Space and Tech update - This week in Space! & Tech!

Had the webpages going for a blog post, decided now that I'm on holiday (for a week) I've gotta work on actual stuff including projects instead of blogging news. So here's a list of somewhat outdated links/quick rundown.

www.space.com/27741-google-leases-nasa-moffett-field.html
- yay for Google acquisitions and diversifying into hardware tech =) I might actually want to work for google's hardware subsidiaries if I could =D

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30026398
- we landed on a comet
www.space.com/27756-comet-landing-google-doodle.html
- technically a robot did but whatever, also got great pics
http://xkcd1446.org/
- and xkcd did live updates on it

www.space.com/27684-orion-space-capsule-test-flight.html
 - wow, I thought we were behind on this project, oh wait, that was the horribly executed SLS. How did they manage to screw up everything in both the analysis and design phases? I mean they wrote the book on Systems Eng and SDLC.

www.space.com/27669-orbital-sciences-rocket-explosion-soviet-engines.html
 - they're not gonna use the 40 year old (built) engines anymore. yay.


EDIT: Forgot Virgin Galactic news
http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-science/20141106/US-Space-Tourism-Virgin-Galactic/ - looks to resume tests in 2015
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-ntsb-will-have-no-quick-answers-after-virgin-galactic-405675/
www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/06/us-space-crash-virgin-new-idUSKBN0IQ02920141106
http://www.betawired.com/ntsb-theorizes-miscommunication-may-have-led-to-virgin-galactic-crash/1415503/
- Feathering system deployed early 
http://www.ntsb.gov/news/2014/141112.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOSNVJzZn90
- NTSB last daily briefing

TECH:

http://news.microsoft.com/2014/11/12/microsoft-takes-net-open-source-and-cross-platform-adds-new-development-capabilities-with-visual-studio-2015-net-2015-and-visual-studio-online/
- Interesting ... open source big leagues now?
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-to-open-source-more-of-net-and-bring-it-to-linux-mac-os-x-7000035716/
- Still wouldn't trust them with my dev environment though. Even after all those great trust building things they've done in the past. /sarcasm

Nvidia launches GTX 980, GTX 970

http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/maxwell-architecture-gtx-980-970



Wonder if the "Advanced Maxwell Architecture" is different to my 750 Ti's Maxwell Architecture meaning I won't get the same driver functionality nearer to its end of life .. =(
My 8400 GS is now stuck on Nvidia's 340.x Binary driver.

Ah well, with Star Citizen supporting Linux, and probably going the OGL route for that through CryEngine's Linux builds, there'll be no need for DX 12 (which nVidia promised for current cards anyway). MS is also now on board Khronos, if only for the WebGL part (since IE sucks in that department).

Also, with Khronos asking for OGL Next (or nicknamed 5.0) comments/proposals when they announced OGL 4.5, I'll be waiting until OGL 5.0 hardware comes out for my next graphics purchase. I'm glad I moved away from notebook gaming though - that was breaking the bank for less than half the performance (for similar model names' mobile versions).

Skype for Linux finally updated

Yay!
We are no longer v4.2.0.11 but v4.3~!

Skype has finally been updated (major version) since at least a couple of years!!!
(That mini-update that took away functionality and probably covered their covert NSA-assist spying doesn't count).

The rise of Linux

The Downfall of Windows (xP)

So I just read (or re-read) some news about ISS laptops being changed to Linux last year (2013) as Windows XP nears its EOL in April this year with no more security or technical updates. With Windows 8 being hard to use and the UI being unfamiliar, that's prompted me to write this post instead of sneaking it in a section within another post like I normally do =P
By the way, all those Windows XP users, it's a great time to switch to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, since Win 8 users will have to familiarise themselves with a new UI anyway. WinXP/7 users would probably want to use Kubuntu/Xubuntu to have a familiar desktop environment (you can set the UI up to be almost exactly like Win XP/7). You want LTS versions because they're supported for 5 years, although you're free to upgrade to different versions anytime when they're out. (LTS versions happen every 2 years, and non-LTS versions are supported for 9 months now, instead of 18 months previously.)

The adoption of Linux in the world

So why use Linux anyway?

• It's free - as in financially and in the sense of free speech. You can freely modify and customise it to suit your needs and use it however you like!
• It's stable and reliable - updates and patches happen quickly as it's open sourced, and won't fall into the traps of things like the Mac OS/iOS SSL bug. Security by obscurity is wrong in an OS context.
• It's efficient - My Linux (Kubuntu 12.04) is pretty fast and does things faster than my Windows 7 HP 64bit, even with KDE, which is a relatively intense DE compared with things like XFCE and GNOME/forks.

In Science:

Used by people and places like:
CERN
Experiment Platforms
NASA
-MSL (Curiosity Rover)
-ISS (probably almost everything since the move to Linux on desktop laptops).

Linux in Space

United Space Alliance, a NASA contractor that supports the laptops on the ISS used the Linux Foundation to train their devs to migrate and port apps over to Linux.
Apparently they have over 140 laptops with 80 online at any time; they chose Debian 6, it being Google's choice of distribution too. They also have Scientific Linux and RHEL/CentOS on some computers already on the ISS. Robonaut R2 uses it and the ISS has used it since Linux started, but rarely on the desktop PCs.

We migrated key functions from Windows to Linux because we needed an operating system that was stable and reliable — one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust, or adapt, we could.

ZING! Apparently they have faced a few random crashes (probably BSODs lol) and in 2008 had some virus infect the ISS LAN.

Consumer Devices:

Android (kernels are being merged, and hopefully completely in a few years)
Tesla Model S

So why is adoption important at all? I think it's especially important in gaming where the catch 22 can clearly be seen - 'everyone' uses Windows to game, so game devs only build for Windows and so 'everyone' has to use Windows to game. So when devs have this alternate option instead of being locked into Windows (and perhaps DirectX), they can build for it and the Linux gaming community can back them and get rid of this catch 22 problem. Things like the humble bundle clearly show the Linux community is ready to throw money at devs who make games for Linux.

In Gaming:

Wow, GDC 2014 just prompted announcements of Linux support everywhere!
And look, someone else did a great article about the rise of Linux gaming! =)
While Phoronix downplays (or is disappointed by) the interest in Linux at GDC, it's a great improvement, from having 0 Linux announcements at GDC to having a Linux presence with SteamOS, CRYENGINE, AMD, etc. Valve's SteamOS and Steam for Linux official release announcements were only last year, so AAA devs haven't had time to announce and demo Linux games at GDC yet - but we've already seen heaps of indies get onboard. Like a Phoronix forum user said:

We have gone from "it would be cool to have a game on Linux" to "omg the next-gen CryEngine with its OpenGL 4.3 renderer might not be perfectly ported".

Game Engines: Unity,
Unreal (announced 19/3!),
CRYENGINE (dev tools, CrySDK coming to Linux),
Source & Source 2,
Leadwerks (and the editor/IDE is on Linux thru Kickstarter too!)

Game Publishers: Steam On Linux (on a sidenote, Valve wants to move from Greenlight to a more easy self-publishing system where any dev can post something),
Desura,
 GOG.com (announced 18/3) 

Consoles/Hardware:
SteamOS, Ouya/Android, Oculus Rift

Games & Devs: Steam Library Catalogue, Upcoming games on Steam,
Devs liking OpenGL and freedom of Linux and hating Windows restrictions.
Recent announcements of games on the PC usually announce on Linux in addition to Windows.
GabeN also said devs like Linux! =)

Valve: check out these awesome vids at Steam Dev Days 2014 (where there are a whole lot more Linux and VR related stuff including):
Getting started on Linux (incl Myth-busting),
Valve seriously supporting and working on moving to OpenGL exclusively,
Modern OpenGL reducing Driver Overhead (by nVidia which looks like their portion of the GDC talk below).

Vendors: nVidia, AMD, Intel @ GDC "Approaching Zero Driver Overhead", nVidia sponsored video posted in the future. There'll probably be more news from them with the GPU tech conference in the next few days as well.
AMD plans to open-source kernel space driver support, while keeping user-space binaries for their Catalyst driver (so they can keep their "secret-sauce" optimisations away from prying eyes of nVidia). AMD roadmap/info summary from GDC here; I'm not feeling as much love as I was hoping, but tbh I mostly just care about GFX performance and that means high performing nVidia drivers, even if they're binary blobs. 


On a related note, check out all the awesome vids from Steam Dev Days (click for PDFs, etc.)! They have at least 4 talks related to Linux and OpenGL (including debugging hehe)!

Updated: 24/3 to include links to latest Phoronix wrap-up articles. 

CryEngine 3 on Linux?

So I'd be super hyped if CryEngine 3 did come on Linux - mainly because of Star Citizen.
And there's quite a bit (21% of voters) of support for it over at RSI's Star Citizen

Now, since DirectX is a MS product, and trawling through a few forums seem to suggest that non-MS consoles (ie PS3/4 and Wii/Wii U) must therefore use OpenGL. (I still don't have a concrete answer on this, there is lots of talk about Wii U having DirectX 11 capabilities, but no concrete answer from a reputable source - general forum-poster consensus is that it uses OpenGL)

If that is the case, then this: Cry Engine 3 fully supports Wii U should mean something. Possibly something very shiny.

IllumiRoom

Great idea, and looks pretty cool. So it's apparently being integrated in Xbox 720, but will probably make it to the PC/Linux platform via hackers/makers.
(wii was pretty good, and also hacked to work on PC/Linux =P - yes, an upcoming project - I've got it to connect and work, but need to make an IR light setup on my laptop for the pointer to work properly =D That said, I should blog more on my projects instead of reblogging cool stuff >_> )

WLM going down, MS proves once again games are its only strongpoint

and not support, end-user OS/applications or anything else =P
Although I must say I prefer the PC to XBox/any console for gaming as it doesn't lock you into a particular device/device family. FOSS ftw!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20222998
Didn't realise MS bought Skype 1.5 years ago at $8.5bn massive.
WLM aka MSN will be turned off "by March 2013 worldwide, with the exception of China.".
Bye bye MSN protocol in Pidgin. Over these 10 years, you have served me well ='/