Rich Geldreich On The State Of Linux Gaming

[Michael_S]

What? The only thinig about Windows that makes it seem to be easy is that on most machines its preinstalled and configured when u buy it, if not its a complete nightmare on usabilaty. It nearly impossible to make it worse, even if it would be your goal.

But the fact that it was pre-installed on over a billion computers sold in the past twenty years, and used in businesses and schools all over the world, is a huge advantage. Colossal. Enormous. It may be awful, but it's familiar.

Just look at how popular Internet Explorer browser is, despite the fact that Firefox, Opera, and Chrome were all easy to install, free, and clearly better for somewhere near ten years. (Arguably IE11 closes the gap a lot - but there is still a gap.)

Linux has to penetrate an existing market to make progress on desktops. I would love to see it work, but I wouldn't be surprised if ultimately Android and Chrome OS evolve into being useful enough full fledge desktop operating systems that one or both of them supplants Windows. I think a Linux distribution may never manage it.

and then there was the java thing, I dont really understand why people want java on this plattform but for mobile it seems the app developer want it.

My understanding is that Google standardized on Java for Android for a few reasons:
- There are lots of Java developers, so it gave them a good market for potential developers.
- Java runs in a virtual machine, so you don't need to recompile for different processor architectures.
- Java has good support for a security layer and restricted application permissions.

Scripting languages would have been easier to use, but had worse performance. Real compiled languages like C, C++, and Objective C make it easier for application developers to bypass the security layer (pointer arithmetic, buffer overflows, etc...).

Java does have a performance drawback against C, Objective C, or C++, but we're already seeing smart phones with eight core processors and 3GB of RAM. Sure a cheaper device with applications written in Objective C can do better, but how many people are going to give up the million applications in the Google Play store to save a few dollars on their phone?

[Paul-L]

I am Debian user, so you and i does not strictly follow recommendations, isn't it ? Steam recommends only Ubuntu or SteamOS that is what they target, other than that well you can use your Linux of choice, but really YMMV . So, both recommended distros have pulseaudio by default, do you know that, do you know issue is not there for recommnded distros and that there can be additional bugs if you use something else .

The lighting bug will happen on any distro, including Ubuntu or SteamOS.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive/issues/4

This is another thing I've experienced. The game will launch on a different monitor sometimes.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive/issues/60

Or severe framerate drops (guess what, happens on any distro)

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Cou...sive/issues/84.

I could post more if that is what you want.

[dungeon]

The lighting bug will happen on any distro, including Ubuntu or SteamOS.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive/issues/4

This is another thing I've experienced. The game will launch on a different monitor sometimes.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Counter-Strike-Global-Offensive/issues/60

Or severe framerate drops (guess what, happens on any distro)

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Cou...sive/issues/84.

I could post more if that is what you want.

Well you don't need to do that i know what are bugs , i believe someone can always found bugs for Windows or Mac version and some drivers too Also i believe most of the bugs are fixed for Windows version, and CS:GO for linux is only released recently

[Michael_S]

I am Debian user, so you and i does not strictly follow recommendations, isn't it ? Steam recommends only Ubuntu or SteamOS that is what they target, other than that well you can use your Linux of choice, but really YMMV . So, both recommended distros have pulseaudio by default, do you know that, do you know issue is not there for recommnded distros and that there can be additional bugs if you use something else .

SteamOS is built on Debian, right?

[dungeon]

SteamOS is built on Debian, right?

Yep both recommended distros by steam are Debian derivatives, but that does not mean they are pure Debian of course . That can warrant some better compatibility in comparasion with other distros even if you use pure Debian, but of course not 100%

From Debian's POV, both those distros are our users

[yogi_berra]

No it's not. Google uses Linux kernel because it's free but Android has nothing in common with what people imply when they say "Linux". This is precisely why RMS insisted on "GNU/Linux" - without the GNU userland it's not the same system and there's no need to pretend it is.

Actually, there is a need to pretend that Android is linux. That is the only way anyone can say that linux has more than 1.12%.

[thechef]

I don't like the averaging attitude, because my GPU is not an Intel Radeon 980 GTX.
Paying gamers are used to superlatives, so I couldn't care less about the constant failures of AMD and Intel.

I combine NVIDIA and Linux and get the best possible performance, what else could I want?

[hrkristian]

Actually, there is a need to pretend that Android is linux. That is the only way anyone can say that linux has more than 1.12%.

What complete and utter elitist bullshit that sentiment is.

At Android's conception there was no hardware around to drive a GNU userland on a mobile device that had to last a reasonable amount of time.

Even if Google had based Android userland on GNU, the same people would be having a fit about how they butchered GNU and the Linux userland in general to make Android.
It's the same story every single time. Pricks who cannot just accept they're not super special furrykins for using "proper" Linux. It's a perpetual dick-size competition.

Android is Linux, that's final. It's pretty widely recognised these last couple years.
Now that Android is progressing on x86, and ChromeOS is already there and is likely to converge with Android there at some point, tell me what the argument of Android not being Linux is then?

When is the mighty title "Linux" fit for something? When it fulfills arbitrary rules of random persons on the internet?

[blackiwid]

Java does have a performance drawback against C, Objective C, or C++, but we're already seeing smart phones with eight core processors and 3GB of RAM. Sure a cheaper device with applications written in Objective C can do better, but how many people are going to give up the million applications in the Google Play store to save a few dollars on their phone?

The google play store is the biggest Antifeature of Android, it prooven eats baterie time and even worse it has 99% proprietary even really extremly harmful apps in it, dialers which blend in phone numbers randomly so you sooner or later mistakenly click it etc. tahts shure even legal. And then u cant download the apk files from the website, and much apps there is no version on a homepage.

But you are right for the normal retards out there, that install 1000 proprietary apps, it does not matter I guess.

But did my dad or my brother buy such a phone for all this apps, no they installed it as a bonus, but the selling apps was some few ones, mail, navigation (very important), browsing, telephoning if a concurent gives that and a better offer in terms of runtime or speed or usability, they will go for it.

Jolla nearly hit it, but with the weaker hardware they dont should sell it with apple prices.

It has a reason that something like cyanogenmod is so hipp, people underestimate how much geeks are out there, yes they are not the majority of course not, but they are dont know 5-10% and often they are desition makers either in companies or in privat, or at least people here on them and their arguemnts, and even somethimes people trust them more or less blindly.

But forget about that effekt if only 5% of the market shifts to such vendorss I think that would be more % than microsoft has (at least on phones).

[erendorn]

Well, I don't think a developer can live on the 1.5% market share that Linux currently has. Except for some very popular titles.

I think in the long run the ROI is not enough to justify a port. I doubt we would see as many Linux games without the promise of Steam Machines being released in the near future.

Well, it depends of the cost of porting. If it's 1.5% percent of the cost of developing a game, it's profitable
Actually, because there are far less games on Linux than on windows, you can expect a better market share on Linux than on Windows, so your user share from Linux will be more than 1.5%.