The Linux community is one full of passion. From the outside it may seem strange why a small percentage of people around the world care so much about an operating system, after all it's merely a tool or set of tools used to complete certain tasks.
For many of us it isn’t that simple however, and we have a multitude and wide variety of reasons which drive us to support Linux in the way we do. Be it contributing code, running websites like this one or simply advocating the OS and showing its greatness to others.
Some have different views to others, some may insist on calling it GNU/Linux and may insist on only using free software, while others may be less ideologically inclined and simply use Linux because it's the best operating system out there. What unites all these people is the operating system and the desire for it to succeed, seeing it widely adopted or improving in many areas.
In fact, this desire for success and to show the world that we exist has led many of us to take regrettable actions, ranging from abusiveness in forums to insulting the CEO of a major game development company or even going as far as threatening developers who aren’t supporting the platform.
In the gaming world, what often makes many of us flip out most (or the more level headed among us, respond in a constructive manner) is when two simple facts are stated:
1 - Linux only accounts for a small percentage of the desktop market.
2 - Many Linux gamers dual boot or have access to a Windows machine.
While there is not a huge amount we can do about the first of these two points, the second is one which always perplexes me considering it's so simple to amend. If there are so many of us who care so greatly about Linux succeeding (often to the point where we act immaturely) then why do so many of us commit the “cardinal sin” of the Linux world and use Windows?
When I set out to do the GOL survey, one of the things I expected was the number of dual booters to slowly decline as more games come out. In June of last year there were 500 Linux games on Steam. Since then, that number has risen to 1000 and we’ve had huge games like CS:GO, Dying Light, Borderlands 2, Dead Island, Civilization: BE and many AAA games right round the corner.
Despite this, and despite the passions which surround Linux, our survey has shown no significant change in the amount of people dual booting or who have a Windows partition, unlike the amount of people using Wine which seems to be showing signs of declining. In many ways, it seems as if while Linux gaming is making leaps and bounds, Linux gamers are standing still.
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The controversial phrase “Sie wissen das nicht, aber sie tun es” (they do not know it, but still they do it) from Das Kapital comes to mind, though condescending and completely incorrect in this case. Dual booting is far more cynical, a case of “they know very well what they are doing, but still they do it”.
We are all fully aware that the thought of Linux users dual booting and using Wine as a motive not to port a game to Linux has crossed the minds of many developers and even though we may badly want that game on our OS of choice, we still choose to be part of that percentage which makes that argument a valid one.
So why this doublethink? With the recent case of the WoW petition, it is a certainty that all those signing the petition who play WoW do so either on Windows or through Wine. It is easy to see how Blizzard CEO said what he said:
From his perspective, why should he spend money on porting a game to a platform when nearly all the people who would benefit from it are customers already? The irony of the petition is that its very existence also negates its purpose (unless, of course, Linux users were to abandon Blizzard altogether).
As much as I personally loathe the idea, the unavoidable fact is that we do live in a global free market which defines culture as an industry and decides who gets access to that culture based primarily on the profit motive. Culture, in this case, is video games and to many companies giving Linux users access to that culture does not fall within the worldview of putting profit above all else.
It is somewhat presumptuous to state to people whose lives are dictated by this fundamental premise that they are wrong in their conclusions. Simply put, yes 2% (or thereabouts) may be worth it to many developers financially, but when taking into account that with a game like WoW many (if not most) of their potential 2% like the game enough to sacrifice their principles in order to play it, then the rigid logic of the free market implies that WoW (and games like it) will never come to Linux so long as those individuals continue to choose the game over the operating system.
In essence, that 2% in many cases is non-existent and rather than being its own separate "market segment", developers like Blizzard will continue to see it as a percentage of the Windows market which also happens to use Linux on the side, that is, until people stop dual booting. Simply put, there is a significantly higher chance of games getting ported if users use Linux and Linux alone.
Thoughts and suggestions
The intention of this article isn’t to tell people what to do or to shout people down for not thinking in the same way as I do (in fact, if I see discussion heading in that direction, I may well see to it that comments are deleted). The intention is to create a debate surrounding a few simple questions to which there are no right and wrong answers:
- Why do you dual boot?
- Do you see yourself first as a gamer, then as a Linux user?
- Are the 1000+ games on Steam and hundreds more on other sites still not enough for you to be a 100% Linux gamer?
- If you feel so passionately about Linux that you’ll take questionable actions to defend it, then why not do the most simple thing and stop gaming on Windows?
- As someone with a tendency towards a specific genre, do you feel the current Linux suggestion doesn't cater to your gaming needs?
Ideally, I would like to see the number of dual booters decline after reaching some sort of consensus that it would be in all our best interests. I see myself as a Linux user first and a gamer second, and haven’t had Windows on a single computer since ~2008. However, I bear no animosity towards those who think differently. If all that comes of this article is an enlightening debate surrounding these issues and perhaps leads others to oppose the statements made in this article through other articles or through comments, then I’ll still be more than happy.
Even though I may have my own views as to how things should progress which may differ from those of others, I think we can all agree that being respectful, helpful and constructive goes a long way - be it to each other or to the developers which are (or aren't) porting our games. Though dual booting might not be something will (or maybe even should) disappear overnight, aggression and abuse certainly should. Likewise, the same goes for buying Linux games before porting - something which has been repeated and discussed time and time again. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
For many of us it isn’t that simple however, and we have a multitude and wide variety of reasons which drive us to support Linux in the way we do. Be it contributing code, running websites like this one or simply advocating the OS and showing its greatness to others.
Some have different views to others, some may insist on calling it GNU/Linux and may insist on only using free software, while others may be less ideologically inclined and simply use Linux because it's the best operating system out there. What unites all these people is the operating system and the desire for it to succeed, seeing it widely adopted or improving in many areas.
In fact, this desire for success and to show the world that we exist has led many of us to take regrettable actions, ranging from abusiveness in forums to insulting the CEO of a major game development company or even going as far as threatening developers who aren’t supporting the platform.
In the gaming world, what often makes many of us flip out most (or the more level headed among us, respond in a constructive manner) is when two simple facts are stated:
1 - Linux only accounts for a small percentage of the desktop market.
2 - Many Linux gamers dual boot or have access to a Windows machine.
While there is not a huge amount we can do about the first of these two points, the second is one which always perplexes me considering it's so simple to amend. If there are so many of us who care so greatly about Linux succeeding (often to the point where we act immaturely) then why do so many of us commit the “cardinal sin” of the Linux world and use Windows?
When I set out to do the GOL survey, one of the things I expected was the number of dual booters to slowly decline as more games come out. In June of last year there were 500 Linux games on Steam. Since then, that number has risen to 1000 and we’ve had huge games like CS:GO, Dying Light, Borderlands 2, Dead Island, Civilization: BE and many AAA games right round the corner.
Despite this, and despite the passions which surround Linux, our survey has shown no significant change in the amount of people dual booting or who have a Windows partition, unlike the amount of people using Wine which seems to be showing signs of declining. In many ways, it seems as if while Linux gaming is making leaps and bounds, Linux gamers are standing still.
The controversial phrase “Sie wissen das nicht, aber sie tun es” (they do not know it, but still they do it) from Das Kapital comes to mind, though condescending and completely incorrect in this case. Dual booting is far more cynical, a case of “they know very well what they are doing, but still they do it”.
We are all fully aware that the thought of Linux users dual booting and using Wine as a motive not to port a game to Linux has crossed the minds of many developers and even though we may badly want that game on our OS of choice, we still choose to be part of that percentage which makes that argument a valid one.
So why this doublethink? With the recent case of the WoW petition, it is a certainty that all those signing the petition who play WoW do so either on Windows or through Wine. It is easy to see how Blizzard CEO said what he said:
Michael MorhaimeLinux usage represents less than 2% of installed desktop operating systems browsing the web, and I would assume most of those people also have access to a Windows or Mac device capable of playing Blizzard games.
From his perspective, why should he spend money on porting a game to a platform when nearly all the people who would benefit from it are customers already? The irony of the petition is that its very existence also negates its purpose (unless, of course, Linux users were to abandon Blizzard altogether).
As much as I personally loathe the idea, the unavoidable fact is that we do live in a global free market which defines culture as an industry and decides who gets access to that culture based primarily on the profit motive. Culture, in this case, is video games and to many companies giving Linux users access to that culture does not fall within the worldview of putting profit above all else.
It is somewhat presumptuous to state to people whose lives are dictated by this fundamental premise that they are wrong in their conclusions. Simply put, yes 2% (or thereabouts) may be worth it to many developers financially, but when taking into account that with a game like WoW many (if not most) of their potential 2% like the game enough to sacrifice their principles in order to play it, then the rigid logic of the free market implies that WoW (and games like it) will never come to Linux so long as those individuals continue to choose the game over the operating system.
In essence, that 2% in many cases is non-existent and rather than being its own separate "market segment", developers like Blizzard will continue to see it as a percentage of the Windows market which also happens to use Linux on the side, that is, until people stop dual booting. Simply put, there is a significantly higher chance of games getting ported if users use Linux and Linux alone.
Thoughts and suggestions
The intention of this article isn’t to tell people what to do or to shout people down for not thinking in the same way as I do (in fact, if I see discussion heading in that direction, I may well see to it that comments are deleted). The intention is to create a debate surrounding a few simple questions to which there are no right and wrong answers:
- Why do you dual boot?
- Do you see yourself first as a gamer, then as a Linux user?
- Are the 1000+ games on Steam and hundreds more on other sites still not enough for you to be a 100% Linux gamer?
- If you feel so passionately about Linux that you’ll take questionable actions to defend it, then why not do the most simple thing and stop gaming on Windows?
- As someone with a tendency towards a specific genre, do you feel the current Linux suggestion doesn't cater to your gaming needs?
Ideally, I would like to see the number of dual booters decline after reaching some sort of consensus that it would be in all our best interests. I see myself as a Linux user first and a gamer second, and haven’t had Windows on a single computer since ~2008. However, I bear no animosity towards those who think differently. If all that comes of this article is an enlightening debate surrounding these issues and perhaps leads others to oppose the statements made in this article through other articles or through comments, then I’ll still be more than happy.
Even though I may have my own views as to how things should progress which may differ from those of others, I think we can all agree that being respectful, helpful and constructive goes a long way - be it to each other or to the developers which are (or aren't) porting our games. Though dual booting might not be something will (or maybe even should) disappear overnight, aggression and abuse certainly should. Likewise, the same goes for buying Linux games before porting - something which has been repeated and discussed time and time again. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I would not have a windows partition if I did not have a friend in real life with whom I play online. He has windows and is open to Linux, but he will never leave windows, just because so many games he has do not run on Linux. And no I don't want to pressure him in any way to switch to Linux, we are not zealots. I have told him Linux was great but that is about it.
So when we game, and the game is on Linux, then all is good, otherwise if the game runs on Windows I have to boot on my windows hard drive. For example age of empires... The list is getting smaller, but it is there nethertheless.
And for the foreseeable future it will be like that.
As for my solo gaming, it is exclusively on Linux.
Something similar happens to me too, but in my case, as nowadays I only buy linux games we only play crossplatform games, and it works. Nowadays we are playing Borderlands 2 and as we are enjoining the trip instead of try to arrive to the end asap, time goes by and Dying Light (the next one we want to play together) will be fully fixed much before we finish the game (sure).
The reasons are my career and my studies at university. I wanted to take some courses on game-development and stuff and although we're pretty open here, the games most run on the faculty computers to be graded. And they use windows in that graphics department.
Although I work (and game) under Linux 99% of my time I do not hate Windows. I do not like some aspects like ntfs, the registry, the lack of repositories and quite a few more things and while I personally totally prefer my Archlinux systems I do have one partition in my household that runs Windows (10) and of course I do start Steam there and I even play some games that won't run performantly under my Linux-system with the open source drivers.
I refuse to use the proprietary drivers which often break my system and rather use a completely distinct proprietary system where I do not have to care for certain aspects as it's not a productively used system.
I started with a Linux again around a year ago. At first keeping a Dual Boot partition just in case.
I started playing WoW only through wine, which worked in most cases. I even played the last expansion alpha on Linux and reported bugs, which some only happened on Linux (e.g. OpenGL didn't work at start at all).
The only time I did boot Windows was to play Civilization 5. But shortly after its Linux release. I stopped booting Windows all together. Half a year later I thought it was time to get ride of Windows for good and removed it and converted every data partition from NTFS to ext4.
But then came Game of Thrones game. A game I really wanted to play. After the 2nd episode came out I did it. I installed Windows again to play it. The only difference I installed it on a USB stick, so I have laying it around just in case, but I'm not constantly confronted with it.
Currently I'm playing some native games from Steam. But I'm still playing WoW. Yet I play less and less WoW. I'm still undecided if I stop playing it or just bear with wine.
I will not purchase another game that doesn't run on Linux, but I have a vast library of previously purchased games that run on Windows to make it worth while to keep a Windows partition going. That said, I use it once every 6 months.
There are too many Linux client games I want to play, that I don't see me booting into Windows any time soon.
Linux user/developer then Gamer
I use Wine for Office (for work) and Notepad++ and no games.
I kickstarted Camelot Unchained before I decided to go Linux only, so I might dual boot to play that.
Second reason - quality of ports. For example, XCOM runs much better on Windows than on Linux. Borderlands 2 has low fps on linux (without PhysX), while on Windows game has low fps with fully turned on PhysX.
Third reason - some programs, that I need. (About Microsoft Word. There is cloud Word online, where you can make simple editing. Maybe, someone need this).
Fourth reason - I am not so good at Linux. Installing .run files is fucking misery. Why does Nvidia use .run files for drivers?! Why not .deb?!
That`s why I bet on Steam OS. It doesn`t need to play with google for two-three hours to find how to install latest Nvidia drivers on your OS.
So I wait for Steam Machine. :)
I got myself a new gpu the month steam came over to linux and ever since (actually even before that) I've not bought a single game without linux support or one that wasn't already announced for linux.
It's indeed a circular dependency. You can't expect anyone to support you or improve their drivers if you won't even support yourself. Developers are justified for not supporting us at the moment since not only our number are small, but we take it even further by constantly buying windows games and playing them through wine or even dual-booting. Everyone who believes big companies will start supporting us without seeing bigger numbers, or at least having some other reason for doing so, is just a fool. How do you blame a company for trying to maximize profit?
I was expecting more linux users to stop dual-booting for gaming, or at least the hardcore linux enthusiasts to start doing so, ever since the platform started gaining more games month after month but it seems like people will never be content enough so as to deprive themselves of a few windows-only games they might not even be too much interested in.
I don't see why anyone would like to hop on board on a gaming platform that not only is most of the times inferior in terms of performance and buggy as hell when it comes to most games and drivers, but also foreign and unstable. Yeah, some of the ultra rare few good ports out there might outperform windows by 5 or 7 fps, but that's only on nvidia hardware and that's pretty much it.
Most drivers are either buggy or lack performance as of now. Most developers won't support us or won't release good ports either cause of lack of skill and experience in linux/opengl development or cause they don't feel like wasting resources on the linux ports. there's also lack of good support in some game engines and frameworks and most of our debuggers are not really that great or easy to use. Half of us dual-boot. Half of the people considering switching to linux already have lots of games in steam. Games they won't be able to play! How are we to make up for this?
With little to no support from most big publishers, and Valve not planning to release any exclusives (a bit bitter, but I'm thankful for it) how are we to grow as a platform? SteamMachines might not end up as a complete flop but they don't seem to rank up anywhere good either. Consider all of the above and then remember their prices don't seem to be extremely competitive, especially for a "brand" that hasn't yet achieved anything.
Until such times as Wayland becomes the standard and we get better driver performance for non-nvidia users I don't see anyone going crazy over steamos or linux gaming in general. It's sad but people do need to realize that we can't just expect things to change on their own or valve to magically change everything, they've already done a lot, though at some point some of us need to start supporting in a more efficient way. That would be dropping support for wine and dual-booting, at least where it should be avoided (I'm looking at you shiny new non-legacy games).
i dual boot not for the games, most games that aren't on linux are games i could miss
the main reason i dual boot is because i'm forced to it, due to my studies, and in the future, probably my work environment too, i'm studying informatics, and we basically get forced to use visual studio 2013 ultimate, SQL server and microsoft azure, also we have to use hyperV for virtualization, it's sad that we are forced to use microsoft-only products, but it's the reality
- Do you see yourself first as a gamer, then as a Linux user?
i've been a gamer for much longer than i've been a linux user, that's for sure, but it's about equal
- Are the 1000+ games on Steam and hundreds more on other sites still not enough for you to be a 100% Linux gamer?
as stated above, the amount of games is not the main issue, though i'd love to see some major MMO's and open world games available on linux, as i think that's the main area where we don't really have a great game available yet(not natively anyway)
i also usually play together with friends, and i don't really have any friends that use linux, so i use windows to play with my friends if the game is not available on linux
- As someone with a tendency towards a specific genre, do you feel the current Linux suggestion doesn't cater to your gaming needs?
mmo's and open world games
We do NOT support piracy. It's really that simple.
From then until Steam hit, I stuck mostly to consoles for my gaming needs, as my 50-ish Linux games (physical discs) were just not enough, or at least not the right genres. We've come leaps and bounds since those days - my Steam library is just under 500 Linux games now - and selection is generally good enough that I no longer feel that urge to play a specific game SO much that I'd willingly and knowingly send my money off to non-Linux PC games.
That was my experience when I dual-booted from 2006 to around mid 2012. At the end, only Planetside 2 was keeping me on Windows. After a particularly torrid week in mid 2012, where Windows 7 spent more time patching itself than I used it to play games, I decided enough was enough. Steam had been announced for Linux and I took the plunge. Never looked back.
If I had to gripe, I'd love the following games (or at least their sequels) to come to Linux:
Dishonoured, Skyrim, Tomb Raider, Fallout 3 ... eh...
Hmmm. I thought there would be more.
Certainly, looking at my Steam profile, I thought there would be more big names in my top-played list that were Windows only. Apparently not.
Wow.
[Edit: And "Driver: San Fran"! Loved that game. Miss it...]
Reason one - work and work related software. MS Office and Photoshop are vastly superior to any OS alternative as much as I respect LibreOffice and Gimp. Also Dreamweaver which as a development tool is hardly a must but the easy and fast conversion of word documents into a clear and well arranged markup us just invaluable for what I do. Also I've yet to find a Linux alternative that fully replaces Notepad++ . I've tried a lot, there are some really good ones but nothing that can emulate the seamless experience I get with it. I'm guessing it is a matter of habit and what you actually do, but despite my best efforts I have not been able to achieve the same smooth work process in Linux like I have in Windows.
Reason two - gaming. I cannot skip on all of the great titles that are Windows exclusive. And I would never bother with WINE, sorry. PlayOnLinux is definitely nice but it is still a crutch. Then there is performance. Even Nvidia cards cannot bring as good gaming experience in Linux as in Windows. And I use AMD - have been for the last 6 years. So guess which platform I use to play Borderlands 2.
Linux is definitely getting better and hopefully it will get "there" one day (soon?). But not yet. And with the direction Cannonical are taking with Unity's interface ("Let's take everything people hated in Windows 8 and put it in our desktop environment" ) there will be a definite slowdown in that progress.
Nice bit of FUD to ruin a positive comment. Care to expand which features of Unity you think are "hated in Windows 8" and therefore deserved to be included? Cos I've used both and that statement might be chicken, could be horse, but I suspect it's just bull.
This is for a variety of reasons. Personally, it's for access to all the games I want to play. Practically, it's habit and familiarity (having used Windows for 20 years now) as well as for my preset work-flow for testing software and miscellaneous repairs/services for clients (as I work as a freelance IT consultant).
Honestly, i'm a gamer before a Linux user. However, I really want to migrate to Linux entirely as I feel much more comfortable supporting the ecosystem than Microsoft (and any other company insisting on extensible closed source and questionable ethics/practices i.e. Spying/Security, freedom to improve content/aspects without waiting decades etc).
For myself, the library isn't so much the issue. Assuming WINE was in a state that I could play all the titles I wish to play (assuming that there will never be native ports) without issue, it'd be a significant barrier broken down for me.
This is a tough one. I've actually been discussing this with another friend. The problem is that, as long as I am working in the field that I do, I feel I have to have a native install of Windows. If that's the case, then i'll most likely switch to Windows often to work and, inevitably, play. Whenever I purchase titles that support Linux, I do play/test them in Linux primarily....but whether it's annoying quirks that occur or the fact that i'm in Windows so often, it's just for the sake of convenience that i'm in Windows more so than Linux. Assuming I can get my work-flow templates set up in Linux and i'm prepared to embrace the reality of the change with Windows no longer present, i'll make the switch. It's much more realistic now than ever before....so that's something. :p
Honestly, i'm a fan of multiple genres (FPS being my favourite)....so it's not so much the genres but more so the game series i'm interested in. Some are on-going, some are classics.....but if WINE can cover games that will never feature on Linux natively, it's fine for me. :)