Quoting: dvd

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: dvd'Linux' in general needs no more knowledge than windows...

Assuming it is already installed and properly configured, this is arguably true. However, the average user does not have the skill set to download, install, and configure Linux whereas using Windows or OSX is as easy as buying a new computer and turning it on.

Assuming it is already installed and properly configured, this is arguably true. If not, you need additional operating systems just to format the drive.

Working in IT, I've done numerous fresh installs of Windows and OSX onto brand new hard drives and have never had a problem. In each case, the installers are smart enough to automatically format the drives. Granted, they don't give you advanced options like partitioning or multiple file systems, but that's not something the average consumer would ever need, or even know what to do with.

Another thing that Windows and OSX do that Linux distros typically don't is walk the user through the first-time setup with lots of helpful "Click here to make this work, you idiot" dialog boxes. It's more common for Linux distos to simply dump you onto the desktop, and if something doesn't work, it's entirely on the user to figure it out. I'm not saying that Linux distros can't be made more user friendly; it's just that most aren't.

QuoteAre we seeing the end of the most recent "golden age" of Linux gaming?

No.

Are we seeing the Linux gaming currently enters an new, uncharted territory?
Yes.
Linux gaming right now is complex situation now. Too big for niche, too small for mainstream.

You know, video game industry in it's current will be certainly collapse/crash, just we don't know when.
Many video gaming people (non-shill, not bias, not liar and certainly not ignorant) from fans to journalists to developers etc., etc., predicting video game will crash anytime.
So, this is gonna be a good test for Linux gaming durability to withstand the ups and downs of video game industry.

Linux gaming survivability will be put on test for the first time ever. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

Quoting: tonRYou know, video game industry in it's current will be certainly collapse/crash, just we don't know when.

I am waiting for the big publishers/developers to crash and burn for years, but right now there seem enough people content to buy the same dog food in new cans year after year. Have to admit the cans do get prettier each year, though ;-).

I don't think indie games will go anywhere as a whole, either, although I guess on an individual level only few will achieve prolonged success. And it'll be mostly indie games we'll continue to see on Linux, and likely more and more of them in the future.

So to come back to the original question: if by "golden age" the OP is mostly referring to AAA titles making their way to Linux, then I'd consider us currently past the prime. Overall, we're still golden, however, just no longer growing by leaps and bounds. I guess for that to change again it would take a couple of the massively successful multiplayer titles to become available. And I don't see that happening any time soon.

The crash will mostly be silent, it's happening all around us but most don't see it due to how many new games come out all the time. Developers are constantly talking about Steam not making them enough money when previous titles sold like hot cakes, too many titles and so on. The crash already started but it's so easy to get started making games now, that they will continue to flow in from people doing it as hobbies for indies and AAA will continue on pumping money into shit as they always do.

Update to this thread: It is definitely the end of the most recent golden age of gaming on Linux. See: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/psyonix-are-ending-support-for-rocket-league-on-both-linux-and-macos.15833/

The first golden age was around ~2001 with Loki and an otherwise healthy share of commercial ports. I was not on the scene then, and so I cannot comment.

But the most recent golden age, I would be confident defining as beginning in ~2013 with the announcement of Steam for Linux. Peaking around 2015-2016 and ending somewhere around today (this end date will be easier to assess in retrospective, but that will need to wait).

It is very likely that the 2020s will be another few years of relative decline and silence for commercial Linux gaming, a "dark age" more or less.

I am no fan of cloud computing (deferring your computing to somebody else's computer), although I do wonder if resources like Stadia will be somehow responsible for kicking off the next golden age in a few years.

I like what TTimo and Icculus said on Twitter;

TTimo:

Quotethe Linux gaming ecosystem has never been better. It's unfortunate to lose RL but there's so much to look forward to

Icculus

QuoteIndeed, there will not only be other games, but other _phenomenons_ like Rocket League.

There are 667 million Steam accounts. 0.67% of them being Linux users makes 4.5 million user base. More Linux gamers ⇒ more attention to Linux from game developers and publishers. Sure, Epic Games are trying to hurt Valve and Steam, thus Linux gaming as well, because Valve are the biggest force which pushes Linux gaming forward. But calling that the end of Linux gaming and a dark age? It's an overstatement.

Liam, have you tried to use your contacts to Valve to get any information about the *lack of information* about HL:Alyx and Linux?

This is, tbh, by far the biggest disappointment for me when it comes to Valve, Steam and Linux gaming on the whole for a very long time. And while some might consider this as 'just one game', this potentially tells us so much more - that we probably refuse to acknowledge. :/

Quoting: subLiam, have you tried to use your contacts to Valve to get any information about the *lack of information* about HL:Alyx and Linux?

This is, tbh, by far the biggest disappointment for me when it comes to Valve, Steam and Linux gaming on the whole for a very long time. And while some might consider this as 'just one game', this potentially tells us so much more - that we probably refuse to acknowledge. :/

As far as I'm aware Valve is quite a decentralized company, so above facts just could also just point out that the different islands at Valve do operate quite independently and aim for different goals.

Last edited by jens on 25 January 2020 at 8:56 pm UTC

Desktop Linux in general has improved a ton over the last years. I've used it from the late 90s to 2005 and now again since 2019. The difference is huge. Things that were really tedious to get working back then now often work out of the box or with minimal configuration, and I'm not even talking about a "newbie-friendly distribution" (I use Arch).
The amount of tediousness I had to deal with has decreased substantially, and the amount of games that either work natively or run really well with Wine/Proton has increased substantially.
It's amazing.
Unfortunately, Linux has already firmly earned its reputation of being too tedious for general use way back in the late 90s already so it is always an uphill battle for market share and company support. That's why you shouldn't think that progress will be fast. It might be fast once it reaches critical market share. But that's way off. Until then, progress will be slow but steady. It's just a matter of time.