Note: just know this is not a fully proof-read professional article. These are just my raw thoughts as I blog about my experience with porn and linux
So if you don't already know, Microsoft has just become a cluster when it comes to the user experience. 'Recall' was a big one. Copilot infecting every corner like Clippy on cocaine, their 'accidental' temporary ban of Wireguard development, and who knows other countless little nit-picks that are becoming anti-consumer. And let's not talk about 'privacy and telemetry.' I own a smart phone, so I'm not going down that rabbit hole. I'm just going to focus on how my porn centered lifestyle has leveled up switching to Linux.
This is not my first time going into Linux as my primary PC, but this year was when I decided to fully commit to figure out my porn addicted workflow.
You see, (and you already know this), but I'm a deep lifestyle pornosexual gooner. I download, collect, multi-monitor setup, stream, play videos constantly write about it, talk to friends about it.. it's a very real obsession that is barely contained. often only stopping when my home needs something important or my job needs me. But everything else, is basically porn.
The hardest part I had to solve for was how the hell do I play videos bordeless, frameless, and looping forever from my local collection. My life changed when I figured out how to do this with Pot Player on Windows. The settings were all continued inside the app. And then I encountered my first hurdle with Linux.
Basic Assumptions about this post.
This will not be a step by step guide. I will use terms new-commers will not understand. (sorry, not sorry). But basic assumptions include you know how to make bootable iso files, and you know how to start windows “from scratch” and understand basic troubleshooting techniques.
I'm writing this form the point of view of PC-centric gooning experience. This means my primary gooning activity occurs at a desk with a tower pc. No mac, no laptop, no phones, or portable devices.
I'm also writing this based on someone that values local porn over streaming everything. In my opinion real lifestyle gooners prioritize collecting and fully owning their porn, not relying on internet always being uncensored to reach your favorite fix. (keep an eye out on all the US internet laws.. for example)
I am not going to discuss distros and different flavors in Linux. However, I am biased to running Debian based setups over Arch. My Linux skills have not gotten to the point of building up what I want from bare Debian. Currently, I run Mint and Ubuntu server for context though.
With that out of the way, lets talk about gooning on Linux.
Know things can be done. Just not the way you expect
A lot of new users coming into Linux from windows will miss certain things or just certain items and situations that you are just used to after years of being in their ecosystem. I won't get into all of the specifics, but a combination of window border mods/toggles, and few minor tweaks to VLC player got the results I wanted. That first major step was accomplished.
Investment in Time
I consider myself and intermediate Linux user. I have been running command line Ubuntu Server for years to manage my porn backup stack, and a few other things i won't mention for privacy. So understanding the command line and some basic visual workflow without a GUI is almost essential to really start maximizing your experience.
Over the years, (mind you, I am almost 40 at this point and I have spent decades deep in computers) I had already started dabbling in scripts and automation with my computers for various porn related tasks. Recently, thanks to coding with ai, I can make custom processes that always update my porn playlists. I can just drop new porn in a folder, wait for it to sync and next time I start my video player, new porn is in my playlist. Now I don't have to manually manage my playlists. Drag and drop can get tedious if you had a very productive day of gooning and collecting.
Linux won't replace everything.
Don't be ashamed to admit defeat. Linux has a super small market share overall. There will be some tools that are windows specific that will not run well on Wine (or Proton) or whatever translation layers there are out there. My goal is to get my windows use down to a bare minimum. I don't see anything wrong with having a windows 'utility' computer i fire up for short tasks or apps. My video editing program is a prime example of “need to have it.”
Curiosity
This is why I say porn doesn't make you dumb. I have explored and tried new technical concepts to maximize my setup and gooning experience. After all of these years I have started exploring computers more than I have in a long time.
My mindset has gone from “This is just how windows is,” to “Maybe i can change or fix or make this better,” thanks to the wide open perceived freedom you can achieve with Linux.
This is never going to “replace windows.” Not everything will “just work.” There may be something you break along the way. But this is the best day and age to find all the answers you need (not just Linux and Gooning). It's up to you to maximize your life experiences and expand what matters most to you.