Want to play Track Mania Nations Forever on Linux using Wine? There's a snap for that

Quotesnap install tmnationsforever --edge

this killed my X and after re-logging I found all konsole tabs wiped out

Quoting: libgradevHmmmm, Snaps + Wine + DXVK...

Witcher 3 on linux! Yes! Finally! :)

If they could find a way to stay legit with Steam, GoG or other online stores, that would be awesome! Some kind of specific launcher requesting our store credentials for validations, maybe?

Quoting: pb

Quotesnap install tmnationsforever --edge

this killed my X and after re-logging I found all konsole tabs wiped out

Wow, weird. Might want to report a bug to the snap people with all details.

This game has worked in wine for years with pretty good performance even. I have had countless hours of online fun with this game under linux back in the days. This game and WoW were the first games i played in wine back in 2006-2007 and they both worked pretty good.

Snaps have already had some malware uploaded to it. Looks like there definitely needs some more auditing to be done.

Quoting: slaapliedjeSnaps have already had some malware uploaded to it. Looks like there definitely needs some more auditing to be done.

Thanks but no thanks, if I want to fight Malware I'll fire up Windows, I don't need that crap in Linux. Snap is gone from my system & staying gone.

Quoting: slaapliedjeSnaps have already had some malware uploaded to it. Looks like there definitely needs some more auditing to be done.

The most I've heard about malware on snaps was that a couple of applications by a single developer had an undisclosed cryptocurrency miner built into them. No damage was done to anyone's computer or data, nor was any personal information scraped and sent back home.

The developer in question was attempting to commercially support his apps by integrating this CC miner and seemed to honestly not realize that this was going to be a problem. I suppose he thought that "CC-supported software is the new ad-supported software", which is an understandable conclusion for any blockchain enthusiast. It appears, at least to me, to be an attempt to innovate a new solution for commercially supporting a program that doesn't involve annoying the user with advertisements, as well as providing the developer with more freedom to create without being subjected to the ever-changing whims of advertising companies. Technically speaking, mining cryptocurrency isn't illegal, nor is supporting your software with it.

The real issue here is the lack of disclosure, since it's damn obvious when ads are on an application, but not as obvious when CC miners are on an application. Considering the resource usage and electricity bills involved in mining cryptocurrency, I do think that ethically speaking, disclosure should be absolutely necessary when implementing an idea such as this one.

In any case, Ubuntu pulled both offending apps almost immediately, contacted the developer, established a dialogue and determined that this was more of a case of ignorance than malice. I expect Ubuntu will be more proactive in enforcing ethical requirements in the future with regards to cryptocurrency supported software.

I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard for Ubuntu to create a script on their end which will automatically unpack snaps, run them and check for the presence of cryptocurrency mining activity before they appear on the store. They could also create an option for uploaders to disclose how a commercial application is supported. If there isn't any disclosure, but the system detects mining activity, the snap could be rejected before it even appears on the store. If they're not working on something like this as we speak, they damn well better start.


Last edited by Ryblade on 14 June 2018 at 1:25 pm UTC

Quoting: slaapliedjeSnaps have already had some malware uploaded to it. Looks like there definitely needs some more auditing to be done.

That's right and people have to be extra vigilant when installing things from the snap store. But in the case of TMNF, the snap package is done by Canonical developers.

Quoting: Ryblade

Quoting: slaapliedjeSnaps have already had some malware uploaded to it. Looks like there definitely needs some more auditing to be done.

The most I've heard about malware on snaps was that a couple of applications by a single developer had an undisclosed cryptocurrency miner built into them. No damage was done to anyone's computer or data, nor was any personal information scraped and sent back home.

The developer in question was attempting to commercially support his apps by integrating this CC miner and seemed to honestly not realize that this was going to be a problem. I suppose he thought that "CC-supported software is the new ad-supported software", which is an understandable conclusion for any blockchain enthusiast. It appears, at least to me, to be an attempt to innovate a new solution for commercially supporting a program that doesn't involve annoying the user with advertisements, as well as providing the developer with more freedom to create without being subjected to the ever-changing whims of advertising companies. Technically speaking, mining cryptocurrency isn't illegal, nor is supporting your software with it.

The real issue here is the lack of disclosure, since it's damn obvious when ads are on an application, but not as obvious when CC miners are on an application. Considering the resource usage and electricity bills involved in mining cryptocurrency, I do think that ethically speaking, disclosure should be absolutely necessary when implementing an idea such as this one.

In any case, Ubuntu pulled both offending apps almost immediately, contacted the developer, established a dialogue and determined that this was more of a case of ignorance than malice. I expect Ubuntu will be more proactive in enforcing ethical requirements in the future with regards to cryptocurrency supported software.

I'd imagine it wouldn't be too hard for Ubuntu to create a script on their end which will automatically unpack snaps, run them and check for the presence of cryptocurrency mining activity before they appear on the store. They could also create an option for uploaders to disclose how a commercial application is supported. If there isn't any disclosure, but the system detects mining activity, the snap could be rejected before it even appears on the store. If they're not working on something like this as we speak, they damn well better start.

Canonical/Ubuntu. The ones who put amazon searches by default within their Desktop Environment? Thought there was some other semi-shady things they did, like tracking searches and such?

I think Snap as a 'Everyone else is doing A, let's do B until we lose and we end up ditching it and going with A' that Ubuntu is almost famous for.

Quoting: slaapliedjeCanonical/Ubuntu. The ones who put amazon searches by default within their Desktop Environment?

Yes, them. The same ones who made snapd capable of running on other distributions that don't track you at all. What's your point? Nobody is forcing you to use Ubuntu.