# What is the future in linux as compared to windows operating systems......??



## kateriyan (Jan 19, 2010)

Hi Everybody,
What is the future in linux as compared to windows operating systems......??


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## Easy Rhino (Jan 19, 2010)

kateriyan said:


> Hi Everybody,
> What is the future in linux as compared to windows operating systems......??



that is a pretty big question you are asking.


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## Polaris573 (Jan 19, 2010)

Yeah.... care to narrow that down to a specific question please?


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## DirectorC (Jan 19, 2010)

Linux will keep chugging along as the alternate OS of choice among hardcore technology enthusiasts and a certain sect of network administrators.

It will probably never see wide use as a desktop OS on home PCs.  It's not likely to ever be a true gaming OS.


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## Phxprovost (Jan 19, 2010)

Linux will continue to become ever more windows like as it continues to penatrate the "mainstream" market.


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## Easy Rhino (Jan 19, 2010)

as far as a desktop goes, i think mature OSes like ubuntu and fedora are making a really strong case for themselves. they are free and they support almost all hardware.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 19, 2010)

one thing that is keeping linux from reaching equiv market, App Support is still all windows based, you need directX emulation for your games, and drivers are still no where near as common as with windows machines. Also installation process for programs is still very complicated.


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## DirectorC (Jan 19, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> you need directX emulation for your games



Wine Is Not an Emulator! 

It's a wrapper, or whatever.

'Wine implements the Windows API entirely in user-space, rather than as a kernel module. Services normally provided by the kernel in Windows are provided by a daemon known as wineserver. Wineserver implements basic Windows functionality, as well as providing extra functions such as integration with the X Window System and translation of signals into native Windows exceptions.'


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## Steevo (Jan 19, 2010)

I used to run Linux exclusively, Debian before it became the next fairy OS to cater to the technically whiny.


Linux is and always will be the OS of choice, for hardcore dorks worldwide, and then those who think they are hacking just by using it, and then the famous can't get into X due to hardware or package dependency issues but I try and look and seem cool typing random commands untill I start crying and either break my PC or go buy windows people. And net servers.



Really anyone else using it is just stupid. Why use easy to find multitude of apps on windows when I can spend all day looking for one that works on the GD kernel/X setup and with my hardware.


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## Phxprovost (Jan 19, 2010)

I have a question about Linux....why is there a lack of open quality games?  Ive seen some very impressive open software..yet i have not seen a single Linux game i would go out of my way to play  why try to "wrap" in DX....why not take openGL and run with it?  If linux could provide me with a couple good games to play i would gladly dump windows and never look back  hell at this point i would take a couple 2d overhead rpg's over the crap floating around in the 'gaming" industry right now


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## DirectorC (Jan 19, 2010)

When you say 'open quality games' do you mean free games?  Why would there be a bunch of game developers that just give their game away?

Linux games retailer: http://www.tuxgames.com
http://www.tuxgames.com/browse.cgi?&category=First/Third+Person
http://www.tuxgames.com/browse.cgi?&category=Role-Playing
http://www.tuxgames.com/browse.cgi?&category=Adventure

General Linux games news & info site: http://www.linuxgames.com

Crossover (Wine for video games): http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxlinux/ (I don't see a problem with this--not all games work and the ones that do don't work 100%, but it usually gets the job done)


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## Melcar (Jan 19, 2010)

Difficult question that will give multiple answers.  In my opinion Linux based distributions will remain a strong alternate choice to Windows and will keep on gaining market share in the desktop arena.  It won't be as popular as Windows, not for several years (or probably ever), but it will keep gaining popularity.  It won't go away that's for sure.



DirectorC said:


> Wine Is Not an Emulator!
> 
> It's a wrapper, or whatever.
> 
> 'Wine implements the Windows API entirely in user-space, rather than as a kernel module. Services normally provided by the kernel in Windows are provided by a daemon known as wineserver. Wineserver implements basic Windows functionality, as well as providing extra functions such as integration with the X Window System and translation of signals into native Windows exceptions.'



WINE is evil and does more harm than good.  While it may seem like a "good" solution for program compatibility, the existence of WINE hurts the growth and adoption of Linux based operating systems.  Not just games, but software in general, you want something that is either native to the platform or crossplatform.  



Phxprovost said:


> I have a question about Linux....why is there a lack of open quality games?  Ive seen some very impressive open software..yet i have not seen a single Linux game i would go out of my way to play  why try to "wrap" in DX....why not take openGL and run with it?  If linux could provide me with a couple good games to play i would gladly dump windows and never look back  hell at this point i would take a couple 2d overhead rpg's over the crap floating around in the 'gaming" industry right now




You will never see high production games in open source form.  This is not the same as saying that you will never see high quality open source games though.  Many open source games out there are being developed by very talented individuals and many of these projects are impressive in technical terms.  However, since these are mainly hobby projects, they will remain "small".
One of the first things people complain about when it comes to open source games is that they look like crap and what not.  Good graphic artists are hard to come by, specially ones that are willing to work for nothing.  So while you may have an expertly coded game, it will never look as impressive as any of those AAA titles we see from big dev. houses.
Another part of the Linux Gaming equation are commercial games.  Yes, there is nothing preventing you from running a closed source, commercial game on your Linux box.  Problem is nobody is interested.  This opens up  a whole can of worms that I best leave for another day.



Steevo said:


> ...
> 
> Really anyone else using it is just stupid. Why use easy to find multitude of apps on windows when I can spend all day looking for one that works on the GD kernel/X setup and with my hardware.



Package managers handle that.  Every major distro has a collection of repositories that they maintain and make available for their users.  You just look for what you want and all dependencies are taken care of by the manager.  Software availability is really not that big of a problem.


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## Zedicus (Jan 20, 2010)

eidairaman1 said:


> one thing that is keeping linux from reaching equiv market, App Support is still all windows based, you need directX emulation for your games, and drivers are still no where near as common as with windows machines. Also installation process for programs is still very complicated.



you dont live in my world.

also games do not need to be open source to run on open source OS.


look, technically it doesnt matter if you use windows, OSX, or a popular linux. ANYTHING you want to do can be done on ANY of them.  they do each have strong and weak points. gaming goes to windows.

drivers are flat out the same, since vista and 7 are the main 2 now,  its just a pain in the arse to find windows drivers for random hardware as linux drivers. i install both (linux and windows)on a daily basis, i work with both. OSX has the advantage here of being a closed platform.

software, if you WANT to go to a website and download something, run it and its installed, you pretty much can now on any platform.  to me a self handling repository is EASIER then that.  i hand over fist give software install to linux.

amount of software and options, like i said you can do anything on any of them, i would say windows and linux tie, while OSX doesnt have as much software, it does follow the one use one piece software guide so it isnt really 'behind'.

thouse of you picking on *nix for lack of 'blah blah"  should say the same about OSX, AND im going to bet the majority of you have no personal experience, or ancient worthless experience.

NOTE: i HATE ubuntu.


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## HalfAHertz (Jan 20, 2010)

The way I see it, Windows will continue to slowly loose market share to OsX and Linux. Microsoft's glory days are over. Gates is in pension and imo Balmer doesn't have what it takes. Innovation from Microsoft has nearly come to a crawl, they're just following the latest trends and copying everybody else.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're bad at wghat they're doing, I'm just saying that to be competative, you have to constantly bring new and original products out on the table. Windows is my main OS and I liked Vista and win 7, but they didn't bring anything revolutionary to the table as say win 95 or XP...

   Not sure if you guys pay a lot of attention to what happens with KDE, and to some extent Gnome, but I dare say they're very competitive desktop environments. What they've accomplished with less than 1/100th of Microsoft's budget is close to amazing...


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 20, 2010)

KDE is hawt, only reason i use linux at times


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## Frick (Jan 20, 2010)

Ugh, I didn't like KDE at all. It was like 3 years ago I used it, but still. ^^

I felt closer to my computer when I used linux (xubuntu, gentoo and dsl). Don't really know why, but it felt more personal.


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## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 20, 2010)

4.3 was just released in August 09. It is indeed "hawt" now.


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## Solaris17 (Jan 20, 2010)

Steevo said:


> I used to run Linux exclusively, Debian before it became the next fairy OS to cater to the technically whiny.
> 
> 
> Linux is and always will be the OS of choice, for hardcore dorks worldwide, and then those who think they are hacking just by using it, and then the famous can't get into X due to hardware or package dependency issues but I try and look and seem cool typing random commands untill I start crying and either break my PC or go buy windows people. And net servers.
> ...



ARE YOU KIDING?! dude everytime i log into linux and play ice tux im basically hacking the p3nT@g0n


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## Steevo (Jan 20, 2010)

My point is, Stream hardware accelerated video transcoding on a ATI graphics card? Win+Espresso.

Linux? Not so much.

Free variants of CPU based transcoding? Hundreds. With filters out othe wazoo, and only time untill one of them decides to get the Stream/CUDA version going.

Linux? no so much.

All the games, Dirt 2, GTA4, etc.... Windows and hardware.

Linux? Not so much.


So will Linux continue? Hell yes. Will it propogate as a platform? Hell yes. Will it take over Windows/OSX in the next 10 years? Hell no.


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## Zedicus (Jan 20, 2010)

http://developer.amd.com/gpu/ATIStreamSDK/Pages/default.aspx

do you mean cpu based video/audio transcoding? if so then been done on linux for YEARS. 

like i siad, you got me on games, but even that is more then it was a couple years ago.


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## Wile E (Jan 20, 2010)

Linux will never be as popular as windows until all distros adopt the same installer, and make it double-click or drag and drop simple, just like OS X and Windows. If anything you install requires going to the command line for any reason, the average user will not adopt it.

Most linux distros avoid proprietary tech, for no reason other than pride. We'll never see proper CUDA or Stream support if the devs don't pull their heads out of their asses. End users are not concerned with politics, they just want their shit to work.

Linux is still decades away from being a serious desktop competitor.


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## DirectorC (Jan 20, 2010)

That's why computer ownership will never provide the freedom that other commodities such as cell phone or car ownership will.  It's the software that's like a car--the computer(/OS) is the highway.


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## Easy Rhino (Jan 21, 2010)

once again a first post by someone asking a question and then never contributing to the conversation. where do these people come from?


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## angelkiller (Jan 21, 2010)

Linux on the desktop doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Why? I can't say for sure. I doubt it will ever see a significant percent of the desktop market. (5% tops)

As for games, games follow the most popular OS. There is nothing stopping Linux from being the gaming OS of choice except for the software support. Why is every game written for Windows? Because it has like 90% of the desktop market share. Arn't there a few games that have Mac versions now? Why has this happened? Well, Mac also has significant market share. Remember games are designed to make a profit. Targeting the largest % of the market only makes sense. When Linux gets 10-15% of the market, you'll start seeing commercial games for Linux. When it gets 50%, you'll start to see every game in a Windows and Linux version. As a whole, software developers seem to answer the largest demand. And relatively speaking, the demmand for Linux software, games in particular, is extremely small.


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## Polaris573 (Jan 21, 2010)

I don't know.  If my uncle can happily use Linux anyone can.  We may see it become more common as a cost saving option available for pre-built PCs.


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## Easy Rhino (Jan 21, 2010)

Polaris573 said:


> I don't know.  If my uncle can happily use Linux anyone can.  We may see it become more common as a cost saving option available for pre-built PCs.



yea that is the most likely route and i believe the strategy taken by the linux community.


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## Melcar (Jan 21, 2010)

Freetard Rant

On the subject of game ports:



> ...The reason why so many of the ports are as expensive as the rollout price for the Windows versions (esp. at the time the Windows version's gracing the bargain bins or the closeout resellers' shelves...) is that the studio asked for something like $20k up-front, if not more (If you want UT3, I strongly suspect Epic would allow someone to bankroll/finish Ryan's work for something along the lines of $100-250k...got it in your pockets? ). For four thousand units sold, that expense is $5 per copy sold. If you end up selling two thousand, then the expense per unit is $10. Just for the 20k rights access deal...



Basically, DX iron grip coupled with ever growing (and in my opinion unsustainable) PC gaming production costs.  
A solution would be for everyone to move to a crossplatform API for their games.  That will never happen though.  Everyone that goes into the industry only bothers to learn D3D (not really their fault when you think about it) and publishing/developing houses are not willing to invest extra resources for the extra training that would require their employees to master a different toolset.
Forget about the big guys ever coming out with a Linux game though.  The cost associated with "mainstream" game development are just too high now to allow for anything that is not guaranteed to bring a profit (you can also tie this into the "stagnant gaming industry" and "the death of PC gaming" discussions).  The only ones that are in a position to explore new markets are the smaller players like indie developers, since they usually don't have the obligation to "make it big".  Problem is that like any sensible honest working capitalist they want to make a profit, and the easiest way to do that is by chasing the biggest market (D3D locked Windows).  They need to realize that other platforms besides Windows represent virgin markets that are waiting to be exploited; the Windows market is saturated and filled with competition, while others like Linux and OSX are virtually virgin lands.  No reason to lock yourself to one single market either; why lock yourself to Windows, when you can also be enjoying profits from Linux and OSX?


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## Steevo (Jan 21, 2010)

" The XBox was a loss leader (losing over 4 billion dollars), intended to set the stage to dominate the games market in the next generation.

Looking at the games scene now, it's clear that this strategy is succeeding."


Here public, have 4 billion dollars, and thank us later by buying the easiest to use hardware and most user friendly software for playing games, streaming your media, chatting with friends, becoming connected, and allow us to make some money later off game licanses and allwoing games to be made. We will warranty your consoles against failure multiple times and continue to lose money for your entertainment.


But lets get a Linux geek in here to proclaim the evils of MS, and DirectX. Lets all go back to playing Tron, Pacman, and other less known games as the consumers haven't choosen the MS path, they have been forced to buy 360's at gunpoint in Wal-mart. I have seen it myself.


And the fact that MS gives away about 60% of retail cost to OEM's, and other channels? Pure crap ( I'm a MS certified partner and get 30% off BTW) so that copy of 7 that you are so largely complaining about cost Dell all of $39 to get, and probably less as they also use DVLA (Distributor Volume Licanseing Agreements) and sell it for the $99, making $60 on it. But yet we don't blame Dell do we? Nope, that would be wrong.

Windows isn't D3D locked as it supports OpenGL. Anyone can program a game for it. Many do, but just like Linux they lack the resources to MAKE MONEY and continue development. perhaps you get off on student developed text based games, but the rest of us are busy embracing new tech, and the benefits it brings.



Easy Rhino said:


> yea that is the most likely route and i believe the strategy taken by the linux community.




I still use a few distros. Mainly for surfing and doing other stuff with that could be dangerous on my main OS. Really this is the way Linux is going to have to grow, from the roots. All the Linux crowd always proclaims the evils of MS and fails to realize they grew with the computer, and provided the consumer choice. Mac was born about the same time and MS just outgrew them. Linux will not get the popularity and userbase just because a bunch of dorks are running around and bashign MS on internet forums and in RL. More than likely they will be ignored, or stuffed in trash cans.


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## Zedicus (Jan 21, 2010)

Steevo said:


> " ...
> 
> 
> I still use a few distros. Mainly for surfing and doing other stuff with that could be dangerous on my main OS. Really this is the way Linux is going to have to grow, from the roots. All the Linux crowd always proclaims the evils of MS and fails to realize they grew with the computer, and provided the consumer choice. Mac was born about the same time and MS just outgrew them. Linux will not get the popularity and userbase just because a bunch of dorks are running around and bashign MS on internet forums and in RL. More than likely they will be ignored, or stuffed in trash cans.



sadly, right or wrong, good or bad, doesnt matter.  popularity is all that matters. 'proof' is also really only an opinion anymore.  THAT is reality.


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## Steevo (Jan 22, 2010)

Proof is everything, reality is subjective, proof is synonymous with fact. Like the sky looks blue, the color red, pain hurts, etc...... Did the iphone despite being a piece of junk fail hard? Nope. It grew due to novelty, and a new design. Linux is a old design that is less user friendly, harder to support.


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## kid41212003 (Jan 22, 2010)

When Linux became so easy that even a caveman can use it, that's when it becomes popular among the non-techs people which is 99.99% of the world population.

And I don't expect that to happen soon, maybe another decade or more.


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## Zedicus (Jan 22, 2010)

Steevo said:


> Proof is everything, reality is subjective, proof is synonymous with fact. Like the sky looks blue, the color red, pain hurts, etc...... Did the iphone despite being a piece of junk fail hard? Nope. It grew due to novelty, and a new design. Linux is a old design that is less user friendly, harder to support.



the sky is Glaucous, pain feels good (people inflict pain to relieve stress, etc), there is a color red (that is a statement, not 'proof').

linux (the kernel) has as much support and inovation in it as windows.  BSD (MAC OSX) is touted as the easiest to use OS. yet uses a kernel that is just as 'ancient' as linux.

distros on top of linux range from hard core geek, to my wife, granparents, etc use it on a daily basis.

i know your not going to actually take any of this in, you people NEVER do, but you seriously need entertain the possibility that windows is NOT god.


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## Zedicus (Jan 22, 2010)

the term 'easy to use' is actualy dumb and meaningless. to me a 13 speed split axle manual trans diesel with a full locker is 'easy to use'.   to me Mac OSX is quite DIFFICULT to use.


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## eidairaman1 (Jan 22, 2010)

mac feels so restricted when it comes to shortcuts etc.


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## btarunr (Jan 23, 2010)

Polaris573 said:


> I don't know.  If my uncle can happily use Linux anyone can.  We may see it become more common as a cost saving option available for pre-built PCs.



At least here, every other branded pre-built PC comes with noobuntu. But the first thing users do after unboxing is scrap that and install Windows. Always Sometimes the retailers install pirated copies, so the cost stays the same.


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## Easy Rhino (Jan 23, 2010)

btarunr said:


> At least here, every other branded pre-built PC comes with noobuntu. But the first thing users do after unboxing is scrap that and install Windows. Always Sometimes the retailers install pirated copies, so the cost stays the same.



so the buyer saves money by purchasing the linux OS with their PC and then installs a pirated version onto it? either that or the retailer installs a pirate version and just keeps the price the same?


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## btarunr (Jan 23, 2010)

OpenGL looks pretty nice, and works smooth on Linux. It's visually on par with DirectX. 





Taken on my Phenom X4 9750 + 8800 GT box I use for internet and downloads. And if you've played Doom 3 on Linux, you'll know that the OS itself doesn't lack anything that comes in the way of being good for gaming.


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## btarunr (Jan 23, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> so the buyer saves money by purchasing the linux OS with their PC and then installs a pirated version onto it? either that or the retailer installs a pirate version and just keeps the price the same?



There are variants with noobuntu preinstalled, and Windows preinstalled. Almost every retailer gets orders for the noobuntu variant, he is inclined to install Windows for them, for free.

Windows is simply too expensive for India / China / the developing world. Had Microsoft priced their OSes on par with what Apple does, it would have had takers. It is for this reason that only affluent people actually buy Windows, and even for them, Microsoft sells their OS'es at half of US prices.


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## DirectorC (Jan 23, 2010)

If someone thinks that Linux+OpenGL has some inherent problem that makes it any less of a viable gaming platform than Win+DX, then they have been misinformed and brainwashed.


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## Melcar (Jan 23, 2010)

OpenGL can do *anything* D3D can.  APIs are just tools that you use to expose functionality present in hardware anyway.  There is really nothing on technical grounds that prevents Linux from being a gaming platform.   The obstacles are financial and with the nature of the market.


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## Wile E (Jan 23, 2010)

Zedicus said:


> the sky is Glaucous, pain feels good (people inflict pain to relieve stress, etc), there is a color red (that is a statement, not 'proof').
> 
> linux (the kernel) has as much support and inovation in it as windows.  BSD (MAC OSX) is touted as the easiest to use OS. yet uses a kernel that is just as 'ancient' as linux.
> 
> ...



No OS is God. Not Windows, not any variant of *nix. They all have their downsides. The downside to linux is that even the easiest to use ones still aren't as easy to use as Windows or OS X. What it lacks in ease of use, it makes up for in it's immense customization abilities. 

Seriously, if the linux world would all finally pull their heads out of their asses, and decide on a single type of installer, most likely deb or rpm, and make finding programs google search-->download--> double click easy, I bet they would see a significant jump in user base.

And they also need to make more GUIs. The average user doesn't like the terminal/command line.


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## ShiBDiB (Jan 23, 2010)

Steevo said:


> My point is, Stream hardware accelerated video transcoding on a ATI graphics card? Win+Espresso.
> 
> Linux? Not so much.
> 
> ...



this post is win


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## craigo (Jan 24, 2010)




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## Killer_Rubber_Ducky (Feb 28, 2010)

Phxprovost said:


> I have a question about Linux....why is there a lack of open quality games?  Ive seen some very impressive open software..yet i have not seen a single Linux game i would go out of my way to play  why try to "wrap" in DX....why not take openGL and run with it?  If linux could provide me with a couple good games to play i would gladly dump windows and never look back  hell at this point i would take a couple 2d overhead rpg's over the crap floating around in the 'gaming" industry right now



There are plenty of excellent Linux Games out there that are free. PlaneShift is an excellent free MMORPG, Sauerbraten (FPS), Warzone 2100, Excalibur: Morgana's Revenge, Hexen II: Hammer of Thyrion, Vega Strike, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Crossfire, Regnum Online, RuneScape, GL-117, and Frozen Bubble. 
Those are just a few. Try going to these sites. 

http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20080522164112313/Games-Part2.html

http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/2009020806275229/Top100FreeGames.html

http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20090808191511467/Games-Part2.html

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/top-10-free-linux-games-in-2009/

http://techgage.com/article/top_10_free_linux_games

http://happypenguin.org/

Ive had hours of fun playing free linux games.

Most use OpenGL exclusively.


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