extremely happy to be excluded from those services that will need to ask my (admittedly ancient) age without a reasonable motive.
You're a bank? A credit card circuit? A governative agency issuing driving licenses? A municipality celebrating marriages? A weapons or liquor store? Other goods/services provider which must be reasonably sure I'm an adult? No? Then I don't need to do age-verified business with you, thank you. You can keep your pictures of kittens for yourself, I'll live happily without them.
BUT.
Just as much as I actually love to not have rootkit-like anti cheat "solutions" available for my gaming machine (I consider them an RCE-in-the-making), I will be extremely happy to be excluded from those services that will need to ask my (admittedly ancient) age without a reasonable motive.
You're a bank? A credit card circuit? A governative agency issuing driving licenses? A municipality celebrating marriages? A weapons or liquor store? Other goods/services provider which must be reasonably sure I'm an adult? No? Then I don't need to do age-verified business with you, thank you. You can keep your pictures of kittens for yourself, I'll live happily without them.
News - Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 2:33 pm UTC
By PlayingOnLinuxphone, 26 May 2026 at 2:33 pm UTC
Europe is going towards Linux, people around the world are going towards Linux. What should we scare about? We people just have to be a bit more serious about what we want and at some point the money loss will change things automatically to our advantage.
As I told, as more European countries rely on Linux as more important it will be to them to support competition which includes Linux itself or European companies start to do their own businesses to fit into the new service holes. If current companies want to dig their own graves, let them do so. No need for any fear. We are strong together - stronger than them. Look how Microsoft starts to advertise how they become better, just after a few percentages of people moved to Linux. We just need to follow our principles.
As I told, as more European countries rely on Linux as more important it will be to them to support competition which includes Linux itself or European companies start to do their own businesses to fit into the new service holes. If current companies want to dig their own graves, let them do so. No need for any fear. We are strong together - stronger than them. Look how Microsoft starts to advertise how they become better, just after a few percentages of people moved to Linux. We just need to follow our principles.
News - NVIDIA driver 610.43.02 arrives for Linux with Vulkan upgrades, DRM colour pipeline API support
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 2:21 pm UTC
By Stella, 26 May 2026 at 2:21 pm UTC
Does that have the fix for Forza Horizon 6?
Guide - How to give Valve feedback when Proton games have issues on Linux / SteamOS
By Stella, 22 May 2026 at 10:27 am UTC
By Stella, 22 May 2026 at 10:27 am UTC
Is that really worth doing though? I uploaded logs and gave really detailed information for 3 different games that have issues with Proton. The Witcher 3, Vampyr, Doom TDA. All 3 are Steam Deck Verified. In all 3 reports, i gave detailed repro steps along with proton logs, and the issue was 100% reproducible. In Vampyr, the report was specifically about a regression in Proton 8 or later on the Steam Deck. I have never heard back from Valve on any of these 3 reports. This effort feels like a waste of time now.😫
Guide - How to give Valve feedback when Proton games have issues on Linux / SteamOS
By Cley_Faye, 21 May 2026 at 5:32 pm UTC
By Cley_Faye, 21 May 2026 at 5:32 pm UTC
Ah, there must be a rule somewhere to state that a solution to a problem will show up when you don't need it anymore :D
I was facing an issue with a game last week, and ended up getting proton logs out this way. It was quite helpful. Ubuntu 24.04 have nvidia 595 drivers, but for some reason they didn't ship with the 32 bit builds of the various libraries. The proton logs showed that the game (a 32-bit windows executable) was just not seeing the GPU *at all* and moved to llvmpipe.
Still, a useful post; I'm sure there are issues that can't quite get fixed on our end.
I was facing an issue with a game last week, and ended up getting proton logs out this way. It was quite helpful. Ubuntu 24.04 have nvidia 595 drivers, but for some reason they didn't ship with the 32 bit builds of the various libraries. The proton logs showed that the game (a 32-bit windows executable) was just not seeing the GPU *at all* and moved to llvmpipe.
Still, a useful post; I'm sure there are issues that can't quite get fixed on our end.
Guide - How to give Valve feedback when Proton games have issues on Linux / SteamOS
By Yasri, 21 May 2026 at 2:44 pm UTC
By Yasri, 21 May 2026 at 2:44 pm UTC
You can upload the log file, first I have heard of this. I've just been chopping them up and making dozens of posts per bug report.
/this is a joke, don't do this.
/this is a joke, don't do this.
Guide - How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
By Savor592, 10 Apr 2026 at 1:32 pm UTC
By Savor592, 10 Apr 2026 at 1:32 pm UTC
I would welcome a post (or an edit) introducing https://modding-openmw.com/ and especially showing a setup that works well on Steam Deck.
Their scripts make modding really easy. But unfortunately the Total Overhaul seems to be too much for the Deck. Would be nice to see a configuration close to it which can be run on the Deck.
Their scripts make modding really easy. But unfortunately the Total Overhaul seems to be too much for the Deck. Would be nice to see a configuration close to it which can be run on the Deck.
Guide - How to get Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 online working on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck
By lucasgomesbz, 7 Apr 2026 at 11:44 pm UTC
By lucasgomesbz, 7 Apr 2026 at 11:44 pm UTC
Thanks so much!
Your trick work!
Your trick work!
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By esapolundead, 11 Feb 2026 at 11:37 pm UTC
Close Lutris, then
Open Lutris, start Battle.net. You will have to login again, but it should be working now. Hope this helps.
By esapolundead, 11 Feb 2026 at 11:37 pm UTC
Quoting: iliyalesanitried wine, wine-staging-tkg, proton experimental, proton-ge, proton-tkg, reinstalled battle.net multiple times on different prefixes even cleared appdata and programdata but still nothing. gave VPN and tethering mobile network a shot as well. the result was always the same:This happened to me as well. Looks like the latest Battle.net launcher update broke something. This is how I fixed it in Lutris.
"Battle.net Update Agent went to sleep. Attempting to wake it up... BLZBNTBNA00000005".
Close Lutris, then
# pkill -9 Battle.net
# pkill -9 Agent
# pkill -9 Blizzard
# rm -rf ~/Games/battlenet/drive_c/ProgramData/Battle.net/Agent
# rm -rf ~/Games/battlenet/drive_c/ProgramData/Blizzard\ EntertainmentOpen Lutris, start Battle.net. You will have to login again, but it should be working now. Hope this helps.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By iliyalesani, 11 Feb 2026 at 9:46 pm UTC
By iliyalesani, 11 Feb 2026 at 9:46 pm UTC
tried wine, wine-staging-tkg, proton experimental, proton-ge, proton-tkg, reinstalled battle.net multiple times on different prefixes even cleared appdata and programdata but still nothing. gave VPN and tethering mobile network a shot as well. the result was always the same:
"Battle.net Update Agent went to sleep. Attempting to wake it up... BLZBNTBNA00000005".
same thing with lutris using different versions of wine runners. even tried starting up the agent before and after launching battle.net to no avail:
EDIT / FIX:
using bottles (AUR, not flatpak) with proton-ge 10-30 worked. bottles also applied this launch option:
"Battle.net Update Agent went to sleep. Attempting to wake it up... BLZBNTBNA00000005".
same thing with lutris using different versions of wine runners. even tried starting up the agent before and after launching battle.net to no avail:
WINEFSYNC=1 WINEPREFIX="$HOME/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2240255771/pfx/" "$HOME/.steam/steam/compatibilitytools.d/Proton-Tkg-2634/files/bin/wine" "$HOME/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2240255771/pfx/drive_c/ProgramData/Battle.net/Agent/Agent.exe"EDIT / FIX:
using bottles (AUR, not flatpak) with proton-ge 10-30 worked. bottles also applied this launch option:
WINEDLLOVERRIDES="locationapi=d" WINE_SIMULATE_WRITECOPY=1 %command%
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By mr-victory, 23 Jan 2026 at 4:01 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 23 Jan 2026 at 4:01 pm UTC
Proton will also do however the default wine is ancient and does not work. I had to give this info in universal blue discord so many times I started to meme about "days since last Battle.net install failure on Lutris: 0". It is a pet peeve of mine😅
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By tuubi, 23 Jan 2026 at 2:55 pm UTC
Lutris really needs to cut a new release at some point and make this the default.
By tuubi, 23 Jan 2026 at 2:55 pm UTC
Quoting: mr-victoryI forgot this guide existed lol. Option 1 (Lutris) does not work and hasn't for months unless the default Wine version is changed from Wine GE 8.26 to something newer. Other wine versions can be installed by clicking a tiny button that looks like an open box in the main page of Lutris, next to "Wine" button.For most games you'll want to select "GE-Proton (Latest)" instead. No need to download anything manually. Lutris (UMU) will automatically download and manage the latest Proton version for you.
Lutris really needs to cut a new release at some point and make this the default.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By mr-victory, 23 Jan 2026 at 12:44 pm UTC
By mr-victory, 23 Jan 2026 at 12:44 pm UTC
I forgot this guide existed lol. Option 1 (Lutris) does not work and hasn't for months unless the default Wine version is changed from Wine GE 8.26 to something newer. Other wine versions can be installed by clicking a tiny button that looks like an open box in the main page of Lutris, next to "Wine" button.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By dbarreda, 23 Jan 2026 at 4:54 am UTC
By dbarreda, 23 Jan 2026 at 4:54 am UTC
I did install Steam thru Flatpak (K)ubuntu 25.10;
Proton 9 did not work, but Proton 10 did. It got stuck on "agent went to sleep attempting to wake it up steam".
The location for the directory is here: `~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/`
Hope this helps someone.
Proton 9 did not work, but Proton 10 did. It got stuck on "agent went to sleep attempting to wake it up steam".
The location for the directory is here: `~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/`
Hope this helps someone.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By Liam Squires-Hand, 14 Jan 2026 at 12:57 pm UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 14 Jan 2026 at 12:57 pm UTC
I've added the Steam Snap path into the guide now, thanks.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By jurquizo, 14 Jan 2026 at 12:55 pm UTC
*mod snip: we prefer note to have user scripts here, especially from an AI*
By jurquizo, 14 Jan 2026 at 12:55 pm UTC
Quoting: Liam DaweThanks for the quick reply. The folder compatdata is in ~/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps, and there are a two folders with random numbers as names with the same created/modified date. In my case it was easy to find the correct because there were only 2 candidate folders.Quoting: jurquizoFirst of all, great guide. I tried following the steam method and I couldn't find the folder of the Steam installation folder to change the shortcut, I think it is because I installed Steam via snap and I can't find similar paths inside the .snap folder. Could you help me?Ah, that's an interesting one. Snap is a whole different can of worms.
Could you try looking in: ~/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps
See if the compatdata folder is there? Once we find the correct path, I'll add it to the guide.
*mod snip: we prefer note to have user scripts here, especially from an AI*
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By Liam Squires-Hand, 13 Jan 2026 at 8:25 pm UTC
Could you try looking in: ~/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps
See if the compatdata folder is there? Once we find the correct path, I'll add it to the guide.
By Liam Squires-Hand, 13 Jan 2026 at 8:25 pm UTC
Quoting: jurquizoFirst of all, great guide. I tried following the steam method and I couldn't find the folder of the Steam installation folder to change the shortcut, I think it is because I installed Steam via snap and I can't find similar paths inside the .snap folder. Could you help me?Ah, that's an interesting one. Snap is a whole different can of worms.
Could you try looking in: ~/snap/steam/common/.local/share/Steam/steamapps
See if the compatdata folder is there? Once we find the correct path, I'll add it to the guide.
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By jurquizo, 13 Jan 2026 at 8:17 pm UTC
By jurquizo, 13 Jan 2026 at 8:17 pm UTC
First of all, great guide. I tried following the steam method and I couldn't find the folder of the Steam installation folder to change the shortcut, I think it is because I installed Steam via snap and I can't find similar paths inside the .snap folder. Could you help me?
Guide - How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
By Caldathras, 4 Jan 2026 at 7:16 pm UTC
By Caldathras, 4 Jan 2026 at 7:16 pm UTC
This is for those looking for a solution that doesn't involve Flatpak. It is primarily intended for desktop Linux users. Although, I imagine with a little tweaking, It might work for Steam Deck as well.
Option 3) Direct Download
https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/stable/manuals/installation/install-openmw.html#direct-download
Recently, I discovered that OpenMW offers a Direct Download "installer" on their GitHub site. This archive acts just like the Windows installer, allowing you to keep multiple versions of OpenMW installed in Linux.
The problem is that the installation instructions from the online guide are written very poorly. All they say is "run the install package once downloaded. It’s now installed!". It is not that easy. For one, the "installer" is an archive, not an executable. For two, they assume that you know what file to run once the archive is extracted. Here are my expanded instructions:
1) Download the latest Direct Download archive from the GitHub Releases page.
2) Extract the archive to the folder/location of your choice.
3) Launch the "openmw-launcher" script from within the folder.
.... a) If you are simply upgrading, it will use your existing configuration. You are good to go.
.... b) If this is a fresh installation, the launcher will offer to run the OpenMW Wizard to help you set everything up (see Option 1 of Liam's guide above for the rest of the steps).
4) If the launcher script will not start, then you have very likely encountered the rather infamous glibc issue (you can verify this by trying to launching the script in a terminal).
5) Make sure to download the latest version of the Steam Linux Runtime (currently Steam Linux Runtime 4).
6) To add OpenMW to the Steam client, choose the option "Add a Non-Steam Game ...". You may have to manually point Steam at the location of the openmw-launcher script (I did).
7) Go to the Properties menu for openmw-launcher and select "Install Compatibility Tool". Choose the latest Steam Linux Runtime, which you downloaded in Step 5.
8) Update and customize the Steam Library entry to your preferences. You should now be good to go.
Spoiler, click me
There are many ways to install OpenMW. There is even an unofficial AppImage available. The distro repositories almost always offer an out-of-date version. In the past, I used to install via the LaunchPad PPA (only works for Ubuntu derivatives). The problem with PPAs is that they have to be reinstalled with every major version upgrade of your distro. If you are slow to upgrade, the PPA will eventually update to a version of OpenMW that will not run on your outdated distro. Updating uninstalls the version that currently works and then fails on installing the new version.
Option 3) Direct Download
https://openmw.readthedocs.io/en/stable/manuals/installation/install-openmw.html#direct-download
Recently, I discovered that OpenMW offers a Direct Download "installer" on their GitHub site. This archive acts just like the Windows installer, allowing you to keep multiple versions of OpenMW installed in Linux.
Spoiler, click me
NOTE: By default, all installations share the same saves and configuration. There is a feature that was introduced with version 0.48 that allows you to set up a "portable install", which allows you to isolate a particular version with its own configuration and save files.
https://modding-openmw.com/tips/portable-install/
https://modding-openmw.com/tips/portable-install/
The problem is that the installation instructions from the online guide are written very poorly. All they say is "run the install package once downloaded. It’s now installed!". It is not that easy. For one, the "installer" is an archive, not an executable. For two, they assume that you know what file to run once the archive is extracted. Here are my expanded instructions:
1) Download the latest Direct Download archive from the GitHub Releases page.
2) Extract the archive to the folder/location of your choice.
Spoiler, click me
NOTE: If you want to maintain multiple versions, keep in mind that only one of them can be in your default PATH. In fact, it would probably be better to keep the lot of them out of your PATH altogether. Instead of treating the executable/script like a system command, you will just have to provide the entire folder address to launch the game.
This, however, also makes the installation somewhat portable since you can place folder wherever you want. Combined with the "portable install" feature described above, this means you won't even have to have the game installed in your File System partition at all.
This, however, also makes the installation somewhat portable since you can place folder wherever you want. Combined with the "portable install" feature described above, this means you won't even have to have the game installed in your File System partition at all.
3) Launch the "openmw-launcher" script from within the folder.
.... a) If you are simply upgrading, it will use your existing configuration. You are good to go.
.... b) If this is a fresh installation, the launcher will offer to run the OpenMW Wizard to help you set everything up (see Option 1 of Liam's guide above for the rest of the steps).
4) If the launcher script will not start, then you have very likely encountered the rather infamous glibc issue (you can verify this by trying to launching the script in a terminal).
Spoiler, click me
GLIBC Compatibility Issues
One of the big concerns that I have with the OpenMW project is that they don't clearly notify Linux users of a change in system requirements (which they could include with the text for each release on GitHub). The OpenMW Team occasionally increases the version of the glibc library required without clearly advising their Linux users of this change.
For example, the latest version of OpenMW (0.50.0) requires glibc 2.38. This is only available on Ubuntu 24.04 (Mint 22) or higher. (Still running an earlier distro version? Surprise!)
The solution is quite simple. You need to integrate the game into the Steam Client and set the compatibility to Steam Linux Runtime 4, which is based on Debian 13.2 Trixie (and supports glibc 2.38).
One of the big concerns that I have with the OpenMW project is that they don't clearly notify Linux users of a change in system requirements (which they could include with the text for each release on GitHub). The OpenMW Team occasionally increases the version of the glibc library required without clearly advising their Linux users of this change.
For example, the latest version of OpenMW (0.50.0) requires glibc 2.38. This is only available on Ubuntu 24.04 (Mint 22) or higher. (Still running an earlier distro version? Surprise!)
The solution is quite simple. You need to integrate the game into the Steam Client and set the compatibility to Steam Linux Runtime 4, which is based on Debian 13.2 Trixie (and supports glibc 2.38).
5) Make sure to download the latest version of the Steam Linux Runtime (currently Steam Linux Runtime 4).
6) To add OpenMW to the Steam client, choose the option "Add a Non-Steam Game ...". You may have to manually point Steam at the location of the openmw-launcher script (I did).
7) Go to the Properties menu for openmw-launcher and select "Install Compatibility Tool". Choose the latest Steam Linux Runtime, which you downloaded in Step 5.
8) Update and customize the Steam Library entry to your preferences. You should now be good to go.
Guide - How to get Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 online working on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck
By subzero, 19 Dec 2025 at 9:04 pm UTC
By subzero, 19 Dec 2025 at 9:04 pm UTC
Quoting: Liam Daweyes im trying to play battlefield 3, apologiesQuoting: subzeroThis doesnt seem to be working for me, i am on the official steam version of the game and i followed all the steps but for some reason the browser menu doesnt seem to detect the EA app on my computer that's already open, i am on fedora cinnamonSince the guide covers two games, which game are we talking about? Battlefield 3?
Guide - How to get Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 online working on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck
By Liam Squires-Hand, 19 Dec 2025 at 5:57 pm UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 19 Dec 2025 at 5:57 pm UTC
Quoting: subzeroThis doesnt seem to be working for me, i am on the official steam version of the game and i followed all the steps but for some reason the browser menu doesnt seem to detect the EA app on my computer that's already open, i am on fedora cinnamonSince the guide covers two games, which game are we talking about? Battlefield 3?
Guide - How to get Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 online working on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck
By subzero, 19 Dec 2025 at 5:47 pm UTC
By subzero, 19 Dec 2025 at 5:47 pm UTC
This doesnt seem to be working for me, i am on the official steam version of the game and i followed all the steps but for some reason the browser menu doesnt seem to detect the EA app on my computer that's already open, i am on fedora cinnamon
Guide - How to install Battle.net on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck for World of Warcraft and Starcraft
By Mirrored, 29 Nov 2025 at 9:52 am UTC
By Mirrored, 29 Nov 2025 at 9:52 am UTC
On CachyOS:
I was not able to get the Lutris method to work. The installer kept complaining about a file system error and the Battle.net installer would freeze. I attempted this installation many times (~10) and eventually managed to install it without a file system error appearing, but even then, Battle.net would give either the "Battle.net Agent Went to Sleep" error or the "An error occurred while loading game information" error. I tried changing the Runner configuration to many other options than the default, but they all resulted in Battle.net freezing immediately after launch. I didn't try Jiloup's suggestion of using Proton Plus, though, so look at that if you insist on Lutris.
I was able to get the Steam method to work. Use Steam to run the Battle.net setup exe, and then re-target it to the launcher exe that is installed. However, the suggested Compability setting of Proton 9.0-4 still lead to the "Battle.net Agent Went to Sleep". Once I switched it to proton-cachyos-10.0-20251120, that error went away, Battle.net started normally, and I was able to install games. I then tried Proton 10.0-3, which also worked.
TL;DR: I'd recommend the Steam method, and Proton 10.0+
I was not able to get the Lutris method to work. The installer kept complaining about a file system error and the Battle.net installer would freeze. I attempted this installation many times (~10) and eventually managed to install it without a file system error appearing, but even then, Battle.net would give either the "Battle.net Agent Went to Sleep" error or the "An error occurred while loading game information" error. I tried changing the Runner configuration to many other options than the default, but they all resulted in Battle.net freezing immediately after launch. I didn't try Jiloup's suggestion of using Proton Plus, though, so look at that if you insist on Lutris.
I was able to get the Steam method to work. Use Steam to run the Battle.net setup exe, and then re-target it to the launcher exe that is installed. However, the suggested Compability setting of Proton 9.0-4 still lead to the "Battle.net Agent Went to Sleep". Once I switched it to proton-cachyos-10.0-20251120, that error went away, Battle.net started normally, and I was able to install games. I then tried Proton 10.0-3, which also worked.
TL;DR: I'd recommend the Steam method, and Proton 10.0+
Guide - How to get Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 online working on Linux, SteamOS, Steam Deck
By Turkeysteaks, 23 Nov 2025 at 5:12 pm UTC
By Turkeysteaks, 23 Nov 2025 at 5:12 pm UTC
Realise this is a bit old now, but I've been playing with BF4 for a year or so and one thing is really annoying - no steam overlay. Which also means no steam recorder.
Do you or anyone have any experience with getting the steam overlay to work with this?
Do you or anyone have any experience with getting the steam overlay to work with this?
Guide - How to install, update and see what graphics driver you have on Linux and SteamOS
By Eike, 17 Nov 2025 at 12:27 pm UTC
Installing nvidia-drivers on Debian is basically
> apt install nvidia-driver
I made I video talking way too long for the easy task of installing Steam plus Nvidia drivers on a virgin Debian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS6mXW7KPoU
By Eike, 17 Nov 2025 at 12:27 pm UTC
Added some notes for Debian.Our wiki is bad.
Installing nvidia-drivers on Debian is basically
> apt install nvidia-driver
I made I video talking way too long for the easy task of installing Steam plus Nvidia drivers on a virgin Debian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS6mXW7KPoU
Guide - How to install, update and see what graphics driver you have on Linux and SteamOS
By Liam Squires-Hand, 17 Nov 2025 at 11:58 am UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 17 Nov 2025 at 11:58 am UTC
Added some notes for Debian.
Guide - Why are there so many different Proton versions? Proton 8, Proton 9, Experimental, GE-Proton
By vertigo, 3 Nov 2025 at 6:40 pm UTC
By vertigo, 3 Nov 2025 at 6:40 pm UTC
Great write up, very useful for new users. It could be worth adding [proton-cachyos](https://github.com/CachyOS/proton-cachyos) given how popular CachyOS is now.
Guide - An idiots guide to setting up Minecraft on Steam Deck / SteamOS with controller support
By blindcoder, 28 Oct 2025 at 10:07 am UTC
By blindcoder, 28 Oct 2025 at 10:07 am UTC
Thank you, I just setup the Steam Deck using this guide and now my kid and I can play together on my own server! <3
Guide - How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
By Cu5t0m1z3, 19 Oct 2025 at 8:43 pm UTC
By Cu5t0m1z3, 19 Oct 2025 at 8:43 pm UTC
I think you missed a huge part of playing a TES game by leaving out modding. I know modding on Linux tends to be difficult but the website modding-openmw makes it so easy.
I followed their Automatic Installation guide for the Total Overhaul of 589 mods on Linhx Mint and it worked flawlessly with no crashing after a few hours of playing. It downloads mods from Nexus through your terminal into your game install. If you pay for Nexus it'll be quicker and smoother, otherwise you have to acknowledge all 589 mods so it can take a few hours.
I followed their Automatic Installation guide for the Total Overhaul of 589 mods on Linhx Mint and it worked flawlessly with no crashing after a few hours of playing. It downloads mods from Nexus through your terminal into your game install. If you pay for Nexus it'll be quicker and smoother, otherwise you have to acknowledge all 589 mods so it can take a few hours.
Guide - How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
By quot, 10 Oct 2025 at 2:47 pm UTC
By quot, 10 Oct 2025 at 2:47 pm UTC
The next release is focused around their new gamepad UI feature.
https://openmw.org/2025/openmw-0-50-0-is-now-in-rc-phase/
It's not officially released, but the RC releases of OMW are very stable.
https://openmw.org/2025/openmw-0-50-0-is-now-in-rc-phase/
It's not officially released, but the RC releases of OMW are very stable.
Guide - How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
By Wintergale, 4 Oct 2025 at 5:29 pm UTC
By Wintergale, 4 Oct 2025 at 5:29 pm UTC
How good it is with gamepad?Wait for OMW v0.50, there will be a huge uprade of gamepad support. As I understood, you will not need a mouse anymore.
Guide - Alternatives to popular games that don't work on Linux, Steam Deck and SteamOS
By Turkeysteaks, 1 Oct 2025 at 4:45 pm UTC
By Turkeysteaks, 1 Oct 2025 at 4:45 pm UTC
IMO I'd split the FPS categories up into even more categories, while CS and Battlefield are technically both FPS, I'm not sure how much the fan overlap is. To suggest some additional alternatives:
Esports shooters:
Valorant -> CS2, Fragpunk
Rainbow 6 Siege/X -> Zero Hour, CS2*, Due Process*
Large-scale shooters:
Battlefield -> Battlefield 4*, Insurgency: Sandstorm*, HLL* (bit more milsimmy but still), Rising Storm Vietnam*, Planetside 2, THE FINALS*
Hero shooters:
Valorant -> Dirty Bomb, Overwatch 2*, Multiversus*
Arcade shooters:
Call of Duty -> Titanfall 2* (GOAT), Splitgate 2, Halo Infinite, Shatterline?
Could mention WWII and earlier, however most of them need custom clients due to the RCEs (this applies to both windows and linux)
Extraction shooters:
Tarkov -> Tarkov SINGLEPLAYER, Gray Zone Warfare, Marauders, Deceive Inc, Zero Sievert* (but singleplayer only)
Not sure where they'd fit specifically but I also think For Honor and Rocket League are worth mentioning somewhere within esports because they both work on linux and have some big fanbases
Also it would be wrong for me not to bring up Garfield Kart as a mario kart alternative lol
Esports shooters:
Valorant -> CS2, Fragpunk
Rainbow 6 Siege/X -> Zero Hour, CS2*, Due Process*
Large-scale shooters:
Battlefield -> Battlefield 4*, Insurgency: Sandstorm*, HLL* (bit more milsimmy but still), Rising Storm Vietnam*, Planetside 2, THE FINALS*
Hero shooters:
Valorant -> Dirty Bomb, Overwatch 2*, Multiversus*
Arcade shooters:
Call of Duty -> Titanfall 2* (GOAT), Splitgate 2, Halo Infinite, Shatterline?
Could mention WWII and earlier, however most of them need custom clients due to the RCEs (this applies to both windows and linux)
Extraction shooters:
Tarkov -> Tarkov SINGLEPLAYER, Gray Zone Warfare, Marauders, Deceive Inc, Zero Sievert* (but singleplayer only)
Not sure where they'd fit specifically but I also think For Honor and Rocket League are worth mentioning somewhere within esports because they both work on linux and have some big fanbases
Also it would be wrong for me not to bring up Garfield Kart as a mario kart alternative lol
Guide - How to install Hollow Knight: Silksong mods on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck
By Liam Squires-Hand, 1 Oct 2025 at 10:38 am UTC
By Liam Squires-Hand, 1 Oct 2025 at 10:38 am UTC
Updated for the new release of BepInEx 5.4.23.4, you no longer need to manually replace a file.
- Oops - someone nearly caused a fire with the Steam Controller Puck
- Square Enix rolling out Steam Cloud support to various classics
- SN Operator from Epilogue brings SNES carts to modern PCs and its now up for order
- Darksiders Warmastered Edition gets Vulkan rendering, improved Steam Input support and more
- Anticheat check - which competitive games actually work on Linux?
- > See more over 30 days here
Anticheat check - which competitive games actually work on Linux?
How to give Valve feedback when Proton games have issues on Linux / SteamOS- Anti-Cheat page updates
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