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Quoting: soulsourceTell that to my boss... We have to usesuffer Discord at work...

Just out of curiosity, how old is your boss?

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Quoting: Hamish1999 (my fifth birthday)

None of my business of course, but as I see this...

All those games and systems are not your own good olde times? What made you investigate them so deeply?

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Quoting: amataiShouldn't we call it WFCE then ?

I know it's not correct but, I now pronounce Xfce (in my head) as "X Face". Later, I'll be pronoucing it "X Fowl".

The owl eats the mouse.

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Quoting: JarmerAbsolutely love what S76 is doing with Cosmic. 🥰

Right now, a lot of people say "pick gnome or plasma" when installing distros and I can see a future a few years out where cosmic replaces gnome in that sentence.

⚰️RIP 🐭Xfce 😖
I remember when that was a notable third choice. It's not completely dead, just outshined.

That said, I have to admit that I am getting pretty hyped about Cosmic DE and hope to see it as a frequent third option.

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Your character walks along the top of the screen

Okay but, do I have to be that guy? Let me be a penguin or at least not look like that. 😖 lol

Just don't expect your makeshift arsenal to last forever.

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Quoting: GustyGhost

Second chart, 83% PC

GDC guilty of naively using "PC" to refer to Windows. To me, PC envelopes all Linux + Windows + Mac.

So if you include the 17% Mac and 6% Linux, PC as a platform is even more dominant than it first appears.

Good point. I read it as what it literally said, "personal computer". As in, any desktop or gaming class laptop opposed to android/other mobile devices, cloud-first(?), VR, or console platforms. I think it's vague and misleading as I would have selected PC despite my only focus being GNU/Linux primarily and Steam Deck secondarily (because dock it with a larger screen, kb+m :P)

I likw that the Deck is higher than Switch but, I wonder if that's also because it's easier. Ensure it works with Proton and check whatever boxes necessary. Nintendont hardware is something completely different.

It's funny that the top 5 outreach methods do not apply to me. Aside from GOL's Telegram and the 64 Sprites XMPP MUC, if those count because they're mostly a bunch of nerds talking about gaming adject things and/or a copy of the newsletter.
In person events would be awesome but, I haven't gone to any. Not for any particular reason.

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WScreenSaver? 😸😸😸

Also, yes. There are plenty of other Ubuntu based distros. I think it's time to switch to LMDE as the main. Along with Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce "leafs", plus a well polished WM -- Sway maybe?.

Sway, or perhaps another window manager, fully set up, inherently lightweight in comparison to the others, that shouldn't mean it's barebones and takes all day just to customize. Use Arch or Gentoo for that. lol. Even if it's suboptimal, it ought to be snazzy, fun, and complete.

I want [LMDE] to look and feel unique. I want a solid, beautiful, cohesive desktop experience. I'd rather them focus on making those really awesome and let Linux Mint be even more so its own thing.

Perhaps, dropping the Ubuntu base after this current LTS cycle, we could get annual LMDE releases.

I haven't used those DEs in a long time but, for me over the last several years, one of the most important things is being on a new KDE/Qt base. There have been so many changes and improvements! With Debian Unstable being rolling, maybe they could aim to round up good snapshots of Cinnamon and MATE for when they decide to release a new LMDE. I don't see any particular reason why it has to be X month of every year or every other year. I'd be happy to upgrade a couple weeks after release, in any season.

What would be funny is to look at the biggest native habitat of mint plants to determine when they peak then put out a new release then. 😹

Side note, I was just thinking earlier that it's nide to see posts here that aren't specifically about games.

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D2R is the only non-Steam game I play. I don't really love the price, but at the same time, I see people who claim to have played the game for hundreds or thousands of hours complaining about it... Seems nuts to me. And I want to send the message that Steam is the way to go. Also, since there is no Blizzard.net launcher, that alone makes this appealing. And it apparently runs better on Steam Deck, now (seemed to run well enough for me before, though).

I don't know if I could still play it online with people using the base game from Battle.net, or if they'd have to buy the expansion, or if they'd have to buy the entire Steam version.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyWell, overall, it kind of is. But French speaking in Canada is really quite geographically concentrated--masses in Quebec which has a large population, a couple of other enclaves like the Acadians, pretty much none everywhere else.

I would not say they are unheard of out here, but more as one ethnolinguistic minority among many. Alberta has the highest proportion of Métis in the country for instance, who of course have heavy French ancestry and influence.

A great deal of the towns and villages here also still have French names due to early Francophone settlement. My favourite example is Vegreville, which of course is now far more associated with its Ukrainian population, what with the giant pysanka and all.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyThe big AI firms do have some revenue, but far, far less than their operating expenses, certainly nothing like enough to pay back their debts.

good point, i often forget about the operating expense. Maybe this time it will crash ? I still believe those data centers will exist to perform yet even more short-lived grifts & ofc Ai isn't going away. However if the economic effects are profound as usual i expect we will see privatize the gains socialize the losses situation. Leaving the bag holders & the public to pick up the pieces.

Lets hope for a return to normal soon.

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Quoting: gbudnyThat's interesting.
I thought French was more popular in Canada because many native French-speaking people live there.

Well, overall, it kind of is. But French speaking in Canada is really quite geographically concentrated--masses in Quebec which has a large population, a couple of other enclaves like the Acadians, pretty much none everywhere else. That said, in British Columbia where I live, school programs offering French immersion are quite popular . . . but North American language teaching just doesn't seem to be as effective as, say, European language teaching. I don't think most of those French immersion kids end up fluent in French once they've been out of school a few years.

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Quoting: Lofty

Quoting: ZlopezLet's hope the bubble around AI will burst soon.

Im not sure it's a bubble like the dot.com or 2008 housing crash. This is a different thing entirely. Im not sure a crash would occur in the same way.

I think it is very similar, actually . . . sort of to both of them combined. The dotcom crash happened when a whole bunch of high-flying internet startups, which had been handed a whole bunch of venture capitalist investment and whose stock prices had risen very high, turned out to have no prospects of making any money, at which point the stock prices crashed, the companies went bankrupt, and they never paid back the money. The big AI firms do have some revenue, but far, far less than their operating expenses, certainly nothing like enough to pay back their debts. When the optimistic "animal spirits" of the investors give way to the fear that maybe there might not be any more "greater fools" to flip the stock to, they will start to sell, stock prices will tank, and lenders will refuse to lend more money. The companies will go bankrupt, and they will never pay back the massive amounts of money that have been invested in them.

So far, so just like the dotcom crash. However, it is far bigger than the dotcom bubble, and the investment in it has involved a lot of clever dodgy financial shenanigans, which probably involve a lot of leverage. When these go south, the impact will be magnified and wreak havoc in balance sheets of a lot of apparently unrelated places, like the 2008 crash. The fallout will probably bring down crypto and may crash property again, and between all that a whole lot of financial institutions will be deeply vulnerable.

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Quoting: CorbenI hope Valve will improve the Steam VR experience, maybe they did in the meantime.

Im fairly sure for the complete novice anything is better than the current dumpster fire landscape that is VR.

even your post is quite revealing no ?

WayVR
Envision
Monado
XRizer
OpenComposite

and all sorts of tweaking , software settings & correct vulkan , rust versions & so on.. and that above does not include half a dozen other jargon terms in relation to VR to bamboozle the user. let alone installation of lighthouses with valve or requiring meta accounts.

But for VR to be a total success ? :

Step 1. Press play on Steam game with wireless dongle connected.
Step 2. Place battery charged headset on & pick up controllers.

Step 3. Play game.

if that is what valve achieve with the frame, then it will be a success imo.

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EGS Exclusive = doesn't exist [to me]

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Quoting: gbudnyThat's interesting. I thought French was more popular in Canada because many native French-speaking people live there.

Most of the Francophone population across the country are fluently bilingual, meaning that they often just blend in with the Anglophone majority, outside of certain regions of Quebec and what once was Acadia in parts of the Maritime provinces.

Our federal institutions are obligated to provide services in French, and commercial packaging bears both French and English labels (what I like to call "cereal box French"), but beyond that you would be hard pressed to ever need to learn or use French in Alberta where I live.

Quoting: HamishMaybe you should contact Sleepless and ask about the Linux version of Inner Worlds. I don't think they have a CD, but maybe they could help you obtain the archive for your article. I didn't ask them about it.

The MS DOS version of Inner Worlds was made explicitly freeware, and the Linux version has been found and distributed on the Internet Archive, but I do intend to try and get in touch with Sleepless Software at some point to clarify the legal status of this before I would cover the game for an article.

Quoting: HamishCan you share your opinion on the license for LinCycles for Linux? The README file mentions payments and the availability of the source code for an old version. I'm not sure if it was a commercial title that was re-released as freeware because one of the comments from an author is odd.

Loading up the binary distributed from old SunSITE archives displays the following message:
"LinCycles v2.1unreg by Oliver Richman.
(C) Copyright 1996 Five Wheel Horse Software.

This program is Shareware! The trial period is 30 days.
If you like LinCycles, then please register it. For only $5,
we will send you the registered version of LinCycles, plus our
nifty FWH software catalogue! Source code for all programs are
available. (see the read.me file for more information).
PLEASE REGISTER LINCYCLES! ALSO ASK ABOUT OUR REALLY COOL PDSOFTWARE CATALOG!"

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Quoting: ZlopezLet's hope the bubble around AI will burst soon.

Im not sure it's a bubble like the dot.com or 2008 housing crash. This is a different thing entirely. Im not sure a crash would occur in the same way. Even then the RAM that is already taken is not for consumer machines and the contracts to produce Ai server RAM are fully locked in until 2029 in most cases. This probably isn't ending soon, And when it does, the next grift will be incoming using those very data centers.

The fact is the longer this goes on the less budget friendly end user hardware it is reasonable to manufacture vs demand. Everyday office staff requiring a 'budget' $2500 Computer per seat VS a tempting $20 USB dongle + wifi Andriod windows terminal 'with free license' cloud PC. Then for home there is Windows-Xbox CloudOS, ChromeOS or an associated android tablet app ( these tablets end up with minimal inside RAM and specs). And we move to what all tech-corporations have been dreaming about since forever which is:

Tiered access Subscription Cloud OS,
Tiered access Subscription Cloud Applications
Tiered access Subscription Cloud Application Support
Tired access Subscription Cloud Gaming
Tired access Subscription Ai services

No end user control. Own nothing, Be miserable and poor unless exec / shareholder.

Of course just like with Vinyl it never went away, you pay much more for the privalage of owning your own Music physically. But for most regular people, if prices don't normalize then i think we might be doing Google stadia again ..

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Quoting: Stella...the currently most widely known screensaver program, XScreensaver, works only in x11

Afaik most recent version works on Wayland.

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I'm tempted. D2 & 3 were my favorites. I forced myself to finish 4. The always-online is annoying.

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"With a release every six months plus LMDE, we spend more time testing, fixing, and releasing than developing"

Well at least you're spending enough time on testing and fixing, unlike some other people working on some other OS..

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Thank you for your response.

Quoting: HamishDo you learn French in schools in Canada?
It varies based on which province you are in, but not as a general rule no, although it is often offered. The irony of my household is that the only person who has a working understanding of French is my father, who was born and raised in New Zealand.

That's interesting.
I thought French was more popular in Canada because many native French-speaking people live there.

Quoting: HamishMy understanding is that the Linux version was only ever available through mail order from them directly or through a few select vendors, which is part of the reason it is so difficult to find on the second hand market.

The list of vendors for the Linux version of Hopkins FBI was long, but I don't know the exact situation with this game. The Linux version was much shorter because the 3D levels similar to Doom aren't part of this game.

Quoting: HamishSame with Abuse and Inner Worlds.

You are probably right because it's hard to find information about the Linux version of Abuse.

I don't understand the situation with Inner Worlds because people played this game in the 90's, and the Linux version should be on the CD. I don't have it, and I only saw a version without the Linux binaries on one of the auctions.

Maybe you should contact Sleepless and ask about the Linux version of Inner Worlds. I don't think they have a CD, but maybe they could help you obtain the archive for your article. I didn't ask them about it.

That Freeware go-cart game was available on a CD with source code, but I didn't find any information about it on archive.org

Can you share your opinion on the license for LinCycles for Linux?

The README file mentions payments and the availability of the source code for an old version. I'm not sure if it was a commercial title that was re-released as freeware because one of the comments from an author is odd.

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As cool as it is to have a new class the QoL features are an even bigger deal for me. Having a grail tracker built is A+++ No more having to maintain a spreadsheet, forgetting to update it and then having to go through so many plugy stash tabs to reconcile.

That being said, having infinite stash tabs a la plugy is another massively needed feature. Being able to track grail progress but not being able to keep every item is incongruent.

Thank god they added a loot filter too. I haven't looked into it but I hope it's quite granular and the settings are exportable so I can do things like filter out white items but keep things like monarchs. Even better would be even more granular settings where I can filter out crystal swords unless they are specific ilvls to ensure they will roll 4os from Larzuk but that's just a pipe dream.

I'm very curious to see what the Warlock sprites look like in the old renderer.

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Quoting: gbudnyDo you learn French in schools in Canada?

It varies based on which province you are in, but not as a general rule no, although it is often offered. The irony of my household is that the only person who has a working understanding of French is my father, who was born and raised in New Zealand.

Quoting: gbudnyI don't know it. I think MP Entertainment released Hopkins FBI for Linux in April 1999. I'm not sure if it was available in stores like Walmart in the U.S. Maybe some Americans remember it.

My understanding is that the Linux version was only ever available through mail order from them directly or through a few select vendors, which is part of the reason it is so difficult to find on the second hand market.

Same with Abuse and Inner Worlds.

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Quoting: SalvatosMy God that's a lot of physical games.

I played The Magic of Inventorying with some friends a while back (got it in an earlier mega-bundle). It's good fun.

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Went back and finished it after all. Changing the wheels out for tracks, and then robot legs, added a lot of stability, but it still wasn't enough to stop tossing things out the side here and there, making the 10 minute trip from the last depot into almost twice that, gingerly navigating every little fold in the landscape.

It didn't get any more fun, but at least I now have a nice new spacesuit set for regular playthroughs.

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Oh ha! Long Dark is back! Nice, I bought in on GOG back then, then they pulled it and I was left with not bugfixes / updates. Glad it is back.

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Even if you don't care about all the 1400+ games in the bundle... buying it just for the fantastic game Baba is You is still a 33% discount 😃

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You're laughing now, just wait until they re-re-release the same game again as Overwatch II. 🍌🍌

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Hopefully this does not stall the momentum of Linux on gaming devices. Proton and Steam Deck were driving adoption. Every deck sold was a potential new Linux user. We need more users, to demand more support from studios.

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Actually, for offline play, you do not want steam cloud. That would mess up everything.

(copying chars off, so you can duplicate things (runes mostly) etc. for science)

Any online chars of course are avail on any platform, as long as it's the same
bnet acct.

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I definitely must have this in my ever expanding steam library!

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