
Can gaming be the turning point for Linux on the desktop? - followmylee
http://www.techradar.com/news/computing/pc/can-gaming-be-the-turning-point-for-linux-on-the-desktop--1151854
======
lsiebert
The idea that there is going to be some sort of rapid change to Linux desktop
is wrong, simply because people forget that windows desktops are used by
corporations and government, almost to the exclusion of any other OS. That is
where the oems make the most money, at least in terms of chunks. Canonical and
Steam are going after the personal computer, but nobody seems to be making
inroads in the corporate desktop world. Everything runs on Windows, often
exclusively on Windows. Converting to Ubuntu is a big leap away from windows
xp. And the CTO is not the boss. Marketing knows power point and word and
Excel, they don't want to learn libreoffice.

Not to mention that there are all sorts of weird industry requirements. Look
at doctors converting to electronic records. Show me a vendor with a linux
based solution that meets hipaa requirements. Or consider checkout computers,
which may process credit cards, which have regulatory requirements.

Stop talking desktops and build a easy way to convert businesses. It won't be
easy to build though.

Get approval from regulatory bureaucracies, get every company department
either willing to switch or with a super easy virtualization solution, get it
ready to support it, make sure any custom software can be ported, handle the
conversion. Make sure business partners can still work with you. Oh and
RETRAIN EVERYBODY.

Having heard how much people fight converting to windows 7 from xp, you are
going to have a struggle to get it done.

But if you do all that, then maybe linux will have a Turning point.

~~~
bad_user
That's the same thing people said about iOS.

The argument is completely flawed because people in companies do get to choose
the software, however for driving the change the demand has to be really high,
otherwise the cost of switching or of having a heterogeneous work environment
is simply not worth it.

People in companies use Windows XP and MS Office because that's what they use
at home. Even if they have Windows 7 at home, they can tolerate Windows XP at
work, because it's basically the same thing.

Change is coming though. I work on a startup. I have no doubt in my mind that
some day we'll be big. And we standardized on Ubuntu. Usage of OS X is only
allowed for people that know their way around with whatever development stack
we need, because all the documentation for setup and usage of stuff is written
for Ubuntu. If they have problems, tough luck, but OS X is unsupported. People
wanting to use OS X also need to buy their own personal Macbook. And usage of
Windows is only allowed inside of virtual machines.

You know, some of us growing up on Unix might end up running the show inside
those big companies that are impeding change.

~~~
metaobject
Yep, I work for a large corporation that uses windows, however, our group is
100% Linux - servers and desktops - because of the kind of software that we
write. If we were made to switch to Windows, it would be disastrous. So, there
are pockets of Linux-based groups out there in the corporate world, and the
question is: can those pockets grow?

------
DigitalSea
I've said it many times and I'll say it again, the only way Linux will reach a
rapid turning point is the day Adobe port over Creative Suite and or Creative
Cloud to Linux. Lack of Fireworks and Photoshop are the only two things
preventing me from switching to Linux completely, I know many others in the
same situation as I am. I currently run Linux in a VM which is fine, but not
ideal.

So to me, lack of commercial and popular applications like Photoshop are the
reason people don't use Linux. While there are tonnes of open-source
alternatives, lets not kid ourselves, we all know Photoshop as well other
applications have no decent open-source alternative that makes the switch
worthwhile: especially not a decent Fireworks alternative which is a must-have
tool for me.

Unless something dramatically changes, PC will always have the games followed
by Mac.

~~~
bad_user
Photoshop I can understand, but Fireworks? Really?

~~~
Shorel
I have not used it in years, but yes.

There's gimp as a Photoshop alternative, and an open source alternative for
Fireworks would be great, remember that Adobe is killing the product.

------
Maascamp
No, games aren't nearly enough. I'm a Linux user myself, but quite frankly
Windows is simply a better consumer desktop. It's also already installed on
every computer.

The switching cost is simply too high and the only people outside of the tech
world using Linux are generally those with old computers who had a techy
friend install it for them. Problem is they'll be back to Windows as soon as
they upgrade that old computer (or in my mom's case, as soon as the first
thing doesn't work like it does on Windows).

~~~
obviouslygreen
The only thing I don't agree with here is this: _Windows is simply a better
consumer desktop._

That's like saying the Chevrolet Impala is a better car than all Holdens.
Sure, more people are familiar with the Impala, and some Holdens will
certainly be less friendly to the average driver, but those are not reasons to
dismiss an entire make as unsuitable to an entire class of driver.

You're definitely right that games aren't enough, though, and I think you make
the most relevant point, that most computers come with and have always come
with Windows installed.

------
hardwaresofton
Am I the only one who thinks it will help?

I think it will help precisely because of the market it just got exposed to.
Yes, so Linux won't get pre-installed in all the computers at Best Buy, but
exposing it to kids who use steam, and showing that it can play the games they
know and love WILL make some of them think twice about why they're not an
el1t3 haxx0r and using linux already.

Gamers are pretty close to the computer/tech loving crowd (I think that's
pretty indisputable), and they'd be the easiest to convert to linux/unix
systems anyway, this move just makes it even easier for them to convert, and
if it does that, it will help linux grow.

Also, the investment Valve has made in games for Linux is supremely important
in the consideration of any other leader of any other industry to consider
linux seriously as a operating system, so yes it's important.

"Turning point"? Maybe not, mostly because that word is loaded with bullshit
ideals of some underdog overcoming a 50 point deficit in a basketball game in
the last 5 seconds.

But it definitely will change things. No research to support it, but I am
definitely one of the people that keeps a windows partition ONLY because I
can't play all the games I want to play on linux yet.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and as long as linux keeps it's use cases and adds
more, there will be less and less reason for you to not choose it. Then one
glorious day, linux will be capable of running enough of the software that
makes people use computers, and someone (probably Canonical) will launch a
marketing campaign.

That'll probably be the turning point, but for now, this is definitely a step
in the right direction.

------
Tloewald
Betteridge's Law applies.

Gaming helped cement DOS/Windows victory on the desktop because most
enthusiasts bought computers to play games, but it did nothing for the Amiga
(which was great for gaming but had a lousy ecosystem for office stuff).

On the other hand, the desktop market is collapsing and you might think that
the kind of person who still wants/needs a desktop might be more likely to be
the kind of person who wants/needs Linux. That's possible but it's not the
perspective taken by the article.

~~~
sien
The Amiga had an excellent ecosystem for office stuff.

Prowrite on the Amiga wasn't bettered for word processing until Word 6 5+
years later.

The Amiga could also be hooked up to a laser printer like a Mac, but not quite
as well.

The main reason the Amiga was beaten because by the time it arrived on the
scene DOS already had the market.

~~~
Tloewald
I was a heavy Amiga user in the day and constantly got into arguments with
people advocating its office software. No Amiga word processor was capable of
producing decent output or handling documents longer than ten pages. They
looked fine (ProWrite was a MacWrite clone, Excellence was a WriteNow clone)
but didn't stand up to any kind of serious use.

The Amiga was the world's bestselling home computer and utterly dominant in
the games market outside the US for several years but never became a credible
desktop productivity computer.

Having non-square pixels in its highest resolution non flickery display mode
sure did not help.

------
raverbashing
No

This ship has sailed.

Desktop is even less relevant today.

Linux can be a good foundation if your workflow is 100% web based, but I don't
see this happening in large corporations (for now)

Still, sorry to say this, but Linux blew it. Yes, even Canonical

If someone can partner with a hw maker, do a computer that boots to a web
browser (and within that domain works 100%) maybe this can work.

~~~
k__
100% web based? Why?

Most of the time using the same applications on Windows and Linux.

Pidgin, Chrome, Libre Office, Thunderbird, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, VLC,
Spotify, Steam.

~~~
raverbashing
Yes, this is a typical profile for a home user/developer

But for example, that's not what the computer used by the office secretary
needs.

Chat - Google Apps Online Chat Libre Office - GDocs Thunderbird - Gmail

VLC/Spotify - this can be done with html5, even audio streaming

------
tlarkworthy
games is the only reason I have windows anywhere. And the inertia of rebooting
my machine into windows means I almost never play (non-web) games anymore.
Steam will definitely score some sales off me now, but whether mainstream
gamers will switch, who knows??

I switched my GF to ubuntu 12.04 a few weeks ago. She is already preferring
the system due to no malware and less crashes. So clearly desktop linux has
come along way in 5 years. I have given her almost (but not quite 0) help in
operating it too. Wifi doesn't work though :(

~~~
SeanDav
Not criticizing you - just offering an alternative viewpoint:

I can't remember the last time my windows system crashed and malware is not a
problem as long as one is sensible. I have never been infected by malware of
any sort and I do visit some dodgy sites.

Sandboxes and VM's are your friend as well as things like NoScript addon.

I can see absolutely no compelling reason to switch to Linux. I do use Linux
on VM's for work related projects, but not seriously considering replacing my
desktop with Linux any time soon. Perhaps the fact that I am also a power user
of Excel colours my view.

~~~
chii
> I can see absolutely no compelling reason to switch to Linux.

and you are right - because going with windows means any hardware is going to
work _by_ default, and you won't have to waste mental energy to work out
whether its going to be supported on linux/GNU. Ditto with software (tho less
of a problem i suppose).

------
Yaggo
Linux gaming may take off as Linux-based gaming console, but that won't help
Linux desktop (hint: the problem of Linux desktop is not lack of games).

~~~
edem
For me it is! Definitely!

------
eterm
I have installed plenty of ubuntu systems without touching the console; While
it's the easiest way to communicate instruction on the web, it's entirely
possible to use ubuntu without touching the console.

~~~
Nursie
Yeah, this article is full of little snipes like this -

"Even installing the Steam for Linux Beta will involve a segment of updates,
where you'll be endlessly typing [Y] into a terminal."

Or, you know, going to the Ubuntu Software Centre, typing "steam" in the
search box and then double clicking "Steam" in the results, which is what I
just did.

------
metaobject
Hypothesis: if someone could build a Linux distribution that performs
exceptionally well (better than most Windows setups) when it comes to
games/graphics processing, then there would be more people willing to give it
a try. Showcasing things like "X more frames per sec", and some other
graphics-related stats might be enough to get the hardcore gamers interested
enough to take the plunge. Because this means low level driver development,
etc this is not easy and would require an immense amount of work that may turn
out to be for nought.

Just like the spreadsheet drove the PC revolution in the early 80's, Linux
needs a killer app that pulls people in, and games may be the genre. Perhaps
there needs to be some revolutionary development in the graphics realm (I have
no idea what this could be or else I'd be writing it right now!) that is
exclusive to Linux, that could give it the gravity that it needs to make it
into people's living rooms. Think some new 3D technology, something that big
corporations can't do quickly, or some area that is out in the open that the
big corps aren't paying attention to right now.

If any of this turns out to be true, and if Linux ever does make it BIG wrt
gaming, that it's likely going to be some startup that makes it happen. The
major players don't feel threatened by Linux, but imagine if some game like
Minecraft came out that only supported Linux. It would take them by surprise
and by the time they figured out what is going on, it would be too late. Now,
licensing makes this tricky, so perhaps this will never happen, but that never
stopped those that want/need to try to make it happen from trying.

------
drucken
Never.

1\. Only one thing wins the desktop: pre-installations.

2\. Gaming requires superb driver support, which almost always means
commercial drivers. Linux's licensing inflexibility makes this very difficult.

------
bane
I use a Mac at work and a Windows 7 PC at home. I spend more time on my mac
than my PC and like quite a bit of it. But when I think about switching at
home (cause the hardware is so so nice and the OS fixes so many things that
frustrate me with Windows), I start to make a list of things I do with my home
PC and either can't do or the equivalent isn't as nice/doesn't have as much
choice, doesn't run as well for whatever reason.

The same thing happens whenever I think about switching to Linux at home, but
the list is much much longer.

Let's pick games, I don't game nearly as much as I used to. But I like having
the option to do so, with pretty much any game I happen to want to play, and
not worry about it not being ported to my platform.

Sure there are things that I can do on Mac or Linux I can't do on PC (reliably
run rails for example), but they aren't necessarily things I want to do at
home. Sure it might not run as smoothly, or it crashes every so often or
whatever, but the desktop, consumer, software support for it is at least 2
orders of magnitude better than either other platform.

In the end Windows, despite its warts is a compelling platform because of all
the shit you can do with it (and explorer is so much better than finder).

I enjoy my MBPr, _a lot_ , I hate using my home PC for work-type stuff.
Walking around with a thin light laptop in my backpack with great battery life
that I can open pretty much anywhere and spin up a half dozen VMs and still
have a performant web experience is really f-ing impressive. I don't even try
and use my old windows laptops anymore, _that_ experience feels far too
clunky.

~~~
bad_user
I remember the clusterfuck that codecs created on my Windows machine, when
after installing big and broken packs of codecs I was still unable to play
some movie.

The first time that I experienced a movie playing experience that was smooth
was on Linux, by means of MPlayer. Then later came VLC.

Of course, software like VLC is nowadays multi-platform, thanks to the virtue
of being open-source and having contributors that wanted to see it ported to
Windows.

However, for other tasks things aren't so smooth. There are many things that I
need to do in my daily routine, that would be solved by simple utilities that
are known and available in the Ubuntu/Debian repository and that work well. In
Windows, even for things like compressing or uncompressing a format that's not
ZIP, or for mounting an ISO file, or for burning DVDs, or playing music, or
whatever, you end up installing proprietary software that's either broken, or
mallware, or bloated crap, or all of the above.

These are just examples from the last time I tried, YMMV, but this happens
every time I try it. Last time on my Windows desktop at home, I tried playing
around with the latest Visual Studio Express. The installation process simply
choked and I ended up with a broken Windows. It's like every time I try using
Windows I experience death through a thousand cuts.

In general, most of the utilities I end up using on a Windows box are ports of
software who's primary audience comes from Linux/BSD and why not use the real
thing anyway?

Also, I don't really need games because I'm playing the greatest MMORPG of all
time ... being a software developer.

~~~
bane
> Also, I don't really need games because I'm playing the greatest MMORPG of
> all time ... being a software developer.

Yeah, and I find that attitude common among lots of software devs. If you
spend all your work day and all your free time involved in software
development activities, windows is probably not the right environment for
that.

I am always surprised at all these "I did x and windows completely fell apart"
anecdotes by software developers though. I'm not kind to my home system and
it's been more or less rock solid over the last 4 years. Much more so than OS
X has been (which hasn't been too shabby mind you).

~~~
bad_user
I'm not trying to have a holier-than-thou attitude, however I personally find
video games pointless.

Speaking of free time, especially since I already spend unhealthy amounts of
time in front of a computer, why would I want to spend some more time in
games, when I can prefer going out to the movies, or taking walks in the park
with my son, or go out for beers with friends?

You know, those software devs that you found with this attitude, they might be
on to something ;-)

~~~
bane
They might be. I'm finding myself playing games less and less and doing more
walks in the park myself.

I didn't mean it to come of with a negative connotation towards the word
"attitude", I think it got lost in the ASCII. I only meant it as an
observation.

------
brudgers
Games are not a game changer. What makes Linux great is grep. That is why it
will not be a mainstream alternative. The tragedy of casting Android as a
success for Linux is that it comes to the mainstream on locked down devices
and as a vector for widespread corporate data collection on individuals and
their personal lives.

------
freeduck
If it becomes possible to play up to date and current games, then yes this
will change the picture allot. I have tried to persuade many of my friends to
switch to Linux, but I am always met with the same question: can I play X,Y,Z.
And when my answer is not as well as on Windows, then they always decline.
Gaming is the only barrier that I have met from my friends.

My wife wants MS office because that is what they use on her workplace. So the
point about low conversion do to the corporate world could seem plausible, but
I do not think so. Most companies that I have work for is afraid to change
because the employees are afraid of change.

If people start using GNU/Linux at home the barrier for change will be much
lower in the workspace. And adoption can move ahead rapidly.

------
bromagosa
«Developed for just over two decades and it's still barely made a mark on the
consumer consciousness.»

What about Android? Linux is in the pockets of way more than half smartphone
users in the World. If that's not making a mark... what is?

I know they're talking about desktop, but this sentence is still incredibly
missleading and false. Consumers buy Android phones. Period.

~~~
drcube
How many of those consumers know it's Linux under there? I think that's what
they mean by "consciousness". For most Android users, you're lucky if they
even know what "Android" means, let alone Linux.

~~~
bromagosa
You're right, I hadn't thought of it that way.

------
velodrome
Maybe.

Mac sales increased when the iPhone/iPad was introduced, the same can happen
with linux. It doesn't really help when Ubuntu hides the term "Linux" on the
homepage.

There is very little brand recognition among regular consumers.

------
Shorel
I would argue for something far simpler.

There's not a good alternative for HeidiSQL in Linux. There are not good GUI
clients for MySQL in Linux.

Not a killer application, but something nice to have.

------
nuttendorfer
No, I think the fact that consumers are moving towards devices and so are the
operating systems for them means Linux will win the content creators.

------
pepijndevos
So they argue that "Mac and Linux have the same fatal flaw: few games", and
claim Valve is the solution.

Valve has been on Mac for a while now, right? Did it help?

~~~
mtgx
Isn't Apple the company with the most PC sales in US?

------
edem
If GOG would have started to release Linux versions of their games I would
have been using only Linux ever since.

