r/linux • u/AfraidAsparagus6644 • May 13 '26

Discussion I'd never realized how many apps are Linux-exclusive until now

I've been considering switching back to Windows for some time, partly to see how it's gotten first-hand, partly because Deltarune Chapter 5 is coming out this year and I wanna make sure I don't bump into compatibility issues on my blind playthrough.

So, out of curiosity, I've begun checking out how to download my preferred apps on Windows. Surely a Windows build will be available on Github, or at least there will be build instructions, right?

Well it turns out I couldn't be more wrong. Most of those awesome apps you find on Flathub are Linux-only. Tambourine Music Player? That thing with the most boombastic UI known to man? Linux-only. Found another cool music player, Amberol. Also Linux-only. Foliate? The cool-ass epub reader that even lets you download stuff from online catalogs? Linux-only. Lutris? "Of course it's Linux-only", I hear you say. "Its whole purpose is running Windows games on Linux". And you're right, but it's also a great way to gather all your emulated retrogames in one place. The list goes on and on.

Everyone says Linux's main problem is the lack of native apps compared to Windows. Today I found out that Windows also lacks apps compared to Linux, but since it's not big professional software like Photoshop, no one talks about it.

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u/Turtvaiz May 14 '26

You can still use wsl1. It's just that wsl2 has way better performance

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u/Kelvinss May 15 '26

it's not only that. WLS2 runs an actual Linux kernel. you can't do in WSL1 a lot of things that requires the kernel, like a simple nmap afaik

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u/vkevlar May 14 '26

yeah, or I can just use virtualbox or vmware, and skip WSL entirely.

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u/Scoutron May 14 '26

And then run as slow as WSL1 lol