Interesting article, games

Lori Nagel jastiv at yahoo.com
Thu Mar 4 17:14:39 EST 2010


I noticed games was at the top of the list again (unsurprisingly) and that of course zealotry isn't going to convert most people. The thing is though that windows does not nessarly run old games very well either.  

I sometimes compare Linux games  that compile and run on my system to old windows games from say, the windows 95 era and see several key differences in game play and user interface that explain very well why there is such a gap.

1) User interfaces tend to be poor and over compilcated, with a bunch of skills and stats taking up the whole screen in a way you can't close as opposed to the whole screen being immersed in the game. 
2) User interfaces tend to do something like use the default gnome widgets or other boring things.


3) Game play  consists of several "hard" levels that are more difficult than what most gamers are used to. A lot of the fun in playing a game isn't nessarly dying over and over again, but rather being able to make some progress in the game. Many gamers see games more like interactive movies or choose your own adventure books rather than something where they have to reapeat the same plot over and over again to try and advance. 
4) Second note on game play, unfinished levels that are not well designed do not add much.
5) some games are okay, but they are really too short and too  much like a demo rather than a complete game. 
6) lack of games in general
7) games that either won't compile or won't run due to things such as library dependancies or 3d video card drivers.

I'm probably expecting too much out of most linux zealots to  do something as boring or "stupid" as learning old librareis like x11 or actually code reasonable game design ideas. They tend to think they are beyond such things and end up writing games that have the seven above mentioned problems while saying what an idiot I am for  not being a better programmer with good code or anatomically acurate drawings when most people really want cartoon exagerated drawings. 




----- Original Message ----
From: Benjamin Scott <dragonhawk at gmail.com>
To: Greater NH Linux User Group <gnhlug-discuss at mail.gnhlug.org>
Sent: Thu, March 4, 2010 12:36:54 PM
Subject: Re: Interesting article,

  For the TL;DR crowd: Zealotry does not help the cause.  It hurts.

  Reality check time.  I suggest zealots take note.  The way you and I
think is not how most mainstream people think.  If you insist on
closing your eyes to how the people complaining see things, don't be
surprised when they continue to complain and just get pissed off.

  If you tell them someone all their concerns about Linux are moot,
they may *believe you*.  That sets up false expectations.  Then they
try Linux and discover it *isn't* just like MS Windows.  It's better
in many ways, worse in some others.  But you told them their concerns
were a non-issue, when it turns out they still matter.  At best, they
will feel let down.  At worst, they will go back to Windows, because
they will feel Linux lies about what it can deliver.

  When I promote Linux, I always make sure I make it clear that like
is not all roses and sunshine.  I disclose the weaknesses.  But I also
sell the strengths.  Freedom, and low cost, and robustness, and
security, and choice, and all that good stuff.  It's then up to the
listener to decide if they want to give it a try, making a
well-informed decision.

  Since no long message about computer politics is complete without a
car analogy: I didn't buy a Subaru Impreza because I thought it was a
*perfect* car.  I bought one because I thought it was the best choice
for what I wanted.

  Specific points follow:

On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 11:43 AM, Brian Chabot <brian at datasquire.net> wrote:
> No gaming support - Mandriva has an entire product line devoted to
> gaming, but the gaming developers didn't work with it and the end users
> didn't try it out.  It was subsequently dropped.

  Are you serious?  I hate to break it to you, but if it was dropped,
then that still counts as not having it.

  What people mean when they say this is that they can't go into a
store and pick up a box for World of Warcraft or Call of Duty or
whatever, and find "Linux" listed on the side of the box as supported.
They don't care about some French company nobody has every heard
of[1] that once tried to do something with gaming, but failed.

[1] = This is is called "hyperbole".

> Little/no OEM support - Mandriva has had an OEM certification program
> for years.

  Irrelvant.  What matters is who and how many OEMs are supporting
Linux.  Nobody cares if the distro has an OEM certification program if
none of the OEMs are actually using it.

  Now, some good progress has been made here.  The big OEMs are
starting to do actual work with Linux.  Even if it's just to leverage
against Microsoft, it still counts.  But it's still rather meager in
comparison to what's available for MS Windows.

  For example, Dell offers Linux pre-installed on some computers, but
their support for what they're installing is practically non-existent.
They basically refer you to Canonical/Red Hat.  (Dell's server Linux
support is a lot more useful.)

  For a home user, this can be a big deal.  However, as more and more
OEMs move to a pay-for-support model for anything beyond warranty
component replacement and OS re-installation, it may become less of a
distinction.  Whether you're paying Dell to support your MS Windows
home PC or paying Canonical to support your Linux home PC, you're
paying for support.

  So Linux may achieve support parity not by getting better support,
but instead because Windows is trending towards worse support.

  I also still hold out some small hope for a resurgence in local
small system builders.  They can provide a personal touch that big
companies will never be able to, and they're generally a lot more open
to supporting Linux.  However, quality stuff costs more, and most
people still shop based on price alone.  As long as Best Buy can make
great profit selling computer-shaped boxes of poop, it's going to be
tough for small system builders to compete.

> No migration tool - Mandriva has has a built-in migration tool for quite
> some time now - Transfugdrake - right in the System area of the control
> center.

  Yah, Ubuntu has one, too.  Either his information is out-of-date, or
we simply misunderstand what he's asking for.  I suspect the former.

> Free tech support dries up - http://www.mandrivausers.org

    People referring to this generally mean a local peer group that
can provide hands-on assistance, not web forums.  Everybody knows
somebody who knows enough about MS Windows to at least install
software and configure an Internet connection.  It's harder to find
Linux people.  Not impossible -- look at this group! -- but it's not
the easy pickings that MS Windows has.  Only time and adoption will
change this.

  I'm incredulous about his claim that Mac's no longer have this
problem, though.  I don't think their market penetration is *that*
much bigger than Linux.

> Driver/hardware confusion - For 90% of hardware out there, you don't
> need it.

  I would dispute your claim.  A lot of popular hardware still doesn't
work well with Linux, especially sound, wireless, and video hardware.
NVidia's drivers involve the proprietary, binary-only nightmare, and
they're often the best of a bad lot.  Wireless is still a crap shoot
if you just pick an adapter at random.  My Intel mobo's sound sort-of
works, but it's always quirky.

  Yes, you can find hardware on store shelves that works with Linux,
if you do your homework.  The whole *point* is that (1) most people
don't do their homework, because (2) they can buy anything and know it
will support MS Windows.

> "Also, the fact that there’s no such thing as a “works with
> Linux” logo..."  Yes, there is.  I have a bunch of stickers with the one
> I designed and I'm sure there are others.

  He is referring to software logo certification programs, such as
Microsoft's Windows logo programs.  Not what you print on your inkjet.
(The value of such logos is debatable, but a lot of people still shop
for them.)

-- Ben

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