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Are GOG.com About To Support Linux?

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So I recently did an article titled "Will Gog.com Ever Support Linux On Its Store?", well looks like that may be coming true soon enough folks.

Thanks to an email from FutureSuture that I got today which details a new opening in staff at gog.com titled "Senior Software Engineer - Desktop", first notice it's for "Desktop" not for servers, now look at what is inside;

Responsibilities:
    Shape and develop next generation of multi-platform desktop software, experienced by millions of users every month.
    Take charge of an existing team, plan and schedule tasks.
    Take part in hiring new talent.
    Stay up to date with all emerging new technologies.

Requirements:

    Proficiency in C++ with proven experience.
    Experience in developing rich desktop applications heavily oriented on excellent UX.
    Technical knowledge of popular operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux.
    Network experience, especially HTTP.
    Experience in multi-platform development.
    Fluency in spoken / written English.
    
So pure speculation here (but backed up by the bold bits) It to me looks like they are going to make a push onto Linux in the near future doesn't it? Notice how technical knowledge of Linux is a Requirement.

There could be some really great news on the horizon for Linux and DRM Free!

You can find the post this all came from here, which shows they will be recruiting.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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philip550c Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol
Kristian Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
philip550c Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: Kristian
Quoting: Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?
Kristian Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?
Quoting: philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.
hmm lol I guess you do. I also play Duke3d a bunch but I beat that one. I like it more than duke nukem forever. But seriously what did they do with witcher2?

They provided a major content update with gigs upon gigs of data for free to those that already purchased the regular version of The Witcher 2.

Edit2:

Great, accidentaly quoted the same post multiple times and now I can't seem to be able to delete them.
s_d Aug 15, 2013
From my personal experience in the tech industry, I would place the time between hiring a resource to implement something like a GOG infrastructure for Linux, and actually launching it, to be no less than 6 months.  However, I believe it to be longer than that, perhaps a year or so, and of course, since at most 30% of all software projects even launch, it could easily be cancelled.  I can't imagine this happening "soon", or anything that remotely looks like "soon".

Though, the description is quite telling:

QuoteShape and develop next generation of multi-platform desktop software, experienced by millions of users every month
This is certainly not an internal tool to be developed;  rather, it is clearly some sort of desktop client.
<pure unsubstantiated speculation>
I think they're going after Valve, but in a Desura-like way (i.e., giving customers a choice to not use it).  If that is true, than I believe that they'll require web-accessible standalone downloads for all supported platforms, as opposed to Desura which simply offers that functionality to its game devs.  I believe that this is something GOG have been planning for a while, and that it will go forward, regardless of the state of Linux support (which may not materialize).
</speculation>

One thing important to notice; no job listings have appeared for Linux QA testers (unless that was the QA position that is no longer listed).  For something as big as a new platform, you'd expect 1-3 dedicated QA engineers to be hired on, with platform-specific qualifications.
s_d Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: Kristian
Quoting: Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.

How about turn-based strategy?  Tactical games can be loads of fun!  Just drop twitch-style games, and you'll be right as rain.
Shmerl Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: KristianThey provided a major content update with gigs upon gigs of data for free to those that already purchased the regular version of The Witcher 2.

CD Projekt Red who created Witcher series s a great company indeed. And they pioneered the GOG service with its strict DRM free position.

I asked them on several occasions, whether they have any plans for releasing their future games (Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077) for Linux. But they are very secretive about their future releases, and didn't even want to talk whether their current RED engine which they use in their games supports OpenGL or not. It surely supported OpenGL for the Witcher 2, since their Mac OS X version was a native release (unlike Witcher 1 which was  Windows version in the Wine wrapper).

The only hint of their interest in OpenGL can be found here: http://cdpred.com/technical-artist-technical-animator/

Required skills & experience:
  • Solid knowledge of 3D game art modeling and texturing pipelines

  • Algebra, geometry and vector calculus

  • Understanding of real-time shading techniques and post processes

  • Understanding of DirectX(9.0-11.0+) / OpenGl (SM5.0+)

  • Proficiency using 3D Studio Max and Motion Builder

  • Programming / scripting experience (MaxScript and C++ preferred)

  • Fluent English

  • Ability to work in a team environment and under a tight schedule

  • A true passion for gaming




Kristian Aug 15, 2013
Quoting: s_d
Quoting: Quote from Kristian
Quoting: Quote from Quote from philip550c
Quoting: Quote from Quote from Quote from KristianJust look at what they did with The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition. Also they support mod tools. I am a huge advocate for mod tools. So for reasons like that I would say that the GOG situation is complicated. But overall I still very much consider them good guys. I just have some pessimistic tendencies and I am going overboard NOT to get too excited. 

Call it 3D Realms forums regular syndrome if you want... all those years hearing magazines hype their next cover followed by people in the DNF forums starting threads speculating that it wold be DNF(Which I ended up enjoying as one of only three FPS games I have completed from beginning to end(What can I say, I suck as a gamer), the others being Quake 1 and Bioshock Infinite).
What did they do with Witcher2?
And you beat all 4 episodes of Quake1 ? I play that game at least once a month still and I haven't beaten it yet lol

Yes but I can't beat the second level of Duke3D, after trying intermittently for the last 15+ years... I really do suck at games. Majorly.

How about turn-based strategy?  Tactical games can be loads of fun!  Just drop twitch-style games, and you'll be right as rain.
I could have sworn I already replied to this. Oh well. I remember trying a turn based strategy game many years ago and quitting within a few minutes due to lacking patience to wait for my turn. Really FPS and TPS are my favorite genres.
Anonymous Aug 16, 2013
Quoting: Kristian** cut out a great deal of your reply to save some space **

I am on a mission to keep my personal excitement levels down, way way way down.

Edit:

For the record: I am perfectly happy with GOL, including this article. It is nothing like Phoronix. I enjoy GOL as a site and a community immensely.

Edit2:

My motto basically is: "Always expect the worst thing you can imagine, then stretch your imagination beyond the breaking point to envision an even worse scenario and except that instead. Reality will probably still be far worse than you excepted".

Your exam? Expect to fail it. Your friends and family? Expect them to die. Your job? Expect to be fired. You get the picture. 

Edit3:

If you haven't noticed I am prone to exaggeration and hyperbole but I stand by my basic message. It is how I live my life.

Thanks for the detailed explanation - definetely changes the picture about your feelings for GOG.
I also believe that they're doing a great number of things right.

I think that GOG is interested in supporting Linux and that they will. But their "all inclusive" approach of customer service combined with the apparent lack of experienced staff makes them very careful in the way they plan and work on it and therefore it's taking longer than other digital stores that rely on the devs doing the support.

I also like to think that they've been working on it silently and secretively and it won't take another year to see some results.

Are you really 100% convinced that Linux support is never coming to GOG? Or is it just your life-motto kicking in?


And one last thing, if I may - not wanting to get too excited is one thing, but your life-motto sounds like a very stressful way to live your life. Or not?



Vince Aug 16, 2013
Quoting: Anonymous
Quoting: Quote from Kristian** cut out a great deal of your reply to save some space **

I am on a mission to keep my personal excitement levels down, way way way down.

Edit:

For the record: I am perfectly happy with GOL, including this article. It is nothing like Phoronix. I enjoy GOL as a site and a community immensely.

Edit2:

My motto basically is: "Always expect the worst thing you can imagine, then stretch your imagination beyond the breaking point to envision an even worse scenario and except that instead. Reality will probably still be far worse than you excepted".

Your exam? Expect to fail it. Your friends and family? Expect them to die. Your job? Expect to be fired. You get the picture. 

Edit3:

If you haven't noticed I am prone to exaggeration and hyperbole but I stand by my basic message. It is how I live my life.

Thanks for the detailed explanation - definetely changes the picture about your feelings for GOG.
I also believe that they're doing a great number of things right.

I think that GOG is interested in supporting Linux and that they will. But their "all inclusive" approach of customer service combined with the apparent lack of experienced staff makes them very careful in the way they plan and work on it and therefore it's taking longer than other digital stores that rely on the devs doing the support.

I also like to think that they've been working on it silently and secretively and it won't take another year to see some results.

Are you really 100% convinced that Linux support is never coming to GOG? Or is it just your life-motto kicking in?


And one last thing, if I may - not wanting to get too excited is one thing, but your life-motto sounds like a very stressful way to live your life. Or not?


That Anonymous is me, sorry forgot to put in my name.
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