this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
357 points (97.9% liked)
Linux
48878 readers
1234 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
A lot of games rely on Windows system commands for things like displaying graphics, saving files, etc. Proton translates those commands into commands that Linux can understand. Proton doesn't mimic the game. Proton mimics Windows.
Yep. And just to be a little more precise, since the distinction is a bit subtle: an emulator typically involves translating byte code so that you can run a binary on different hardware. A compatibility layer translates OS calls so that a binary can run on different software.
In the latter case, the binary still runs, as is, directly on the CPU because it's compiled for the same instruction set architecture (x86_64, in this case).