I'm glad that some game companies are porting to Linux

[3spooky5u]

It just makes me so happy.

Sadly it will mostly be on the popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian.
No love for Slackware :'(

 

[SharpHawk]

Which companies/games?

Gaming is the only reason I still use Windows.

 

[Red Storm]

A lot of the crowd funded games have pledged native Linux ports, which is good to see. If enough of the games I loved to play started to pop up on Linux I would have no problem dropping Windows.

 

[Sattern]

Most developers are getting sick with Windows and Microsoft so they wanted to find something better for a coding environment, in most cases they switch to Linux because of the simplicity and quality technicalities.

 

[Elixer]

Most developers are getting sick with Windows and Microsoft so they wanted to find something better for a coding environment, in most cases they switch to Linux because of the simplicity and quality technicalities.

Nonsense, well partly. Developers are sick of some of the things that MS is doing, but then again, so is everyone else, and the same developers are also sick of some of the crap that goes on with linux.
Pretty much all developers are using VS, since there is nothing that is even close on linux, that offers everything that VS can do.
Their IDE & debugger are much more user friendly, than using the equivalent tools on linux.

So, why are they porting things over to linux ? Simple, they want their foot in the door. The linux user base is still very small, and still has tons of issues with drivers.
Valve is trying to fix the mess on linux, so, we will see how well it works out.

 

[Maximilian]

Yeah its good to see. Make league of legends and maybe world of tanks work in linux easily and I can ditch windows as a daily driver....

 

[Anteaus]

It just makes me so happy.

Sadly it will mostly be on the popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian.
No love for Slackware :'(

I think it's more about non-free versus free (license, not money). Games need proper drivers and API support, which is a bit hit and miss with non-mainstream distros. Even among the most popular, Valve officially only supports Ubuntu..at least for now.

The irony is that as Linux becomes more "commercial", it will become less and less free. Non-free drivers, API, and distribution centers will take over and linux will become as DRM stricken as Windows, albeit without the price tag.

 

[Jodell88]

The irony is that as Linux becomes more "commercial", it will become less and less free. Non-free drivers, API, and distribution centers will take over and linux will become as DRM stricken as Windows, albeit without the price tag.

This cannot happen. The only way a distro will become DRM stricken is if it ships DRM stricken. The only two that may get that way are Ubuntu and Steam OS. I can see Ubuntu becoming DRM stricken way before Steam OS will, if ever.

 

[Elixer]

This cannot happen. The only way a distro will become DRM stricken is if it ships DRM stricken. The only two that may get that way are Ubuntu and Steam OS. I can see Ubuntu becoming DRM stricken way before Steam OS will, if ever.

Isn't that splitting hairs ?
There will always be some level of DRM, just look at video drivers, the binary blobs include DRM for things they are forced to implement. The open source versions don't have the same DRM, or any DRM at all.

Steam itself is a DRM platform.

I guess it also depends on what level DRM is enabled...
Right now, if you want to view netflix or hulu+ (or...) then, you need a browser that supports DRM, and it seems google's chrome browser implements that for linux people.

The big content players are always going to insist on DRM.
The same crap with HDCP protected stuff, that only works with binary blobs.

 

[DaveSimmons]

It just makes me so happy.

Sadly it will mostly be on the popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian.
No love for Slackware :'(

That's because of initial development, testing/QA and bug-fixing costs.

For example, say it takes 40 hours per distro to install and properly test on each distribution. For a small company, spending an extra person-week to support an extra 5% of the already-small Linux desktop market makes no sense.

So they test on Ubuntu, SteamOS, maybe Debian or Mint, then rely on users to tell them about problems on other distros. If there are problems they might or might not have time to fix them.

 

[Bateluer]

Nonsense, well partly. Developers are sick of some of the things that MS is doing, but then again, so is everyone else, and the same developers are also sick of some of the crap that goes on with linux.
Pretty much all developers are using VS, since there is nothing that is even close on linux, that offers everything that VS can do.
Their IDE & debugger are much more user friendly, than using the equivalent tools on linux.

So, why are they porting things over to linux ? Simple, they want their foot in the door. The linux user base is still very small, and still has tons of issues with drivers.
Valve is trying to fix the mess on linux, so, we will see how well it works out.

Leadworks aims to provide that same high quality developer studio for the Linux platform.

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/home?showbanner=0

I'm really not a dev myself, but this is a project that a backed when they had their Kickstarter. Got a tee shirt out of it.

 

[v8envy]

Ugh. I'm not happy about this at all. I really, really hope it doesn't catch on.

Why? Because at 2.4% of the desktop there's absolutely 0 reason to write worms, viruses and trojans for Linux. I can practice some pretty lax security and be fine. My 80+ year old parents can click on as many attachments as they want and still be fine.

If an x86 Linux becomes mainstream (heck, even if it gets more than 10% of the desktop market) that goes out the window.

Windows games and programs, for the most part, run well with Wine. Everything I've ever wanted to play ran great, at least. Valve's efforts in the area have even resulted in decent ATI drivers for Linux as of late.

I've been enjoying Linux as my developer *AND* gaming environment for a very long time and I hope it stays the niche desktop OS it is today.

 

[Anteaus]

I've been enjoying Linux as my developer *AND* gaming environment for a very long time and I hope it stays the niche desktop OS it is today.

In spite of all the Linux talk these days, I don't think you have much to worry about. Power users are one thing, but until Linux can ship on machines meant for grandmothers and grandfathers and provide solid usability without breaking, it will never be considered "mainstream".

I do predict Linux gaining a larger desktop market share, but I think it will be in the form of Android, Valve OS, or a heavily automated Ubuntu. Niche Linux distros will continue to exist as they always have, especially GNU distros. No commercial company would touch a fully GNU Linux distro with a 10 foot pole if they plan on making money in the Linux world.

I love Debian but there is no way I can use it for everything.

 

[John Connor]

My main game is FS2004 so I'll be stuck with Windows. Although, if prepar3d is made for Linux one day I'll be set. My main FS is FS2004 though as I have about 64GB devoted to it.

 

[Bateluer]

In spite of all the Linux talk these days, I don't think you have much to worry about. Power users are one thing, but until Linux can ship on machines meant for grandmothers and grandfathers and provide solid usability without breaking, it will never be considered "mainstream".

You've been able to do that for a while now. Ubuntu or Mint with a non-root user, no problems with web browsing, social networking, email, basic word processing, etc.

 

[imaheadcase]

You've been able to do that for a while now. Ubuntu or Mint with a non-root user, no problems with web browsing, social networking, email, basic word processing, etc.

Yah and they got it how? You think they went on google and searched "Ubuntu/mint download"? Was the before or after they typed "check email" in google search and asking yahoo answers best recipe for chocolate cake for the grandkids?