Can Linux Succeed As A First-Rate Gaming Platform?

[D0pamine]

xbmc with steam! sod game specific distros for a bum cigar - i want the ultimate console under my tv for xmas :P

edit -

[nightmarex]

Why does it matter what DE you use? For shortcut purposes, really? .desktop files anyone? Oh you mean composter crap? Yeah you don't need jiggle windows problem solved.
If you think Windows is a gaming platform and not just a market hog then my Aunt Sally says you smell.

[Hamish Wilson]

In my personal experience nouveau works much better than ATI opensource drivers , don't be fooled by the statusmatrix , they report features as incomplete even if only a tiny bit is missing that you probably will never use, with ATI i had (1 year ago or so ) texturing problems ( serious ones , like misplaced textures ) , overheating and crashes, and that on multiple cards, mobile and not.

While I will not arrogantly dismiss your problems, I definitely can not verify them. I have used a multitude of ATI/AMD cards with the free radeon drivers and found them to perform fairly well for gaming without the problems you are describing. My current Diamond Radeon HD 4670 is performing particularly well. But this is taking the thread off topic...

[ElderSnake]

Of course it can. But to solve the typical chicken and egg problem, someone needs to trail blaze.

At the moment it seems Valve is our best bet for that.

[Cyber Killer]

I got this guy at my workplace, who deliberately does things the wrong way and later complains about how linux is bad - 2 examples:
- he wanted some new version of some app that wasn't in the repos, so while he is using linux mint he downloaded a package from debian sid, and spent 4 hours hunting dependencies and proper compiled library versions (how to fix - 1. always use the apps from your distros repos, 2. if there isn't any then compile it yourself)
- he wanted to have kde4.9, so he lined the debian repository to his mint, and did a whole update, which horribly broke his system...

So yeah, he is the typical example of a dude who complains how linux is bad, broken, with lack of support, etc. This is a thing for most n00bs coming from windows - this is a new platform and they need to learn how to do everything the proper way. Going to a website to download a piece of software isn't the proper way, using the package manager is.

[ElderSnake]

I got this guy at my workplace, who deliberately does things the wrong way and later complains about how linux is bad - 2 examples:
- he wanted some new version of some app that wasn't in the repos, so while he is using linux mint he downloaded a package from debian sid, and spent 4 hours hunting dependencies and proper compiled library versions (how to fix - 1. always use the apps from your distros repos, 2. if there isn't any then compile it yourself)
- he wanted to have kde4.9, so he lined the debian repository to his mint, and did a whole update, which horribly broke his system...

So yeah, he is the typical example of a dude who complains how linux is bad, broken, with lack of support, etc. This is a thing for most n00bs coming from windows - this is a new platform and they need to learn how to do everything the proper way. Going to a website to download a piece of software isn't the proper way, using the package manager is.

People like that just make me epically facepalm and laugh at the same time.

[disi]

People like that just make me epically facepalm and laugh at the same time.

It was common business to hunt the internet for rpm packages, read documentation and check which version runs with the other etc.

Gentoo was the first system with a central distribution point for software, dependency check etc. !

[ElderSnake]

It was common business to hunt the internet for rpm packages, read documentation and check which version runs with the other etc.

Gentoo was the first system with a central distribution point for software, dependency check etc. !

That certainly explains all those RPM package sites I've seen, so I can understand that.

[GreatEmerald]

Well, it still works for some -noarch packages and if the target system is very similar. Plus, current package managers will refuse to install an RPM if the dependencies are not solved (unless you choose to ignore those - that's when you're doing it wrong).

[D0pamine]

It was common business to hunt the internet for rpm packages, read documentation and check which version runs with the other etc.

Gentoo was the first system with a central distribution point for software, dependency check etc. !

gentoo is my fav - not for elitist reasons or some other bullcarp spouted by some people but just because its super lazy from my point of view ( the machine itself will sing for a good few hours while it compiles )