I disabled steam play in the general settings before installing it and it downloaded the linux version.
Ubuntu 20.04 w/linux kernel 5.8.6, GPU Radeon 5600. No issues found so far.
I wonder if this has to do with Proton? Is it trying to get the windows build to launch under Proton? I had no issues on my Linux machine.
I had no issues installing the beta too. I didn’t try before disabling proton… Maybe if you had the previous version installed with proton?
Did you have to disable Steam Play? What happened if you didn’t?
Yes, I think it must be some Steam/Proton-related bug, maybe because only the beta has Linux support. I suspect that even though it downloaded the Windows files it still tried to launch the Linux executable, because of the “missing executable” error message.
If I force the Windows version with Proton, using the same checkbox as described above, I get a Windows-looking “you need at least Windows 10” error. (I’m sure that can be worked around, but that’s not the point. 
)
Possibly previously installed months ago, but definitely not installed.
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Did you have to disable Steam Play? What happened if you didn’t?
I didn’t try before 
I should have, I just disabled it because of the comments I read here.
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I think it must be some Steam/Proton-related bug, maybe because only the beta has Linux support.
I suspect the same, now I don’t seem to be able to install/run the non beta version with
proton.
Noob question: is there a way to get the linux executables without having to install steam first on Linux/using the windows Steam program?
As I don’t have sudo rights I need another way to try and launch the game on Linux.
Once it’s released it will be on GOG. I want to keep the beta testing on Steam because it’s easy for me to manage/upload new builds.
I’m not sure if Linux Steam actually needs sudo?
It’s technically possible. I don’t know if you can do it through the regular Windows GUI client, but there’s something called https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD#Cross-Platform_Installation that can do just about anything.
I got the Linux build but I am missing a bunch of dynamically linked shared object libraries (.so) or they seem to be outdated versions.
I’ll bail out on the linux testing at this point.
I’ve been considering a linux machine (or a dual boot system) at home for a long time because there are things I can do with a few command lines that would take ages in windows explorer (like batch renaming files), but reading about all the different flavours and all that doesn’t work is scaring me off.
If only Ubuntu bash for windows was a bit better - like having a working copy&paste buffer-, I’d use that for all my DOS-like file management scripting.
It probably depends on Steam to provide those libraries, although keep in mind Steam always recommends the latest Ubuntu LTS. That’s currently 20.04, but it seems unlikely that 18.04 would have any issues yet. See here. If you’re on 16.04 that might be a bit old though.
Just buy/repurpose an SSD for Linux, or free up a few 100 GB so you can stick it on the same disk.
People tend to underestimate how much stuff doesn’t work in Windows quite a bit. Sure, I had to install Vulkan drivers to play Rise of the Tomb Raider in Linux, but I had to install drivers in Windows too. And some things are much easier in Linux, but as a new user you may not notice them.
Experiment a bit with Ubuntu flavors like Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Xubuntu; also try Linux Mint a bit, and if you particularly like one of the desktop environments just go for it. 
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You can probably boot most (if not all) of those as a live system from USB and try them out before installing. You’ll get a good idea how each looks and feels and whether it supports all your hardware.
From my own experience, a desktop that doesn’t use brand new or decade old hardware shouldn’t pose a problem. With laptops there’s potentially a greater risk of incompatibilities, but there are still plenty that work just fine.
In the past five years, I think Windows at work game me more troubles than Linux at home .
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Already have one! Unfortunately my laptop didn’t support booting from it.
I know that isn’t Microsoft’s doing but the laptop manufacturer’s- who are just as annoying as Apple and MS about not letting you do with your PC as you like. That would be the big up for me with Linux… the regained freedom…
…except I dislike the variety of these almost as much as with the commercial OS - and worse if they get updated after me finally being used to one of them.
Yes- I do like my stuff to be in the place where I left them, looking the way they did when I left them, thank you very much.
Actually, a Win7/linux dual boot would probably be ideal for me. Perhaps some older windows like XP too in order to not be annoyed by things like safedisc being removed when I work through my physical game disc backlog.
I have spent nights of reading online on how to do these things - usually going from one rabbit hole into the next one, ending up not doing anything at all. I guess I have a natural knack for attracting PC and OS issues. (As I wrote here long time ago- my windows OS versions was a losing streak going from 98 to 2000 to Vista 
)