Valve going to officially support Linux?

[Thetargos]

Windows support wasn't enough.

That bit right there is priceless. For some time now many individuals among the community and in the press have stated that what had been holding Linux back from "average Joe" wasn't a barrier to entry, as such from the OS itself or any of the distributions (as many distributions had come a long way and are even easier to install than Microsoft Windows retail), but rather OEM support, and with them, hardware support. These news are huge for Linux and many other open platforms, as this means prebuilt systems with full OSS supported hardware being shipped, no fuzzing and messing around anymore, and most likely Linux pre installed too. If only they would honor better their decision to support Linux (particularly Dell), as it is a hell to try and find their Linux offerings on their websites... Not to mention their "<brand X> recommends Microsoft Windows Vista" messages stamped all over their sites.

[Svartalf]

That bit right there is priceless.

Isn't it though? I particularly liked the fact that both OEMs in the same timeframe told them the exact same thing.

If only they would honor better their decision to support Linux (particularly Dell), as it is a hell to try and find their Linux offerings on their websites... Not to mention their "<brand X> recommends Microsoft Windows Vista" messages stamped all over their sites.

Keep in mind that the OEMs aren't monolithic entities- and the decisions to make this an issue haven't been getting made except as an as-needed basis with them until recently. There's still a LOT of pro-MS people in Dell and HP and that's part of the reason the stuff's the way it is. The other reason is that Microsoft DOES give "marketing dollars" to companies that do the "We Recommend Vista" bull- something I've considered to be a serious conflict of interest.

[wiscados]

There are more than one jop opening that requires linux experience, though it may just be server stuff:

Senior Software Engineer, Web Applications
Operating Systems:
Windows
Linux
Equipment and Applications
Windows and Linux server configuration familiarity

Senior Programer:]
Minimum Requirements
Master’s degree in computer engineering or applied mathematics.
Must have two years experience with the responsibilities of the position with C++, Windows and Linux platforms, using networking technologies in large scale systems or gaming platforms, including experience taking a computer software product or a video game from conception and development through publication and product shipment.

I really do believe they are porting HL or HL2 to Linux, both of them already run on OpenGL, HL was an OGL game and HL2 also runs on PlayStation 3 which, uses OpenGL. Onve it is on OpenGL there really isn't much left except OS specific stuff...

[Svartalf]

There are more than one jop opening that requires linux experience, though it may just be server stuff:

Those would both be server side jobs. It's a bit interesting that they're asking for someone that an e-commerce site would want as well as someone to handle both sides of a networked game system.

I really do believe they are porting HL or HL2 to Linux, both of them already run on OpenGL, HL was an OGL game and HL2 also runs on PlayStation 3 which, uses OpenGL. Onve it is on OpenGL there really isn't much left except OS specific stuff...

Well, in the case of the PS3, it's a little more involved than that as the PS3 uses OpenGL ES 2.0 which is, OpenGL, but it adds a few embedded twists to the mix. Chances are, there's no code changes needed, but they may have used some ES specific calls, which would have to be re-worked, etc. Having said this, though, they will have done all the really "difficult" work already for the Orange Box- so why not?

[Thetargos]

Isn't it though? I particularly liked the fact that both OEMs in the same timeframe told them the exact same thing.

Amazing indeed... From the article about the Open Source talk at the IDF, it would seem that if Intel has really understood the meaning of OSS, other big companies like Dell and HP also seem to be grasping the meaning of OSS and how can it benefit them.

Keep in mind that the OEMs aren't monolithic entities- and the decisions to make this an issue haven't been getting made except as an as-needed basis with them until recently. There's still a LOT of pro-MS people in Dell and HP and that's part of the reason the stuff's the way it is. The other reason is that Microsoft DOES give "marketing dollars" to companies that do the "We Recommend Vista" bull- something I've considered to be a serious conflict of interest.

Marketing Dollars I hate that term. Alas Microsoft (and others, even Intel included) are known to promote the practice. You gotta love the dual "sense" you can extract from the Dell's explanation of their Linux system with statements such as "You don't get a Microsoft Operating System", for whatever reason they included that remark (are they talkinga bout MS Tax? Or rather about MS's OSes problems), for good or worse... Let the reader decide.

[sugar]

I've been only buying games that are released for Linux for years. ID & Epic are the obvious leaders.

Go Valve!

[Kronos]

Wow nice find... if ventrilo would follow suit i could ditch wine altogether