Note: This was going to be an article but will live as a forum post. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/4197/post_id=26069

Back in January, I had set out to play and purchase only games whose source code has been made publicly available. Prior to this, I found a measure of peace in buying exclusively DRM-free games so this new endeavor was not such a leap further. Here are some of things I learned.

1. Free and open source does not always mean amateur production value.
A fair number of the long running free/libre game projects have received much needed face lifts which brings them largely within parity of commercial game stylization. The "home-made" feel can still be found on some courses in Super Tux Kart for example, but the recent updates easily have an air of professionalism.
Additionally, there are commercially produced games which have either gone free/libre or have always been. They, of course, had art direction behind their development



2. Free and open source can also mean amateur production value.

3. In some cases, you need to be open to getting your hands dirty.
Not every game I played was prepackaged by my distribution. Especially with commercial games, one may need to be open to building the game before running it.

4. Free-libre gaming facilitates an honest approach to the "sample first, pay later" model.
It was refreshing to be able to try a game out before handing over any change. The older gamers among us might recall the days when game demos where once distributed. A fair number beyond that admit to dishonestly acquiring games in order to try them first before committing to a purchase. While this is partly the result of the industry failing at providing demos (replaced now by herding gamers into the microtransaction model), it is also created by artificial scarcity which simply cannot be applied to free and open games.

5. Having the source to your games means you can play them almost anywhere.
Just as the malfeatures of proprietary operating systems have driven me toward free operating systems, the assault on freedom and autonomy at the hardware level has also driven me away from x86. And being able to bring my games with me, unhindered, to a freer platform enabled me to remorselessly give the proverbial finger to interests intent on designing hardware which treats it's users as enemies. Games shown here have been built and run on a POWER9 based gaming computer. All of which would have been impossible to accomplish while at the mercy of proprietary game authors.



I don't want to leave anyone with a false impression that adhering to only free-libre games is all roses and sunshine. It takes a level of discipline that may not be palatable to everyone but if you care about your freedom, privacy and security as much as you care about your gaming, I’d consider any rough edges to be a small sacrifice. For me, as long as I can bring my absolute favorites, Barony and Minetest, along with me I can live happily.

Last edited by GustyGhost on 24 December 2019 at 12:56 am UTC