Mojang working on new launcher for Minecraft, Linux might not see support

By Liam Dawe - 26 July 2016 at 8:35 pm UTC

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For those still playing Minecraft, you may know that Mojang is working on a new launcher that doesn't use Java (hooray!), but it might not run on Linux (boo!).

I spoke to Nathan Adams one of the Minecraft developers on twitter who said this:

@gamingonlinux No official plans for linux, old launcher will continue to be updated for them. I'm gonna try anyway though, but no promises!
— Nathan Adams (@Dinnerbone) July 26, 2016

Thanks for the prompt response Nathan!

The good news is obviously the old launcher won't suddenly cease to function, but it's sad to see, as Linux sounds like it is essentially getting sidelined with no official plans for the newer launcher. One day the Linux java-based launcher may stop seeing any updates, and the new one will obviously have newer features that may eventually become required.

I highly suggest looking up one of the open source alternatives like Minetest, Voxelands, Terasology and others.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.

Tags: Editorial, Sandbox

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About the author - Liam Dawe

I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
See more from me

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The comments on this article are closed.

42 comments

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Kristian Jul 27, 2016

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Does any alternative to Minecraft come even close to it? I tried some Minecraft like game on my phone and it didn't even come close to it.

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FredO Jul 27, 2016

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Obvious statement of the day: Never trust Microsoft! I've been observing their grey area business practices for at least the last 25 years. I'm so off that company.

3 Likes, Who?

ANDREZAO Jul 27, 2016

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That's never get old:

Extend Extend Extinguish

1 Likes, Who?

Nor Mantis Jul 27, 2016

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Personally I lost interst in Minecraft when MS bought it, I started to play Starmade which is a fantastic alternative.

Starmade is Minecraft in space and mix in a little Eve Online, Great game!

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alien2003 Jul 27, 2016

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There is native MultiMC in AUR... and there is also *.deb for debian/ubuntu

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rustybroomhandle Jul 27, 2016

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I don't think Microsoft is to blame here, but rather Mojang itself. They have never been very Linux friendly, and the fact that Minecraft works on Linux at all is mostly coincidental. In fact, "PC" as a whole is not really even a priority much any more since most of the work on the Java version is being done by one or two people in the company. Where Microsoft poopoo does come into play is that I believe in time, even the non Windows 10+ versions will stop being cared about. Consoles and their closed store is where they get to sell people skins and crap that "PC" users get for free.

Last edited by rustybroomhandle on 27 July 2016 at 1:53 pm UTC

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Storminator16 Jul 27, 2016

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Quoting: MisterKI hope this isn't the same BS that Microsoft pulls with Steam on Linux. Leave the linux userbase with an older, less features, and barely functioning version of skype to deter people from switching platforms from windows.

As a guy who has worked with Windows products for years: it is. I never expected less. It will be veiled, it will be long coming but it will happen.

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Guest Jul 27, 2016

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Lol it was the same when microsoft bought skype...damn near abandoned the linux version. But "oh..we want ubuntu integrated in windows 10, but we still wont help linux users run windows games in Linux".

Last edited by on 27 July 2016 at 3:13 pm UTC

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kshade Jul 27, 2016

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What's more concerning is the development of the new client, and how they keep avoiding the word "Linux" with that. I've written an article about that a while back, hope it's okay to link it here.

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tuubi Jul 27, 2016

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Quoting: Guest
Quoting: MisterKI hope this isn't the same BS that Microsoft pulls with Steam on Linux. Leave the linux userbase with an older, less features, and barely functioning version of skype to deter people from switching platforms from windows.
Huh? What are they doing with Skype?

http://blogs.skype.com/2016/07/13/skype-for-linux-alpha-and-calling-on-chrome-and-chromebooks/

That comes at the cost of p2p calls though. Everything goes through their servers now. And that's awesome! I'm so happy to be finally routing my private video calls through a provider I fully and completely trust.

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