Noclip have done an interesting documentary on how GOG came to be

Funny they are calling it "Gee-O-Gee". When they speak in Polish they call it "G-O-G".

Great interview! It explains well how many difficulties can arise to bring older games back. Here is another article about it:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/16/how-gog-com-save-and-restore-classic-videogames/

Funny they are calling it "Gee-O-Gee". When they speak in Polish they call it "G-O-G".

They gave up on GOG being an abbreviation for Good Old Games, but it's still just three letters. It's likely they do not think it's important how people pronounce these letters as long as they remember them. :)

Yeah, I don't spell it out and say it as a single word.

GOG is highly irrelevant for GNU/Linux gaming. With its "zero-effort" policy towards us we are lucky if a game actually gets Linux version there with slight(?) delay. Sometimes Linux version will simply be Steam-exclusive due to either Feral's descision or lack of the "Galaxy API" functionality.

Great documentary. Always interesting to see how it all started. To me, the most revealing part of the documentary is when they mention bringing console games to the platform. The fact that they have tried, and that even it seems a plan for the future, however complicated, it could be a massive deal breaker for their business. And haven for us.

Zero effort releasing DRM-free games on Linux? I don't think Feral can make a decision about releasing a port DRM-free. Also Feral's ports are small compare to the whole.

We are not discussing this again.

In fact GOG is highly relevant for preserving gaming history (and moving forward), and not let one corporation dictate things in the world of PC gaming. …

And what it has to do with Linux?

You don't need Galaxy to play games either. I am enjoying the possibility to install and play games without internet on and being logged in to another 3rd party software. Of course I play mostly single player games, but still.

Says someone having Steamcommunity account. Please, don't preach me, I'm more DRM-free-guy than one can possibly be (never ever had a Steam account). In fact, I'm more DRM-free-guy than Linux-guy in a sense I can pay for DRM-free game for Windows but not for DRM-ed Linux one.

Convenience trumps freedom these days, and it's sad that many Linux users embraced it. Might as well as go back to Windows and play games on it...

And many do just that. Because GOG does nothing to propagate DRM-free games to Linux. As I said, it has "Zero Effort" approach. Like, "If it has Linux version and developers are willing to distribute it through us, then fine. If it hasn't -- screw this."

Right now "DRM-free" and "Linux" are orthogonal.

I don't think Feral can make a decision about releasing a port DRM-free.

They can, they said as much themselves. They just don't want to. But yes, there is a dedicated thread for that topic. And I agree, that for many convenience trumps freedom today.


Last edited by Shmerl on 24 Jul 2018 at 4:08 pm UTC

With its "zero-effort" policy towards us we are lucky if a game actually gets Linux version

That hardly seems fair, considering they go to the effort of packaging games with MojoSetup. I can say that a small level of animosity towards GOG is justified, as they declined to support Linux at all multiple times before finally doing so, well after Valve did so with Steam. And of course there is the GOG Galaxy issue. But "zero-effort" is a bit of a slap in the face to the guy who is slaving away over there, testing and packaging on and for Linux.

That hardly seems fair, considering they go to the effort of packaging games with MojoSetup.

Even MojoSetup was not developed by them but [by Ryan C. Gordon AKA "Icculus"](https://icculus.org/mojosetup/).
Needless to say, they are pathetic even at this. Constantly they delay Linux versions of games for inexplicable reasons (when reached, developers usually say they mailed Linux version to GOG long ago but have not got any response since then) or sometimes even allow developers to outright skip Linux updates (hello, "Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun", "Sudden Strike 4" and "This War of Mine"! ).

I can say that a small level of animosity towards GOG is justified, as they declined to support Linux at all multiple times before finally doing so, well after Valve did so with Steam.

What was in the past was in the past. Water under the bridge. Let's speak about current matters.

But "zero-effort" is a bit of a slap in the face to the guy who is slaving away over there, testing and packaging on and for Linux.

Over the years GOG employees have said multiple times GOG has very limited resources ant their top brass thinks these resources should be spent elsewhere (like the site redesign, including recent one with another GOG Galaxy advertisement at the footer or "Library" ). The real "slap in the face" to all Linux users is the "In Progress" plaque on the wishlist entry for Galaxy on Linux sitting there for (how many? three?) years when we all know (and have been told so) it is not in the works. Not now, not "in the foreseeable future", as GOG likes to put it.

But most importantly, this news has absolutely nothing to do with Linux! At all!

That hardly seems fair, considering they go to the effort of packaging games with MojoSetup.

Even MojoSetup was not developed by them but [by Ryan C. Gordon AKA "Icculus"](https://icculus.org/mojosetup/).
Needless to say, they are pathetic even at this. Constantly they delay Linux versions of games for inexplicable reasons (when reached, developers usually say they mailed Linux version to GOG long ago but have not got any response since then) or sometimes even allow developers to outright skip Linux updates (hello, "Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun", "Sudden Strike 4" and "This War of Mine"! ).

I can say that a small level of animosity towards GOG is justified, as they declined to support Linux at all multiple times before finally doing so, well after Valve did so with Steam.

What was in the past was in the past. Water under the bridge. Let's speak about current matters.

But "zero-effort" is a bit of a slap in the face to the guy who is slaving away over there, testing and packaging on and for Linux.

Over the years GOG employees have said multiple times GOG has very limited resources ant their top brass thinks these resources should be spent elsewhere (like the site redesign, including recent one with another GOG Galaxy advertisement at the footer or "Library" ). The real "slap in the face" to all Linux users is the "In Progress" plaque on the wishlist entry for Galaxy on Linux sitting there for (how many? three?) years when we all know (and have been told so) it is not in the works. Not now, not "in the foreseeable future", as GOG likes to put it.

But most importantly, this news has absolutely nothing to do with Linux! At all!

I think main reason for lack of Linux interest stems from their parent company CDPR and the events that happened after Witcher 2 port. They are basically Anti Linux at the moment.

There is an interview on [Boiling Steam](https://boilingsteam.com/an-interview-with-peter-mulholland-ex-vp/) with Peter Mulholland (Ex Virtual Programming Dev) that explains some of the reasons behind that. When he is asked about possibility of Cyperpunk 2077 port he says this:

"Personally, I think no. The Linux bridges have been burnt for CDPR. I could be wrong, but I really can’t see it happening."

It is really sad but lets hope everyone learns their lessons about being nice to each other.

I think main reason for lack of Linux interest stems from their parent company CDPR and the events that happened after Witcher 2 port. They are basically Anti Linux at the moment.

There are several errors in all of this:

• CDPR is not GOG's parent company. They are both parts of CDProjekt but independent from each other and CDPR is in no position to tell GOG what it should and should not do;


• All of this "Linux Haters" cool story comes from a single person -- Peter Mulholland AKA "Jaycee" (or something like this), who is, as you said, "Virtual Programming" ex-employee and who has been spreading all of this non-stop on different news resources including this site (but adds this is just his own views, not VP or CDPR's policy);


• All of the "not in a foreseeable future" on the GOG's part was prior to CDPR's Linux fiasco.

I think, neither "Witcher II" in particular nor CDPR (or Virtual Programming) has nothing to do with GOG's "Zero Effort" policy. GOG added Linux versions of games only under pressure from Steam™ (no so) shortly after Valve opened its store for Linux. Have Valve not done that, we would not see any Linux support from GOG at all.

It is really sad but lets hope everyone learns their lessons about being nice to each other.

If there is any lesson to learn it is that one should not fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome and begin praising her/his offender for not being too mean.

I think main reason for lack of Linux interest stems from their parent company CDPR and the events that happened after Witcher 2 port. They are basically Anti Linux at the moment.

There are several errors in all of this:

• CDPR is not GOG's parent company. They are both parts of CDProjekt but independent from each other and CDPR is in no position to tell GOG what it should and should not do;


• All of this "Linux Haters" cool story comes from a single person -- Peter Mulholland AKA "Jaycee" (or something like this), who is, as you said, "Virtual Programming" ex-employee and who has been spreading all of this non-stop on different news resources including this site (but adds this is just his own views, not VP or CDPR's policy);


• All of the "not in a foreseeable future" on the GOG's part was prior to CDPR's Linux fiasco.

I think, neither "Witcher II" in particular nor CDPR (or Virtual Programming) has nothing to do with GOG's "Zero Effort" policy. GOG added Linux versions of games only under pressure from Steam™ (no so) shortly after Valve opened its store for Linux. Have Valve not done that, we would not see any Linux support from GOG at all.

It is really sad but lets hope everyone learns their lessons about being nice to each other.

If there is any lesson to learn it is that one should not fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome and begin praising her/his offender for not being too mean.

Perhaps what you say is true and there is a completely different reason for zero effort on GOG's part, you clearly have more insight about the matter than i do. However, allow me to disagree about one thing; how is it being nice when responding to a bad game port is an example to Stockholm Syndrome? That was what i meant in the last sentence. English is not my native language so some things may get lost in the translation. That being said, Witcher 2 debacle may not have any effect on GOG's decisions like you said but i believe it definitely plays a part in why we won't be getting any CDPR games on Linux. At least that is how it seems when i look the matter.

Even MojoSetup was not developed by them but by Ryan C. Gordon AKA "Icculus"

Sure, but there's still effort to package up software using it.

Needless to say, they are pathetic even at this. Constantly they delay Linux versions of games for inexplicable reasons (when reached, developers usually say they mailed Linux version to GOG long ago but have not got any response since then) or sometimes even allow developers to outright skip Linux updates (hello, "Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun", "Sudden Strike 4" and "This War of Mine"! ).

It would be great if they did more / faster, etc. sure. But at least they do some QA instead of throwing up broken stuff, which happens a lot on Steam.

Over the years GOG employees have said multiple times GOG has very limited resources ant their top brass thinks these resources should be spent elsewhere

Good or bad, that is how businesses operate. Would you prefer that they "stop pretending" and just give up on supporting Linux altogether? I wouldn't.

The real "slap in the face" to all Linux users is the "In Progress" plaque on the wishlist entry for Galaxy on Linux sitting there for (how many? three?) years when we all know (and have been told so) it is not in the works.

No disagreement with you on that.

But most importantly, this news has absolutely nothing to do with Linux! At all!

Just speaking for myself, but I found it much more interesting than the "x available in Snap package!" stories.