Collabora, one of the companies working under contract for Valve to help improve Windows game emulation on Linux with the likes of Wine have now sent in some patches to the Linux Kernel mailing list for discussion.
This is going to be another big step forward for compatibility, hopefully, to help with the likes of anti-tamper and DRM which often skip over the Windows API which causes issues for Linux and the Wine compatibility layer (and so Steam Play Proton too). You can get an overview of it in this previous article and also this article if you want some background on it all. To be clear: a Valve developer did mention it's not for anti-cheat.
With this new feature they're calling "Syscall User Dispatch (SUD)" it allows to "efficiently redirect system calls of only part of a binary back to userspace to be emulated by a compatibility layer". The patches are now close to being accepted but they wanted to get a bit more discussion going to ensure the majority are happy with it.
If accepted, it would still take some time before the likes of Wine and Proton would really make use of it, especially as it would also require users to have a much more up to date Linux Kernel too.
You can see the discussion happening with the big overview here. The proposed patch set is here.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI have a cunning strategy for dealing with this situation:That's so cunning you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.
Wait.
no_information_here Nov 20, 2020
Quoting: benjamimgoisI advocate for some years that a rolling kernel is better model for desktop usage, speacially if you are into gaming.Unless you are old and have better things to do with your time than fight with a broken desktop. I applaud all you folks who push the envelope, but I have hundreds of unplayed games that really don't require an up-to-date kernel.
I am with purple library guy! Waiting is just fine for most of us ;-)
Last edited by no_information_here on 20 November 2020 at 7:44 pm UTC
Quoting: scaineQuoting: benjamimgoisLooks like it's compatible, but it also looks like you're basically compiling a new kernel whenever a new release comes out. Since I know next-to-nothing about kernels, I think I'll stick to pre-packaged .deb files from either mainline or Liquonix, unless there are other options out there.
Also, doesn't compiling a kernel take hours?? Maybe I'm missing something that install script just updates your apt cache, but that's not how it's presented, and they go on to talk about having to manage "custom compiled kernels". I'd prefer something that merges into the Mint kernel management tool, like mainline does.
I've never used it on Ubuntu or mint. I agree that have to manualy compile a kernel every week is a no go for me. On Manjaro i just use the Chaotic-AUR, they basically compile the source code of every app hourly and just send me the updated package on pamac.
I didn't know that! You have to have a real trust about it. I don't mind compile my own AUR packages, but it can be useful for some.
LordDaveTheKind Nov 22, 2020
Quoting: scaineI'm currently running the latest 5.9 from mainline using the low-latency option. It works really well, but I think I might give Liquorix a shot, since it will update automatically, AND includes the fsync patches. Liquorix (https://liquorix.net ) support PPA and AUR updates, which is pretty cool.
If you're on an Arch-based disto, apparently the Zen kernel is also worth a shot (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php?title=Kernels&oldid=407966#Official_packages ).
Anyone know of any other reliable, solid options for kernel upgrades, particularly on an Ubuntu-based distro?
I don't know. I tried both of them but in my case they both introduced some stuttering and lagging in both the Desktop Environment and the games. Even with the most recent 5.9.0-9.1 release.
In my experience (and I have tried several kernel releases and flavours. A few threads in this forum can prove it) nothing has been better than recompiling the vanilla Linux kernel from a stable or LTS branch. Having the latest brand new bleeding-edge kernel release might be good for testing purposes, but for demanding both performance and reliability you have to stick with the stable releases.
Last edited by LordDaveTheKind on 22 November 2020 at 12:47 pm UTC
TheRiddick Nov 22, 2020
Quoting: TheRiddickGiving 5.9.0-9.1-liquorix-amd64 a go now, hopefully it isn't a bad performer.I also gave it a go out of curiosity. Installed from their PPA, using the metapackages they recommended. The kernel crapped out right at the beginning of the boot sequence. I can't be arsed to dig further so I'll just stick to Mainline.
TheRiddick Nov 23, 2020
Quoting: tuubiI also gave it a go out of curiosity
Yeah it worked for me however I moved to installing Xanmod1 which people are saying is better. However the RT or EDGE versions didn't boot correctly for me, but the normal one did and is working fine so far.
I've got them all as boot options in the menu now for testing.
https://xanmod.org/
Last edited by TheRiddick on 23 November 2020 at 12:19 am UTC
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