I had to use a very specific runner. I just checked and it's on lutris-GE-Proton-8-5. Anything else and didn't work for me as well. Even then its broken in a couple ways. For one I have to run it, close it, then run it again for it to actually open. And it can't update on its own either. It DOES work though.

I agree, I know that all of these alongside Valve's Proton are making it much more accessible, but there are still plenty of titles (especially online games) that just don't play well with Linux, unfortunately. I'll definitely be using Linux for at least 95% of the usage of my PC, though, so that's better than my current setup where I exclusively run Windows 10 with several distros in VirtualBox.

indies support linux native usually and those are better games. the state of aaa is bad so i dont see it as something negative.

There is two issues here.

1. GOG do all things Linux as a bonus, and cannot afford to devote too many resources. As it is, they appear to struggle enough supporting Windows variants, and many aspects of the store and Forum.

2. Generally it is up to the game provider to provide Linux versions. So buying from Steam, is just going to encourage more of the same and so less availability at GOG.

Beyond that, we don't know the state of Linux experts employed by GOG. For GOG to officially support Linux in any meaningful way, they would need those experts and have the resources to commit.

It should be noted, that many Linux users successfully run Windows versions on Linux, via the available options, as well as do similar to take advantage of Steam Deck.

That might work for some people but there are plenty of people who do enjoy some AAA games. Outside of the Assassin's Creeds and Call of Dutys, there are still plenty of AAA games and studios worth following.

I wonder how Steam counts those who may have taken that survey both from Windows and Linux, like me? Am I moved from a Windows user to Linux user and vice versa, or counted to both figures?

I would expect that quite many Linux PC gamers also use Windows, as gaming is still sometimes more straightforward there. If it wasn't for games, I'd probably be exclusively on Linux.

We know there are at least 35,000 Linux users on GOG just because that many users have voted for the GOG Galaxy wish. 200,000 Linux users on GOG sounds reasonable.

(Of course, I wish I could unvote that wish.)

I assume it would depend on the OS you were using at the time you got asked to take the survey. If you are on your windows set-up, you get counted as a windows user in that survey. If you are on your Linux set-up you will be counted as a Linux user in that other survey.

The survey is anonymous, they do not keep your personal information, so they do not know you counted as a windows user in in survey, and as a Linux user in another.

the same apply when / if a user changes main OS if they only use one, for example moving from WIndows 8 to 10, or moving permanatly from Windows to Linux.
not to be too nitpicky, but this is not necessarily true. there is no requirement for people to be Linux users to click that wish button. A person may be a windows user, but think it is reasonable to allow Linux users to have a galaxy version as well, or they may be Windows users but thinking they may switch OS sometime in the future, or for many other reasons. It is not a metric I would use for anything.

Which OS are spambots running?

You can run Proton without ever installing Steam. So Steam is just a convenience client.

35,000 people who care, let's say. It would be likely that over 90% of those people actually use Linux.

If we want to be nitpicky, I think 1.76% is too high a percentage. In February 2024, 43% of that percentage was Steam Deck users (they used Steam OS Holo). Most Steam Deck users would probably find it difficult to get onto GOG. So cut that percentage roughly in half, and we get a little less than 1%. Around 100,000 is certainly within the realm of possibility.

It's not only about the games, but the client. I can sync my games on Steam, use Steam Cloud, etc; so my gaming on Linux is synced to Windows.

Meh. That ship has sailed. There are FOSS utilities available that will likely have more features, better support, and run better than whatever GOG would manage to put together as a Linux native Client with Wine support.

If Heroic and Lutris get Galaxy online functionality, then that's it, we got everything. I don't even care anymore about those things, and if I did, I would just use Wine/Lutris for the janky Galaxy experience. Like for Grim Dawn multiplayer.

I have the feeling people who keep going on about Linux support on GOG haven't really thought it through...

Ps. Heroic and GOL now have GOG affiliate links if you wanna support them!

I wasn't referring so much about the games, but the client. GOG simply ignores Linux; it doesn't even have a Linux client. Steam not only has a Linux client but is actively incentivizing developers to have good Linux ports (or at least games that perform well on Wine/Proton); which is an added benefit.

But GOG could - at the very least, have it's client run on Linux natively. Being able to use GOG Cloud would already be a great benefit. Sometimes I still need to run Windows to play a few games and the cloudsync feature is very useful to keep both my WIndows and Linux environment synced (saves, achievements, playtime, friends, etc). This works great with Steam and sadly not possible with GOG.