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Latest Comments by Adutchman
Microsoft donates the Mono Project to the Wine team
28 Aug 2024 at 8:34 am UTC Likes: 8

Lot's of misunderstanding of the modern situation of DotNet and MS here, so I wanted to chime in as both a FOSS enthuasiast and someone who uses DotNet for work.

First of all, Microsoft is not the same anymore: their cashcows are Office365, Azure and ChatGPT now, not Windows. This had a big impact on DotNet: where it first was a Windows only platform to lure developers into the Windows (server) ecosystem, DotNet is now a vehicle to lower the barrier to use Azure. And just to be clear: yes it is fully open source, no strings attached, just like most other programming languages. Getting developers on Azure is not done through lock-in: they just make really good Azure integrations. A part of this new stragety, is that they support Linux as a first class _runtime_ citizen now, because developers like running their servers in Linux. Hence, the new DotNet from version 6 forward (which is the fork they are talking about) has true full cross-platform runtime support. The stance towards desktop Linux has changed from actively hostile to ambivalent/slightly interested. Microsoft wants to move away from Visual Studio to VS-Code, but it is simply a lot of work with medium priority. This of course is good for Linux, since VS Code is also cross platform. I have developed some projects on Linux, and it is doable, just not perfect yet, but I believe they will get there. Again: anything that gets developers on Azure is a win.

Mono was from before DotNet 6 and is being fased out in favour of the new DotNet (which is just plain better, even on Linux). Unity indeed still uses it, but wants to move away from it in the end.

So is this good or bad? I think this is more a suggestion of goodwill to the WINE devs, since in absolute terms, this doesn't really matter much. But a good gesture is still good in my book.

Also: I don't really like the way some people draw modern Microsoft as the arch enemy of Linux. This was true in the past, but times have changed and, most importantly, business incentives have changed. Corporations aren't people, just follow the money.

GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin getting an official Flatpak for Linux and Steam Deck
27 Aug 2024 at 6:49 am UTC

Quoting: legluondunet
I'm sorry to break it to you, but I think in the eyes of most Appimage is a dead format. It had it's place but has been supplanted by Flatpak or even Snap in combination with native app stores and, in extreme cases, distrobox.
Dead format? All the emulators and others apps I use are available this days in Appimage format (and Flatpak too).
You still need a root password to install Flatpak applications, not with Appimage, that makes big difference.
Maybe for emulators then, outside those I haven't seen many people talk about/use them. It might also just be preference, since I really dislike managing Appimages and they are a pain to update. I don't mind having them install as root, as long as they run without it (except in cases like partition managers and such).

GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin getting an official Flatpak for Linux and Steam Deck
27 Aug 2024 at 6:40 am UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: legluondunetBut...they still not provide Appimage for stable or nightly builds:
https://fr.dolphin-emu.org/download/ [External Link]

The latest Appimage available on Appimagehub is two years old:
https://www.appimagehub.com/p/1567651/ [External Link]

However, you can now find easily unofficial Dolphin Appimage.

For me it's not a problem because I know how to compile it.

But for basic users, Flatpak and Appimage is a must to have.

And it's pleasant to just download and launch a program, without having bother to compile it, even for a Linux user.

Nice to see the Steam Deck continuing to have a positive impact for Linux users everywhere. Valve clearly made the right decision to support installing apps via Flatpak/Flathub.
Clearly!
I'm sorry to break it to you, but I think in the eyes of most Appimage is a dead format. It had it's place but has been supplanted by Flatpak or even Snap in combination with native app stores and, in extreme cases, distrobox.

Steam sets a new record with 37.2 million concurrent users online
27 Aug 2024 at 6:36 am UTC

I agree with the last tweet. If you look at Steam from a UX/UI standpoint, it's pretty bad because the core UI has not evolved significantly in years. And there's also the percentage question of course. If Epic would've put money into improving the actual store and Linjx support, they might have won me over. Shame really.

Celebrating 6 years since Valve announced Steam Play Proton for Linux
22 Aug 2024 at 6:42 am UTC Likes: 4

Quoting: woox2kWhat makes me wonder... is it possible that one guy is to "blame" here? Valve knew what wine was but did not spend much effort into making games compatible with it and tried to get companies to release native ports instead. When dxvk became a huge success Valve seemingly instantly jumped onto that bandwagon and released proton (by hiring the one guy behind dxvk afaik) Is it possible that when DXVK released, some guys in Valve went on like "Hey this is awesome, we should take this route to compatibility instead" and that's how it started?

Philip (doitsujin) Rebohle might be the person behind all this by being a Linux user and excellent programmer who just wanted to play a DX11 anime game that did not work on Wine!
It's always the anime fans XD. No, just joking. Huge props to Philip!

Sand in a Box is a fresh modern 'falling sand' playground out now on Steam
14 Aug 2024 at 7:34 am UTC

Trailer music sounds like it's AI made, otherwise looks quite fun.I loved powder toy. Edit: it says in the description AI was used, never mind.

Manjaro Linux gets an Immutable version available for testing
7 Aug 2024 at 10:32 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: CZiNTrPTI'm using Manjaro on my desktop and I'm happy with it? What's so wrong about it that it's usage stats are shrinking?
Manjaro has had multiple issues in the past that they have handled poorly: https://manjarno.pages.dev/ [External Link]

We'll get our first look at Civilization VII on August 20
3 Aug 2024 at 4:59 pm UTC Likes: 1

I loved Civ V but never got to Civ VI, because it didn't seem as fun. Am curious to see where this one goes. If the oattern continues it should be good...

Sid Meier's Civilization VII arrives in 2025 with a teaser
10 Jun 2024 at 7:12 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: Mountain ManCivilization VI has a native Linux version, but it runs like a pig. Running the Windows build with Proton gives substantially better performance.

I think the Linux version of Civ V runs acceptably, but it has been some time since I've played it, so I'm not certain.
The Linux version of Civ V was fine, but it has such outdated dependencies now that you're also better of playing the Proton version.

TUXEDO Stellaris Slim 15 revealed for high performance in a small package
28 May 2024 at 7:15 am UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: TheSHEEEPWon't they get into trouble with that name? Stellaris is trademarked.
Not that Paradox seems very likely to sue a PC manufacturer, but still.

Then again I am not a lawyer, so no clue if trademarks might only apply to similar things (and I'd argue a laptop and a game are not so similar).
From what I have heard, that is exactly how the law works: you can only trademark a name for a specific context (say, gaming for the game Stellaris)