# Wine/Proton

16 Hacker News commenters recommended Wine/Proton and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for running Windows games and apps on Linux, often better for older titles than Windows 11. Main caveat: online games with kernel anticheat.

## Why people recommend it

- Runs Windows software on Linux (3 comments): "Immense research of running Windows programs on Linux was already done by Wine/Proton teams." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48721538)) "have made far more in-roads in being able to run Windows software on non-Windows systems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46720756)) "given the success of WINE/Proton with Windows applications" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49146269))
- Works for most games and software (3 comments): "Often playing older Windows games is easier and more reliable on Linux with Wine/Proton than on Windows 11." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49177830)) "proton/wine works more or less for everything" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510897)) "It does work reliably enough though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46756930))
- Improving quickly for gaming (2 comments): "these days even gaming through tools like Wine/Proton has improved a lot" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48001358)) "cutting edge gaming tech like wine/proton staging versions per default" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48126730))
- Good investment for Linux (2 comments): "invested (wisely, I think) in Linux infrastructure like Wayland, Wine/Proton" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45944602)) "Targeting Wine/Proton is the best of both worlds for everyone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46141882))

## What people warn about

- Feels cobbled together, not ready (2 comments): "Windows games now work too (under Wine/Proton) but isn't ready for prime time yet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46072042)) "cobbled together components like FEX and wine/proton" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46278717))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Proton by Valve](https://hackerapproved.com/p/proton.md): 451 recommend
- [Steam with Proton](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steam-with-proton.md): 9 recommend
- [Winlator](https://hackerapproved.com/p/winlator.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Wine/Proton", https://hackerapproved.com/p/wine-proton/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).