Linux's Future...

[Enquiptor_125]

Hello all,

I have a few questions about Linux.

First off, i love to play the latest games on pc. Is Linux ever going to have a feature where you can play the latest games easily?

Also, im fed up with Microsoft, but the reasons im not switching are because of game problems and Linux is hard to learn. Im just wondering if Linux will eer step up to a higher level (when) Microsoft dies.

[suselinux]

quote:Originally posted by Enquiptor_125:
Hello all,

I have a few questions about Linux.

First off, i love to play the latest games on pc. Is Linux ever going to have a feature where you can play the latest games easily?

Also, im fed up with Microsoft, but the reasons im not switching are because of game problems and Linux is hard to learn. Im just wondering if Linux will eer step up to a higher level (when) Microsoft dies.

Im sorry say it but you've set yourself up for some really hostile posts

let the games begin

[mushrooomprince]

The only reason Linux does not support many games is because many game developers don't make games for Linux.  Theres nothing wrong with the os or the people who make it.  The problem is with the people who make the games.


Right now less than 10% of home users run Linux.  Right now our goal is to get more home users to switch to Linux or Mac.  The more people switch the more pressure there will be to make games for Linux.

[jasonlane]

quote:Originally posted by Enquiptor_125:
Hello all,

I have a few questions about Linux.

First off, i love to play the latest games on pc. Is Linux ever going to have a feature where you can play the latest games easily?

Also, im fed up with Microsoft, but the reasons im not switching are because of game problems and Linux is hard to learn. Im just wondering if Linux will eer step up to a higher level (when) Microsoft dies.

I though this has been asked and answered before???

my answer to that would be to get a games console, that's what there for?

However there are games on *nixes, but admittedly there tends to be less 'big' game development done than on the Wintel platform. This will change.  Depends what you're after though doesn't it.

Here's some links:

LG

LG II

If you want something specific, I suggest you Google it.

Also don't assume that Linux is going to be 'hard' and in terms of Linux steping up to a higher level, it left Window$ in the dust years ago.

Hope this helps

[Enquiptor_125]

thanks everyone, but im still kind of confused.
 
I have heard that Linux on the desktop is close to being a mass market option and could unseat MacOS as the second operating system of choice.

Well, lets say it did... im not saying that there is a problem with Linux but i dont like the lack of software support for it. Im just saying, is it possible for Linux to have all the features of Windows, without the crashing, even though its just a kernel?

[mobrien_12]

quote:Originally posted by Enquiptor_125:
thanks everyone, but im still kind of confused.
 
I have heard that Linux on the desktop is close to being a mass market option and could unseat MacOS as the second operating system of choice.

Well, lets say it did... im not saying that there is a problem with Linux but i dont like the lack of software support for it. Im just saying, is it possible for Linux to have all the features of Windows, without the crashing, even though its just a kernel?

Yeah strictly speaking Linux is just a kernel, but it is often used colloquially to mean GNU+Linux and a complete distribution of such, and everybody knows that.

Anyway, what do you mean by "features?"  Linux is, IMHO, just as full of USEFUL features as Windows.  

It even has the capabilities of playing beautiful games, provided these games are written naitively for Linux, or are compatible with wine.

If by features, you mean "runs all windows software perfectly," NO.  The wine compatibility layer is a painstaking reverse engineering of a proprietary, undocumented, ever-changing, and ugly set of API's.  I'm friggen amazed that it works as well as it does.

[Enquiptor_125]

Also, why cant Linux support the latest hardware? Im a big hardware fan and always have the latest hardware. FOr example... wouldent it be impossible for Linux to run, say, the new Athlon 64 that is coming out that uses 64 bit?

[jasonlane]

Ermm, actually Linux is way ahead of the game on M$ on that one. Suse Linux have already released a 64 bit OS. It's their Enterprise Server OS admitedly. I guess their standard offering will also be 64bit soon will follow soon. M$ are way behind on this.

Don't be under the impression that it's M$ that's makes all the innovations or sets the trends here. far from it.

As for Linux over taking OS X, well that's a debate altogether and frankly possibly a persoanl opinion at best. If you want an excellent OS that's easy to use, 1000 times better than anything M$ could ever produce and "mainstream", you can't beat OS X. You also can beat a good Linux.

[jasonlane]

Sorry (hope I don't sound patronising) but you do realize that OS X is also Unix based.

[jasonlane]

quote:Originally posted by Zardoz:

.......you can't beat OS X. You also can beat a good Linux.

Bloody hell sorry should read:

".......you can't beat OS X. You also can't beat a good Linux."

We need edit on this board, I need to check my posts better.

[Stryker]

quote:Originally posted by Zardoz:


Bloody hell sorry should read:

".......you can't beat OS X. You also can't beat a good Linux."

We need edit on this board, I need to check my posts better.

edit is right to the left of the quote button

[jasonlane]

I feel stupid now   :rolleyes:

[emh]

Linux may seem hard at first because it's different.  But it's really not any harder to use than Windows or Mac OS.  As far as software goes, there's tons of software available.  Granted, it's not in the stores right now, but you've got plenty of choices.

[solo]

Oh suselinux your right about hostile posts.   :mad:    :mad:  

Windows and Linux both have what are called APIs. API stands for Advanced Program Interface. It's the method that programs use to tell the OS stuff, including graphics and the likes. The Windows and Linux one are incompatible with each other because they are completely different systems. There's no 'feature' to add to Linux short of implementing the Windows API fully (which is a HUGE task that WINE is already trying to do, albeit the Windows API is very bad and proprietary, so its difficult). As for hardware, Linux probably supports more hardware than you've seen in your life. I have never encountered a peice of hardware that is not supported by Linux. Please name some if you have some.

Also it is not the responsibility of Linux developers to make games work in Linux. It's the game developers responsibility. Linux has all the features needed for modern games, full hardware acceleration on most cards that support it, joystick support, full 3d sound libraries (openal), and full support for OpenGL (mesagl). Anything else is undoubtedly supported or in the process of being supported by some 3rd party.

I play a lot of games on Linux. Here's some of em:

Parsec
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Cube
Vendetta (test demo, full isnt done yet)
Vega Strike

All the UT games are ported I believe, if not, they are probably in the process of being ported now.

Postal 2 is being ported also, cant wait.

Loki Games (now defunct) used to port a lot of games like Hexen 2 etc (http://www.lokigames.com)

More and more game developers are supporting Linux.

If you want to help Linux get more games then you should just dual boot Linux and Windows and email all the game developers askign them about Linux ports of the games you want. The more people whine to them, the more they consider Linux porting worthwhile. Make sure to mention that you would gladly pay for the Linux port, they always like getting money (of course)   . Although it would be nice if they open sourced it, they probably can't, due to 3rd party licensed code that doesn't belong to them. But if you think they would do it, don't hesitate to ask them about it.

The Linux game market keeps getting bigger, with open source AND commercial ports of software. Never Winter Nights btw is in progress and should be released soon. Try tuxgames.com for that one, they are taking preorders.

The thing that gets game developers to port is knowing that they have people that will play and purchase their games!!! it has nothing to do with OS features, Linux has all the needed stuff.

[solo]

quote:Originally posted by Enquiptor_125:
...and Linux is hard to learn. Im just wondering if Linux will eer step up to a higher level (when) Microsoft dies.

What are you talking about? Have you even tried Linux yet? It's not hard, Stryker's mum, a first-time computer user, used it fine, and thought it was easier than Windows. Are you braindead? Linux isn't designed for braindead people, but people who can say the word 'computer' shoudl be able to use it.

Stepping up to a higher-level? It has. 64-bit computing is already supported in the Linux kernel, it's only a matter of time before the distribution makers release their 64-bit versions of their distros.