On the other hand, a VR headset is actually a pretty low-risk device when it comes to privacy, since there’s not really anything important on it.
I don’t use any kind of social media or communication apps on there. While it’s running it is able to scan my living room in low quality greyscale video, but while the cameras are running nothing that needs to be hidden is done.
I’d me much more worried about my phone and Google, since that actually contains critical information.
Also, I have Netguard running on my Quest 2, where I blocked all non-essential system apps from access to the internet.
So yeah, not happy about Facebook, but I consider the risk to be much lower than e.g. using Google search or Google-Android on my phone. Which I both use, because it’s just much better than the alternatives.
Windows is probably not your biggest concern
Depends what your concern with Windows is. Data collection is one thing. Running a 7th gen Intel CPU, meaning that the support for my laptop ends in 2025 is another thing.
Not everyone running Linux does it for the same reasons. “I want super privacy-hardened Linux” isn’t actually my motivation. Instead,
I don’t want to toss my perfectly working and adequately performing laptop, just because Microsoft doesn’t want to support my CPU
I like open source because I can actually fix issues I have and I can contribute if I find a fix on code-level
I like the customizability you usually get on Linux distros
Some things are easier on Linux (Docker, file systems, …)
Bash is better than anything Windows offers. While WSL2 is nice, it’s not exactly fast and has a lot of weird quirks
I am running Linux on my work device for quite a few years and I got a Linux home server, but my private PC is still on Windows because of the issue mentioned above. And I hope there’s a decent solution before Win10 is shut down.
How many of them support standalone VR and have a decent library?
How many of them support inside-out tracking, so that you don’t have to setup complicated and error-prone tracking systems?
There are exactly two PCVR titles that I play, compared to ~20 standalone ones.
Wireless PCVR doesn’t work decently here, because I live in an apartment complex and there are far too many competing Wifi networks around, which leaves wired PCVR. Wired PCVR is ok for games where you are sitting down, but anything with any amount of full-body motion or even roomscale VR is between super annoying and impossible while wired to a PC.
Thanks for the reference! I’ve seen this one before, but it’s only Wifi (which is pretty congested over here and even the official Air Link doesn’t work well) and the Linux support is flagged with a ⚠️ sign.
That just means it’s in beta right now but things moved quickly the last months. There’s now an AppImage available so running it should be pretty simple.
My last one left is PCVR with the Quest 2. I wonder whether that works through a VM.
When you’re using a Facebook VR headset and accompanying software, Windows is probably not your biggest concern
There’s not much of an alternative.
On the other hand, a VR headset is actually a pretty low-risk device when it comes to privacy, since there’s not really anything important on it.
I don’t use any kind of social media or communication apps on there. While it’s running it is able to scan my living room in low quality greyscale video, but while the cameras are running nothing that needs to be hidden is done.
I’d me much more worried about my phone and Google, since that actually contains critical information.
Also, I have Netguard running on my Quest 2, where I blocked all non-essential system apps from access to the internet.
So yeah, not happy about Facebook, but I consider the risk to be much lower than e.g. using Google search or Google-Android on my phone. Which I both use, because it’s just much better than the alternatives.
Depends what your concern with Windows is. Data collection is one thing. Running a 7th gen Intel CPU, meaning that the support for my laptop ends in 2025 is another thing.
Not everyone running Linux does it for the same reasons. “I want super privacy-hardened Linux” isn’t actually my motivation. Instead,
I am running Linux on my work device for quite a few years and I got a Linux home server, but my private PC is still on Windows because of the issue mentioned above. And I hope there’s a decent solution before Win10 is shut down.
What do you mean? There are non Facebook vendors. Valve, HTC, Sony… Valve also has vR support for Linux
How many of them support standalone VR and have a decent library?
How many of them support inside-out tracking, so that you don’t have to setup complicated and error-prone tracking systems?
There are exactly two PCVR titles that I play, compared to ~20 standalone ones.
Wireless PCVR doesn’t work decently here, because I live in an apartment complex and there are far too many competing Wifi networks around, which leaves wired PCVR. Wired PCVR is ok for games where you are sitting down, but anything with any amount of full-body motion or even roomscale VR is between super annoying and impossible while wired to a PC.
You might want to give ALVR a try. I don’t use it since I have an Index but I heard good things about it.
https://github.com/alvr-org/alvr
Thanks for the reference! I’ve seen this one before, but it’s only Wifi (which is pretty congested over here and even the official Air Link doesn’t work well) and the Linux support is flagged with a ⚠️ sign.
There’s an option to use it over USB documented here: https://github.com/alvr-org/ALVR/wiki/ALVR-wired-setup-(ALVR-over-USB)
That just means it’s in beta right now but things moved quickly the last months. There’s now an AppImage available so running it should be pretty simple.
Huh, now things get interesting! Thanks for the links!
They still got 2 years until Windows 10 is not an option, so there is hoping that it gets really stable in time.