Off Topic > Engineering

The revolution has arrived.

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Nemesis:
Link to full article on eWeek


--- Quote ---Sounds hard to believe? Well, IDC analyst Al Gillen recently said that "Linux is no longer a fringe player. Linux is now mainstream." He made that observation because IDC's research predicts that Linux's overall revenue for desktops, servers and packaged software running on Linux will exceed $35 billion by 2008.
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--- Quote ---It's not just HP and Linux companies like Red Hat and Novell that are greeting Linux with open arms. IBM, Intel and Oracle have embraced Linux.

None of these companies are doing it because they get warm fuzzies from neo-hippie, socialist dreams of open software and free love, as some hyperventilating critics have claimed. They're doing it because Linux makes good, hard business sense.
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--- Quote ---I even see Microsoft Office, perhaps the most bloated software suite ever, finally losing ground. That's because Sun's open-source OpenOffice.org 2.0 is looking very, very good.

Not only does it have excellent Office file format compatibility, it's finally become a fast application. I've used OpenOffice for ages, but I've never warmed up to it. It's always been too darn slow. With this last pre-beta, though? woo! Look out Microsoft Office, OpenOffice means business.
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--- Quote ---The revolution has arrived.
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Sirgod:
That is very good news. I hope more Game Developers catch on, and I say this in earnest.

Stephen

Nemesis:

--- Quote from: Stephen on January 04, 2005, 06:22:58 pm ---That is very good news. I hope more Game Developers catch on, and I say this in earnest.

Stephen
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One thing that game developers could do is put a game on a bootable Linux DVD.  Compatible hardware could be listed on a web site as could patches.  On bootup the DVD could check the harddrive for patches and saved games and apply the patch to the version in memory.   An alternate would be to include a flashdrive (or ability to access a generic one such as my 5 compact flash cards) on which the patches and saves could be stored.  Such a system might make a good games console.  Since the DVD supplies the operating system permanent storage could be left out, lowering the price.  The fact that Linux is already ported to numerous processor architectures would allow the console to use the most economical processor rather than the most powerful.

There are already bootable linux CD distributions.  Knoppix and Mandrake Move are just two of them.  There is even a Knoppix variant that is all opensource games.

Javora:
I've always thought of this as a matter of when not if it is going to happen.  But the key to all of this is the game producers.  When they start making the games themselves in Linux and not just the servers then we will see people taking a hard look at Linux.  I'm still holding out hope that Blizzard will make Starcraft 2 for both Microsoft and Linux like the original Starcraft was made for PC and Mac.  I can't wait for the day when Microsoft has to make MS Office for the Linux platform.  At that point we can finally say good-bye to Windows bloatware and DRM for good.  It's all just a matter of time.   ;D

Nemesis:
There are some big name games on Linux.  Never Winter Nights for one.  Several major shooters as well.

Challenges for Microsoft:

Windows - Linux
Office - OpenOffice, Sun Office, KOffice
Internet Explorer - Mozilla, FireFox, Konquerer
Outlook - Thunderbird - Sunbird
Access - MySQL
IIS - Apache

Several of these run on Windows as well as Linux (some also run on MACs). 
The OpenOffice file format may become an ISO standard. 
FireFox/Mozilla have been recommended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 
Thunderbird is newer but picking up steam.  Sunbird is an expansion of Thunderbird to compete with Outlooks PIM abilities that Thunderbird does not try to integrate. 
Apache equals or exceeds IIS in market penetration but is rarely targetted for attacks.  Could it be that it is more secure?

Originally the PC was targetted at offices.  People who used them at the office bought the same machine and OS to use at home, the games folllowed. 

The Linux route seems to be Server - Office Desktop - Home Desktop - Home games machine.  The transition to Office Desktop is ongoing.  In servers from small printservers to firewalls to supercomputers Linux is there as a major and strengthening force.  Linux is already available on a far wide array of device types than Windows ever has been or will be. 

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