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Latest Comments by Shmerl
Valve have given out some more details on the Index VR HMD with a "Deep Dive" about the Field of View
28 June 2019 at 7:45 pm UTC

I'd wait for functional OpenHMD + Monado support, before buying anything of this sort.

Steam's top releases of May show why Steam Play is needed for Linux
28 June 2019 at 7:37 pm UTC Likes: 15

Regarding demand. Developers have no clue about it, if you don't buy from them and just keep silent. They have no access to stats from other developers. The stores have those stats, but they aren't public and not shared between developers.

So if you want to demonstrate demand - reach out to developers directly, create polls, wish requests, vote / comment in existing ones, and etc. Show developers that enough people want to see their games on Linux. That could work.

Examples:

* http://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=652719
* https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/bloodlines-2-for-linux.1162040
* https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/cyberpunk_2077_on_linux

Saying "I don't buy from that developer to show demand" makes no practical sense really.

So, again - reach out to developers. As ZED creators put it in the recent interview:

QuoteI think the future of gaming for Linux is looking good, hopefully I can help! The quality of hardware support is the best it’s been and game engines are bringing stronger and stronger support. Just need to keep being vocal so game devs keep putting in the small effort to port

Steam's top releases of May show why Steam Play is needed for Linux
28 June 2019 at 7:32 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: Sir_DiealotOr there are fewer games for Linux released now that SteamPlay is around. Who can say with certainty? Historical data and statistics probably can. Who is going to dig in?

Hard to say, but I've seen examples of developers using such excuse (inXile/Krome used it, not to release classic Bard's Tale trilogy for Linux).

I doubt though, it plays a significant role in the global sense. Those who want to release for Linux will, Steamplay or not. Those who don't, always will find another excuse.

DOSBox is still alive, with a new bug fix release available
27 June 2019 at 3:07 pm UTC Likes: 2

When are they going to start supporting XDG base directory spec? $HOME/.dosbox really should retire already.

And they should switch from Sourceforge to something more fitting the times.

ZED from Eagre Games and Cyan Ventures is out for Linux now, it’s quite an experience (plus an interview)
27 June 2019 at 1:47 am UTC Likes: 2

Great interview, thanks! I backed the game and wait for the Linux version to get to GOG.

This part though was a bit strange:

QuotePlatforms like Proton and Lutris are beginning to make WINE obsolete.

Wine is really the base of Proton, and without it Lutris won't work with Windows games either, so it's hardly obsolete ;)

Valve release an official statement about the future of Linux support, they "remain committed" to Linux gaming
27 June 2019 at 12:16 am UTC Likes: 9

Interestingly, if you read the announcement carefully, they write that they'll be able to continue to support Ubuntu officially, but they didn't say they'll continue recommending it as the first choice for their users. So would be interesting to see what they'll recommend.

Valve release an official statement about the future of Linux support, they "remain committed" to Linux gaming
27 June 2019 at 12:06 am UTC Likes: 8

Great to hear about Valve working closely with more distros! And especially backing efforts to improve desktop experience. I suppose the recent KDE/KWin work announcement is related to that.

Reminder: Update your PC info for the next round of statistics updates
25 June 2019 at 7:22 pm UTC

Quoting: liamdaweDone, took some research and some hair-pulling but I managed to get it to work.

Great, thanks! It shows a drop in the total number of users, when checking some trends. Is it because some users aren't updating profiles, or because some users stopped specifying some particular parameter in their profile?

Reminder: Update your PC info for the next round of statistics updates
25 June 2019 at 3:04 pm UTC Likes: 3

@liamdawe: can you please add the total (and specific) number of users to trends in the tooltip, when hovering over specific data point? I.e. something like (30% [300/1000]). Percentages alone are not as informative without absolute numbers.

Canonical have released a statement on Ubuntu and 32bit support, will keep select packages
24 June 2019 at 8:16 pm UTC Likes: 4

Quoting: RedfaceToo little would be too just continue to build the whole distribution in 32 bit. Now the actual needed libraries and programs will be identified so that better future proof solutions.
Or to continue with their plans as announced where there was way to many problems and to little time for the 19.10 and 20.04 release.

My trust in them increased by their new plan.


No doubt their current proposal is a lot better than before. But I don't trust Ubuntu in general. This whole debacle didn't help.