Garry Newman On The Future Of Their Linux Game Ports

[guyonearth]

No, I said that people on Windows can either wholly accept MS decisions (referred to as "The Man") or not use (that version of) windows (if they can at all).

Did you read the EULA? That's what it says.

Do you ever venture outside linux-only forums? There were huge flamewars between Windows 8 adopters and windows 7 and XP users over various aspects, the GUI being the biggest.

With windows 10 there are again flamewars.

There are flamewars between people that cling to XP like if it was their father's land even if it's a POS, and others that tell them they are idiots and that should upgrade because it's not safe anymore (if it ever was anyway).



HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAAHAHAHAH

This is total bs.

Newsflash, linux desktop was born for this. Giving people the choice of doing whatever the fuck they pleased with their PC.

It is and will ever be a niche product, because that's what it was supposed to be from the start.

The whole linux project is a toolbox to make your own stuff. I mean, is Android compatible with linux desktop even if they use (kinda) the same kernel? Nope.



Steam on linux is a spin-off of the Steam Machines project, which is a project about making a Steam-controlled console-like system (since they can control their own linux distro but not Windows), and it does make sense as a future investment.

Valve isn't run by morons, they knew very well that linux graphics stack was utter crap when they started the project (now it's significantly improved, it's still crap, but "crap" is better than "utter crap"), and that without a mass-market product (Steam Machines) it was a waste of time.

But they are determined to have their backup plan if MS fails to sell its new OS (again), fails to get enough steam into its app store (again), and keeps failing to sell its lines of mobile devices (again).

Because that is what they saw back then in windows 8 days. If MS screws up royally and ends up suiciding like they are currently still doing, Valve wants their own way out of the sinking ship.

They chose Linux, because its graphics stack was MUCH better than whatever BSDs have, and because big companies like Intel see what they see too, and want their way out too, and are at work on improving Linux since long ago (hint: Intel is making large parts of the Linux graphic stack, and also the newer display server protocol, Wayland, that replaces the aging and crappy Xorg).

This is what makes linux progess further, companies that realize that it gives THEM the full control over their stuff, and not third parties.

It's always been elitary. The same can be said of OSX, elitary but in another way.

Ubuntu is the only distro that wants to displace Windows. Others don't care.

Those ranting were idiots. Windows itself has always been the Windows killer. Just look at XP, or win7. Or at the "free upgrade from win7-8.1 to win10", which is a NEVER SEEN BEFORE concession.

MS lived off the obsolescence of PCs, now that even a 8 year old pc is perfectly adequate for modern usage, and that many older PCs are replaced by tablets and not by another PC, they don't sell anymore OEM licenses (the ones of preinstalled windows).

Win8 never surpassed WinXP in popularity (for a bunch of good reasons), it was WinXP that eventually got lower and lower until it got less used than Win8. When more people are still using more your 10+ year old software than your new and shiny one, something is very wrong.

And this happens while Win7 is still top dog and there is no indication that it will get anywhere below 50% of total PC marketshare, and all those users aren't paying MS anymore until 2020 or so (when Win7 goes out of support).

Which is funny, one-shot OEM licenses (license linked to the specific PC, so if you change PC you buy a new license too), their greatest idea, is what is currently dooming MS.

If they did listen to their fucking userbase sometimes and made subscription-based licensing for their OS too, they wouldn't need to come up with total crap "new" OS every few years just to try to sell it, but only to improve their only OS over time (and make a good one).

OEM licenses (preinstalled windows) aren't free, they add somewhere like 120$ or so on top of the price of what you buy. Look for laptops with freeDOS (a fancy way of saying that they are sold without an OS) and make a comparison with the same model with Windows.

And as I said, I wouldn't count on Windows surviving in its current shape for long.
As it is now, it's locked in the PC market, and the older versions are severely limiting the profits of the new versions, and MS does not have terribly good ideas to get out of the hole, currently.

And Linux has nothing to do with this, it's all about current laws of physics (= slowing down processor performance improvements, so no need to upgrade PC so frequently, even Intel is getting hit by this and has a billion or so of "lost profits" because of this), and lack of understanding that they either change businness model NOW or they manage to be out-competed by their own older products while everyone is laughing at them.

If any Linux distro thinks it's going to replace Windows at this point, it's pure delusion. What Valve/Steam is doing is mostly delusion too. Steam Machines are way too expensive to arouse any but the most passing interest. Unless they can sell it for $200 bucks, it won't go anywhere. Microsoft will sell XBoxes for $99 before they'll concede that market. I'm not sure what you mean by "suiciding". MS is doing just fine. Windows is used by a billion machines, if not more. Version is less relevant than you think, it's the ECOSYSTEM that's important. People bitch and moan about every new version, but they end up using it. The OS will just become something you get with the device, just like it is with Apple, and MS will control the upgrades, just like Apple does. It's not going to matter if people want to adopt, they'll have to adopt. Nobody buys a phone and tries to put Android 2.2 on it. Your whole mantra of "choice" is mostly irrelevant. This idea of dozens of different desktops, GUIs, blah blah that Linux users have been selling for ages is IRRELEVANT. The vast majority of people don't care. You buy a phone, it comes in two colors, not 47. You buy a car, it comes in 5 colors, not 63. "Choice" isn't the big deal you think it is. People just want things to work, and they want their things in comfortable places in a comfortable format. They want functionality. Linux still has gaping holes in basic functionality, that nobody is filling. People don't want 20 desktops and 40 text editors, they want a system that does what they need it to do.

[starshipeleven]

If any Linux distro thinks it's going to replace Windows at this point, it's pure delusion.

Yup. Ubuntu is delusional (on many other things too, also).
Other distros don't care about replacing Windows. Users may think things, but the distro makers/mantainers usually know that it's not happening.

What Valve/Steam is doing is mostly delusion too. Steam Machines are way too expensive to arouse any but the most passing interest. Unless they can sell it for $200 bucks, it won't go anywhere.

They aren't viable now because the linux OS on them is not mature, but the plan is to get them viable in near future.
Not necessarily much better than the competitor, because as you know, consoles live and sell by having interesting exclusives.

I'm not sure what you mean by "suiciding". MS is doing just fine.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/te...rink.html?_r=0
http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/22/5925947/microsoft-q4-2014-financial-earnings
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/21/90...report-q4-2015
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/28...ofit-drops.htm

As you can see, the mantra is "improved revenue, decreased profits". Not good.

Besides, Win8 sold like crap, their mobile segment has sold at a loss since the beginning yet it still has less fucking userbase than Cyanogenmod (the most common Android custom ROM), their app store sucks because there is no userbase, and the PS4 is roflstomping the Xbone outside the USA.
You don't need to have taken advanced economy classes to guess that it's not going well for MS.
It is strong, but it cannot keep getting barrages in its face forever.

Windows is used by a billion machines, if not more. Version is less relevant than you think, it's the ECOSYSTEM that's important.

I'm looking at things from MS's perspective, not from a fanboy's.
Here what matters is when MS gets paid, not how big is the current pool of users, or its ecosystem (= amount of third party applications that run on Windows).

The only way MS sees money for Windows is by a one-shot license, usually OEM (linked to hardware).

If you don't change the PC, they don't see any money.
By looking at statistics online, 55% or so of that billion PCs is running Windows 7.
Which means that they were bought quite a few years ago.
Around 15% are Windows XP, and this means they are even older.

And it's not getting better. Most PCs with windows 7 will likely last another 5+ years (physically).

People bitch and moan about every new version, but they end up using it. The OS will just become something you get with the device,

Newsflash for you. It's been like this since the dawn of times. People don't upgrade their OS (as they don't even understand what "OS" is), they just change the PC and get the new OS with it.

The point here is that CPU performance increases have slowed down A LOT in the last 10 years.
Most people have no reason to change their PC because newer PCs aren't so much more powerful (talking about internet, office, light tasks, which is 99.999% of the userbase needs, of course, gamers are a tiny niche, workstations too).
Back in the day, using a 7-8 year-old PC was like using stone-age tools, nowadays it's pretty common to see PCs of that age that are still perfectly fine even with Win10.

Your whole mantra of "choice" is mostly irrelevant. This idea of dozens of different desktops, GUIs, blah blah that Linux users have been selling for ages is IRRELEVANT. The vast majority of people don't care.

Yeah, I know. I said that they are a niche after all.

I do care about choice, freedom and stuff. But I also know very well that most users don't care or can't understand what and why and how, like you also explained.

Which is why I said that it is a niche. Linux distros are built from ground up to attract ONLY a specific kind of userbase.

Like OSX/Mac.

Point is, they don't need World Domination to get better support.
OSX is relatively well-supported by third party programs even if it is something like 4% or so of the total PC market.

The rest of the users can (should) stay on Windows or Android or whatever other consumer-oriented OS, less annoyances on Linux, I'm fine with that.