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Title: Phoronix and their Blizzard reporting
Liam Dawe 10 Nov 2014
As much as I keep trying to respect Phoronix (Michael) for his benchmarking work, this is another blow for me.

Phoronix is the source of the "confirmation" that blizzard was bringing Linux a game in 2013, with no sources.

Turns out after my twitter chat with Michael that it was a "surfing buddy":
https://twitter.com/upurtweet/status/531899510273101824

So, again Phoronix was reporting rumour as fact, and not following up on it, at all.
EKRboi 11 Nov 2014
lol. I hardly ever read his rumor posts. I do check up on the site, because in general it is an easy way to keep up with non gaming Linux news.. but he does post some of the most obviously "click bait" articles I have ever seen.
Liam Dawe 12 Nov 2014
It just frustrates me that I want to like the guy, but the repeat non-sourcing and reporting rumour as fact ruins his work.
EKRboi 13 Nov 2014
Agreed. I mean how hard is it to just add the word "rumor" to you headline? EVERYONE likes rumors whether it is about a game or who your friends mom is screwing lol. So it's not like it would detract from his page views.
dubigrasu 16 Nov 2014
Well, he was reporting a while back that Steam will come for Linux. No one believed it and he was mocked and ridiculed aggressively.
He was right after all.
Liam Dawe 16 Nov 2014
It's easy to say x will come out for y and claim you're right about it if it does eventually happen. Yes he was right, but it took how many years?
dubigrasu 16 Nov 2014
Could be, but the article was not made at random hoping that someday will become true somehow.
IIRC it was based on Linux bits added by Valve in their earlier Linux works found in Steam's code.
What does it matter how long it took? He was right from the very beginning.

I have deep respect for this guy, he goofs occasionally and he's annoying at times but overall he is doing a great job for the Linux community.
It could be me though, I tend to be very forgiving about people that are really doing something.
The work he is putting in that benchmarking suite alone is quite something to admire.
dubigrasu 17 Nov 2014
Yep, I checked a bit the timeline and he spoke about it earlier than what I remembered.
Yet he was onto something.
He does some annoying things sometimes and he is not what I would call a reliable journalist.
But overall he is a valuable contributor to the Linux community, both because of his site and benchmark suite...heck, the guy is like one of these Duracell powered toys.

And yet, I don't really get what's with all the hate and disdain he receives.
And it troubles me that I see signs of it even here.
Liam Dawe 17 Nov 2014
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: dubigrasuCould be, but the article was not made at random hoping that someday will become true somehow.
IIRC it was based on Linux bits added by Valve in their earlier Linux works found in Steam's code.
What does it matter how long it took? He was right from the very beginning.

I have deep respect for this guy, he goofs occasionally and he's annoying at times but overall he is doing a great job for the Linux community.
It could be me though, I tend to be very forgiving about people that are really doing something.
The work he is putting in that benchmarking suite alone is quite something to admire.
He was incorrect from the very beginning. It was being reported as official, but there was no word that it was.
Here's the source of most people's hate for him dubigrasu. That one part of Mirv's reply summed it all up, including the original topic here.

He constantly reports things as fact, when they aren't even remotely fact. Baiting headlines, confirmations with no sources.

He doesn't link to sources (like us), but has no problem using quotes from other websites (like us) without any attribution.

It's extremely disrespectful to me and others who take time to speak to game developers, to use what they say to us without sourcing us, and Mike does this a lot to us and other sites.

I've spoken to him over email, and he sounds like a nice guy, but even after nice chats he continues to poach information we gather directly, and not source us.
dubigrasu 17 Nov 2014
.....did I stepped without knowing in a feud here?
Liam Dawe 17 Nov 2014
There is no feud, just stating facts.

I don't hate the guy at all, just think he needs to change the way he reports things.
dubigrasu 17 Nov 2014
OK, I'm gonna slowly...slowly step away from this...whatever it is.
Liam Dawe 17 Nov 2014
Just one of my usual rants!
flesk 19 Nov 2014
  • Contributing Editor
  • Supporter Plus
I follow Phoronix on Twitter, so I sometimes read the benchmarking articles, which are great in my opinion. Same as for others, there are things that really don't sit right with me in regards to their other articles though. Their habit of not citing their sources is especially problematic for two important reasons:

1) It shows a complete lack of respect for their sources
2) It completely undermines the validity of their articles

Granted, #2 doesn't mean that their claims are necessarily false, but there's really no way of knowing upfront.
Liam Dawe 21 Nov 2014
Hah some more fuel for the fire that someone else pointed out in our recent feral article:
https://twitter.com/michaellarabel/status/198630970759454722
And this:
https://twitter.com/michaellarabel/status/198629924184145921
And this:
https://twitter.com/michaellarabel/status/198632183206920192

Over two years ago he was trying to hint at Batman coming to Linux, and...nothing happened.

Although this time he didn't post an article on it, only put it on twitter with "#Linux" tags.
Liam Dawe 21 Nov 2014
There's also [http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTc3OTA](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTc3OTA)

We had the only confirmation, and yet the Phoronix article came out way after ours with confirmation and no source...

Such a lack of respect for his own readers, and for people like...us who actually get the confirmation.

It's so frustrating, but hey it's why we see so many people get annoyed by Phoronix now. I really wish he would source things, I mean what's so hard about it?
Donkey 23 Nov 2014
Do not let it bother you too much Liam. It is fine to keep pestering him about it (he might relent at some point), but do not let these event get out of hand. What Phoronix lacks in journalism, GamingOnLinux have. Even though Michael is good at putting out lots of words, the quality of his journalism is not comparable to the articles written by you Liam. Your articles are always easy to read, interestingly written, without any added sensationalism and still have an excellent use of the English language.

If I see a new gaming related article on Phoronix first, I immediately redirect my browser towards GamingOnLinux because nowadays that is my primary and sole source for Linux gaming related news. When I read other news on Phoronix I always double check the related forum thread for sources and correction. You simply can not read news on Phoronix without reading the forum as well. The comment section on GamingOnLinux is used more as a complementary than as place you "must" visit for validation; As it should be.

Even though Michael is far from impeccable, I still think both of you has made some pretty substantial contributions towards the Linux (gaming) community.
Keep up the good work, both of you!
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