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Enlightenment's EFL Gets Its Own Physics Library

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  • #31
    Originally posted by BO$$ View Post
    Ok so we have a new user that doesn't know linux but wants to make the jump. He installs Ubuntu 12.04. He doesn't understand things like window managers and all that nor does he care. But he does notice that in games he gets lower fps than in windows. Now he doesn't know that compiz lowers fps because it still runs all the effects in background and there really is no easy way to get rid of compiz (he doesn't know terminal nor ALT-F2). He thinks linux is shit and goes back to windows.

    Compiz isn't really that much of a hog but you can tell when it's running especially on lower end PCs. Now let's replace that with enlightment. Since ubuntu does not expose a way to get rid of compiz we can assume that they won't add a way to get rid of physics simulation to save cpu.

    This is what I'm afraid of. New users will think linux sucks because some lousy UI programmers will abuse Bullet and slow everything down. It's like giving kids machine guns and telling them to be nice. The new users won't care about an explanation they'll just get rid of linux ASAP.

    The argument that I'm not paying them so I can't tell them what to do isn't good. If hitler had tons of money and paid linux developers to build missile control software for the next world war doesn't mean we should leave them alone, because hey, he's payin'!

    My hope is that this stuff doesn't catch and since enlightment isn't really (and hopefully doesn't become) popular, gnome and kde won't copy them. Because it will look like a step forward when it's a return to dark ages. I wouldn't go even with Box2D but Bullet? Really?
    Are you aware that Zynga's CityVille on Facebook has (or had) 61 million users compared to the 10 million (or so) copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that sold across all platforms and the 12 million peak subscribers to World of Warcraft? You have to admit Facebook, YouTube, email and web browsing are more popular uses for a PC than FPS or other high-end gaming, and Facebook is a more popular gaming platform than the Xbox 360. Most baby boomers (or other non-technical computer users) will watch YouTube, play FarmVille (or other simpler, flash game), and Skype their grandchildren, but Call of Duty, Elder Scrolls V and Diablo 3 will probably pass by them with little notice. As for your hypothetical user, I would guess more than half the time he will be able to figure out the Compiz drag on resources and avoid it, if he is savvy enough to get a Windows game to run in Linux. Someone's much more likely to give up for lack of A list games instead of just slower games, with one area for exception. The performance of Adobe Flash could be an issue, but it has almost nothing to do with Compiz. That is entirely the fault of Adobe's shockingly terrible Linux support, especially in the increasingly common 64-bit realm.

    I was an Enlightenment user from 1998-2007, but have since dropped it for Compiz (well, Beryl). Unfortunately, KDE and Compiz don't work very well together on recent Ubuntu versions. I've never liked GNOME, don't like the direction of KDE 4.x, and am half-expecting a Duke Nukem Forever 2 before a bug-free Compiz. I'm looking forward to trying a final release E17. Hopefully, it will have all the features I want, like better physics when I move programs around and rotate my desktop "cube" (or pager) and a great media player.

    I expect this will be released in the 2H 2013 through 2014+(+++) timeframe. IIRC, 3 years ago, they were hoping for a Christmas 2009 release. Their last roadmap (last modified 05/21/11 12:09:00) expected an Alpha release in September 2009, then December 2009, then March 2010. I still haven't seen an Alpha release. I could be wrong, and there may be some release candidates (if they do more than Alpha/Beta) or even a full release as early as this November/December. Development will accelerate as things have been finalized (no more massive rewrites or foolishly redundant projects) and a release manager is brought in, but I think that's pushing things a little, especially if you consider their lethargic speed and aim for zero bugs.

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