These are older games, but they're great. I'm particularly addicted to Myth2. Tribes2 coming out with the Win32 release is a great step and neverwinter nights coming out for both platforms (and mac) ois great too.
I for one am happy not to hafta reboot to play games. The new games will happen, it will just take time and sales figures.
I must strongly disagree with you about "To promote Linux as a gaming platform is to promote it as a "toy OS."" While I couldnt care less how it compares to Winlimp in the market place I love the fact that people are porting (and writing) games to it. It's nice to FINALLY HAVE A STABLE PLATFORM FROM WHICH TO GAME...
Actually as someone who has used both platforms and this year kicked windows out of my house I must say this for Loki and Linux:
Theyre installer rules and makes the game install transparent.
It was much easier to install my nvidia 3d drivers in Linux than it was in NT or win98. $ make install (phew! that was hard)
Your opinion may have been valid a year or so ago but things have changed, and if you're still having issues playing games in Linux it's probably your hardware and not the OS.
Loki is doing a great job - It's like a breath of fresh air not having to reboot to play great games like descent3 and Alpha Centauri (demoo - soon full game:-) Please try again and update your opinion.
NOte that I'm not flaming you - just suggesting you try again.
As I'm quite a few hours away.
Thanks for the summary - the video is useless on my AIX box here t work and I can't be bothered to attempt to convert Media Player stuff in Linux on my laptop or on my workstation at home.
-- JB
I would try any of the bigger companies. Especially the ones that tout Linux initiatives like IBM or Compaq. IBM in particular is a service-oriented company - you may be able to scare up support from them.
I dunno about Sun. I'd be wary of a non-OSS solution simply because of hidden proprietary hooks in the agreements.
Apologies for our compatriots here turning thins into a M$-flame-fest.Good luck in providing an alternate solution - I hope you pull this off.
Any solution provided outside the Micro$oft demesne is a good start.
This seems to be just barely legal. Enter my house if I'm portscanning? I keep a golf club in the closet (sandwedge) just for this sort of intrusion...
Can a company actually hope to enforce this? And with other broadband services around (cable is much cheaper) why would anybody even consider using this service ?
I think not. They're using *nix technology because it's arse-over-toolbox ahead of their own and they don't hafta pay for it. This themes-removal issue should in no way be viewed in the context of Apple supporting (or not) the open-source commnunity. They don't, it threatens their bottom line.
I've been neutral on Apple all my life. Their machines seemed stable, if limited. But they generally can't find their own arse with both hands when it comes to doing the right thing in the computing commumity. Apple is no longer the underdog, they're the overrun. They've got a crappy, expensive OS beating theirs because of good marketing and Machiavellian business practices and they've got a variety of free ones kicking their arse because they're just plain better.
I'm not suprised Apple did this, in fact I'm amused. But every day Apple seems to slip just a little farther down the respect ladder. I miss my Apple2e, but I'd never buy another Mac . ..
BAH - the Aqua themes were too foofy anyway !
Cheers - JB
Right - I customized that menu quite a bit when I used KDE (and Steph has hers customized as well). It's a fairly easy way for people from WIn-land to customize their menus. Personally, I hate icons and prefer a clean desktop:)
WM's like Blackbox and ICE have menus that are easily scripted by one file in the user directory which is unbeatable, especially if several users are using one machine and you want to quickly give them all the same menu. Know what I mean ?
I wish KDE would release a "KDE-Lite" or something that was completely devoid of all the bells and whistles and provided you with a scriptable version of their WM. That would be cool.
I ran KDE for 2 years and, while I really liked the polished stability of it, there was one thing I hated a lot (see below). Well, my girlfriend loves KDE so I figgered I'd check out KDE2 for her and install it if it was cool.
Well, it is. It's very foofy by my standards but it's extremely stable and I really dig the new widget set. Konqueror seems to have progressed nicely as well. I use it quite a bit. People bark about lack of javascript support, well, netscape doesn't always do a good job of it either my friends. I'm suitably impressed with Konqueror and I think it has much more promise than either Netscape or Mozilla as my browser of choice. Good job KDE - you really are showing the planet what non-corporate free software can do (no offense GNOME).
That said - I still have the same complaint about KDE that I've always had. There's no way to easily script what's on (and not on) the damn K menu. I hate that - theres no way I've been able to find to strip everything off the K menu and put only the apps I want there. Is there ? Anybody ?
That's why I switched to Blackbox - because it rocks:)
Good job KDE - I may use Blackbox but I use Konqueror all the time (and Kpackage quite often too!) Haven't tried any of KOffice yet . ..
Actually there a quite a few internal Linux users (and engineers who use Linux at work) at IBM - Linux is slowly filtering into their support paradigm for notebooks and PC's.
Unfortunately very few people inside IBM (that I know of, unless they avoid the internal mailing lists) use BSD. So it's natural for them not to want to support an OS the thing was never shiped with. You can, however, go to the website for several of their laptops and PC's and see Linux support filtering in in the form of patches and RPM's for their hardware.
No offense iron-horse BSD users - it's just that nobody uses it internally, and that's how the support is filtering to the outside world.
Well said, Mr. Anonymous Coward - perhaps it would suit you if I said "I prefer Applixware to MS Office" ? Is that better ? Please at least provide and argument against it.
Note please that my card is actually a Creative Labs product with an NVIDIA chipset. Creative Labs wouldn't give me the time of day - indeed they told me to stick to windows. After I hurled about 30 seconds of profanity at them (which was entertaining, no end) I emailed NVIDIA and they totally, totally came through for me.
I dig the open-source ideal but that doesn't mean all closed-source products are for shit. Especially if the manufacturers support their product.
when you are running binary drivers, *NO ONE* will support you
NVIDIA was very helpful via email and helped me find some errant Mesa libs that were slowing my performance down.
sell that Nvidia product to a hardcore windows user or better
Not on yer life - this card rages in 3d games in Linux (Quake3, Descent3) and I have had zero problems with it.
I personally send kudos to NVIDIA - they support their product absolutely for Linux and they helped me out a lot. Even offered to call me if need be. I learned a lot about my system working with them and I think they're doing a great job.
I don't mind closed-source products if they work right. I bought the card and it is supported. Indeed, the reason I bought the NVIDIA card was their support and they came through in spades. How can they open-source their drivers when they don't own OpenGL ? Bitch at SGI, not NVIDIA.
I basically agree with you but I tend to shirk my open-source idealism when it comes to something like this. NVIDIA makes a great product, I paid for it, and they supported it.
Hats off to NVIDIA - I wish every other hardware vendor would support the Linux market like they do with their excellent drivers and their excellent support.
I don't know why people keep complaining about XFree86. I think it's F'in awesome. It's blazing fast, responsive and stable on my machines here at home (1 @ 3.3.6 and mine @ 4.0.1). The ability to export displays all over evolution's green playground is too cool.
Like BeOS - cool - use it.
Until you can come up with an actual, factual, reasonable detraction for XFree86 please don't eat up my bandwidth.
Maybe it's your window manager ? I use blackbox and X/Blackbox use:
I think the most wanting thing (from a non-hacker user perspective) is an easier way to install new/different 3D drivers for their vid cards. My GeForce DDR is schweeeeeeeet in Linux but it wasn't something I'd expect my Ma to be able to install. Not that it was hard, it's just not standardized.
Most of the people I know who are _not_ trying out Linux right now are not doing so because they can't play games too easily. F..k MS Office, home users want games. And Applixware kicks Office' ass anyway.
Seriously - I build my own kernels but I'm not sure this is a kernel-related suggestion. A more standardized interface for new device drivers ? Big-time requirement for users not interested in unusual 'ln -s ***' gymnastics.
About ACLS - we use AFS here at home and ACL's are nice and cool to work with. I would not, however want them to replace the standard UNIX file permissions system.
Just my 2 cents - this is a great OS and I hope it continues to improve!
Also, see the article by Steve Albini in my original/. post about being "screwed over" - he worked directly with Nirvana and a bunch of other bands - he knows what he's talking about . . .
"Benefitting" from the label generally means getting somebody else to pay the whopping bills involved in making a professional recording and distributing your cd. While it's becoming increasingly cheaper to record a high quality product on your own and on the cheap (eg. Primus) distribution is still a major factor. Even after Zappa fought with every label in existence in the 70's he still needed on to distribute his product as the logistics of same preclude your general Joe from doing so.
Home recording is getting cheaper and better and the internet is the ultimate distribution mechanism.
But there are always those with starts in their eyes . . .
Slashdot Mirror
Also - nice Zork Quote :-)
And yes, I will buy SMAC, and Kohan, and I own 2 others.
Yes - the demo (and Myth2 and Civ:CTP) run great on my thinkpad!
Descent3
Myth2
Alpha Centauri (next week)
Civ:CTP
These are older games, but they're great. I'm particularly addicted to Myth2. Tribes2 coming out with the Win32 release is a great step and neverwinter nights coming out for both platforms (and mac) ois great too.
I for one am happy not to hafta reboot to play games. The new games will happen, it will just take time and sales figures.
I must strongly disagree with you about "To promote Linux as a gaming platform is to promote it as a "toy OS."" While I couldnt care less how it compares to Winlimp in the market place I love the fact that people are porting (and writing) games to it. It's nice to FINALLY HAVE A STABLE PLATFORM FROM WHICH TO GAME...
I'm happy about it - Go Loki!
Like what ? What constraints ?
Theonly constraints are time and gradual acceptance of game companies. It will take time, it will happen.
www.neverwinternights.com
Actually as someone who has used both platforms and this year kicked windows out of my house I must say this for Loki and Linux:
:-) Please try again and update your opinion.
Theyre installer rules and makes the game install transparent.
It was much easier to install my nvidia 3d drivers in Linux than it was in NT or win98. $ make install (phew! that was hard)
Your opinion may have been valid a year or so ago but things have changed, and if you're still having issues playing games in Linux it's probably your hardware and not the OS.
Loki is doing a great job - It's like a breath of fresh air not having to reboot to play great games like descent3 and Alpha Centauri (demoo - soon full game
NOte that I'm not flaming you - just suggesting you try again.
As I'm quite a few hours away. Thanks for the summary - the video is useless on my AIX box here t work and I can't be bothered to attempt to convert Media Player stuff in Linux on my laptop or on my workstation at home. -- JB
f'n beautiful mr. pen.
I would try any of the bigger companies. Especially the ones that tout Linux initiatives like IBM or Compaq. IBM in particular is a service-oriented company - you may be able to scare up support from them.
I dunno about Sun. I'd be wary of a non-OSS solution simply because of hidden proprietary hooks in the agreements.
Apologies for our compatriots here turning thins into a M$-flame-fest.Good luck in providing an alternate solution - I hope you pull this off.
Any solution provided outside the Micro$oft demesne is a good start.
JB
This seems to be just barely legal. Enter my house if I'm portscanning? I keep a golf club in the closet (sandwedge) just for this sort of intrusion...
Can a company actually hope to enforce this? And with other broadband services around (cable is much cheaper) why would anybody even consider using this service ?
JB
Actually - the FAQ isn't so bad. It helped me track errant mesa libs set up my xf86config file.
Check out your X logs - I found it easy with X 4.0.1
I highly recommend the GeForce cards for Linux - mine works really well 8]
good luck - jb
I think not. They're using *nix technology because it's arse-over-toolbox ahead of their own and they don't hafta pay for it. This themes-removal issue should in no way be viewed in the context of Apple supporting (or not) the open-source commnunity. They don't, it threatens their bottom line.
.
I've been neutral on Apple all my life. Their machines seemed stable, if limited. But they generally can't find their own arse with both hands when it comes to doing the right thing in the computing commumity. Apple is no longer the underdog, they're the overrun. They've got a crappy, expensive OS beating theirs because of good marketing and Machiavellian business practices and they've got a variety of free ones kicking their arse because they're just plain better.
I'm not suprised Apple did this, in fact I'm amused. But every day Apple seems to slip just a little farther down the respect ladder. I miss my Apple2e, but I'd never buy another Mac . .
BAH - the Aqua themes were too foofy anyway !
Cheers - JB
Right - I customized that menu quite a bit when I used KDE (and Steph has hers customized as well). It's a fairly easy way for people from WIn-land to customize their menus. Personally, I hate icons and prefer a clean desktop :)
WM's like Blackbox and ICE have menus that are easily scripted by one file in the user directory which is unbeatable, especially if several users are using one machine and you want to quickly give them all the same menu. Know what I mean ?
I wish KDE would release a "KDE-Lite" or something that was completely devoid of all the bells and whistles and provided you with a scriptable version of their WM. That would be cool.
Just my 2 pfennig - JB
I ran KDE for 2 years and, while I really liked the polished stability of it, there was one thing I hated a lot (see below). Well, my girlfriend loves KDE so I figgered I'd check out KDE2 for her and install it if it was cool.
:)
.
Well, it is. It's very foofy by my standards but it's extremely stable and I really dig the new widget set. Konqueror seems to have progressed nicely as well. I use it quite a bit. People bark about lack of javascript support, well, netscape doesn't always do a good job of it either my friends. I'm suitably impressed with Konqueror and I think it has much more promise than either Netscape or Mozilla as my browser of choice. Good job KDE - you really are showing the planet what non-corporate free software can do (no offense GNOME).
That said - I still have the same complaint about KDE that I've always had. There's no way to easily script what's on (and not on) the damn K menu. I hate that - theres no way I've been able to find to strip everything off the K menu and put only the apps I want there. Is there ? Anybody ?
That's why I switched to Blackbox - because it rocks
Good job KDE - I may use Blackbox but I use Konqueror all the time (and Kpackage quite often too!) Haven't tried any of KOffice yet . .
JB
Actually there a quite a few internal Linux users (and engineers who use Linux at work) at IBM - Linux is slowly filtering into their support paradigm for notebooks and PC's.
Unfortunately very few people inside IBM (that I know of, unless they avoid the internal mailing lists) use BSD. So it's natural for them not to want to support an OS the thing was never shiped with. You can, however, go to the website for several of their laptops and PC's and see Linux support filtering in in the form of patches and RPM's for their hardware.
No offense iron-horse BSD users - it's just that nobody uses it internally, and that's how the support is filtering to the outside world.
Well said, Mr. Anonymous Coward - perhaps it would suit you if I said "I prefer Applixware to MS Office" ? Is that better ? Please at least provide and argument against it.
:)
Geez - somebody prozac this person
Note please that my card is actually a Creative Labs product with an NVIDIA chipset. Creative Labs wouldn't give me the time of day - indeed they told me to stick to windows. After I hurled about 30 seconds of profanity at them (which was entertaining, no end) I emailed NVIDIA and they totally, totally came through for me.
I dig the open-source ideal but that doesn't mean all closed-source products are for shit. Especially if the manufacturers support their product.
Just my 2p.
when you are running binary drivers, *NO ONE* will support you
NVIDIA was very helpful via email and helped me find some errant Mesa libs that were slowing my performance down.
sell that Nvidia product to a hardcore windows user or better
Not on yer life - this card rages in 3d games in Linux (Quake3, Descent3) and I have had zero problems with it.
I personally send kudos to NVIDIA - they support their product absolutely for Linux and they helped me out a lot. Even offered to call me if need be. I learned a lot about my system working with them and I think they're doing a great job.
I don't mind closed-source products if they work right. I bought the card and it is supported. Indeed, the reason I bought the NVIDIA card was their support and they came through in spades. How can they open-source their drivers when they don't own OpenGL ? Bitch at SGI, not NVIDIA.
I basically agree with you but I tend to shirk my open-source idealism when it comes to something like this. NVIDIA makes a great product, I paid for it, and they supported it.
Hats off to NVIDIA - I wish every other hardware vendor would support the Linux market like they do with their excellent drivers and their excellent support.
Just to clear up - my post was not meant to denigrate BeOS - I've used it and it was cool, just not my bag.
I'm interested primarily in what exactly the problems are in X that all these bitchin' Betties are on about.
?
People keep complaining about X and I don't understand why. Mebbe you should try some different window managers ?
Note that I've built GUI apps in GTK and Qt (preferred) and I think X is fine.
Please advise on exactly what is so bad about X.
sorry, no text
Agreed - DirectCD is the only thing I miss from Winlimp. Oh, and Brood War too, but thats hardly kernel related :)
I don't know why people keep complaining about XFree86. I think it's F'in awesome. It's blazing fast, responsive and stable on my machines here at home (1 @ 3.3.6 and mine @ 4.0.1). The ability to export displays all over evolution's green playground is too cool.
:
:0
Like BeOS - cool - use it.
Until you can come up with an actual, factual, reasonable detraction for XFree86 please don't eat up my bandwidth.
Maybe it's your window manager ? I use blackbox and X/Blackbox use
root 8807 0.9 9.6 276116 12404 ? S 10:05 1:13 X
johnnyb 8809 0.0 1.3 3144 1776 tty1 S 10:05 0:03 blackbox
and that's with 8 desktops filled with applications. This is bloat ??
Oh Martha, buy this young low-watt bulb a clue . . .
:)
I think the most wanting thing (from a non-hacker user perspective) is an easier way to install new/different 3D drivers for their vid cards. My GeForce DDR is schweeeeeeeet in Linux but it wasn't something I'd expect my Ma to be able to install. Not that it was hard, it's just not standardized.
Most of the people I know who are _not_ trying out Linux right now are not doing so because they can't play games too easily. F..k MS Office, home users want games. And Applixware kicks Office' ass anyway.
Seriously - I build my own kernels but I'm not sure this is a kernel-related suggestion. A more standardized interface for new device drivers ? Big-time requirement for users not interested in unusual 'ln -s ***' gymnastics.
About ACLS - we use AFS here at home and ACL's are nice and cool to work with. I would not, however want them to replace the standard UNIX file permissions system.
Just my 2 cents - this is a great OS and I hope it continues to improve!
Also, see the article by Steve Albini in my original /. post about being "screwed over" - he worked directly with Nirvana and a bunch of other bands - he knows what he's talking about . . .
"Benefitting" from the label generally means getting somebody else to pay the whopping bills involved in making a professional recording and distributing your cd. While it's becoming increasingly cheaper to record a high quality product on your own and on the cheap (eg. Primus) distribution is still a major factor. Even after Zappa fought with every label in existence in the 70's he still needed on to distribute his product as the logistics of same preclude your general Joe from doing so.
Home recording is getting cheaper and better and the internet is the ultimate distribution mechanism.
But there are always those with starts in their eyes . . .