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Latest Comments by walther von stolzing
Another Steam Client Beta is out, adds the ability to force Steam Play
18 Jan 2019 at 6:33 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: GuestBefore long, everyone who opted for the "free" Windows 10 upgrade, are running OEM windows, and all those other devices, is going to be under the thumb of ("NOT A SUBSCRIPTION!" ... yet) Microsoft Managed Desktop.
Quoting: GuestWindows 10 (now the majority version worldwide) will soon be under the grip of the "Microsoft Managed Desktop" not-yet-a-subscription service. Unless they have a full-retail Windows product key, most enthusiast-level PC users are quickly going to migrate to Linux once the ransom notices (or slowed-down updates) start popping up on their Windows desktops. Steam Play makes it easy migrate, at will.
This is an important point. Just for clarification -- the 'free Windows 10 upgrade' that microsoft graciously(?!) handed out last year (or the year before?) to owners of full licenses of Win 7 or 8 did not give those people full retail product keys for Windows 10. Rather, they got a version of Windows 10 'registered under' their 'microsoft account'.

That certainly sounds like a more precarious state to be in, compared to having a product key for a full version that one would expect to be able to install on whatever device, whenever one pleases -- though it's not so clear right now, exactly what the disadvantage consists in.

The ability to install whenever, continue to get updates, etc., holds as long as the 'product' is under support. On the 'permanent product key' model as well, Microsoft simply shuts off the 'activation' services when support ends for a product, and there's no way of registering it. I have a windows xp virtual machine that I can't activate, and use 'legitimately', because of this. (*Perhaps* phone activation still works -- either automated, or via an actual representative -- I haven't bothered to try; because I know from past experience that they make you enter & then verify an annoyingly long code. In any case, without the ability to download any updates [past service packs included], registration is pretty pointless anyway.)

Though at the very least, one can continue using an already activated 'product' -- at one's own peril, without any security updates (and rapidly diminishing 3rd party support). On the 'not-yet-a-subscription-service' model, you can't be sure of that much either. So perhaps *that's* the danger awaiting 'free upgraders' to Windows 10. The risk of waking up to some kind of sugar-coated ransomware screen from Redmond.

I agree that the recent improvements to wine can provide people in that sort of predicament with a way out. I'm entirely sure, by the way, that people would be leaving Apple in droves if something similar to wine were available for cocoa/obj.C/swift apps -- keeping their existing 'investment' in software, but liberating themselves from the OS-vendor's thuggery.

Another Steam Client Beta is out, adds the ability to force Steam Play
18 Jan 2019 at 3:15 pm UTC

Quoting: somebody1121I also tried Deus Ex MKD but doesn't start.
Could it be trying to start in dx12 mode?

Another Steam Client Beta is out, adds the ability to force Steam Play
18 Jan 2019 at 11:39 am UTC

... I'm really curious how Deus Ex MD performs under dxvk; but the 60gb download is too daunting ... and upon checking, I see that I don't even have enough free space, haha.

Valve have detailed some changes coming to Steam in an overview post
14 Jan 2019 at 7:30 pm UTC Likes: 2

We’re working on a new recommendation engine powered by machine-learning, that can match players to games based on their individual tastes.
This doesn't sound very encouraging, to be honest; they seem to be chasing the same magically self-regulating minimal-effort dream of a curation model.

Algorithms are only a part of our discoverability solution, however, so we're building more broadcasting and curating features and are constantly assessing the overall design of the store.
Yeah, but they shouldn't just 'build features'; they should employ real people to put real thought into what gets sold or highlighted on the store.

Linux hardware vendor Entroware has unleashed Hades, their first AMD CPU desktop
14 Jan 2019 at 2:37 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: Kristian" 1 x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo"

I thought everyone had long since moved on to USB for these things.
PS/2 keyboards are supposed to have lower latency. A more tangible reason, though, is that USB keyboards are sometimes late to get recognized by the system during bootup, so you can't hit the key that's supposed to take you to the BIOS. My USB keyboard (Unicomp Model M clone) often doesn't even 'turn on' on the grub boot selection screen, which can get really frustrating.

Some Linux games we’re excited to see in 2019, a list to keep you going
9 Jan 2019 at 1:16 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Eike
Quoting: clatterfordslimI came across this site, as to where I got the idea

https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/articles/explaining-bsd/comparing-bsd-and-linux.html [External Link]
You could say they're relatives - distant relatives, but way more connected than Windows vs. BSD/Linux/Unix.
In the straightforward sense of the biological metaphor, Linux & BSD really aren't relatives at all. Today's BSDs may be considered direct descendants of the original AT&T UNIX. (Actually, that isn't very accurate, because long before liberating themselves [so to speak] from AT&T in 1992, the CS department at UC Berkeley had reimplemented the entire system, to the point of making commercial UNIX an 'offshoot' of their own work. So, if anything, what commercial UNIX ended up becoming is a 'descendant' of BSD, rather than the other way around.) The GNU project has a completely independent ancestry; its products may perhaps be related to the AT&T UNIX userland only as clones of the family members. Similarly for 'Linux', limiting ourselves to the kernel.

In the rather different sense of belonging to a shared culture, having a shared language, etc., they're of course related.

edit: Here's one drawing of the family tree. (Click to view larger)


132 of the 250 most highly rated games on Steam support Linux, even more when counting Steam Play
8 Jan 2019 at 2:03 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: EikeI didn't look through it, but I expect a list of highly rated games to be mostly niche games. Games drawing many buyers from different directions will get their share of downvotes. Games with a very specific audiance, say text adventures (do play Thaumistry!) draw only those that will enjoy if it is done well.
Perhaps as a case in point: The only Steam review I ever wrote was for TIS-100, and it went something like '... if you're intrigued by this, then BUY NOW!!!'

132 of the 250 most highly rated games on Steam support Linux, even more when counting Steam Play
7 Jan 2019 at 3:53 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: dannielloMost ratings are off, actually.

In fact, there are games that are reported as Gold / Platinum when they should be silver (they have functionality that doesn't work and cannot be fixed).
Protondb should probably give the user a more fine-grained questionary, and then calculate the final rating itself. The questions should have concrete answers; like: does the controller work? how much fps do you get at what settings?, etc.

Currently, some users put relevant info like that in their commentary; but it has absolutely no effect on the overall score. The overall score should reveal something about the level of support the game has; though currently it's just an average of what people felt like clicking when they were filling in the form, sort of.

132 of the 250 most highly rated games on Steam support Linux, even more when counting Steam Play
7 Jan 2019 at 8:32 am UTC

Quoting: 14There is a solution to Ubisoft. It's called PS4. IMO, it's worth it if that's the last thing holding you to Windows.
I *did* have a PS4 briefly, so I'm familiar with the advantages (and the disadvantages) of having such a device. When my current graphics card no longer 'cuts it' (gtx970 -- it's keeping up remarkably well at 1080p), I'll have to decide between upgrading it, or getting a playstation.

132 of the 250 most highly rated games on Steam support Linux, even more when counting Steam Play
6 Jan 2019 at 11:20 pm UTC

Quoting: mylkacyberpunk hopefully works like witcher 3
I hope it runs on vulkan; we'd then get near native performance. (I should mention, though, that apart from some stuttering, I get about the same performance for TW3 under dxvk, that I'm getting under native windoze. -- that's at 1080p/60fps; I'm sure it wouldn't scale so nicely at higher resolutions.)

i am curious which games will work in the future and if developers already adjust their games to work with proton at least.... especially ubisoft
As soon as we have a solution for uplay under wine, I'm nuking my windoze partition. I'm not terribly hopeful, though. For every fix, there's an upcoming uplay update to break it. Also, the drm isn't the only problem with their titles.

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