Linux doesn't not prioritize backwards compatibility. It's time to stop trying to make linux native gaming work without a stable ABI.

I agree. Game devs are better off targeting proton as a platform, but Linux purists complain if there is no native port and you don't get the brownie points for putting in the effort.

I think there's plenty of brownie points to be had for making sure a game runs well under Proton... There's very little reason that GoG cannot do what Steam does with Proton for Windows games.

GoG did extractly that - Galaxy client runs well under Proton.

That's not the same as a native client that launches games under Proton... GoG would be better served with something native/adaptive (even web/electrion/tauri based) that also installs/manages a Proton install along with the games.

I only run Linux at home, but on GOG I download the Windows versions and run them via Wine. This for me has had a higher success rate than keeping the native Linux versions around.

Linux has a very stable ABI. It's considered a bug if userland breaks.

If you want a stable userland, you can try using flatpaks. When I tried it, it downloaded entire root filesystems for Fedora and Ubuntu just so the applications would run.

It does work. The application appears to be unaware of the outer, incompatible distro.

I don't quite see how this approach wouldn't work for games.

Only kernel. Userspace breaks all the time.

Can you read?

Steam provides the Steam Linux Runtime, which gives a stable environment to compile games against.

Android is Linux. It has loads of users and loads of games.

Don't conflate mobile free to play games (i.e. gambling simulators with a thin veneer) with actual games. I wouldn't be surprised if there were fewer actual games playable on Android than the full catalog for Sony PSP. Mobile free to play games are exclusively a way to prey on people's addictions in the hopes of finding enough "whales".

The Android version of the game Fractal no longer work (So I use the Windows version). And the only way to play the Steam version of Dungeon Defenders on Linux is to use the Windows version instead of the native one.

Even if Windows ever did disappear as an OS, it would remain as a backwards compatibility layer apparently...

It has a stable interface on top of Linux, which desktop linux does not have.

Android is not backward compatible. Many old apps are crashing or refuse to work on newer Androids.

Most of them aren't though. Significantly more old games work on Android than they do on Linux desktop distros.

This is why everyone is dropping Linux support and targeting Proton instead.

The only time I've seen old Android games stop working is when they use native 32bit libraries and most Android devices are now unable to run them.

Other than that Android backwards compatibility has been quite good, much better than Desktop Linux anyway!