David M Williams
Thursday, 19 March 2009 20:20
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
I think there are two reasons publishers ignore Linux. One is market share and the other is support on the platform for gaming. Clearly most of those platforms listed above are designed for gaming, so the built-in support for game producers is extensive.
That’s where some development focus has to be exerted with the goal of really producing a genuine, comprehensive, fast well-known gaming engine that can ship with Linux.
While the efforts of Cedega may be meritable I believe the solution isn’t to strive for better emulation of Windows’ titles but to put the work into Linux distributions to make it a compelling operating system for the likes of Activision and Electronic Arts and the rest to want to put out a natural, native, pure Linux version of their titles.
Hardware drivers
The second most frequent problem with Linux that I heard was hardware compatibility.
Folk have legitimate concerns that they can’t go out to a store, buy a piece of hardware (or even an entire computer) and be confident it will “just work” with Linux.
This is a very commonly expressed fear and it’s certainly an argument used against Linux by people with a different preference. In fact, some people expressed that apps are no big deal; you can find an alternate word processor, you can find an alternate web browser – but if your computer won’t even start then that’s a deal-breaker immediately.
Ironically, things are not always that simple on Windows itself. That’s why the 64-bit release of Windows XP did not have more widespread acceptance. This is why a class action lawsuit was launched against nVidia when Windows Vista emerged.
Heaven forbid the wresting you have to do with Windows if you replace your motherboard. You’ll more likely than not have difficulty booting. You’ll likely require re-activation.
If you decide to reinstall Windows and your computer is from a major brand it’s even likely you’ll never have received any Windows’ disks with it (being expected to create your own set of system restore disks which most people don’t do.) Or, if you can find the disks they may not contain a plain Windows installation that lets you run an ‘upgrade’ (namely, reinstall Windows but retain all settings and apps.) Instead, you’ll probably find the accompanying CDs want to wipe your whole system and effectively reset the hard drive to how it was when you first received it.
In reality Linux actually has outstanding driver support for high-end and enterprise-grade servers, but just like gaming if Linux is gain a higher percentage of the home desktop user market then it must overcome what Mark Shuttleworth dubbed the “
Granny’s new camera” problem
.
Fewer standard apps
Believe it or not, given the richness of free and open source software that is available for Linux, another significant complaint was how Linux swamps you with programs you know nothing about and will never use.
In these days of high-capacity hard drives this bugbear isn’t driven so much by disk space concerns but rather the frequency of updates being presented.
Actually, there is irony in this. Let me tell you - and about whether you really have to master the command line, too.
