Complaining about Windows Vista is a national past time on Internet forums these days. Windows Vista 'costs too much', 'has onerous product activation', 'requires too much hardware', etc. These complaints are often followed up by a very simple boast: 'I'm just going to switch to Linux'. But in today's landscape, how viable is that statment? Is the threat to switch to Linux an empty one, or is it entirely possible?"
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2006-02-11
No developers will make a serious game for linux because:
1. Linux only has very low usage share, about 0.4%
2. The game must be released in GPL.
You obviously know nothing about the GPL or software licensing in general. It is not true that games and programs must be released under the GPL for Linux. Programs can be run on a Linux system that are released under any license including proprietary ones. That is why you can run Acrobat Reader, Flashplayer, Sun Java, Opera all released under proprietary licenses.
Ok, I stated again my response that was lost in several pages back, so unread by you.
The game must be release in GPL. Sure, you can a make commercial game in linux, but no one will use it because it's not GPL. Some people who are interested will make a petition to make it GPL, and some people with coding ability will start a GPL'd clone. How can you make money from that?
Some readers comment that 15% PC game share is nothing compared to 85% share of console game, but in the other hand they considered 0.3% usage share of desktop linux is such a quantum leap.
Member since:2007-03-06
The game must be release in GPL. Sure, you can a make commercial game in linux, but no one will use it because it's not GPL. Some people who are interested will make a petition to make it GPL, and some people with coding ability will start a GPL'd clone. How can you make money from that?
Unreal1 -> not gpl
Unreal Tournament -> not gpl
UT2003 -> not gpl
UT2004 -> not gpl
Quake3 -> released with dual license (one of them being gpl) only years after initial release, when it was no longer the hottest engine to develop games with (and only the engine. Artwork, music and stuff not included).
Serious Sam -> not gpl
Serious Sam SE -> not gpl
Postal2 -> not gpl
Doom3 -> not gpl
Quake4 -> not gpl
While I think it's great that ID released Quake3's source, I still don't see anyone asking for any of those games to be released under the gpl license as a requisite for playing them.
I can buy any of those games and install them from my distro's package manager, same as with any other package only that grabbing the game data from the cd/dvd.
As I gamer, I don't care if it's GPL'd or not. As a programer it's a different story, but still has nothing to do with whether I play those games or not.
And it's not only about games... how about Maya on linux? VMWare? Shake? Mainactor? Pixar's MenVee? Disney running photoshop on linux through wine?
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing."The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Member since:
2005-11-02
No developers will make a serious game for linux because:
1. Linux only has very low usage share, about 0.4%
2. The game must be released in GPL.
You obviously know nothing about the GPL or software licensing in general. It is not true that games and programs must be released under the GPL for Linux. Programs can be run on a Linux system that are released under any license including proprietary ones. That is why you can run Acrobat Reader, Flashplayer, Sun Java, Opera all released under proprietary licenses.