RealPlayer is a frelling piece of trash. Even though it added hundreds of worthless features, it fell behind the times in what really mattered - audio and visual quality. At the same time, their entire product became a festering nurse log for spyware, and they were one of the few companies who got caught doing this. I've never had trust in them since. And I can't imagine any halfway popular media player that goes to the extent Real does to hide its free version.
Microsoft is not Real's problem. Real is Real's problem. They blame Microsoft for being anti-competitive, but they cannot produce a product nearly as good as Windows Media Player, Winamp, or even Quintessential Player. Shoutcast also laid waste to their streaming technology.
It would almost seem that once Real developed a codec that was viable for its time, it decided to rest on its laurels and let "feature creep" take hold in the main player, but never bothered to improve the existing format.
I hope Real goes the way of the dinosaur, I really do. Til then, I'll be using Real Alternative on all of those poorly-conceived web sites that demand Real's trash.
Printer cartridge standardization is something that is long overdue. Companies claim to support all of these extra features in their printer cartridges, but it's a piddly excuse to take the customer to the cleaners. The printer cartridge market is one that faces no competition, and so HP et al can charge whatever exorbitant prices they want, unopposed. We've also seen them use their overarching powers to prevent third-parties from even trying to compete.
I would be willing to pay more up-front for a printer knowing that subsequent competition in the print cartridge market would make them cheaper in the long run. But naturally, HP, Lexmark and others will fight to the bitter end to protect their profits.
The drivers were new to me and I suspected they were new for others as well. Either way, I don't recall any stories about it - old news or not. It should be easy to understand that after a half-year of waiting, I convinced myself that ATI just wasn't going to support its official packages anymore and so stuck with the Schneider Digital packages instead.
When by chance I went to ATI's site yesterday and saw that there was an XFree86 version, dated 3-2-2004, I thought it was a new thing and worth mentioning.
I accept the criticism for pointing out what is apparently an old story, but clearly it's new to some people.:)
I've never had luck getting these to go with Mepis Linux, a Debian variant. Even with Alien, it proves to be more trouble that it's worth. It would be far easier if ATI made their installation scheme more generic, like a sh script.
I think a centralized Linux Wiki would be a great idea. Wiki is a powerful and underutilized Internet technology.
In the Unreal community, there exists the Unreal Wiki. Anyone can contribute to the knowledge base and the result is the most comprehensive guide on every aspect of Unreal development. It is an invaluable resource with new entries and updates everyday.
I can only see good things coming from a Linux extension of the same idea.
So they stashed it away under up2date, huh. See, that's not very intuitive.:)
You'd expect this to be under Add/Remove Programs. Instead, what Fedora gives you is only a list of what the Fedora CDs installed.
What it needs is something akin to apt-get, where you can call upon an entire listing of programs on your computer at any time, and then be able to install updates or uninstall them rather painlessly without having to worry much about dependencies. If Fedora has that, then by all mean it must be brought out into the open! Apt-get not only does away with the Linux dependabilities problem, but it does it in a way that is even more elegant than Windows. Point-and-click installs!:D
It's fascinating that a "seasoned" FPS player would protest so much over the "sameness" of FPS games. The differences may be subtle, but they have profound implications on the game at hand.
And if you're getting 18 consecutive headshots, you need to stop playing against "Novice" bots.
What I think also stands out about Unreal Tournament is Epic's strong and continued support of the mapping and modding community that has formed around the game. Not only do they give players access to the actual production tools they used for the game, they have made it obscenely easy to share maps and support us with thorough documentation every step of the way.
Why is this important? Granted, mapmaking is not everyone's forte and I'm certain the vast majority of UT players will never touch the editor. However, what it allows us to do is create new worlds and new experiences for players to enjoy time and again. This keeps the game fresh, new, and exciting. I think it should come as no surprise that every popular game on the Internet has such a "sandbox" component built into it. This is no doubt how the original UT, now about 6 years old, continues to stand strongly on its own merits.
I'm still confused about UT2K4's Linux support. I was under the impression that UT2K3 required an nVidia card specifically to work. Has this changed to support ATI cards (specifially Schneider Digital's ATI Xfree 4.3-compatible drivers) since then?
I used to use Mandrake, but these days I am really impressed with Mepis Linux. It's a Debian-based distribution that has learned a thing or two from Mandrake. Apt-get is a very beautiful thing.
Fedora's variation of apt-get is pretty weak. I may not be an Linux expert, but the only included tool seems to be Add/Remove Programs and it only covers packages from the CDs - not on the system as a whole. Fedora desparately needs a built-in package management system comparable to apt-get and easy to use (Mandrake has something with urpmi, though I think installing unlisted packages is a little clumsy).
What I think is more likely is that some spam mail company is commissioning virus writers to create these worms in order to spread their operations. Sobig's objective, after all, seemed to be based on setting up infected machines as peer-to-peer drones for use by the author. It is a logical extension of the "monolithic" approach I'm certain most spammers follow of having several powerful computers running at all hours of the day, consuming electricity, bought and maintained, stashed away in a basement. Why not take advantage of a peer-to-peer system and infect the computers of careless Internet users and exploit their ignorance to become spam drones?
That's where I think this is all ultimately headed. The spammers are in bed with the virus writers, who have taken the penis enlargement pills as commission.:P
Otherwise Syberia 2 would already be in the making.
I agree, on the whole, that the adventure genre is unfortunately very weak these days. And it's too bad, because back in its heyday, LucasArts produced some seriously awesome adventure games like:
Like you, I don't see it as an inheritly bad idea either. It has potential, especially if they keep rates low.
For example, imagine that you had a setup console box and subscribed to your cable company's gaming network. For a flat monthly fee, you could play any game you wanted on the network. Like changing channels with a remote, you could change games. High-speed multiplayer would obviously follow.
Which is not to say that Scientific-Atlanta will make good on the idea. I'm just saying that it has potential.
On the other hand, I'd really like to see a good equivalent to Evolution on Windows that's not Outlook. The security flaws in Outlook forever soured me on the product. And even if Microsoft seals them, it doesn't change the fact that it's obvious e-mail spammers / virus writers design around Outlook.
Mozilla Thunderbird is nice, but I wouldn't mind seeing a calendar, scheduler, daily weather reports, and news also appearing when I start it up. I haven't seen a free e-mail client on Windows that does this aside from Outlook.
Heaven forbid a company like Red Hat even attempt to make money on what they sell.
I think some ungrateful Linux users dwell on Red Hat going corporate while ignoring how much good it did for Linux. For a lot of people, Red Hat was their first introduction to Linux. It was a distribution widely trusted by universities and schools who were the early adopters of Linux. It was one of the first that had the capacity to act as a "middleman," someone who could take the fall if the system's broke. Large companies like middlemen and liked the technical support Red Hat offered so they weren't giving up Windows and walking into the fog of Linux without a helping hand.
I would not go insofar as to say Red Hat made Linux a household name, but it certainly helped get us on the map. And, more importantly, it told the non-techheads (you know, 90% of users) that - yes Virginia, there is an alternative to Windows.
I don't think that's necessarily the case. Java and other languages have become popular because it is relatively simple to understand and can do things that are expected of real-world programs, like graphics. How many OpenGL interpretations done entirely in Scheme can you count? What about basic Windows applications?
Furthermore, I think it's also the result of software firms wanting to segment many areas of a program into smaller compartments. OOP makes this easier by enforce abstract and interface types, such that there is reasonable expectation that if someone codes under a given construct, it will work as needed. Based on UML diagrams, it is also far easier to break part programs using an OOP language and blueprint them. Can you imagine the nightmare of doing a large project like Doom 3 in Scheme, with so many functions defined on-the-fly and passed to and from other functions?
Scheme and others have their place in the world in teaching newcomers to think recursively. This is a very useful way of thinking in any language. Common problems often have very elegant solutions in Scheme, and diving into the mindset of functional programming is essential for any serious programmer. But I believe the nature of the language holds it back. Granted, once you know what you're doing, it's not so difficult. But it would seem somewhat unintuitive to plan and design large commercial projects around these languages.
But the two goals of attracting developers and attracting gamers are not mutually exclusive. Developers are not going to bother creating a Linux version of a game unless there is a user base that will support it.
The slice of pie for PC gaming is shrinking as it is, a $1 billion market compared to the $10 billion console industry. PCs are shrinking, and consoles continue to rise. At that rate, PC developers must appeal to the lowest common denominator, and for probably 95% of the consumer base, that's Windows. There is little incentive to make a Linux version of a game unless:
A:) The game needs servers, and since Linux is a major player in this market, a Linux client is a necessity.
B:) Code just happens to be so well-organized and portable that a Linux version can be done with little trouble.
Epic's Unreal is involved in both categories. I think the greatest idea Epic had was bundling the Linux version of Unreal Tournament 2003 (and soon 2004) in the Windows version. There is no market for a mass-produced Linux title, but sneaking it onto a mass-produced Windows title is a logical compromise.
The average gamer is only going to go so far to make a favorite game work. Most Windows-native games "just work," and console games are totally reliable. In my experience, only the Loki versions of games (read: native versions) worked without fuss and hassle. I've never had much success on Wine or WineX and would never come to rely on them for gaming purposes.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of Linux users understand that the platform is not going to be a mecca for PC gaming. Even I tend to use Linux when I don't want to be distracted by games and want an environment that promotes productive activities.
How does WineX figure into this? It doesn't. Simply put, I've never had success running any Windows games very well with it to the point where they replace Windows. The project is misdirected and misguided. What should be happening instead, in my opinion, is Linux users continuing to work on their native games (be they puzzles or even realized implementations of engines like Crystal Space) and, in essence, trying to have a stable of attractive games that will fill the void that users switching from Windows will endure. You get the users first, then the developers - sensing a market - will come later.
Personally, I wouldn't be surprised of Transgaming just abandoned their promise outright. Needless to say, i wouldn't be holding my breath that even if 200,000 users were subscribed that they would release the entire code.
Being a long time Paint Shop Pro user, I found myself rather disappointed with the buggy version 8. I recently learned that Gimp 2.0 Preview was ported to Windows, so I gave it a try there. It's fundamentally the same as its Linux counterpart.
Anyhow, I was very impressed with it. Admittedly, there are some things that are still rough around the edges, but this is a significant improvement over previous releases. Things I especially liked:
- Relocation of the line stroke button that makes it easier to use Bezier curves and the like.
- Better resizing and resampling algorithms that produce that nice, anti-aliased effect.
- Quick, no frills approach to plugins and features.
Things that I still think need improvement:
- I think that rather than have a smattering of premade brushes with the option to make your own that Gimp should adopt a system like Paint Shop Pro where the menu for the paintbrush (and other relevant tools) lets you adjust the brush size, density, step, etc. in one convenient panel, rather than having to go through the effort of making an entirely new custom brush for the task. The current approach is functional, but unnecessarily clumsy.
- Have something akin to the Browse feature in Paint Shop Pro. This feature analyzes all graphics in a directory, produces thumbnails of all of them, and displays them in a window where you can pick and choose which ones to open. It's like a pictoral file selector.
- Implement more features that can be done with Layers, like adjusting gray channels for example and allow layers to modify layers beneath them (e.g. a Multiply layer or a Screen layer). If this ability exists, I haven't found it.
- I'm not still not a huge fan of the MDI approach. If you have related taskbar icons cluster in Windows or Linux, it's not too bad however, and there are pros and cons to both approaches.
But it's not at all bad. For free, it's a remarkable product. As an example, I selfishly submit this plug for my webcomic whose most current chapter was done with Gimp (true until this Sunday, unless I decide to use Gimp again): http://dragonangel.keenspace.com
It's just that with Paint Shop Pro already costing about $60 on sale (as low as $15 for previous users), and being more substantial and feature packed than Gimp, I don't have a reason to switch to Gimp (unless PSP 9 is a similar flop), but I would certainly recommend it for the graphic artist on the cheap.
I think a better example would have been SimCity 4, a game muddled with countless problems and stability issues that were really only fully addressed in the Rush Hour expansion pack.
Slashdot Mirror
RealPlayer is a frelling piece of trash. Even though it added hundreds of worthless features, it fell behind the times in what really mattered - audio and visual quality. At the same time, their entire product became a festering nurse log for spyware, and they were one of the few companies who got caught doing this. I've never had trust in them since. And I can't imagine any halfway popular media player that goes to the extent Real does to hide its free version.
Microsoft is not Real's problem. Real is Real's problem. They blame Microsoft for being anti-competitive, but they cannot produce a product nearly as good as Windows Media Player, Winamp, or even Quintessential Player. Shoutcast also laid waste to their streaming technology.
It would almost seem that once Real developed a codec that was viable for its time, it decided to rest on its laurels and let "feature creep" take hold in the main player, but never bothered to improve the existing format.
I hope Real goes the way of the dinosaur, I really do. Til then, I'll be using Real Alternative on all of those poorly-conceived web sites that demand Real's trash.
I would be willing to pay more up-front for a printer knowing that subsequent competition in the print cartridge market would make them cheaper in the long run. But naturally, HP, Lexmark and others will fight to the bitter end to protect their profits.
When by chance I went to ATI's site yesterday and saw that there was an XFree86 version, dated 3-2-2004, I thought it was a new thing and worth mentioning.
I accept the criticism for pointing out what is apparently an old story, but clearly it's new to some people. :)
Then why is ATI's site dating the drivers 03/02/04?
Hey, awesome link! Hope it works! :D
I've never had luck getting these to go with Mepis Linux, a Debian variant. Even with Alien, it proves to be more trouble that it's worth. It would be far easier if ATI made their installation scheme more generic, like a sh script.
In the Unreal community, there exists the Unreal Wiki. Anyone can contribute to the knowledge base and the result is the most comprehensive guide on every aspect of Unreal development. It is an invaluable resource with new entries and updates everyday.
I can only see good things coming from a Linux extension of the same idea.
You'd expect this to be under Add/Remove Programs. Instead, what Fedora gives you is only a list of what the Fedora CDs installed.
What it needs is something akin to apt-get, where you can call upon an entire listing of programs on your computer at any time, and then be able to install updates or uninstall them rather painlessly without having to worry much about dependencies. If Fedora has that, then by all mean it must be brought out into the open! Apt-get not only does away with the Linux dependabilities problem, but it does it in a way that is even more elegant than Windows. Point-and-click installs! :D
I'm talking about if you want the GUI to do it. For me, at least, it would keep "forgetting" the local RPM directory when I would input it. :|
It's fascinating that a "seasoned" FPS player would protest so much over the "sameness" of FPS games. The differences may be subtle, but they have profound implications on the game at hand.
And if you're getting 18 consecutive headshots, you need to stop playing against "Novice" bots.
Why is this important? Granted, mapmaking is not everyone's forte and I'm certain the vast majority of UT players will never touch the editor. However, what it allows us to do is create new worlds and new experiences for players to enjoy time and again. This keeps the game fresh, new, and exciting. I think it should come as no surprise that every popular game on the Internet has such a "sandbox" component built into it. This is no doubt how the original UT, now about 6 years old, continues to stand strongly on its own merits.
I'm still confused about UT2K4's Linux support. I was under the impression that UT2K3 required an nVidia card specifically to work. Has this changed to support ATI cards (specifially Schneider Digital's ATI Xfree 4.3-compatible drivers) since then?
Fedora's variation of apt-get is pretty weak. I may not be an Linux expert, but the only included tool seems to be Add/Remove Programs and it only covers packages from the CDs - not on the system as a whole. Fedora desparately needs a built-in package management system comparable to apt-get and easy to use (Mandrake has something with urpmi, though I think installing unlisted packages is a little clumsy).
AFAIK, Outlook Express is free? Granted, it's missing some features, but it's mostly there.
That's where I think this is all ultimately headed. The spammers are in bed with the virus writers, who have taken the penis enlargement pills as commission. :P
Otherwise Syberia 2 would already be in the making.
I agree, on the whole, that the adventure genre is unfortunately very weak these days. And it's too bad, because back in its heyday, LucasArts produced some seriously awesome adventure games like:
For example, imagine that you had a setup console box and subscribed to your cable company's gaming network. For a flat monthly fee, you could play any game you wanted on the network. Like changing channels with a remote, you could change games. High-speed multiplayer would obviously follow.
Which is not to say that Scientific-Atlanta will make good on the idea. I'm just saying that it has potential.
Mozilla Thunderbird is nice, but I wouldn't mind seeing a calendar, scheduler, daily weather reports, and news also appearing when I start it up. I haven't seen a free e-mail client on Windows that does this aside from Outlook.
I think some ungrateful Linux users dwell on Red Hat going corporate while ignoring how much good it did for Linux. For a lot of people, Red Hat was their first introduction to Linux. It was a distribution widely trusted by universities and schools who were the early adopters of Linux. It was one of the first that had the capacity to act as a "middleman," someone who could take the fall if the system's broke. Large companies like middlemen and liked the technical support Red Hat offered so they weren't giving up Windows and walking into the fog of Linux without a helping hand.
I would not go insofar as to say Red Hat made Linux a household name, but it certainly helped get us on the map. And, more importantly, it told the non-techheads (you know, 90% of users) that - yes Virginia, there is an alternative to Windows.
Furthermore, I think it's also the result of software firms wanting to segment many areas of a program into smaller compartments. OOP makes this easier by enforce abstract and interface types, such that there is reasonable expectation that if someone codes under a given construct, it will work as needed. Based on UML diagrams, it is also far easier to break part programs using an OOP language and blueprint them. Can you imagine the nightmare of doing a large project like Doom 3 in Scheme, with so many functions defined on-the-fly and passed to and from other functions?
Scheme and others have their place in the world in teaching newcomers to think recursively. This is a very useful way of thinking in any language. Common problems often have very elegant solutions in Scheme, and diving into the mindset of functional programming is essential for any serious programmer. But I believe the nature of the language holds it back. Granted, once you know what you're doing, it's not so difficult. But it would seem somewhat unintuitive to plan and design large commercial projects around these languages.
The slice of pie for PC gaming is shrinking as it is, a $1 billion market compared to the $10 billion console industry. PCs are shrinking, and consoles continue to rise. At that rate, PC developers must appeal to the lowest common denominator, and for probably 95% of the consumer base, that's Windows. There is little incentive to make a Linux version of a game unless:
A:) The game needs servers, and since Linux is a major player in this market, a Linux client is a necessity.
B:) Code just happens to be so well-organized and portable that a Linux version can be done with little trouble.
Epic's Unreal is involved in both categories. I think the greatest idea Epic had was bundling the Linux version of Unreal Tournament 2003 (and soon 2004) in the Windows version. There is no market for a mass-produced Linux title, but sneaking it onto a mass-produced Windows title is a logical compromise.
The average gamer is only going to go so far to make a favorite game work. Most Windows-native games "just work," and console games are totally reliable. In my experience, only the Loki versions of games (read: native versions) worked without fuss and hassle. I've never had much success on Wine or WineX and would never come to rely on them for gaming purposes.
Unfortunately, I think a lot of Linux users understand that the platform is not going to be a mecca for PC gaming. Even I tend to use Linux when I don't want to be distracted by games and want an environment that promotes productive activities.
How does WineX figure into this? It doesn't. Simply put, I've never had success running any Windows games very well with it to the point where they replace Windows. The project is misdirected and misguided. What should be happening instead, in my opinion, is Linux users continuing to work on their native games (be they puzzles or even realized implementations of engines like Crystal Space) and, in essence, trying to have a stable of attractive games that will fill the void that users switching from Windows will endure. You get the users first, then the developers - sensing a market - will come later.
Personally, I wouldn't be surprised of Transgaming just abandoned their promise outright. Needless to say, i wouldn't be holding my breath that even if 200,000 users were subscribed that they would release the entire code.
That seems logical. I think Gnome and KDE both do that. Windows does too, albeit clunky.
Anyhow, I was very impressed with it. Admittedly, there are some things that are still rough around the edges, but this is a significant improvement over previous releases. Things I especially liked:
- Relocation of the line stroke button that makes it easier to use Bezier curves and the like.
- Better resizing and resampling algorithms that produce that nice, anti-aliased effect.
- Quick, no frills approach to plugins and features.
Things that I still think need improvement:
- I think that rather than have a smattering of premade brushes with the option to make your own that Gimp should adopt a system like Paint Shop Pro where the menu for the paintbrush (and other relevant tools) lets you adjust the brush size, density, step, etc. in one convenient panel, rather than having to go through the effort of making an entirely new custom brush for the task. The current approach is functional, but unnecessarily clumsy.
- Have something akin to the Browse feature in Paint Shop Pro. This feature analyzes all graphics in a directory, produces thumbnails of all of them, and displays them in a window where you can pick and choose which ones to open. It's like a pictoral file selector.
- Implement more features that can be done with Layers, like adjusting gray channels for example and allow layers to modify layers beneath them (e.g. a Multiply layer or a Screen layer). If this ability exists, I haven't found it.
- I'm not still not a huge fan of the MDI approach. If you have related taskbar icons cluster in Windows or Linux, it's not too bad however, and there are pros and cons to both approaches.
But it's not at all bad. For free, it's a remarkable product. As an example, I selfishly submit this plug for my webcomic whose most current chapter was done with Gimp (true until this Sunday, unless I decide to use Gimp again): http://dragonangel.keenspace.com
It's just that with Paint Shop Pro already costing about $60 on sale (as low as $15 for previous users), and being more substantial and feature packed than Gimp, I don't have a reason to switch to Gimp (unless PSP 9 is a similar flop), but I would certainly recommend it for the graphic artist on the cheap.
I think a better example would have been SimCity 4, a game muddled with countless problems and stability issues that were really only fully addressed in the Rush Hour expansion pack.