CS:GO Trust Factor Fixed For Linux Gamers With Mesa Drivers

[ssokolow]

Hmm.. thought. How hard would it be to unravel DRM (like Widevine) by using such tools?

I wouldn't be surprised if it does something similar to BluRay decoding, where the secret sauce is handled in the Intel ME or AMD PSP core at Ring -3 to prevent exactly that.

[aht0]

REing isn't really hard, the tooling is so advanced. Once I wanted to do some hacking on Windows AMD drivers, I was shocked at just how easy it was, despite being digitally signed and all that. But indeed, it is an extra barrier to entry. But consider that to do the same on Linux or anywhere else you already need the programming skill set that's much more demanding, and that extra step looks rather small, given how mature the tooling currently is. The same thing is true on Linux, most users will be only buying or somehow getting the cheats. Only "hackers" can make the cheats.

Hmm.. thought. How hard would it be to unravel DRM (like Widevine) by using such tools?

[jntesteves]

Dunno, if you are speaking of experience or not. Cheating as an activity on Windows is easy only because subscription-based paid hacks the real cheaters develop and sell to the stupid, gullible and incomptetent. Developing of such cheats takes fair amount of knowledge and skill. Very few cheaters in game servers actually run hacks they authored themselves.

Linux would make creating your own cheats easier indeed, because options opening up for cheat developer are so many more. No certificate-based chains-of-trust etc. There's literally nothing antivirus engines could anchor into, everything and anything can be modified.

REing isn't really hard, the tooling is so advanced. Once I wanted to do some hacking on Windows AMD drivers, I was shocked at just how easy it was, despite being digitally signed and all that. But indeed, it is an extra barrier to entry. But consider that to do the same on Linux or anywhere else you already need the programming skill set that's much more demanding, and that extra step looks rather small, given how mature the tooling currently is. The same thing is true on Linux, most users will be only buying or somehow getting the cheats. Only "hackers" can make the cheats.

[aht0]

You are a Windows elitist confirmed. And yet you say this:

That's rather quick labeling from your part. Like instant "racist" far-lefties would throw in your face when you happen to indicate your opinion runs contrary to their particular prejudices.

Thing is, Linux is awesome for certain uses. Linux for web servers - sure, for bunch of databases - sure. Firewalls - not really but beats Windows Firewall hands-down (I like BSD 'pf' better, conf is far more human-readable), Linux embedded - hell yes! But gaming in particular isn't "it". You use what works best, what you feel most convenient with and/or what gets most support from vendor.. et cetera. That would make you "realist".

You become "elitist" when you are convinced something is superior for particular use case while it's really not. But you'd still keep trying to use it despite bunch of problems - which are not existing on "competitive platforms". While announcing your opinion of it's supposed superiority far and wide. Elitists would also try to show "competitive" things in as bad light as possible constantly spreading all sorts of FUD.

[Sonadow]

You are a Windows elitist confirmed. And yet you say this:



This seems like it if you only want Windows gamers on their servers.

No more birdie-ing around from this point onward.

Better a Windows elitist than a blind Linux frog in the well in denial.

Typical Linux user: Demand that goodies on Windows platform be ported or made available to Linux, refuses to reciprocate.

[Sonadow]

Wanna run any game server server? Run it on Windows.

FTFY.

Anybody who says that Linux gaming is awesome and then point the number of crap workarounds, command-line modifications and Mesa issues needed just to launch the game are talking out of their asses.

[aht0]

I don't see all the cheaters flocking to Linux to unravel all the cheating power you talk about. They don't need to. Cheating on PC is easy, period. If Valve cared that much, they would be working on a console-like closed platform.

There are better ways to counter cheating, and they are constantly working on it. It's easy to behaviorally identify cheaters. Cheaters are customers like everyone else and there's no reason why they shouldn't be allowed to play, as long as they are only matched with other cheaters all is fine.

I don't even know why I'm answering a known notorious troll, though.

Dunno, if you are speaking of experience or not. Cheating as an activity on Windows is easy only because subscription-based paid hacks the real cheaters develop and sell to the stupid, gullible and incomptetent. Developing of such cheats takes fair amount of knowledge and skill. Very few cheaters in game servers actually run hacks they authored themselves.

Linux would make creating your own cheats easier indeed, because options opening up for cheat developer are so many more. No certificate-based chains-of-trust etc. There's literally nothing antivirus engines could anchor into, everything and anything can be modified.

[aht0]

Thank God you're not Valve then.
By the way, tell me birdie, is there anything at all that you like or at least find tolerable about Linux and the open source paradigm? Or would you rather we close up shop, go home and be content with our consoles and Windows and Mac OSes?

Agreeing with Birdie. For gaming Linux is pathetically subpar and if Linux really closed down shop, it wouldn't be felt. For non-Valve gamers anyway. Bringing up Arma 3 as an example. It does have Linux port, which is more than most games can brag about. But which hasn't seen updates for 2y, won't be seeing any in the future either (was experimental, guess unsuccessful). Linux server binaries do exist but are problematic - performance on Windows server binaries is far higher. Up to fairly recently didn't even have 64bit server binaries - which have extra kinks and issues compared to longer-existing 32bit binaries. Wanna run Arma 3 server? Run it on Windows.

I think last multiplayer non-Valve game I played on Linux was 'America's Army'. All 20+ years a go.

Separate issue is relative lack of computer-tuning, recording/streaming etc utilities gamers need. Utilities to fine tune your peripherals etc. Yeah, you can sort of jury-rig bunch of utilities to have similar functionality, theoretically. But fiddling with this shit each time some piece of the puzzle stops working, gets annoying quick. And that shit would happen because many of it touches low-level stuff close to hardware, APIs of which change a lot on Linux. You can expect something in your carefully juryrigged chain of utilities to fail after every fucking Linux update.

[creoflux]

Valve has done a good job of making titles accessible to Linux users. I continued to be impressed by the improvements to Proton. I don't have as much time to play games but Streets of Rage 4 was last title I played with Proton and it was flawless. Even remote play worked perfectly.

[gfunk]

can someone email gaben about EAC too?