4 ms·

> I like AAA games, almost none of the games I play are available on Linux (primarily Blizzard games). A lot of desktop apps I like or need are not on Linux, et

by mcny 9y ago

> I like AAA games, almost none of the games I play are available on Linux (primarily Blizzard games). A lot of desktop apps I like or need are not on Linux, etc. I don't have any first hand knowledge about the AAA gaming industry but from what I understand, the studios offload a lot of the work to the GPU manufacturer (nVidia most likely) who then "fixes" the bugs in what they call a graphics driver. I think this is the main problem. The so called graphics drivers do too much work and games don't pull their own weight.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
That's certainly a problem, but that's not why games aren't being ported to Linux, in my opinion, it's that A) the user base isn't large enough to bother in many cases (these same companies often release terrible Windows ports for more or less the same reason) and B) It's a pain in the ass for a multitude of reasons not the least of which is that the Linux community thinks it has a great development environment but it doesn't (at least for Destktop stuff).
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  >that's not why games aren't being ported to Linux // What's weird to me is that a lot of games will run on Linux, eg via WINE (PlayOnLinux) say but the companies then appear to be hostile to users doing that. I used to play a load of the Tom Clancy games on WINE [single player], but then Origin messed with something, maybe their cheat system, making it no longer work on Linux. So now I don't buy games from Origin any more and stick with Steam. It's not just "not ported to", game companies seem actively hostile to [paying!] Linux users, I don't know if MS pay them to be like that or what their motivation is?
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
    I think you're reading too much in to it. They just don't want to have to support WINE users and have their brand associated with their problems.
    - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
      >They just don't want to have to support WINE users // Couldn't they just respond to support requests with "we don't support non-MS users" rather than actively preventing the use.
- skgoa 9y ago
  > the Linux community thinks it has a great development environment but it doesn't This is an incredibly important point. The community is full of true believers and college students (and many are both) who just can't fathom that almost all of their dev tools and workflows suck compared to professional grade tooling available outside the FOSS echochamber. I have nothing against FOSS in principle, but in practical use I have become convinced that there is no reason to develop on Linux, unless you develop specifically FOR Linux. And even then it's such a PITA to do anything complex that it's often just not worth it to target Linux if you don't absolutely have to. Microsoft and Apple have realized how important it is to make it easy for developers to create good software.

by mcny 9y ago

AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago

That's certainly a problem, but that's not why games aren't being ported to Linux, in my opinion, it's that A) the user base isn't large enough to bother in many cases (these same companies often release terrible Windows ports for more or less the same reason) and B) It's a pain in the ass for a multitude of reasons not the least of which is that the Linux community thinks it has a great development environment but it doesn't (at least for Destktop stuff).

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
>that's not why games aren't being ported to Linux // What's weird to me is that a lot of games will run on Linux, eg via WINE (PlayOnLinux) say but the companies then appear to be hostile to users doing that. I used to play a load of the Tom Clancy games on WINE [single player], but then Origin messed with something, maybe their cheat system, making it no longer work on Linux. So now I don't buy games from Origin any more and stick with Steam. It's not just "not ported to", game companies seem actively hostile to [paying!] Linux users, I don't know if MS pay them to be like that or what their motivation is?
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 9y ago
  I think you're reading too much in to it. They just don't want to have to support WINE users and have their brand associated with their problems.
  - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    >They just don't want to have to support WINE users // Couldn't they just respond to support requests with "we don't support non-MS users" rather than actively preventing the use.
skgoa 9y ago
> the Linux community thinks it has a great development environment but it doesn't This is an incredibly important point. The community is full of true believers and college students (and many are both) who just can't fathom that almost all of their dev tools and workflows suck compared to professional grade tooling available outside the FOSS echochamber. I have nothing against FOSS in principle, but in practical use I have become convinced that there is no reason to develop on Linux, unless you develop specifically FOR Linux. And even then it's such a PITA to do anything complex that it's often just not worth it to target Linux if you don't absolutely have to. Microsoft and Apple have realized how important it is to make it easy for developers to create good software.