Thanks for the information. I've read that Steam may require you to be logged in to their service, thus online, but some games can be enabled to play offline. So from what I read and your responses I understand that you need Steam installed to play the games but not all games require you to be connected to the Steam service. Besides, developers may add other DRM measures.

So far as Steam goes, your best bet (if having DRM free games is important to you) would be to try to by your games directly from developers who offer DRM free copies in addition to Steam keys (this is done by most developers using the "Humble Store app", such as Frozenbyte and the guys who made FTL).

I agree, I buy games from the Humble Store or directly to developers. I might start playing my purchased games thru Steam, that's fine since I wouldn't absolutely depend on it. I'm concerned about depending on the distributor and/or being online to play my games.

Thanks!

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I bought it in the humble bundle but couldn't play it until recently. It's a really good game. At the start, I was a bit confused by the game mechanics but once you're into it becomes addictive.

As for the DRM-free games on Steam, where can I read more about it? Does that mean I can buy games on Steam and play them anywhere? Can I see if a game is DRM-free before I buy it?

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Quoting: "Cheeseness, post: 6001, member: 122"One thing I've learned from watching people transition to Linux is that experienced computer users don't like becoming novices.

Yes, that's the problem, they hate becoming novices after they've held their Windows expertise as a trophy. That's the kind of user that will break havoc in support forums saying that GNU/Linux is shit and broken because it doesn't work the way they expect and trying to teach others how it should work. Not everyone is willing to learn again.

I don't worry because a lot of users with low technical skills come to GNU/Linux. They'd be facing similar problems jumping to Windows 8 and no advantages, and Microsoft doesn't seem troubled by that. I'm more scared of the former users.

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Quoting: "Bumadar, post: 5978, member: 93"On another note, I mentioned this before, but what will happen to the Linux community when windows people will start using Linux because Steam brings out games for it, they will come into a totally different desktop experience and things not always run out of the box like they are used to, will the forums and the community be able to handle the comments/rants/expectations of all those new users ?

This makes me think Windows must be perfect and totally problem-free. Actually, there are lots of webs dedicated to helping with Windows and gaming problems, and they're pretty populated. Besides, I know no Windows users getting used to things working out of the box, but they always know some friend... The biggest change for GNU/Linux communities might be that now our gurus will get a lot of friends. :)

I like to remember that doing things right, gaming can be easier than it is on Windows. So, ask developers to make it right and easy and we'll be succeeding. They learnt how to deal with a lot of garbage on Windows, now it should be easier to deal with good organisation on GNU/Linux. I understand they want to ensure compatility with well-known distros but I hope they soon stop targeting distros in their installers.

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My view is that I don't like DRM and I don't think I will register with Steam because of this. Anyway, I'm happy it pleases others and I hope it gives a boost to gaming on GNU/Linux so we get more games ported out of Steam.

About the other issue some people have over GNU/Linux, I don't mind using that name, not the best name maybe, but I'm not against it. It's not just a way to raise awareness on important issues but it's also a way of differentiating the kernel project from the distro. Android has/uses/is a derivative of Linux but it's not GNU/Linux. It reminds me a lot of the problem with Debian and Ubuntu. Ubuntu is a Debian derivative, but Ubuntu is not Debian. You can read this a lot on Debian support channels.

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Quoting: "Beemer, post: 5792"I wrote that comment on GOG about "JUST ASK"(tm?). It *is* that simple to get the ball rolling.

All they have to do to start is say "Hey - we'll support the DOS box games to start. Here's a forum, here's a .tar.gz of the dos files. Please submit instructions for various distros on how to get dosbox and/or gameX working and we'll post it in a support site/wiki/something".

Within a day, I'd bet they assign some wiki editors for this to compile the docs (and probably be overwhelmed :) ). BUT - *they* have to:

Take files they already have, and make .tar.gz of them.
*JUST ASK* for assistance
Compile the docs/how-to's/etc that the community will provide.

Heck, they could even go the route of "Hey - we'll trial this for DOS games. We'll provide the basics, you guys provide the instructions". Again, not hard. Just some time invested on both sides.

Starting with the DOS games makes it super easy for GOG and Linux users:

DosBox is already well established in Linux, so dependency suprises should be kept to a bare minimum.
There's plenty of existing DOS items in GOG to use.
Providing a .tar.gz of the game files is lower cost than packaging the game with a tweaked DosBox.
There are already Linux users buying DOS games there (albeit not officially sanctioned).
GOG can get a great feel for how this could go while having a pretty easy out.

I think this argument can work against us. Since users already know how to do it by themselves and will work their way out, why should GOG invest resources and money?

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As for the packaging, I don't like installing foreign packages, they taint my system in unpredictable ways. I'd rather have the whole game in a directory with some script that makes the desktop launchers, make it an automatic installer and that's the best we could have. You don't want the packages carefully crafted by your distribution developers mixed with some low quality packages done by unexperienced people.

I'll say it again, stop trying to support distributions directly, companies don't know how it works and it's too much work for them to do it. They can cooperate as we're seeing with Ubuntu by using their Software Center to distribute games, or elaborating new ways together with the people that create the distributions. That's the way I see companies should mainly work along with the community.

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Giving support doesn't mean GOG should fix all broken systems out there, I guess that's not what they do for Windows. They won't fix your library mess or clean your computer from virus, they'll tell you to reinstall maybe. Windows programs already package a lot of their own libraries, sometimes making an interesting mix in your system.

In GNU/Linux is safer and easy to do a bootstrap for your own games, you use your own libraries and you're almost done. They should rely a minimum on the underlying systems, Linux kernel, libc, sound and video drivers, that's all. Still there'll be problems because libraries have bugs and drivers too, but doesn't any platform have bugs?

Libraries take care of Alsa/Pulseaudio/OSS/Xorg/OpenGL/desktops or anything else. If your system is not broken and has the required subsystems correctly working you're leveled to a Windows user. If your system is broken the problem is the same as a Windows user with a broken system (not a few.)

I mean, I know it's quite some work to support a new platform, but I don't agree it's because there's a lot of distributions. There's a lot of Windows installs and a lot of differences between them and still they give support, they won't say there's too many different Windows system configurations (hardware and software) for them to support.

I'm not an expert, but I have the strong feeling that they're taking the easy route by blaming the platform instead of admitting they're not that interested.

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Always using the same excuse. Distribute your own libraries and you'll just have to give support for the Linux kernel and glibc, and they're compatible backwards. It's easier than supporting Windows when done properly. Please, someone tell them to stop trying to support distributions, companies usually suck at that when they try it.

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At last some news. Humble Bundle has hired Edward Rudd full-time, and Ethan Lee will finish the Vessel port eventually. Read it [URL='http://blog.humblebundle.com/post/35091013624/humble-bundle-vessel-and-porting']here[/URL]. There's a link to a [URL='http://flibitijibibo.com/oh.html']post[/URL] on the Vessel port.

I like to know we're being taken seriously, faith restored. :-)

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