A look at some Linux games on sale, plus an XCOM 2 free weekend

For once I might actually pass on the ebooks and get a game instead; I still haven't bought Xcom 2, so I'll try it out this weekend and buy it if I like it.
The python books are tempting, but there doesn't seem to be any really good ones I the bundle this time.

Bought Vaporum: classic dungeon crawler and steampunk. There is no way I don't enjoy it.

Bought Vaporum: classic dungeon crawler and steampunk. There is no way I don't enjoy it.

Very tempted with that one, myself. But then, I've got plenty to keep me occupied at the moment. Just started 'Rise of the Tomb Raider'. Loving 'Slay the Spire', and I keep on dipping into 'Rust', 'FTL', and numerous others.

I wouldn't mind grabbing 'Tower of Time' when that goes on sale. Also, the soon-to-be-released 'Arakion' game is appealing to me.

Oh, and today we have the Humble Monthly Subscription Hidden Games get revealed in just over 2 hours' time. So, holding off from purchasing until after that.

Plus, there's not much that I'm really keen on, on sale at the moment.

For once I might actually pass on the ebooks and get a game instead; I still haven't bought Xcom 2, so I'll try it out this weekend and buy it if I like it.
The python books are tempting, but there doesn't seem to be any really good ones I the bundle this time.

I agree. I am not particularly happy about this "book" bundle. As for books, there are only 4 of them... one at each level. There are 3 online tutorials. the rest are subscription for software that expire. Two different IDEs (both of which actually have free versions), a limited access to another tutorial site, a 6 month license to a git gui interface, and a credit for new users of a cloud provider.

At the end of 6 months, all you have is 4 books and 3 tutorials (1 of the tutorials is on the IDE that you will no longer have.)

I am already a developer... I already have an IDE and related tools that works well for me. My IDE works with Python just as well as it does with C, javascript, HTML, SQL, and multiple other languages. I do not need time limited versions of other IDEs and tools.

To me, this bundle is a disservice to anyone interested in it. The items they are offering are time limited while there are free versions and alternatives available. There is very little value in this bundle despite the over $1300 in claimed retail price. I guess the corporate ethics of IGN are making themselves heard at Humble now.

Ok I bought Basingstoke for their longtime support of Linux (with your GOG link partner of course!). ^_^

To me, this bundle is a disservice to anyone interested in it. The items they are offering are time limited while there are free versions and alternatives available. There is very little value in this bundle despite the over $1300 in claimed retail price. I guess the corporate ethics of IGN are making themselves heard at Humble now.

That's a pretty huge overreaction dude. It's not like you're being forced to get anything from them. As with any deal, it will appeal to some and not to others.

Ok I bought Basingstoke for their longtime support of Linux (with your GOG link partner of course!). ^_^

Great! Do let us know what you think to it :)

Does anyone know Codex of Victory? Is it worth it?

Theirs a demo on steam try it for yourself i personally enjoy it but am a huge rts/turn based.

To me, this bundle is a disservice to anyone interested in it. The items they are offering are time limited while there are free versions and alternatives available. There is very little value in this bundle despite the over $1300 in claimed retail price. I guess the corporate ethics of IGN are making themselves heard at Humble now.

That's a pretty huge overreaction dude. It's not like you're being forced to get anything from them. As with any deal, it will appeal to some and not to others.

While you obviously disagree with my opinion in this matter, I agree that it is harsh, but it is not something I came to on a whim.

For new developers, both of the IDEs have free community editions. Until you start working with advanced programming techniques, you will not need any of "extra" features. Both IDEs are time limited to 6 months... by the time a new programmer needs the extra tools A) the subscription will be over, and B) He will probably know other ways of doing the same thing without aid of the "Professional" paid subscription IDE. Also, if you do need the extra features, your company should be willing to pay for your IDE. This is a useless value to any new dev,

For existing developers, IDEs are a great matter of personal choice and taste. Most will already have an IDE that they like and are experienced in, and many modern IDEs work with multiple languages. My personal favorite works with many languages by default (including python) and has a plugin system so that fans of a new or rarely used development language can add support for others. Most developers will not change editors just because they change a language. Only a freelancer will need to pay for it themself, and they are least likely to change existing editors.

In addition to IDEs, there is a one year subscription to Git-Kraken, a GUI interface for GIT. GIT is one type of source control and I highly recommend using source control regardless of the level of the developers or size of the project. However, the purpose of an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is to put all the things you need in a single program. Source Control is one of the most often used parts of an IDE. I have used multiple IDEs over my career, but I have not seen/used one without source control integration in the last 20 years. And there are plenty of free utilities to deal with source control if somehow you have an editor without source control. Again the value of this software subscription is questionable at best. And to top it off, this software is free "For open source, early-stage startups and non-commercial use." Just like the IDEs, if you can't get it for free, your employer should buy it.

Another subscription is for PYUP. Which seems to be a replacement for PIP(included with python) Again, a subscription that expires in a year for software which is FREE is you use a public repository like Github. Once again, if you can't get it for free, your employer should buy it.

Then there are 3 separate web based video tutorials. They are not for free and they are not subscriptions... You have life long access to them. However, one of them is specifically for one of the subscription based IDEs in the bundle. However, if you want web based video tutorials, go to youtube and simply search for "python tutorial" you will get more results than you could ever watch. Admittedly, quality will vary, but seeing how google works with the most popular results, I practically guarantee that one of the top 10 (and probably a majority of the top 10) results will be of equal quality to the tutorials being offered. What value are these tutorials when you can get similar results for free? And my statement of varying quality... it applies to these bundled tutorials as well... until you buy it how do you know if it is any good? (Plus realistically, on the topics of tutorials, everyone has a different learning curve and different methods of teaching that works best for their learning, so every individual will have different results... the variety of youtube videos means that one person on youtube should have a teaching style that works best for you, if the paid content doesn't.

Next is a 6-month subscription to Egghead.io... a web video tutorial site on the web. It has more than just python... but then again so does youtube, and youtube doesn't go away after 6 months.

And... ooo... wow!!!... a $50 credit for A cloud service provider. On the same page it talks about free services for businesses spending $500(US)/month or more, it talks about price transparency... yet as I navigated around the site, I could not find any hard facts about prices... other than talking about hourly billing of all separate resources memory, disk space, and CPU. I have a feeling that the credit won't last very long. If you need a hosting provider, and you don't have an employer flipping the bill, I suggest you go to one that actually talks prices... try linode, heck, even Amazon AWS would probably be better than this company. (Of course this is just my opinion, but I do pay for hosting, and I know what to look for in a host provider.)

Now that I mentioned everything of questionable (or lack of) value, what is left in the bundle? 4 books... One at each level. Mind you, you get 1 book for $1(US)... the second tier does not open until $15(US) for your second book. While I generally like O'Rielly books and 2 of the 4 are from that publisher, all 4 books seem too obscure to be much value to the majority of users.

TL;DR : The only really value I see in the current Humble book bundle is the actual books... and depending on your needs, YMMV. "$1452 WORTH OF AWESOME STUFF" according to the bundle page... only if you don't know any better.

I won't comment on the books since I personally know jack about Python, but as someone who's used GitKraken I think it's actually a wonderful bit of kit, helped me out a huge amount while I was learning git :). Sure, plenty of IDEs have source control, but an IDE isn't a one size fits all approach and not everyone uses an IDE or an IDE with direct source control built in. Hell, I use VS Code and I don't use the source control features of it.

As for the $50 DigitalOcean credit, that's actually pretty damn good. I've used DigitalOcean many many times and they were always a fantastic service. All our previous Ballistic Overkill servers were with them, not sure why you found their pricing difficult to understand, it's all right there from a link right at the top of their site? Tells you basic amount per month, or per hour if you don't need instances for long. I'm genuinely surprised you said this:

but I do pay for hosting, and I know what to look for in a host provider

Without having a basic understanding of such a simple pricing model.

My point is again, there might be something or a couple things in this bundle that might save people money on something or interest them, nothing more :). You just seem to be very much taking it from your own point of view, without considering how other people might see it, that's how it seems to me.