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Wine Makes It Possible To Run Vulkan Windows Programs On Linux (phoronix.com)

Posted by timothy on from the raise-a-glass-to-the-developers dept.

The cool Wine-related news of the week isn't just for Android Remix; an anonymous reader writes with some news applicable to a wider set of users: While no Windows-only Vulkan games have yet to be released, Wine developers are ready and have worked out experimental support for wrapping Vulkan Windows programs on Linux. Assuming you have a Vulkan Linux driver, the latest Wine-Staging build allows for Vulkan Windows programs/games to be dynanically translated and run on Linux 32-bit and 64-bit. Wine's Vulkan wrapper is passing all Khronos conformance tests, but hopefully the ever-expanding Linux game catalog will make this 10k+ lines of code not necessary moving into the future.

52 comments

  1. More LUDDITE garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Vulkan, Linux, and Windows are ALL LUDDITE GARBAGE! Modern app appers use apps written with AppApp on the AppOS apperating app, NOT LUDDITE SOFTWARE!

    Apps!

    1. Re: More LUDDITE garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I hole-hardedly agree, but allow me to play doubles advocate here for a moment. For all intensive purposes I think you are wrong. In an age where false morals are a diamond dozen, true virtues are a blessing in the skies. We often put our false morality on a petal stool like a bunch of pre-Madonnas, but you all seem to be taking something very valuable for granite. So I ask of you to mustard up all the strength you can because it is a doggy dog world out there. Although there is some merit to what you are saying it seems like you have a huge ship on your shoulder. In your argument you seem to throw everything in but the kids Nsync, and even though you are having a feel day with this I am here to bring you back into reality. I have a sick sense when it comes to these types of things. It is almost spooky, because I cannot turn a blonde eye to these glaring flaws in your rhetoric. I have zero taller ants when it comes to people spouting out hate in the name of moral righteousness. You just need to remember what comes around is all around, and when supply and command fails you will be the first to go. Make my words, when you get down to brass stacks it doesn't take rocket appliances to get two birds stoned at once. It's clear who makes the pants in this relationship, and sometimes you just have to swallow your prize and accept the facts. You might have to come to this conclusion through denial and error but I swear on my mother's mating name that when you put the petal to the medal you will pass with flying carpets like itâ(TM)s a peach of cake.

    2. Re:More LUDDITE garbage! by sbaker · · Score: 1

      If only that were true. Sadly, that's only going to happen if you buy them at the App-AppStore and pay for them with AppPay (which you'll need to download from the App-AppStore).

      --
      www.sjbaker.org
    3. Re: More LUDDITE garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God bless this copypasta.

    4. Re: More LUDDITE garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well said.

    5. Re: More LUDDITE garbage! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It all doesn't really madder! It's just water under the fridge anyway.

  2. Cool...so now I can... by sbaker · · Score: 0, Troll

    Cool! Now I'll be able to run Vulcan/Windows programs on my Linux machine before I'll be able to run them on my Windows computer! Way to get ahead of the curve wine-guys!

    --
    www.sjbaker.org
  3. Beer Makes It Possible To Run Everything Else On L by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 0

    n/t

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  4. Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    All 14 Linux gamers are reported to be very excited by this new development!

    1. Re:Very excited! by ledow · · Score: 2, Informative

      1% of Steam gamers, given the recent hardware/software survey.

      That's 120,000 players playing JUST at this moment, and probably 1.25 million "active" Steam accounts, by the latest stats that Valve release.

      You can keep mocking, but in terms of games available to them, it's an upward slide.

      I remember when people used to mock Linux for not having a "proper GUI", couldn't join Windows networks, etc. etc. etc. Turns out, it's one of the world's most profusely deployed operating systems, in various guises.

    2. Re:Very excited! by cfalcon · · Score: 2

      Lack of support for Linux games doesn't hold Windows back, but somehow lack of support for Windows games does hold Linux back. It's an unfair double standard, but it is what it is. Linux gaming, and Windows gaming under Linux, will definitely decrease the barriers to entry to Linux for a lot of power users and gamers. More importantly, this REVERSES the calculus of a game developer- currently the options for cross platform support result in more hassle and cost in order to support the, as you say, 14 Linux gamers- as such many companies often go Windows only. Hell, some of the big names in crowdfunding promise a Linux version and cancel or delay it indefinitely as soon as they get all the money from the passionate few Linux guys, a massive bait and switch. But with relatively seamless support, using an engine that works with Vulkan will let you support Linux for way less effort than it takes today.

      So it's not a huge deal, but it is a big deal.

    3. Re:Very excited! by Bengie · · Score: 2

      It's not a double standard, Windows is the standard, Linux is not. The hope is the new standard is for all games to be cross platform.

    4. Re:Very excited! by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      It's a double standard because no one judges Windows by its non-existent native cross platform support, but routinely people will say stuff like "Linux doesn't run XYZ", meaning the developers of XYZ never made a Linux version. Even the fucking language is backasswards.

    5. Re:Very excited! by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Lack of support for Linux games doesn't hold Windows back, but somehow lack of support for Windows games does hold Linux back. It's an unfair double standard, but it is what it is."
      Here let me fix it for you.
      The lack of AAA class games for Linux are holding it back. The lack of AAA class games for OS/X are holding it back. Windows has the most AAA class games.
      Name 3 great games for Linux that are not available for Windows?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    6. Re:Very excited! by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      The job of the OS is to run software. If the software is not available for the OS then the OS is less useful.
      And yes I am a Linux user as well as an OS/X user and a Windows user.
      Linux is great for a server and it works well for almost all web based tasks.
      It is a good desktop if you do not want to game or must use program that is not available.
      It is not a double standard it is simply a fact of life.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    7. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      You're trolling, but I'll take the bait. Linux still lacks a proper GUI. Even the big wigs like Gnome and KDE all have parts that make you say, "This was cobbled together by amateurs." And, despite the initial surge of Linux users who flooded Steam when it was opened to them, it's remained stagnant ever since. Fear not, there's still plenty left to mock about Linux with surely more to come. Indeed it is widely deployed, as a no-cost, drop-in replacement for unix. Really, not much has changed.

    8. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope and hope not KDE 5 will mature. If it matures, I'll be able to have a try at it (never could run KDE 4 because of so ugly it looks). But if it matures they'll announce KDE 6.0 and throw everything under the bus again.
      Gnome 3 does not count, it's a Windows 3.1 interface for Red Hat not a general purpose GUI. Likewise Unity is a 1980s interface (like e.g. Macintosh, Atari ST) for Canonical Ubuntu.

    9. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're trolling, but I'll take the bait. Linux still lacks a proper GUI. Even the big wigs like Gnome and KDE all have parts that make you say, "This was cobbled together by amateurs." And, despite the initial surge of Linux users who flooded Steam when it was opened to them, it's remained stagnant ever since. Fear not, there's still plenty left to mock about Linux with surely more to come. Indeed it is widely deployed, as a no-cost, drop-in replacement for unix. Really, not much has changed.

      Windows doesn't have a proper GUI, either. There are inconsistencies all over the place (marvel at Windows 8/8.1/10 having two control panels f'rinstance) .

    10. Re:Very excited! by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      This would be because there are no games for Linux only that anyone gives a shit about.

      There used to be a lot of server applications that Linux was great for, and Windows was rubbish at. Windows has probably caught up a lot since then, so this may or may not be the case, but this was something that was holding Windows back.

    11. Re:Very excited! by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      That's like complaining about tanks because your garage doesn't have room for a tank.

    12. Re:Very excited! by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      So if AAA titles on Linux deliberately cut their Windows versions, this would be better for Linux? If Linux somehow did some shenanigans to be hard to run in a VM, this would somehow be better for Linux?

      Get real. And get your language correct: Linux doesn't lack game XYZ. Game XYZ lacks a Linux version.

    13. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get far better performance with Windows games when I run them on Linux.

      Even with the Wine compatibility layer it is more efficient. Furthermore, Linux' network stack is 1000% better than Windows so latencies are much lower as well.

    14. Re:Very excited! by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Nope. You're the one that's trolling... tossing around vague meaningless insults.

      Something like "it's not as bad as people say" is not something that can in any way shape or form be considered a troll. It doesn't even fit the most retarded post-modern definition of a troll.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    15. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a double standard because no one judges Windows by its non-existent native cross platform support, but routinely people will say stuff like "Linux doesn't run XYZ", meaning the developers of XYZ never made a Linux version. Even the fucking language is backasswards.

      Except that it really isn't.

      When evaluating an operating system the core question you should be asking is "can I run the programs I want to run if i choose this OS". If you want to play games Linux almost certainly has to answer "no". As such "I can't play X on Linux" is a valid reason to reject the OS.

      And Windows has been judged on the same metric. It wasn't that long ago that you did any kind of design/layout/audio/video work on a Mac because Windows didn't have the software for it. Microsoft threw money at the problem and it went away. Probably about the only universally good thing one can say about Windows is that it's very unlikely you'll find a program you want to run that doesn't have a Windows version or a functional equivalent that does.

    16. Re:Very excited! by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Let me make it simple for you.
      1. Game companies want to make money.
      2. To make money you have to reach the largest number of users.
      3. The cost of each user must be less than the cost of supporting those users.

      Not enough people use Linux to make it worth porting AAA games to Linux.
      Some companies do like Valve and other companies like nVidia and Valve are working to make Linux a better target OS for games.
      They do not do shenanigans to make it hard to run in a VM. VMs are a pain when it comes to interfacing hardware in a reliable way and yes I have been their and done that. That is one of the reason that if you do embedded development you are often forced to use a Windows machine. Devices like ST-Links just do not play well with VMs a lot of the time. And if the device you are working on goes from a HID device to DFU device and you are trying to work with it on a VM it has real issues.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    17. Re:Very excited! by mikael · · Score: 1

      It's really worrying when you need a search engine to find the right commands to use. That's true with Linux or Windows (shell window? No. Bash? No. Shell? No. Ah, Konsole). With Windows, something like disk defragmentation gets put under system configuration, storage, partition manager and only really found if you knew what you were looking for in the first place.

      Why not just have a picture of a desktop/laptop and click on the particular component; screen, keyboard, backlight, USB ports, printer, network, then select between applications and drivers.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    18. Re:Very excited! by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Haters will hate, no matter the facts. Vulkan will eventually make it very cheap (or free via engine support) to also publish a Linux version of a game, and then 120'000 potential customers is a very good argument investing this little additional effort.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    19. Re:Very excited! by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Hehehehe, funny. The Unix-world had proper GUIs before Windows even existed and most of them are available on Linux.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    20. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need the search tool. The terminal is generally under 'system utilities'. We actually have standards for our system menus. Alternately, Ctrl+alt+T usually brings up the default terminal, and Ctrl+Alt+F[1-6] is guaranteed to pull up a virtual terminal.

      Windows defrags itself regularly by default, so I don't know why you were even looking for that, but I admit it does have a UI issue.

    21. Re:Very excited! by guruevi · · Score: 1

      With OpenGL you have been able to do that as well. Back in the day, we could port OpenGL games just by changing the launcher (eg. Unreal Tournament ran under Linux so pretty much any Unreal-based game was able to run using said launcher).

      The problem is so many devs using DirectBlah because it used to be easier to start with (and a lot harder to actually maintain/do something useful) than plain C/C++.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    22. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair to the various linux GUIs, Windows' GUI has parts that make me say "This was cobbled together by amateurs".

    23. Re:Very excited! by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Exactly. I really hope DirectTrash goes out the window. Probably most developers will look to get rid of it anyways, due to consoles, Android and Apple. Hopefully most/all new gaming engines will be Vulkan.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    24. Re:Very excited! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Valve really to make Portal 3 and HL3 for Linux first to make Linux hot.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    25. Re:Very excited! by zentigger · · Score: 1

      The lack of AAA class games for Linux are holding it back. The lack of AAA class games for OS/X are holding it back. Windows has the most AAA class games.

      That's a bit like complaining that lack of 4x4 offroad packages is holding back Ferrari -- maybe in Sticksville, Missouri.

      Linux has many strengths, as does OSX, and PC gaming has become a niche market. Complaining that Ferrari doesn't have an offroad package just emphasizes your ignorance. It means you are trying to use the wrong tool for the job.

      --

      the above is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect that of the little voices in my head

    26. Re:Very excited! by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Really? Are you nuts?
      An OSs job is to run applications. Linux for the home users is really lacking in several areas as far as applications and Games are a huge one. OS/X has much the same issue. That is one reason that Windows is still the number one desktop OS.
      I really like Linux and OS/X but Windows is still winning the desktop and probably will for a long time.
      Frankly it is not just games but things like CAD and just about every vertical market program on the planet.
      Linux today is no Ferrari it is more of a Peterbuilt. It is fine as sever, embedded systems, and a desktop for developers but for many other users the lack of applications is holding it back from broader use. All the car metaphors will not change that.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    27. Re:Very excited! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny only because most of the world never heard of X until Linux came along...

      What makes for a "proper" GUI anyway?

  5. Slashdot by eyenot · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Even though the article is about things I don't use, I'm pretty sure this is what was meant by "news for nerds". The only way to be sure to reach that definition consistently is to post Linux news. It doesn't matter if the article has equivalents or analogs that don't involve Linux, or if those analogs are boring. The important thing is that if Slashdot isn't consistently like standing around a water cooler at the top of some D&D Wizard Tower, then it's just not slashdotty.

    --
    "Stratigraphically the origin of agriculture and thermonuclear destruction will appear essentially simultaneous" -- Lee
    1. Re:Slashdot by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      But just like slashdot it's very confusing about what it's really about. Is Vulkan a game publisher, a competing video hardware board, a graphics library, or what? I followed the links but still didn't figure it out. I could use the googles but at this point it's not worth the effort.

    2. Re:Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly you don't read Slashdot all that often.

  6. Word Perfect 2000 for Linux by jellomizer · · Score: 2

    I Beta Tested Word Perfect 2000 for Linux, and it really sucked, because unlike the previous version which was a port of a unix version. This was the windows version combined with an early version of Wine, where the code was altered to fix any problems that Wine had at the time. In general it really sucked, it made X11 remote display difficult, it was slow, and buggy even after it went live. The bugs that I did place in it weren't addressed, they were just dismissed as me being too picky. But the screen should be refreshing much faster as a Duel Pentium 200mhz system in 1999 was a rather rocking piece of hardware at the time.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Word Perfect 2000 for Linux by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      But the screen should be refreshing much faster as a Duel Pentium 200mhz

      I think the problem may have been the CPUs fighting each other.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re: Word Perfect 2000 for Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The one said "I challenge you to a duel" while smacking the other one in the face with a glove.

    3. Re:Word Perfect 2000 for Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear the winner MOVed a DWORD into fair lady EAX...

    4. Re:Word Perfect 2000 for Linux by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      A long time ago I tested one specific piece of software on Linux and it sucked so I'm never going back.

      Thanks for the story bro

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
  7. "Experimental support"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wine developers are ready and have worked out experimental support for wrapping Vulkan Windows programs on Linux.

    Yes, because any game that pushes hardware limits will work JUST FINE on a platform that provides "experimental support".

    1. Re:"Experimental support"? by cfalcon · · Score: 0

      Given that Vulkan just launched and has no real anythings using it just yet, experimental support is more than fine at this stage. This way by the times games are using Vulkan, they'll have a clear path to more than just Microsoft's increasingly closed ecosystem.

    2. Re:"Experimental support"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its just as experimental on windows, seeing as there are no stable drivers yet. Dude is just uninformed is all.

  8. WINE also by Nastee · · Score: 1

    Let me play a pirated version of Myth! My first exposure to Linux. Good times throwing explosives at corpses and making the gibs bounce all over the screen.

  9. Wine! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is there nothing wine can't accomplish?

  10. OS/2 by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    When OS/2 came out, it supported good support for 16 bit Windows applications. At launch this was a very fine thing, and people went around saying 'A Better Windows than Windows.'

    However, this retarded the development of Native OS/2 applications, then Windows 95, with 32 bit Windows came along shortly thereafter. OS/2 could NOT run Win32 apps.

    It's a mistake to count on users being satisfied running non-native applications and games.

  11. The lack of Linux gamers holds Linux gaming back. by westlake · · Score: 1
    By the numbers.

    Steam Hardware & Software Survey: February 2016

    Windows 96%

    Windows 10 64 Bit 34% Up 1%
    Windows 7 64 Bit 34%
    Windows 8.1 64 Bit 13%
    Window 7 8%
    Windows XP 2%

    OSX 3%

    MacOS 10.11.3 64 bit 1%

    Linux 1%

    Ubuntu 0.4%
    Linux Mint 0.1%

    The $490 Alienware Steam Machine ASM100-2980BLK Desktop Console currently ranks #127 in in the catch-all "Desktop Tower" sales category at Amazon.com. A fully pimped-out $6,000 Cybertron Win 10 gamer's PC ranks #37. You'll find the MacMini here and the $99 Win 10 dongle as well.

    It is all pretty good evidence that no one knows where the Steam Machine belongs in the marketplace or how to sell it.

  12. wtf is the point!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Vulkan was supposed to permit cross-platform development of games by (among other things) replacing OpenGL as the defacto cross-platform graphics API shared between Windows and Linux (and others).

    If Linux gamers are forced to use Wine to play Windows Vulkan software, then . . . meh.