The Verge article is very enlightening on many subjects. Please give it a read if you haven't: https://www.theverge.com/24090470/playtron-gaming-os-linux-handhelds-exclusive

Further excerpts from The Verge article:

QuotePlaytron will cost companies like Ayaneo a fraction of the price of Windows, he says, around $10 per head instead of the $80 that OEMs tell him they spend today. And he says games like Fortnite and Roblox shouldn’t have to fear hackers reverse engineering their anti-cheat solutions because its Fedora Silverblue base has an immutable file system. (I thought SteamOS was immutable, too, but I’ll let more knowledgeable Linux users argue that one.)

QuoteMcMaster says he’s hired the developer behind Box86 to bring Windows games to efficient Arm-based silicon, potentially getting us out of the rut where today’s portable PCs max out at two to three hours of AAA gaming battery life.

QuoteIf you’re wondering how a brand-new startup convinces hardware manufacturers and mobile carriers with what looks like a glorified games launcher and a few big ideas, you’re not alone. Even Playtron’s allies aren’t trying to claim this is a sure bet.

“It’s a game of conditional probabilities; 10 different things need to happen and each of them has a very low probability of success,” says Carlos Castellanos, an investor at Samsung Next who led Playtron’s first round of funding. Game publishers, hardware manufacturers, cellular carriers, and the community would all need to be engaged.

QuoteThat said, Lagerling also helped broker Google’s short-lived purchase of Motorola, and McMaster probably destroyed CyanogenMod while trying to turn it into CyanogenOS. He tells me he learned that you shouldn’t try to commercialize an open-source project with a significant history because it can lead to culture wars — but says that, this time, everyone’s aligned from the start.

“They all have the open-source ethos, but they’re all gamers... they want to build an open source operating system that allows them to play unencumbered.”

QuotePlaytron hasn’t quite decided just how open source it’ll be, though, and how much it will cater to Linux power gamers versus the next hundred million that Playtron hopes to bring into the fold. McMaster tells me Playtron’s definitely skewing more toward the ease of use of a Nintendo Switch, partnering with Perplexity on an AI agent that could keep “core-casual” gamers from ditching games prematurely just because they got stuck on a challenge or puzzle. There’ll be no Linux desktop mode.

QuoteAnd yet, Playtron’s also hoping to get help from Linux power users, releasing a public alpha in the next 60 days so the community can request features, contribute to code repositories if they can, and help improve game compatibility by building launch configs and test scripts.

QuoteValve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais now tells me the company’s finally working directly with other companies to bring SteamOS to its handhelds

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Quoting: melkemindI think some people are confused by this announcement. They're not making another handheld. They're making an OS. This is essentially a new Linux distro. But I'm guessing it'll end up being more like ChromeOS (with proprietary bits on top) than your typical distro.

From The Verge interview Liam linked:

Quote“We’re in conversation with numerous OEMs and mobile operators to build and deploy Playtron devices around the world in the 2025 timeframe,” McMaster tells me — adding that Ayaneo plans to ship a native Playtron handheld by the end of 2024.

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Quoting: mylkayou know this is a remake of a game that already has LINUX support?
when they say there will be a linux version, i am very confident, that they will deliver
they just released a game with linux support: Beyond a Steel Sky

No, I didn't know that

This post is the first I'm hearing of this game.

Quoting: rustybroomhandleNone of your Previouslys are games from this company. All Revolution's games published / remastered since 2010 have had Linux support. Two of them even had Kickstarters.

That's good to hear. A track record like that makes them trustworthy and gives that claim weight.

---

But, can you blame me for being skeptical? It's not a small number of Kickstarter campaigns that have promised a Linux version and never delivered it, or delivered it years later.

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This is the first time I've heard of this game, but it looks quite cool. I'm famously bad at point-and-click adventures, but it looks good. When it comes out on GOG, I might buy it.

Very interesting usage of LLM tooling. I wonder what the benefits are; it almost seems more costly and more work to do it the way they're doing it.

QuoteIt will have full Linux support too, as confirmed by the developer.

We'll see.

Previously, Previously, Previously, ...

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QuoteCurrently Apex Legends uses Easy Anti-Cheat, which clearly isn't defending against these attacks. We've seen other EA published titles move over to EA AntiCheat, which blocks Linux, so hopefully EAC will combat it and we don't get left with another broken game that moves over to EA's own tech for it.

I would not be at all surprised if this is exactly what happens. I don't play Apex Legends, but it would be sad to see one of the most popular multiplayer games that works on Linux go that way.

Wine is meant to be compatible with Windows software—including malware. While EAC doesn't have kernel-level access on Linux like it does on Windows, a RCE exploit would still be bad.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyThe basic problem comes down to monopoly. Something should be done about that problem. On this topic a good read is Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow's "Chokepoint Capitalism".

I'm a fan of Cory Doctorow. Unauthorized Bread has been my favorite of his since pretty much when it was out. I'll have to get to Chokepoint Capitalism eventually.

Cory Doctorow has also written about Audible: https://www.brandonsanderson.com/guest-editorial-cory-doctorow-is-a-bestselling-author-but-audible-wont-carry-his-audiobooks/

I see that the chapter I listened to was actually an excerpt from Chokepoint Capitalism. All the more reason to buy that book sometime soon (I'm still listening to Little Brother).

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Quoting: poiuz

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualAmazon takes 75%, for those curious, and 60% if you agree to make your audiobook exclusive to Audible. This is before the publisher even takes their cut.

QuoteIt's actually generally considered pretty good deal, the audiobook stuff is.
You come off pretty well. You may earn a little bit less. […] The money is not as good as print but that's because they also have to hire all these people to do these wonderful audiobooks and a lot of money is going to them as deservedly so. So, you can expect to earn around 2 bucks an audiobook. And that's good money.

Brandon Sanderson on Audible, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C59eOLX2K-A&t=2106

If I was doing all the work then I'd take more money, too. Whether it's generally a fair deal is a different question (the lecture is almost ancient) but it's also not generally unfair.

/edit: Published too soon by mistake.

Those are revenue shares for any audiobooks you do that you want to put on Audible, including your own. I don't know what the deal is with Audible Originals. There's an argument to be made that there are much larger files involved than ebooks (about 100-200 times larger, in some cases), but that's still incredibly cutthroat. Audible can demand that because everyone uses Audible for audiobooks. Where else are you going to go?

The publisher that pays for the audiobook to be done (either in-house or contracted out from a studio Audible has no ties with) gets 25-40% of the revenue, as compared to 70% on Kindle. You have more options for ebooks. Way more options. Apple Books is probably the most profitable store, actually.

Edit: I've watched the bit of the lecture you linked. Yes, Brandon's argument that you have a captive audience is a good one. Audible's monopoly on audiobooks means that, despite earning a lot less, you can expect to make more sales than selling direct on your publisher's site, for example.

If you had the marketing budget, would it be more effective advertising on Amazon to get more Audible sales, or more effective driving traffic to your own site and getting 100% of the revenue? Would advertising on Amazon get you 4 sales for every 1 sale you get driving traffic to your site? Bit of a tough question without analytics, but i don't think it's quite 4 times as much in most cases. But if you exclusively sell on Amazon and get the 60-40 revenue share? Well, then Audible starts to make more sense...

The downside, of course, is that you can't sell DRM-free audiobooks on Audible. So you could screw over your customers by taking the exclusive deal and not offering them a DRM-free version on the publisher's site, and possibly make more money, reinforcing Audible's monopoly.

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Quoting: tuubiYeah, I couldn't do banking on my phone. I wouldn't even want to, but I'm sure that's a blocker for many people. The rest of the stuff on your list (and calendar events, alarms, etc.) are fine.

I can't carry around enough cash for all possible purchases (besides, the number of stores even accepting cash is decreasing), so I need an easy way to transfer money quickly. Notifications for unexpected transactions also help me notice fraud more quickly.

The NFC payment feature in my banking app is also handy for reducing fraud, and isn't tied to Apple, Google, Samsung, or god forbid, Meta. Only to my bank, who has all my details and transaction history anyway. Not a requirement, but definite value add.

My phone is also a lot more secure than my computers (my GrapheneOS phone anyway, not my Pinephone), so I can't blame anybody for wanting to do their banking on a phone. Despite my distaste for phones, that's not a point I can even debate.

Quoting: tuubiSignal's official Android app worked fine on my Sailfish phone (using the inbuilt Android compatibility layer) when I tried it, except that it couldn't access my contacts. There's also a native client called Whisperfish that's still a bit janky but it mostly does the job. Same goes for Telegram: The official Android app works fine, and so does the slightly stripped down version on F-Droid, but I use a native FOSS client called Fernschreiber to chat to my Telegram contacts. But only if I'm not near a computer. I like a proper keyboard.

The problem is, Signal requires me to have one phone and only one phone. You can only have one primary phone, and you can't transfer message history (easily), and it's all a big pain. I've heard Waydroid takes upwards of 7 minutes to startup on a Pinephone. Even if it worked (I tried Axolotl a few years ago, it did not work), I'm just not willing to disable one device so I can only use it on another. And the fact that I even feel I need a "backup phone" is reason enough not to do it. That's Signal's fault, but it is the biggest blocker for me. I'm glad it works for you.

I despise typing on a phone. Everything about it is awful. But, well, sometimes I don't have a keyboard near me, or need to call someone when I'm out.

Quoting: tuubiWe've got a couple of Sony Xperia 10 III phones with paid Sailfish X licenses, and the OS installation was a manual process. There are currently no phones available with Sailfish OS pre-installed.

Before these I had the original Xperia 10, and before that the original Jolla phone from 2013 (a developer version that I got for free). As you can see, I don't really like phones, and I don't buy new ones until I absolutely need to.

If you wanted to run Linux on a phone, that would be the way to do it. Definitely don't buy a Pinephone...unless you just want something to play with for a few hours.

I'm not a fan of phones either. That's why I bought a Google Pixel when my iPhone went EOL (longest life of all Android phones, comparable to iPhones, for much cheaper), flashed GrapheneOS on it, installed as few apps as possible, and leave it plugged into the charger most of the time. It's precisely because I don't like phones that I want something with minimal fuss. GrapheneOS is as good a compromise between free software and usability I think I'm going to get right now. Only three of my apps are from Google Play; the rest I get from Github and the like via Obtainium.

And just for some levity: https://youtu.be/qBHgJx_rb8E

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Quoting: 1430%? Now, let's talk about Audible....

Amazon takes 75%, for those curious, and 60% if you agree to make your audiobook exclusive to Audible. This is before the publisher even takes their cut.

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Quoting: tuubi

Quoting: s01itudelinux on mobile (outside of android) is basically a joke at best at this point

That's a bit harsh. I've been happy with Sailfish OS on my phones for years, and the wife isn't complaining either. If you're into mobile gaming or something, sure, it's not a realistic option, but it's certainly not a joke for those of us with simpler needs.

I've owned a Pinephone for a few years now. I never use it and would never rely on it for even my simple needs with a phone. For reference, those are:

• Maps


• Messages


• Calls


• Email


• 2FA device


• Banking (can do it in the browser, I guess)

The first time I received the phone, the modem was completely dead and I needed to RMA it. I needed to completely disassemble the phone and then re-assemble it when the replacement part arrived (thankfully free-of-charge). It seemed to be working after this.

Once I finally managed to get the SIM card into the phone (contender for "least fun experience ever"), it was...okay. I can't run Signal on it, so I can't message anybody. The touch/gestures registration leaves a lot to be desired. It's very slow. The battery life is awful unless I carry around an extra Li-on battery in my pocket to swap when it's getting low (I'm reminded of traveling with a DSLR). I can't trust it to be able to handle calls when I need them. It's the flakiest thing I've ever owned. I consider myself willing to put up with a lot, but the experience is going to need to become a lot more reliable before I consider revisiting it and relying on it again.

And, well, it may not matter anyway, as Linux-based operating systems are considering dropping support for the Pinephone after only a few years.

Perhaps the experience is better on Android phones that have been flashed with a Linux-based operating system. I'd rather just run GrapheneOS right now, to be honest.

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