Desura Game Distribution Service Releases On Linux

An anonymous reader writes "Desura is a digital distribution platform for video games, focusing on releases from indie developers and mods rather than AAA titles. After a two-month beta period, Desura has launched a Linux client, which supports the installation and patching of games on any Linux distribution. With this release, Desura is the first client to work on both Windows and Linux systems, enabling games to be installed with a click. They're currently in discussions to release the code under the GPL."

Comments

Meh....

[sl4shd0rk]

Looks like all the game titles are Humble Bundle games. Don't get me wrong, I love the HB games and I think it's great that Linux is getting some gaming love but when I can just download, tar xvfz && ./runme , I don't see the point of this. Are other titles available? Does this mean EA is going to start doing Linux ports through this?

Re:Meh....

[Anonymous Coward]

The idea is create something like steam. You can download the game from the developer's website, but having a single interface where you can download, buy, apply mods, manage friends, etc is the point of this. I don't really like the idea of this since it places too much power in a single company (see steam), but there is a demand for it and desura seems a good software that has love for linux. It is already rather big and it looks like it can drive some major games to linux with some more time, so I support them even thought I don't like the idea of this kind of software and the software if not free (yet, I hope).

Re:Meh....

[HarrySquatter]

and it looks like it can drive some major games to linux with some more time

Hahaha what? Desura will have almost no impact of bringing major games. If there was a market for that Stream for Linux would have already berm released rather than Michael of Phoronix perpetually claiming it's just around the current.

Re:Meh....

[tomstockmail]

Are other titles available?

Yes there are. Oil Rush, for example. You can browse the Linux only games by going to the game browsing page and clicking the Tux in the upper right hand corner. The Humble Indie Bundle was popular and came with Desura keys, so a lot of people can test using Desura without having to buy a game straight out from them.

Are other titles available? Does this mean EA is going to start doing Linux ports through this?

I *highly* doubt EA will ever start doing Linux ports and if they did, they'd find a way to bring Origin to Linux to do it. But Desura acts as a game distribute service that goes across Windows, Linux and soon to be OSX that developers can utilize when creating cross platform games. I welcome Desura and will be using it for future game transactions since Steam never decided to make a Linux port.

Re:Meh....

[Kjella]

Package management is an excellent thing, but apt-get doesn't work so well with non-free (as in money) software

Somehow I don't see this being more difficult than having a HTTP(S) user:pass for your paid "steam-like" repository. Generate the package list on the fly - the packages are the same, just which appear to be available. Use file permissions to make sure nobody wget anything they shouldn't and it'll be almost like steam. Throw in your standard webshop interface, on purchase you add the package to your user set and file permissions on the server, call apt-get update, apt-get install $game. Patches come via apt-get upgrade/dist-upgrade as usual. Expansions as separate packages with dependencies. There's no DRM but you can check IP logs if an account is being used by many and go after unauthorized mirrors.

Re:Meh....

[OliWarner]

Package management is an excellent thing, but apt-get doesn't work so well with non-free (as in money) software

It can. You can easily have custom (ie locked to one user) package lists with secured downloads and pump all that through Deb. It's all HTTP after all; anything you can do on a website you could do with the current apt stack.

Re:Meh....

[EsbenMoseHansen]

I bought and installed Dungeons of Dredmor (which is a fun game, if you like that sort of thing), and it both installs and run through Desura.

Re:Meh....

[Kjella]

The only problems with an apt-get framework is that it means you have to add repos for any pool of the downloadables and there is NO management for who gets to download the title.

Well, that was what I was saying you could build.

Do keep in mind that the titles are not all FOSS or free as in beer, for that matter.

What part of "after purchase" didn't you read?

Right now the package managers for the distributions really, really don't have the framework in place for this sort of thing.

That I agree, but the package managers wouldn't have to do anything special. Nor would the packagers.

If it did, I'd be all for it and I'd be helping it grow that way- and this only gets into distributions that do packaging like this. What about Gentoo, etc. that don't have a packaging system, per se, in the same sense as Debian and Red Hat have developed?

If you want to download a binary game, it has to work on some binary interface. I don't see how it can work any other way.

Maybe I'll try explaining it to you slooooowly:
1. You set up a website foo.com. There you have a store to purchase games.
2. Users register at foo.com like user "svartalf" with some password.
3. Users add repository hxxps://svartalf:[password]@foo.com
4. When the user calls apt-get update, the server knows who the user is. Instead of returning a static file, it does something like "SELECT * FROM packages JOIN sales WHERE buyer = 'svartalf' " and generates a package list on the fly which would be empty. Use some apache mod for this.
5. You buy "Angry Birds" in web shop. The server does an "INSERT sales WHERE package = 'angrybirds' AND buyer = 'svartalf' " and does a "pw usermod svartalf -G angrybirdowners" where angrybirdowners is a user group that has read access to angrybirds.deb - or just use that apache mod again to refuse backdoor wget attempts.
6. You call apt-get update again, same query as #4 but now it finds your purchase. It's exactly like a new package appeared on any repository.
7. Now you can apt-get install angrybirds, it's just a regular package download to apt-get.

Apt-get doesn't realize it's hitting a paywall, it's just like a normal repository. But if you haven't paid the repository is empty, if you have paid the repository has the package. To set up a new machine, you simply add the repository with your username and password and apt-get away. You can of course integrate the webshop and the apt-get calling into an app to make it a bit more user friendly, but it'd be just as described. You buy and "magically" the file is now there in the repository. Someone skilled could probably prototype this in a few hours.

Re:Meh....

[hamsolo474]

have you looked at the results of all the humble bundles, this year alone. linux users CONSISTANTLY pay more than their mac or windows counterparts. if memory serves on the humble indie bundle 3 they paid double what windows paid and a quarter more than what mac users paid. its the non programming equivalent of script kiddies who pirate everything they touch, and i dont see the majority of linux users fitting that. and unfortunately there is not a FOSS equivalent for everything, especially not games and software required for work. so lets recap, we have a higher paying demographic we have a more mature audience who is less likely to pirate and we have a demand for commercial applications there is an untapped wealth in linux users and its blind fools like yourself who keep it that way.

Re:Meh....

[RubberMallet]

It's a chicken meet egg syndrome. Game developers won't make Linux games because there is no centralized distribution platform, and there is no centralized distribution platform because there are no game developers making games. Ubuntu is trying with the Ubuntu store.... but it's Ubuntu only. Something like Desura is a HUGE step in the right direction. If even one major game developer starts releasing top tier games through Desura, the rest will feel pressure to do the same.

Re:Meh....

[OliWarner]

These games aren't for sale through Desura. You can buy them elsewhere and install them and add a shortcut inside Desura so all your games are in one place - that's the option it's offering you there.

Games that you can buy through Desura are managed and installed for you, just like they would be with Steam.

Awesome software

[kallisti5]

I've been beta testing the Linux release for a while now, it's a well designed piece of software! It's nice having all your indie Linux games in one spot with reviews. It also makes a nice support channel when the games don't run right. Debian friendly.

Re:Awesome software

[esocid]

RPM (Fedora) friendly too. I bought Project Zomboid, which later put it on Desura. It installed no problem, and also ran no problem, which I wasn't expecting.

PROTIP: Package management systems!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh boy... the Windows-think people are at it again.
Next thing we know, they'll "invent" the concept of "everything is a file".
Or brag about their awesome new Linux versions of AutoIt and WinBatch called "ash" and "wbash".

They just invented NIH all over again... :P

Re:Ubuntu Software Center?

[Tarlus]

Because Desura is made to be accessible for any Linux distro, and not just Ubuntu.

Re:Ubuntu Software Center?

[recrudescence]

Because you now also own the game on windows and mac.

WTF!? ANONYMOUS READER!?

[recrudescence]

I have submitted this news item on firehose at least twice now and it got rejected each time! And now some anonymous dude pitches up and gets it in first time!
*rants and mumbles*

Seriously, Editors. It's either newsworthy or it isn't.

Re:Meh.... Meh, indeed...

[Svartalf]

Well, considering that none of them have had a tool quite like this (the Steam version that Valve has internally not withstanding...) available, combined with Desura being at least initially Indie-oriented, it's going to lead to the effect you're commenting to there. There's not exactly going to be any EA, Valve (duh!), Square|Enix, etc. titles on there yet. As for them wanting to do them, that might come with time with a service or two like this available to handle things. I know it's going to be a subject of discussion with some of my studios I work for to get the Linux ports over there to see if they'll sell better than they have before- and I'll be talking with them about possible Pandora handheld clients along with a few other ARM-centric clients like it.

If you're not working in the industry and don't know what they're looking for in things (this is one of them, actually)...keep the "Meh" to yourself for at least now.

Re:How many?

[jyx]

you are kidding right? Have a look at the stats for the humble bundle releases some time. Linux users are more than willing to hand over the cash for pew pew's.