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Latest Comments by dibz
Xfce desktop environment sees a 4.16pre1 release, better fractional scaling
22 Sep 2020 at 5:17 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: foobrew
Quoting: Purple Library Guy. . . OK, never really forgave Gnome 3 for being what it was rather than an improved Gnome 2 . . .
This. This is when I switched to Xfce and have I've lived happily ever after.
Thirded.

Gnome3 is literally why I decided to try Xfce after generally being happy with Gnome2 for years, and I haven't looked back. At the time I chose XFCE over Cinnamon over some teething issues re: multi screen support, and I simply preferred XFCE over MATE. I remember describing my impressions of Xfce to myself as "A better Gnome2 then Gnome2 ever was."

Microsoft Edge comes to Linux in October as a preview
22 Sep 2020 at 5:10 pm UTC Likes: 7

Quoting: GuestHonest question - why would I want to use this over Firefox or Chrome, especially on Linux? It seems an odd choice to port over.
I would think whatever shared profile Edge provides if you're in the MS ecosystem I should think. Or maybe someone just prefers it as "their" browser, who I assume exist (probably).

Quoting: HoriGuys I've just realised:
Netflix in 4k on browsers is only available for Edge... does this mean we can finally watch Netflix in 4K on Linux?
I doubt it. Afaik this is also related to a DRM requirement, I could be wrong but I was under the impression that 4K content from Netflix requires a higher level of DRM then widevine and the linux kernel support (the kernel is brought up in this context due to Trusted Path). It's nice that they allow the lower quality version of the content at least, unlike providers like Peacock that just have the higher DRM requirement across the board (and thus do not work in linux).

Xfce desktop environment sees a 4.16pre1 release, better fractional scaling
14 Sep 2020 at 8:37 pm UTC Likes: 1

:heart: XFCE. My only real complaint is how strict they are regarding full screen window focus, in particular if you fullscreen something on one monitor -- such as a youtube video -- and click elsewhere; Any panels on that display will go above your window.

I tracked down a bug report/request for this once and it turns out it was intentional due to some standard (FreeDesktop maybe? I don't recall) XFCE follows. The good news is in the same thread a patch was provided for the desired behaviour -- which I still use today (though I've had to adjust the patch over time for newer XFCE versions).

Aside from that minor annoyance, XFCE is still the best desktop environment I've ever used.

Ludo is a new sleek front-end for Libretro, as an alternative to RetroArch
31 Aug 2020 at 2:41 pm UTC Likes: 3

While this doesn't work for me, I'm glad it exists. The retroarch guys definitely follow a particular mindset, while I won't call it wrong-headed since everyone has their own opinions, it doesn't mesh well with me. On several occasions I've tried to properly set up six+ button controllers, like a real sega saturn pad, and figuring I must be doing it wrong for it to be so difficult I googled it... and after reading similar opinions and what the retroarch people thought of them, I just use something else.

Wasteland 3 for Linux (and Mac) delayed, possible by end of 2020
10 Jul 2020 at 5:36 pm UTC Likes: 3

August is pretty soon. Hopefully they're doing this to prevent any sort of gruelling crunch time, in which case I fully support the decision. If they're trying to optimize the crunch in their gruelling crunch time, then I wish they'd push back the release date instead though.

Supraland stops supporting Linux shortly after leaving GOG entirely
27 Jun 2020 at 3:59 pm UTC Likes: 1

I prefer to look at it as Proton being a slower approach to taking down walls, and as soft encouragement to developers and publishers -- they may not have proper linux builds, but they may also actively choose supporting libraries and technologies that "don't not" support Proton/Linux. It honestly seems to me most compatibility problems tend to fall under those 3rd party gotchas, some 3rd party library or anti-cheat technology not part of the base game engine that ultimately breaks their Linux compatibility. First baby steps that imply consideration for Linux, it'll help developer opinions of Linux if they can "support" it with simple early consideration like that; and it'll help adoption if the games "play" while on Linux without any googling or fixes first. As that userbase grows, well, so does people that would want a Linux build!

And lets be honest, half the problem with linux adoption is "Windows people who tried it 10 years ago w/ their energy-drink inspired keyboard and unsupported wireless drivers who googled an incorrect blog entry before writing their own incorrect blog entry about how to support something and now take every chance they get to rag on Linux in some unrelated social media post comment thread" mindset.

The good news is every time Microsoft or Apple force an unpleasant change people tend to re-evaluate their options, which I can imagine only helps. Even my wife, who absolutely loathes change in her technology, asked me about putting Linux on her laptop after she was first introduced to Windows 10.

Will that idea work out in the end? Maybe, maybe not. I certainly know some of my friends/peers have had renewed or initial interest in Linux lately.

We're giving away two copies of 3dSen PC
24 Jun 2020 at 7:22 pm UTC

I would love to win a copy!

A note on using Steam Play Proton and counting the sales for Linux (updated)
11 Feb 2020 at 5:59 pm UTC

Honestly this has always felt liked flawed logic to me. I'll grant that one point of view for how the data is used is in worth for what platforms publishers or developers want to target, and they might not otherwise care about preferences versus where they can simply make a sale. However, many times the data isn't presented or wrote about in that context and instead used as a proof of what people's preferences are.

With that in mind, many of us run multiple computers or dual-boot, and there's no mistake that at least one of them will probably be Windows if they play desktop games. Take myself for instance, my primary workstation that I spend most of my day at is linux, but my HTPC is windows as it doubles as a gaming PC. I play games on both, but I play more often on my gaming PC without a doubt. Linux gaming has come a long way and I've no doubt most of the games I actually play would run just fine on linux, but there's always one or two or some other reason that the (HT|Gaming)PC is going to be in Windows; There's physical separation and since the purpose differs so does the hardware, as such even games that would run fine in linux don't make sense to jump computers in my personal use case. I've no doubt all of my gaming purchases end up counting as sales for Windows save for maybe the rare one that actually does get more playtime on my workstation. Plenty of us sitting on the fence that they decide to count one way or the other.

Now, the reason I say the logic is flawed is in counting majority-playtime as the sale at all is problematic. Really, logging any time on other platforms should flag as Multiplatform. Of course Windows will continue to hog the glory, it's too much of a bother to split gaming installs against OS preference for most people. Yes, some people dual-boot and share partitions; But that's problematic too. And I would wager rather a-typical because of it. The overall point being "this is a linux user using windows to play your stupid game."

Really, Valve already does occasional hardware surveys in the client. They could easily just ask a question or a survey to non-windows users about what they do versus what their actual preferences are. Really, just add a slice for Multiplatform and maybe details (Windows, Linux, Mac).

The Humble Choice bundle is up for January with 12 games to pick from
3 Jan 2020 at 7:25 pm UTC Likes: 2

I'll probably pick this month up since I don't have most of the key titles in the lineup. But man was that first month a downer, I can't imagine too many people out there didn't have most of the interesting games from that lineup already.

I paused last month as I imagine many people did to hold on to their pricing, but save this month, I can't see me hanging around too long before actually-cancelling and never looking at HumbleChoice again. I wish they'd just stuck with the old format.

The Steam Winter Sale is now live with a special Holiday Market
19 Dec 2019 at 7:25 pm UTC Likes: 1

[quote=Guest]
Quoting: denyasisNoooo! Why am I poor?!?
On a side note, how is slime rancher for young kids? In particular, ones that can't read yet. I'd like to introduce them to the world of Linux gaming, but finding games for kids that young (and not so stupidly annoying to an adult) is a lot harder than I thought.
Kids too young to read would probably find that kind of game too difficult. My kids used to really enjoy any of the Humongous Games [External Link] adventures, and games similar to those such as the Brøderbund adventure games for kids (Little Monster/Little Critter, etc). The thing with games outside of those age ranges is while they don't mind watching them and spending time with you/the parent/etc, they bore quickly since the content is usually too advanced for them to follow or interact with.