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Mandriva Businesses

Mandrake Linux Gamer Edition 232

Posted by michael from the emulate-this dept.
JWhiton writes: "According to Blue's News, Mandrake and TransGaming are going to ship a new distribution of Mandrake Linux specificially aimed at gamers. It comes with The Sims and TransGaming's WineX for compatibility with Windows games. Apparently it's going to ship on November 9th."
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Mandrake Linux Gamer Edition More

Mandrake Linux Gamer Edition

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  • I wonder if the point-and-drool herds that think Linux is the next 'cool' thing will be able to cope with it.

    I watched a co-worker attempt to use my laptop which has debian installed on it. How I laughed he actually asked me if I was running XP !!

    The dork thought that KDE was XP

    Although world domination is the goal, I can't help but wonder if the windoze using public is ready for it.

    Be prepared for a whole load of newbie questions to clog up the mandrake mailing lists and newsgroups!

    • Re:Is Linux ready for this ? (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward
      maybe that says more about the originality of the KDE interface than it does about your co-worker's knowledge? walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, etc

    • point-and-drool herds (Score:1, Flamebait)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Congratulations, you just figured out why Linux is taking so long to cut into Microsoft's desktop market share: A large number of Linux users are condescending dorks like you.

    • I don't know which is funnier... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Blaede ( 266638 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @03:10PM (#2454976)
      ...the Linux jihad complaining that Windows users can't see the light about Linux, or the other Linux jihad complaining that now all these Windows users will start using Linux!
      • Microsoft tactlessly calling their marketing campaigns "jihads" OR TexasFury here ascribing that kind of offensiveness to the Linux community's ambivalence about improving gaming by hacking the Windows versions.

        SNL's Will Ferrell's GWB: "Don't mess with Texas!"
        • ..., your own sheer idiocy. Obviously, you paid no heed to the fact about how I observered one camp of Linxers complain about Windows being 'sheep', and the other complains that the 'sheep' will now start using Linux. Then again, when an idiot. always an idiot (just like the parable of the scorpion, the frog, and the river). But you make me laugh heartily, as all fools make me want do. Don't ever change, sweet lad, the world needs people like you to laugh at.

    • Good (Score:1)

      by Ybrog ( 443335 )
      You know, there is a good percentage of the "windoze using public" who don't use Linux
      because it doesn't provide any benefit other than saying, "I'm using Linux."

      Before those you ridicule can be ready for Linux, they need to educate themselves or have someone else teach them about it.

      Any effort to get more people interested is a good effort in my opinion, not because MS products are, well, terrible, but because competition is a good thing.

  • This is awesome! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by DavonZ ( 13344 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:25PM (#2454875) Homepage
    Finally there may be a distro that can capture the gamer and the techie. I hate dual booting! This could be the answer I have been looking for. I agree that I am not too hot on the Mandrake distro, but this does have potential.

    LD

    • Re:This is awesome! (Score:2, Insightful)

      by btellier ( 126120 )
      Forget it, man.. It's a noble effort but until the software companies start actually dual-developing Linux games and releasing them SIMULTANEOUSLY with the windows distro this will never happen. If simultaneous dual platform development was ever going to happen it would've happened with the Mac 5 years ago. Macs still have a bigger marketshare on the PC than Linux, but game companies refuse to take the extra expense to do the ports for them.

      Linux has it's use with the person who wants total control over his OS, not with the person who needs the latest/greatest games. Until Linux gets a >10% market share on the home PC market we're not going to progress any further on the games front.
    • Definitely agreed, I've never gotten excited about anything to do with Linux and gaming, even though I'm an avid fan of both, until now. This actually might go somewhere indeed!

  • Hooray! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Apreche ( 239272 )
    I currently use Manrake 8.1 and I use it for everything except multimedia and games. For which I use win2k. Of course most of everything I do is multimedia and games. Hopefully if this version of mandrake works well, and isn't an unstable piece of junk then I will only have to use windows for multimedia. I just wish it were free. I'm not willing to pay 70$, especially since I don't want the sims.
    I think I might just keep trying to configure mandrake 8.1 to do all that stuff.

  • This is GREAT!! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HanzoSan ( 251665 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:33PM (#2454887) Homepage Journal
    This is a GOOD MOVE!!

    packing games with linux and calling it the gaming edition is genius.

    Gamers who may not otherwise have ever known about linux will see linux plays games and may actually improve frame rates and speed, they might actually buy it just for gaming purposes considering they spend $500 almost for Gforce3 graphics cards and soundcard. Linux could be sold on the fact that it is a "gaming" OS.

    Think about that.

    Example. Linux Mandrake Gaming Edition (Starcraft)
    Linux Mandrake Gaming Edition (Warcraft 3)
    Linux Mandrake Gaming Edition (Quake 3)

    And if they manage to somehow get these versions to have higher frame rates ,extra features, and perhaps make it easy enough to install, people will have a reason to use linux. To play their favorite games!

    • I'm also excited about this. Maybe, finally, I can actually RUN Unreal Tournament! Imagine:

      standard linux attempt at launching Unreal

      [dopple@c851470-a dopple] unreal

      WARNING: Unreal has detected that you want to launch Unreal Would you like a headache? (Yes/Yes)y

      WARNING: Missing dependencies

      libyousuck.so
      libhaha.so
      libObscureVoodooDriver.so

      WARNING: Unreal is too retarded to find libglide2x.so

      WARNING: Unreal has found libglide2x.so, but it is a cursed version

      WARNING: X sucks for 3D gaming

      error: DRI is enabled, but it wasn't compiled by the programmer's girlfriend.

      WARNING: Detected posts on Slashdot proclaiming Linux gaming to be the key to mainstream acceptance. Would you like to post as an AC refuting these claims? (Y/Y)

      Mandrake: Linux Gamer edition

      just double-click the Unreal icon. Just like Windows

  • This is why... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kikta ( 200092 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:35PM (#2454889)
    ...Mandrake is important to gaining a foothold on the desktop and with the average user. Are they the most stable distro? No. Even though I love Mandrake, I won't even try to pretend otherwise on that issue. However, do they have a shit-hot installation routine, lots of pre-loaded goodies, excellent configuration tools, and a strong focus on giving the end user what they want/need? Hell yes.

    I always hear Mandrake derided by a signifigant portion of the /. crowd, but for what faults it may have as a distro, it is also the missing link. RedHat will take servers, SuSE the scientific/engineering community, Debian the ubergeeks, and who on the desktop? That's right, Mandrake. This will help to increase the foothold they have already started. (Hopefully!)
    • Mandrake also has the WindowsNT Windows 2000 Power user crowd.

      The only thing missing from the power user OS was the games. Power users want their games, well now they have it. Its only a matter of time before millions of windows2k buying Gforce3 using gamers rush the Linux OS.
      • I doubt many Win2k power users are ever going to switch to linux. Like it or not, Win2k is supirior to linux for most power users' needs. It is plenty stable for desktop use (I've only had 3 BSODs in over a year of running Win2k) and has all the hardware and software support a power user could ever need. Until Linux has just as good hardware and software support as Win2k the power users will never touch it. And since we all know linux will never get to that point you can forget about the power users. For me specificaly it's the lack of HPNA 2.0 support and Half-Life which have kept me from switching. Get thoes working under linux just as good as they work under Win2k and I'll start to think about switching, but I'm not holding my breath.

        And yes, I'm aware there isn't much anybody besides Valve and Broadcom can do about it. And no, I don't care about such excuses.

    • Re:This is why... (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Please don't discriminate like that. RedHat on servers? I don't think so; you need something more solid and stable. Suse for science/engineering? Why? And there's plenty of other good distributions, e.g. Slackware. These classifications may make sense to you, but they don't to me, so I doubt they're valid in general; they just make people get angry at you or think you're a stupid slashdaughter.

    • Re:This is why... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Andrewkov ( 140579 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @03:33PM (#2455018)
      RedHat will take servers, SuSE the scientific/engineering community, Debian the ubergeeks,

      I'm not an "ubergeek", I just like decent package management!!

    • Who said that mandrake is not stable? I have never had a problem, I started with 5.1 just to not have to rebuild kde. I think that alot of newbies using mdk have given it a bad rap. The fact is they just don't know how to fix the little problems that do come up now and then. Linux is Linux, I roll my own kernels and if I don't like a config I vi it tell I do.
    • Yeah, I agree. I get tired of hearing people diss on Mandrake. It's a good distro for the desktop, and they're clearly interested in doing what it takes to get Linux out there and available for the 'average user.' Mandrake is what I use for my desktop distro at home. If i want to run a server here at work, I use Slackware or BSD... but for general "home use" type stuff, for me, at least, Mandrake takes the cake. Kudos to them for making the "right move."

  • Oh God! Let us all pray! WINE is great for some stuff but with certain games it just doesn't work or works poorly.

    Oh well, I'll go back to `wine /windows/Unreal/system/unreal.exe` when I can get it to run in full screen mode!

  • Great move (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Red Moose ( 31712 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:37PM (#2454896)
    This may be a very good thing, if not *the* best thing to happen Linux Distro's in a long time.

    1. People who know what they are doing will build their own customised version from whatever version or distro they downloaded to work from.

    2. I am firmly of the opinion that Linux should stop trying to compete with Windows on Windows's home ground - the office market. Those people are sluggish and resistant to change (we'll see how many even upgrade to Office 2000, not to mind Office XP, or Windows XP)

    3. I think the linux missed out on exploiting a weakness in Windows - gaming - by the OS community concentrating on Windows one-upmanship with StarOffice vs. MS Office, etc., . WIn32 GUI vs. Gnome/KDE (who cares, like I said, people who know what they want will use FVWM if needs be, and the Office-lethargic group will stick with Windows/MS as has been shown).

    Years ago (like 10 maybe) people would say to quit using that Amiga - it's a kid's computer and all you do is games or graphics, etc., . These days the thing that drives PC sales is exactly what MS lackey's would have scorned - games sell new PCs; that Clippy fucker doesn't.

    Linux, if a direction should be made (I realise that that goes against general OS consenus, but I see more inventiveness and ingenuity from the demoscene (the real demoscene) with no OS at all IMHO), should aim to beat Windows at what it's weaknesses are, not by trying to beat it on it's strengths (Office, hardware support....I'd happily buy that one video card supporting everything than have a choice of 50 with shitty support).

    • I'm not sure Linux will ever be able to compete with Windows on gaming. As much as Linux may be able to run the hardware better, it'll never let games run as free as Win98 does. In this area, you have to choose between security/flexibility (eg : X-windows layers) and performance.

      Right now, the only reason PCs can hold their own against consoles is the ability to upgrade hardware. But once the XBox is out, this advantage may be lost. Linux could end up winning the battle just as PCs loose the war.

      Besides, I'm more productive when I have to dual-boot between work and play. :) I'd rather Linux had solid multimedia than gaming.

      • Who's to say that the distribution taking over the desktop market has to be anything like a real UNIX system? Someone could make a distribution where everything would be tuned for speed and ease of use, perhaps comprimising security, but as long as it only affects the machine it's running on it's no one's business.

        What I'm trying to say is Linux isn't one thing like windows, linux is (yes, just the kernel I know) a bunch of stuff thrown together and could be made into a system working somewhat like windows. As long as everything is binary compatible everything should be fine, I think.
        • > Someone could make a distribution where everything > would be tuned for speed and ease of use, perhaps > comprimising security, but as long as it only
          > affects the machine it's running on it's no one's
          > business.

          We are talking about PCs. Their idea is that you can do more than one thing with them.
    • That one video card would be the ATI Radeon, for those who don't know.
    • "I think the linux missed out on exploiting a weakness in Windows - gaming"

      I don't think gaming is Windows' weakness. That's more like its strength, considering how 99% of computer games are coded for Windows, and even cross-platform games are almost always released for Windows first... plus Windows has all the great hardware support you need for gaming.

      Windows games are actually quite stable too, when they're coded right. True, they're not coded right very often, but that's the game developers' fault, not the OS. Crap code is crap code that will crash no matter what OS you're running it on.
      • There's a difference between technical suitability and marketplace suitability. Windows gets the games first because it's a big market. It's a big market because it gets the games first. Round and round it goes - infinite recursion without a base case. From a technical standpoint, it's not very good at all for games.
        • infinite recursion without a base case.

          Uhh - MS Office?

          It seems to be the outlook of the "gamer" community that most games are purchased by "gamers. It's not true -- the PC game market is driven by normal people who do normal things on their computers and blow off steam with the occasional game. The "base case" is that the environment is attractive without the games, which are almost entirely a secondary market. (Of course, people seem to forget that, which is why hardware requirements have pushed the PC game market into the toilet.)

          In other words, games won't bring about Linux users. Linux users will bring about the games.
        • Actually, Windows 2000 is VERY suitable for games. Why? I thought you'd never ask:

          1) Kernel tuning: The Win2K Pro kernel isn't a server kernel gussied up for the desktop. It shamelessly gives heavy preference to the foreground application (screw UNIXy ideals of "fairness") and gives boosts to media-oriented processes over other types of processes. For example, reading for a sound device gives you thread an 8 point temporary boost in priority while reading from disk gives you a 2 point boost.

          2) DirectX: Still unmatched by any other multimedia API on the planet. Maybe OpenGL 2.0 + OpenML + OpenAL could kick its ass, but I have yet to see such a combo in use. What really sucks about Linux multimedia is the situation with audio. ALSA is great, but nothing really uses it that much. Then you have the brain-dead aRts and esound scheme which take a trip down memory lane to software mixing...

          3) Hardware. Not only does Windows support more hardware, but it supports it better. More acceleration gets used and more features are implemented.

          4) Simplicity: Packages don't work for gaming systems. While packages are nice in theory, RPM (I don't have much experience with Debian, but it isn't a player in this market anyway) sucks monkey balls when it comes to keep track of applications. I have yet to go through DLL-hell in Windows, but everytime I want to upgrade something, RPM puts me through a giant dependency chase/conflict resolution. urpmi is shaping up to be pretty great, but its still not there yet. For example, it often installs cruft that are supposedly dependencies for an app, but the app doesn't actually *require* them (the package maker thought they'd be nice to have).

          Of course, Linux technically has a lot of advantages too. Its got a killer VM/IO system, and new memory hungry games can use that. It has great latency (with the new patches) which is good for audio. With a few tweeks (and a lot of changes to developer methodology) Linux could become more suitable for games than Windows. But it isn't right now.
          • About the only thing you mention that was a technical issue was point #1 - the kernels. Everything else is a marketplace issue. DirectX is NOT better than openGL, but it has more proliferation, and therefore coding to it gives you access to more types of hardware. Windows hardware support is also due to marketplace, given that Microsoft doesn't do the work to support the hardware, the HARDWARE vendor chooses to do the work to support Windows. The OS itself can't do a damn thing to fix the "I don't feel like supporting you because you are a small market" problem. The package issue has nothing to do with the package technology itself and everything to do with the decision of which packages to include on the installation media. Windows games always come bundled with the libraries they use, like DirectX, in case you don't have them installed already, or your installed version is too old. This is, again, a marketplace issue, NOT a technical one.

            The really big problem is social rather than technical. There's this recursion that it's very hard to break out of - Linux distro's won't be popular until they have the features that are aimed at joe average. But they won't put in such features until it becomes popular with joe average. (until then the linux market, consisting mostly of technical types, doesn't care about those features and often thinks of them as a detriment.)

    • >games sell new PCs; that Clippy fucker doesn't. Brilliant! Absolutley hilarious, mod this up!

    • I think the linux missed out on exploiting a weakness in Windows - gaming

      Could you please give reasons or cite examples that prove that gaming is a weakness for Windows, rather than a strength? I don't want to get into the "Windows has a bigger market, and so that's the only reason it has a large market for games" argument, as that doesn't address the issue -- specifically, that Windows is technically inadequate for gaming while Linux is technically superior (extrapolating from your statement that gaming is a weakness of Windows, and that Linux should attempt to beat Windows there).


      I'm serious, here. I don't see how you can justify saying that gaming on Windows is a weakness, so please give me reasons. Thanks.

      • No, I meant in terms of past tense. Before the last 2-3 years and the heavy investment in DirectX, the advent of Windows 95, etc., Linux would have been better off in a direction besides hardcore-compile-your-own, and office. I would have thought that Linux would have been better off if OSS programmers concentrated on creating an equivalent of DX on Linux before Windows/MS ever got around to it. In 1998 OPenGL was still the main 3D API, e.g,. Quake 2, Half-Life, Unreal (I think, but it also used Glide as well).

        For a time, looking back, Windows was aweful for games, and the demise of the home computer market lead to choiceless progression to Windows.

        As it stands right now, no, Windows major major asset is gaming, and I was saying that it is ironic because for years and years I heard "Amiga is for games, get a real computer like a PC", and now the market perspective is exactly that. Windows merely was the choice at the time when the mainstream gaming market was about to boom. If linux had taken that direction things may hav ebeen different.

        The recent article on moving the direction of linux towards an ultimate developer platform may be the next step, but again, MS realises this and is exploiting their ever increasing cement-hold on the industry with the ultimate developer platform being for .NET . So, like business/desktop was the first thing, then gaming, and with it internet, and next with internet comes .NET and solid hold on networks and development.

        Apple were undoubtedly better on the desktop, but lost Amiga, Atari..all the home comps were *the* game machines, they lost too Linux, the real "internet" OS (free, powerful), loses on the next (last?) field.

        I would very much like Linus to quit the reserved crap and get with a decent direction and program objective. MS has created a world dependent on them and as such is difficult ot get rid of (like Alien :) ).

        • Re:Great move (Score:3, Insightful)

          by MrBogus ( 173033 )
          You like games, so Windows "major major asset" is games.

          Fred is a DBA, so Windows "major major asset" is DB modeling tools.

          Sally is a project manager, so Windows "major major asset" is project tools.

          Biff is an accountant, so Windows "major major asset" is spreadsheet software.

          Conculsion 1 : Games are just a piece of the puzzle.

          Conculsion 2: Together, Fred, Sally and Biff buy as many games as you do and run them on Windows because that's where the rest of their action is. If another platform (Linux or Amiga) was better for gaming, it still wouldn't be attractive to them.

          • Fred is a DBA, so Windows "major major asset" is DB modeling tools.

            Recent Oracle clients run on Java technology. Java technology runs on Linux86; Fred can download a Linux version of the SDK [sun.com] or the smaller JRE [sun.com].

            Sally is a project manager, so Windows "major major asset" is project tools.

            She can use MrProject [codefactory.se] or Toutdoux [gnu.org].

            Biff is an accountant, so Windows "major major asset" is spreadsheet software.

            Like Gnumeric [gnome.org]?

            The situation with office apps does not parallel like the situation with Photoshop vs. GIMP. Most office suite users do not need the "high-end features" that Microsoft pushes on users with each new relea$e. Even then, those who clone MS Office don't have to worry about broad color-correction patents that play a significant part in keeping GIMP from matching Photoshop's feature set.

  • Silly for the non-nerds (Score:4, Insightful)

    by grub ( 11606 ) <slashdot@grub.net> on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:41PM (#2454908) Homepage Journal

    Interesting idea, and I applaud the developers, but I really think it's not going to make any new Linux users.

    Little Billy gets a new WinXP machine for xmas all ready to run *every* new Windows game with potentially less headaches than keeping a Linux box upgraded with the kernel du jour and the patch of the week.

    Like it or not, Windows Update is much easier to use for the Unwashed Masses than is cvs (now my FreeBSD||OpenBSD bias is showing :))

    • Eventhough now it's unimportant to Linux users, it's a milestone! You have already seen how fast Linux grow. Imagine that 5 years from now, Linux will go on par with Windows in gaming. Later on, I expect that game developers will seriously consider Linux as a potential platform for their market.

    • Like it or not, Windows Update is much easier to use for the Unwashed Masses than is cvs (now my FreeBSD||OpenBSD bias is showing :))

      No! MandrakeUpdate or Software Manager (both names refer to same program) is very easy too. (However I cannot compare, I have never used windows update)

      See a slideshow [linux-mandrake.com].

    • I agree, the only real way to get to gamers is to start serious devleopment on Linux games. Until there is some steady games released on both platforms I can't see Linux winning in this.

      I do applaud the effort though :)
      • more like convince developers to develop both for windows and linux. i know its an extra effort but that's the only way it could start.

        another way is to get hardcore gamers to like linux with games. that way they can b*tch about how linux improved their shooting accuracy. and convince the mass of newbies to just buy linux. even though they'll never use it.

        money drives development (atleast in this case).
        go mandrake!
    • Well, MandrakeUpdate is at least just-as-easy as Windows Update. And you can assure yourself you're not sending your personal information to a company that wants to control your computer.

      You only go into the kernel and other updates if you want to. I have GNU/Linux set up for a few friends and quite a few don't even know what kernel, rpm and X are. But they sure prefer the system over Windows.
    • What are you talking about?
      Almost all distributions has nice, simple graphical tools for keeping the distribution updated. Windows is NOT necessarily easier to update than Linux.

      There are _other_ arguments for Linux being to hard for average Joe, but updating isn't one of them.

      CVS is not the way most people update their Linux-boxes.

      Gaute
  • I think that one of the things holding Linux back is games. Yes there are some good games, but none of the phenominalo games (such as HL/CS/TFC/etc) are availible, or they come out a year plus later than the Windows version, so most people will have already played it if they're going to. Sure you can buy WineX, but then you have to hope you can set it up correctly. But to bundle that with a great distro like Mandrake (my favorite non-debian distro) is ingenious. To include The Sims is also smart. Good going guys, I look forward to the reviews. Maybe this will help Linux become more mainstream, IMHO. I mean, what's a desktop OS without Counter-Strike? Nothing! He he he.
  • does this mean that Mandrake might help to port games to linux? It could be good to see a wider range of well known games than just the loki ones.

    H

  • the sims? seriously... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by laymil ( 14940 )
    i'm sure they could have come up with a better game to package than the sims...a game that demonstrates the capabilities of the software. however, the biggest mistake here seems to be the lack of an 'gaming expansion pack' sold seperately...i know you can probably download it somewhere, but i think thats what should be on the shelves rather than a 'gaming distribution.' what about the whole already installed userbase? hmm...
    • It brings a game that is a best seller to the linux platform that the average Joe (and some geeks) actually like to play. It is not a matter of us the /. crowd wanting to install Diablo II and Starcraft on our 31337 boxes; it is a matter of bringing this to the average Joe so that the game works and is worth the $69.99 USD that he paid for it.

      I for one am *so* glad to see The Sims pre-bundled; my girlfriend now can stop making the following excuse: "I'm sticking with Windoze because I can't play The Sims on it." ;-)
    • I agree that it is crazy, but The Sims has been on the top 10 selling games list, if not the top slot (When D2 or Max Payne wasn't : ), since it came out... what, almost 2 years ago? Bundling the most user friendly "desktop" distro with one of the best selling games of all time can't be a bad thing. Furthermore, allowing me (even the possibility of one day, in the not too distance future) to able to play all my games, do the occasion office task, and check email/surf makes... me warm and fuzzy. I love linux and the whole concept (http://www.kmfms.com/), but until it can do gaming to even a comparable level as WinDoze, I'm stuck with multi-boot. Another example of this... Even now, with XP lumbering out of the gates, I still only use XP(Win2k) occasionally because Win98 still plays _all_ my games faster and more reliably. Sure, I love being able to End Task in XP if a game actually (rarely) does happen to crash, but not everything works in 2K/XP. Dark Age of Camelot is a perfect example... I don't want to use 12.41 when I can use the new DetonatorXP (12.85, for Quake 3) just because 12.8x causes a blue screen on exit of DAoC. Please, please give me a linux desktop (distro)that isn't butt slower than XP/98 on the desktop for surfing, mp3s, multitasking... then add a DirectX layer / wine emulation for mainstream gaming... and I can finally go to one OS. Hell, I can use VMware for any other tasks that require, and are suitable for doing so, on a XP virtual machine! Peace
  • Do they have a list of current games that work and that dont

    What is theyre compatibility testing strategy for future games and changes in DirectX

    __ and what is this Forms Key : )#()fskdfkls error slashdot keeps on throwing up when i press submit

  • Where is it? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Bren ( 153085 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @02:48PM (#2454926)
    I checked mandrake's site and transgaming.com but couldn't find any mention of this "gamers distribution" for 69.99 or whatever anywhere. I also checked google but no luck. I would think there would be an announcement since this is supposed to be out in 19 days... anyone have links?

  • Linux Gaming (Score:2, Interesting)

    by recursiv ( 324497 )
    While this probably comes as good news to some who want to play their windows games on linux, it may not be good news for linux.

    If/when wine gets to a point where it can perfectly emulate 100% of all windows games, there will be no reason for software developers to release any linux games, and linux ends up losing exposre.

    I don't know what will happen, but this is just one possible scenario to think about,


    • Transgaming would be making money off of their games thats the reason.

      They'd be better off selling linux games for $20 extra and getting the money transgaming is getting than having people buy windows games and running it on linux. You see they want you to buy the game twice because they make double the money.

  • Mandrake Millenium?
  • I think that Linux is great the way it is today! The only thing that Linux needs is some great graphical programs like Adobe Photoshop or Jasc Paint Shop Pro. I use dual-boot only because of my family and these programs. IMHO We don't need `user-friendly' and `for-the-masses' distributions. M$ W$ is a toy and a toy if for playing...


    • (Insert Flame Here)
    • Hey,

      Have you been living in a cave or do you really not like GIMP? After all it was the original killer app for linux. Out of the little buttons they coded for the interface GTK grew out of GTK GNOME out of GNOME...

      I'm still waiting for the killer audio app ardour(http://ardour.sourceforge.net) to start maturing.

      On the topic of games. I like WineX pretty soon everything I play will run well enough under it and I wont have to waste an entire partition to play a couple games and watch demos from the demo scene. The worst part is is that it's the first partition on the disk which is the fastest and the best for swap and music file storage.

      *sigh*
    • Excuse me, but "We" don't need it?

      You mean, You don't need it.

  • Awesome, but ... (Score:1, Interesting)

    by vlad_petric ( 94134 )
    - All the sales of all Linux Games are dwarfed by
    the sales of a single, average, Windows game

    - While commercial Linux 2d games are generally more stable than their Windoze counterparts, there are still a lot of problems in the 3d area, and the future is bleak (VA layoffs, etc.)

    Anyway, it's a good step forward, even though it might not be a commercial success.

  • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Well, if we want linux "make it" to massmarket. This is really something that we need, "plug-n-play games". Yes, you can install winex by yourself, and propably all the orher packeges that come with this new mandrake. But how many can do it just in few minutes, there is always lots of configuration when installing stuff.
      How unattractive it sounds; but if you would just combine window$ (simple) usability with Linux stability and configurability (with all the API supports) ...

      Linux really needs something like OSX, so incredible GUI and applications (and support!), that everything you want to do, you can just do it as "point and click".
      .. of course people that don't want those automatically installed guis and want to configure everything by themselfs can still install e.g slackware and install all the components they want..

      And about that emulation; yes, the idea sucks ;) What really would own, would be API that has support both in windows, linux, mac etc. Maybe something that would be almost compatible with directx, so that games would be relatively easy to port to it..

      - b

      • SDL (Score:1, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Well done, you've just described SDL [libsdl.org].

    • This is just an advertising gimmick; nothing new is being advertised (winex is already available, they are just putting it in a pretty package with some windows game).


      There are people out there that do not use the computers as 'general purpose' machine but for a specific purpose, and always the same. And many PC are sold expecially for a purpose: Games. So it quite logic to build a distribution to address this need (if Linux is ready for that is another question).


      Linux distributors starts to realize that the 'package and support' business model pays more when you address vertical market segments. Want a web server/firewall/game machine/database engine/whatever ? Just insert the CD, follow installation instructions and you are done.


      Linux and open-source software, because of flexibility and aboundance of tools, are quite good to build vertical solutions. Moreover, this allows distributors to sell basically the same things in more than a shrink-wrapped box, sort of like car manifacturers uses the same engine/components for more than one car.

      If these pre-built solutions are valid and the price is right, most people will buy them, instead of try to build their own out of pieces downloaded from the Net.

  • A message to TransGaming. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jfisherwa ( 323744 ) <{jason.fisher} {at} {gmail.com}> on Saturday October 20, 2001 @03:04PM (#2454961) Homepage
    Linux, being free, wants to be free. Don't force people to buy it.

    "The Sims" won't be free anytime soon, so here is my humble idea for making this successful:

    They create a 'standard' game/application management and installer program for these type of applications. The entire package as a whole can be compatible with the standard add/remove for a distro, but to control the contents requires using its own tools.

    They distribute the application manager/control panel part for free, and keep it opensource. An installer kit is developed *specifically* for installing these type of packages, which is also kept open. Anyone can go out and buy a game, get it to work, and create an 'installer' and distribute this freely to whomever they want.

    License "The Sims" from Maxis for a reduced cost - 30-50% of MSRP. Include a single "Transgaming Kit," either in the box for The Sims or as an extra shrink-wrapped CD + manual on the outside (think magazines that come in plastic bags with posters and CDs) - the kit contains a distro, packages to install their application/game management on any of the popular distros, and the installer to install "The Sims" into their application/game management system. They sell this for the regular cost for The Sims +10-20%.

    What if you already own The Sims? IANAL, but you shouldn't have to purchase it again. You download the toolkit for free, and if someone has freely released an installer for The Sims, you're in luck -- for free. If there isn't, or you don't want to go through the trouble, you go to their web site and pay them .. $4.95 - $9.95? You receive two things: the installer for The Sims and a coupon for $2.95 - $8.95 off your next purchase of a full-packaged game from TransGaming -- the goal being that if you do purchase another game from them, that installer kit download ultimately only cost you $2 - $3.

    This will encourage repeat business and allow them to recover some logistical/management costs without stifling the freedom of free software.

    Many gamers use Linux at work, at home, but don't use it for games because it often won't run the games we want to play. If I were to pick up a game, and TransGaming could atleast compete in price for these new releases, I would purchase from them *just to support the cause* - regardless of whether I planned to play it on Linux. Why not? Their price competes. They get to keep things flowing. I get the same package either way, but now I also get the kit that will allow me to easily play it in Linux without killing myself.

    ..

    But please, do not sell full-priced distributions with every copy of a game that you release. You're only doing this to justify the cost, not as a true value-add. How many of us are going to dump our current setup just to install that special gaming edition distro? 5%? How much of that full price are you trying to justify as being for "that special gaming distro?" 50%?

    IANABM. (.. .. business major)

    Good luck,
    Jason
  • With the new low-latency and preemption patches being worked into the kernel (mentioned recently [slashdot.org] on Slashdot), this could be a great leap forward for Linux gaming and multimedia in general. We could soon see Linux games outperforming Windows (especially with all the added bloat^Wfeatures Windows XP adds). If Mandrake and Transgaming do this right, this could finally be Linux's big break into desktop space.

    (OT: What the hell is an "Invalid form key"? Is anybody else getting this?)

  • Surely some mistake (Score:5, Funny)

    by Derwen ( 219179 ) on Saturday October 20, 2001 @03:22PM (#2454990) Homepage
    ...Mandrake ... aimed at gamers .. released on November 9

    I tried out Mandrake a couple of years ago and it already shipped with BSDgames and several versions of Tetris.

    Sheesh. What more could anyone possibly want?

    - Derwen

    • I tried out Mandrake a couple of years ago and it already shipped with BSDgames and several versions of Tetris

      Mandrake has never shipped with a Tetris brand [everything2.com] product. The Tetris Company has not licensed the TETRIS trademark for software running on any POSIX system. Of course, the Windows 3.1 Entertainment Pack (which contains an outdated version of Tetris) will probably run under Wine, and Mandrake shipped with a lot of independently produced falling tetramino games (i.e. clones of Tetris).

      If you really want an innovative tetrisclone, don't spring for Tetris Worlds on GBA. Get TOD: Tetanus On Drugs [rose-hulman.edu]. Source and Windows binaries are included; DOS and Linux binaries are just a recompile away.

  • I've developed a deep hate for microsoft, but never had the juevos to give up most of my games and switch completely to linux, if this distro is everything promised, it could make that decision alot easier, for me and tons of other people like me.
  • One of the main reasons that I have kept my box running win98 (because I can't afford a second computer such that 1 box runs linux and the other runs win for gaming) is because the games I like to play are made for windows OSs'. This news makes me very happy. So really, I have nothing intelligent to say about this Mandrake for gamers so I will just keep it simple:

    wOOt!!
  • Not only will this benefit home users who want to play games, but it will offer arguably the first Linux games and multimedia standard to work with. This will be GREAT for developers, who not only won't have to go through several days' worth of download and internetial documentation searching in order to get their machine ready to develop games for, but also to ensure that all these developers are working from a similar base, which will help reduce dependency issues.

    Hopefully they'll talk it out with some of the prominent developers out there too, including some in the open source world. I'm probably going to get my hands on this, not just for the included games, but the possibility that downloading other free games will be made easier.

    (sorry if this got posted more than once, I'm getting weird formkeys errors...)
  • There is an interesting transcript [journaldunet.com] of a chat with Jacques Le Marois, head of Mandrakesoft. Most of his 44 answers are predictable but I didn't expect that he would predict a 99% market share for linux on the PC in the next years !(with 20% or 30% for mandrake)

    Yes 99 percent !

    The text is in french but I used this [voila.fr] excellent translation engine and mirrored [slashdot.org] the original translation [slashdot.org].
  • It will start october 22. From their website [64.26.159.17] :

    TransGaming's subscription services will be available in fall 2001. For just $5 a month, subscribers will be able to directly support our work on Wine and will be able to vote on which games we should work on next. We want you to be a full participant in the development process, not just an innocent bystander!

    Once 20,000 subscribers are signed up, TransGaming will release all its current code under the Wine license. In many ways, TransGaming subscription model is an economic experiment in novel mechanisms for funding Open Source projects. For more insight, please have a look at our Open Source Philosophy.

    If you are interested in subscribing, please fill out our Survey, and we'll get back to you when our code is ready for widespread public consumption.


    Interesting, yes but 5$ each month just to vote ...
  • I'll probably get modded down for this, but it needs to be said:

    I really don't care if Linux is accepted as a desktop OS. It works great for me now. X, Emacs, and TeX are all I need anyway. What else could you want?

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