Valve's Gabe Newell Makes New Linux Comments

[DanLamb]

Furthermore, what do you mean game developers don't make games for high end desktops with high end GPUs?

Not exclusively, no.

Why in the heck did I spend a decent amount of money buying a $500 graphics card with a powerful high end CPU just so I could better run a lot of games that my previous high-end machine struggled with, such as Shogun 2 Total War and Rome II Total War? You are implying that such games do not exist. It is a fact that your point of view is incredibly silly, at best.

Anandtech benches Shogun 2 Total War, the exact game you cite, on a Intel HD 4000, which is a laptop integrated graphics chip, at quite playable rates. And that article is from 2012. 2013/2014 laptop hardware is even better.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5771/the-intel-ivy-bridge-core-i7-3770k-review/12

No, I'm not implying that these games don't exist.

[chrisb]

In places I've been to, I have never seen anyone using Apple laptops. Ever.

In my local coffee shop, the ratio of Apple laptops to PC laptops is about 10:1. Usually I see about 6 or 7 Macs every visit, and a single PC laptop every second or third visit. There may be many reasons to fault Apple, but their laptops being undesirable to the general public is not one of them.

If you want a laugh, check out the photos of Google's campus - and note both the preferred laptop, and complete lack of Chromebooks.. Google "not dogfooding it":

[chrisb]

It is impossible to get a video chip on an APU that is as powerful as a discrete high-end GPU, for a simple reason: cooling.

By putting both on the same chip the available bandwidth between the CPU and GPU increases substantially. For some workloads, that is "more powerful". Due to the different address space, this advantage hasn't been obvious yet, but once the HSA processors arrive we should see some big gains on the right workloads. And as lithography feature sizes shrink further, heat generated will also reduce, so cooling becomes less of a problem.

[doom_Oo7]

If you want a laugh, check out the photos of Google's campus - and note both the preferred laptop, and complete lack of Chromebooks.. Google "not dogfooding it":

Actually Google employees are required to use Macs

[DanLamb]

Actually Google employees are required to use Macs

Google employees (software developers) have told me that they have their choice of Linux or MacOS when they join. The hardware may be Apple Macbook regardless.

Most developers who run Linux that I know choose Apple hardware, including me.

[chrisb]

Google employees (software developers) have told me that they have their choice of Linux or MacOS when they join. The hardware may be Apple Macbook regardless.

So let me get this right, Google employees a) aren't allowed to use Chromebooks, and b) must use Macbooks. Linus Torvalds uses a Chromebook Pixel for kernel development, but Google's own employees aren't allowed to use one?!?

Google Chromebooks "great for all your work* (*unless you work for Google)"

[dee.]

So let me get this right, Google employees a) aren't allowed to use Chromebooks, and b) must use Macbooks. Linus Torvalds uses a Chromebook Pixel for kernel development, but Google's own employees aren't allowed to use one?!?

Google Chromebooks "great for all your work* (*unless you work for Google)"

Of course. Chromebooks aren't meant for work. They're designed to draw in suckers with promises of a new cloud wonderland utopia, in order to produce more raw materials for google's datamining.

Obviously Google employees know better than to use them. They're reserved for the marks... Anyone who does real work needs a real computer.

Think about it, why would Google want to popularize the idea that you can buy a Chromebook and install a new OS on it? They'd lose money. The Chromebook business model is only viable if most customers keep using the preloaded spyware-OS, because they can only sell them that cheap by compensating with data revenue. If too many people start seeing Chromebooks as something you buy as cheap hardware to put a real OS on, it will no longer be viable for Google. Therefore, employees aren't allowed to use it for work. It would set a bad example.

[mmstick]

Google employees (software developers) have told me that they have their choice of Linux or MacOS when they join. The hardware may be Apple Macbook regardless.

Most developers who run Linux that I know choose Apple hardware, including me.

The number of people who choose to use Apple hardware with Linux is small. It's far more practical and cheaper to just build your own desktop or format a Windows desktop/laptop and install Linux and enjoy faster hardware for a third the price of an equivalent Apple system.

[DanLamb]

The number of people who choose to use Apple hardware with Linux is small. It's far more practical and cheaper to just build your own desktop or format a Windows desktop/laptop and install Linux and enjoy faster hardware for a third the price of an equivalent Apple system.

This is ridiculous. Apple charges slightly more than the major Windows laptop brands. It fluctuates depending on what configuration you want, but no way can you get a comparable Windows laptop for a third the price of an Apple laptop.

If you want a Linux laptop, you usually need to buy a Windows/Mac laptop and reformat it. It's a personal consumer choice. Apple charges a slight premium, but many feel the physical aesthetics are worth it. Some people hate the way Dells look. I find their ultrabooks quite attractive. I love the idea of the Dell Developer Edition that has Ubuntu preloaded. Honestly, though, I don't see the advantage over possibly better support and drivers and a $50 savings.

[AnAkIn]

Apple pretty much just charge half of the price for the apple logo.