Trying to ditch windows

I really want to switch to Linux, up to this point there were two things keeping me on Windows, gaming and work.

Gaming nowadays is a lot easier than a couple of years ago thanks to Valve and Proton, so that’s not a problem anymore; with the other one I don’t know if I can make something work enough and that’s why I’m asking here.

I work as a fullstack software developer with windows products I don’t fear for the frontend part because typescript, angular, react, … those I know I can run on linux with no problem on VS Code; for backend thought: dot.net, visual studio, sql server, … I think there is no Visual Studio for Linux and I don’t know if I can run & debug .net 8 applications on a linux machine? I can use docker for things like databases. Does anybody else has a similar scenario and things that had to overcame? Tips, problems that I may not see now before making the switch, and solutions to my current problems are welcome

om1k,

VSCode or JetBrains Rider are good options for .net development, both available on Linux.

dan,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

don’t know if I can run & debug .net 8 applications on a linux machine

The .NET SDK is cross-platform. Try install it then run dotnet run in the same directory as your project file (.csproj).

Most .NET APIs are cross-platform, but there’s a few that still only work on Windows, and it’s also possible to write code that only works on Windows, like using P/Invoke to call a Win32 API.

Metju,

Fellow .NET dev here, switched to Linux for side-gigs recently.

In general, the experience is a lot better than Windows / WSL. Some general remarks on the setup (relevant mostly for Debian-based distros, so YMMV):

  • Rider / VSCode suggestion is spot on; go with the former if you have cash to spare and you’re fine with snaps, otherwise - DevKit can do DevKit things (with the only problem here being lack of .dcproj support in VSCode; can be ignored with proper integration test setup).
  • Containerization of DBMS: by all means, go for it if you have the resources to spare.
  • Possible gotchas:
    • If you’re going to use MS apt feed for .NET runtime / SDK, set up apt preferences to point to their feed for dotnet packages. Otherwise, you’re in for a bad time when running updates.
    • Docker: personally, I recommend Rancher Desktop for this purpose, as Docker Desktop on Windows left a bad taste in my mouth. If you’re fine with the latter, it’s up to your own preferences then.
    • Test containers: if you do use it with anything else than standard, bare-bones Docker setup, you’ll need a custom config; stumbled upon that the first time I tried running integration tests.
Swarfega,

Get a second drive and install Linux on it. You can then flick between the two on boot. I’ve done this and now booting into Arch more than Windows. I’ll still boot into Windows for reasons but Arch is my main OS now.

possiblylinux127,

Better to use virtualization for privacy, stability and convenience

Swarfega,

I ran Linux in VirtualBox for years but it’s just not the same as running from bare metal. The step to bare metal is the key to actually starting to make the move to Linux for me

possiblylinux127,

Run Windows in KVM

Swarfega,

My kids plays Roblox, it doesn’t run as well as it does bare metal

possiblylinux127,

Did you install the vfio drivers from the Fedora project?

possiblylinux127,

You can run a Windows VM for anything Windows.

flashgnash,

I am a dotnet dev using Linux as my primary OS. Dotnet core fully works on Linux now, there’s a native Linux dotnet cli that works almost identically to the windows one

SQL server I think has been able to run on Linux for a while anyway

You’ll have to learn to live without full fat visual studio but honestly you’re better without it anyway it just stops you from learning the stuff you really ought to know by doing it all for you

VSCode is a pretty good replacement and actually nicer to use if you know what you’re doing, neovim if you want to end up spending all your time configuring it (said as a neovim user)

Gaming is absolutely not an issue unless you play certain competitive games with weird anticheat (valorant for example)

As others have mentioned, docker and VMs exist if you have a reasonably powerful machine so nothing should be completely inaccessible to you anyway, on the windows machine I have to use at work I ironically do most of my dotnet dev on a Linux VM anyway

floofloof,

There’s also JetBrains Rider for a .NET IDE that runs on Linux.

flashgnash,

True, not free though and I think IDEs like visual studio proper abstract things away that you should probably have some understanding of

neomachino,

You could always just boot up a windows VM and set up a shared folder to code on Linux/test on windows if your application has issues running on Linux.

Diffuser5593,

I ran a dual boot on my work laptop with Windows and Mint until I was fully ready to transition over to Linux. Might be worth doing the same? Recently got rid of the Windows boot and am now fully on Linux for work development. However, I’m not in the web development space so can’t comment on that. I use CLion, Intellij, and PyCharm for work.

My home pc is fully Linux running Fedora which I use for gaming, no issues there running Proton through Steam. Have Lutris setup as well for League Of Legends, although that’ll be disappearing once Vanguard is integrated.

utopiah,

I never thought I’d say this but… in your case, for work at least I would actually stick to Windows! It looks like most of your tools are from Microsoft and that the environment they will normally run on is Windows. It seems most pragmatic to stay there.

For gaming though (as I’ve argue few times and can be seen from my history), Proton works well, even for AAA games, unsupported (officially) games and VR. ProtonDB helps you to quickly assess if that’s the case for your specific games.

Anyway, what I would suggest though is step back, i.e WHY do you want to step away from Windows. If it’s technical then “just” dual boot and properly separating fun from work might be sufficient. If it’s more moral and ethical, then earning money from tools that are NOT from Microsoft to gradually decouple, remove the dependency on it, seems like the “right” thing to do.

teawrecks,

Even if you can run your .net code on linux, it’s better for you to run on the actual platform you’ll be deploying to. You could dual boot just for work (that’s what I do) or try running in a VM, but I assume your work is hard enough without generating new friction.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

I’m also a C# dev and I have been using Linux for years now.

VS Code was pretty much unusable in the beginning when compared to VS. However, nowadays VS Code is very capable at syntax highlighting and debugging.

There is no support for WPF and Forms applications on Linux, since I mostly write web and console applications I don’t mind running a Windows VM for those few exceptions. There is also no support for Maui applications but as things are going right now it seems to not be going anywhere anyway.

Since we mostly deploy to Linux servers nowadays anyway it has actually made my job easier since I can run Docker without having to fiddle with it every day like I had to on Windows.

Panda,

I use Jetbrains Rider on Linux which runs just fine. It takes some setting up to install .NET but it didn’t take me too long. Except for pre-release versions, that might take more trial and error.

Overall I’m pretty satisfied with the switch to Linux and I haven’t had any major issues. Not with video games, either. Protondb.com is a good website to see what games do and don’t work on Linux and you may need to add launch options to get specific games to work or switch to a specific version of Proton.

It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it for you or not. You could try a dual boot setup first.

eluvatar,

Rider gang show up

helenslunch,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

I think there is no Visual Studio for Linux

flathub.org/apps/com.visualstudio.code

flathub.org/apps/com.vscodium.codium

Rogue,

This is Visual Studio Code which is a very different app to Visual Studio

isVeryLoud,

You can try JetBrains Rider for .NET, but it’s only natural that you won’t be able to write Windows applications outside of Windows.

I’m personally impartial to JetBrains for my IDEs on Linux, they work really well and are well supported.

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