The problem with the Linux user is that the Linux user is at a constant fight with Windows. To him, Linux always
has to be better than Windows. And when all the facts point that Linux isn't better than Windows, he has to lie by omission and hyperfixate on one aspect of Linux that's better than Windows, while at the same time avoiding mentioning any issues that Linux has that Windows doesn't, or any ways where the Windows issue he is trying to point out becomes a non-issue. And when all else fails, he will resort to insults and mockery, or in case of this site, using the Dumb/MATI/Autistic/Lunacy reactions once he can no longer hold his argument.
In case of Wine having better backwards compatibility than Windows, that is true. However, the Linux user also suffers from the Dunning-Kruger syndrome where he will point this out but will fail to understand
why that is. So let's dissect this.
Wine does fare better in supporting Windows software from the 3.11/9x era than modern Windows. However, this boils down to two main issues: DirectDraw being broken in Windows and 64-bit Windows lacking Virtual DOS Machine, or VDM.
In case of DirectDraw, there are a few solutions available, mainly DxWrapper, a simple DLL wrapper which aims to fix any and all DirectDraw related compatibility issues. All it takes to install it under Windows is copying it to the installation folder of the game you want to fix, unlike Wine where any DLL substitution like this would require configuring Wine prefixes. Then the game's DDraw calls go through the wrapper which aims to fix compatibility issues, and it's also highly configurable. That solves plenty of issues Windows software has under Windows that Wine only fixes because of it's most mature part of the codebase being the one targeting legacy software.
Of course, the Linux user will omit the fact that Wine struggles with a lot of modern software as that would make Linux look worse than Windows and he can't let that happen so he will hyperfixate on how much better it fares with legacy software, and if confronted about software like the Adobe suite, he will scoff and try to suggest that you don't actually need to run this software and that you should use this or that alternative, as he always has to be right and he has to make it seem like Linux is better than Windows even if it makes him look like a condescending fool.
Virtual DOS Machine. This is a component that was present in Windows NT since the first versions that allowed you to run MS-DOS software as well as Win16 software under the new OS architecture. It's what allowed you to play old MS-DOS and Windows 3.11 games under Windows XP. When Microsoft started moving towards 64-bit, while WoW64 was made and to this day it's practically flawless which is why you don't notice anything not working when using 64-bit only Windows 11 or Windows 10, they did drop the plans to port VDM over, leaving the support for 16-bit Windows software only working under 32-bit only Windows, and since practically everyone moved to 64-bit Windows this led to 16-bit software being broken. But here's the irony: even though leaked builds of Microsoft's 64-bit VDM exist, the best way to bring back this functionality is using WineVDM, a port of Wine's VDM that works under Windows, and it works perfectly fine.
Of course, the Linux user isn't aware of it existing, and if he is he doesn't want to mention it, as it's not only disproving the idea that there is no way to run 16-bit software on Windows, it hurts his ego when the solution to running 16-bit software on Windows is a port of the open source Linux project that is Wine. Even though some Wine software like Wine's Wordpad will work just fine natively under Windows due to the nature of Wine, which is being a Win32 compatibility layer.
In the same vein, DXVK, which is utilized by Proton, which itself is a fork of Wine, the secret sauce leading to Linux gaming becoming viable, but not due to the Linux community actually coming together and working on code, but rather a corporation that is Valve using Linux as a means to secure their financial independency from Microsoft, which they begrudgingly tout around as a great victory of Linux when in reality Linux, as in the Linux community, would never accomplish this in a million years, is a set of native Win32/Win64 binaries that work perfectly fine under Windows. Many of DXVK's magical improvements that are meant to show the superiority of Linux gaming, like per-game fixes for badly broken DirectX 9 games like GTA IV or The Sims 2, as well as better frame pacing and lower input lag, can now be enjoyed under Windows due to the very nature of the efforts to make Linux run Windows games. It's all aiming to recreate the Windows NT environment under the Linux kernel, and most, if not all methods of accomplishing this compatibility relies on Windows NT architecture rather than the Linux one.
Now I know that I may be strawmanning a bit, but let's be honest, everyone has heard the same deflections and defenses so it's not like it's coming out of nowhere. The Linux user may say that all of this is insane to do to just have Windows run software that was meant for it, but let's be honest: is it as "plug and play" under Linux as it should be? No. If your distro of choice wasn't preconfigured to be this plug and play, you will have to configure it manually. In terms of "out-of-the-box ease of use" Linux fails from the get-go as it can't run Windows software to begin with, and to treat Windows with this double standard where it's "cheating" in this "competition" where you have to install third party software under Windows to reach the same level of compatibility is simply childish. And while another argument which is "Microsoft shouldn't have this problem to begin with as Windows is their product they solely develop" is fair, it is nonsensical to bring up when we're comparing Windows to Linux, or more specifically desktop Linux, an operating system utilizing a kernel that is a result of joint collaboration of many corporations including Microsoft, which then gets a multitude of packages attached around it to create a desktop OS, and then utilizes software made by Valve to make it able run Windows software. Another deflection that may be used is the existence of Lutris, but all that Lutris does is that it automatically applies any and all game tweaks that would require manual step-by-step installation under Windows while following PC Gaming Wiki. The only point for Linux here is that it makes it more convenient, but it is rarely brought up as such. Usually it is brought up to make it seem like it is impossible to have these old games run well natively under Windows, even though all the tricks Lutris applies are, again, within the Windows architecture, not the Linux one, meaning one could mirror Lutris under Windows to have the same benefits.
These types of deflections tend to come when you've proven the point that Windows does have the backwards compatibility the Linux users claims it doesn't, but due to you having to do manual installation of third party packages to accomplish it somehow makes your argument invalid, even though it's perfectly okay for Linux to mandate this just to be able to run Windows software. This sort of hypocrisy is prevalent in Linux user's mind. The hoops he has to go through cannot be applied to Windows, which is only a rule in his mind as these hoops lead to parity between Linux and Windows, which then only leaves him with all the issues Linux has that Windows doesn't. Issues such as the X/Wayland debacle, the systemd debacle, the lack of standardization which is a must for any operating system to reach maturity so that software can be easily developed for it, everything he simply cannot deflect. The issues he became accustomed to as they've became a part of his personality, however, issues that are directly contradicting his main goal of showing Linux's superiority to Windows, which is why he has to constantly hyperfixate on benign and illogical issues like the Windows backwards compatibility, which as I described can be achieved under Windows. When there is no way to win, keep moving the goalpost and narrowing the scope of the discussion so that you look right and so that Linux looks better than Windows. This is the eternal struggle of a man who turned a tool, a mean to an end, into an ideology bordering on religion.
Now the director's cut:
WineVDM fixes the lack of 16-bit Windows software compatibility.
Wrappers like
DxWrapper fix old game compatibility where usually anything older than DirectX 9 has issues.
Linux's
DXVK is a set of native Win32/Win64 binaries that can be used under Windows to fix issues with DirectX 9 games.
DOSBox-X can be used to run MS-DOS software.
86Box can be used to emulate a legacy PC to ensure maximum compatibility.
PC Gaming Wiki contains any and all info on how to make older games run well under modern Windows.
Any and all compatibility issues under Windows are fixable if you don't suffer from learned helplessness and can look up solutions to your problems. Just because Microsoft fucked it up bit by bit even before Nadella doesn't mean that it's so fucked it cannot be fixed, and the methods to fix it are piss fucking easy.
Linux will forever be inferior to Windows if you want to treat it as a replacement for Windows and Linux users will forever be insufferable cunts that will never realize how insufferable they are. Think millions of Jason Halls. That's Linux users.
Literally down to the "arch virgin" meme that was in the video wrt to your image. I thought you invoked him ironically.
