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. 

BREAKING: CryEngine on Linux Officially CONFIRMED (and therefore Star Citizen =P)

Yes, after years of speculation, Crytek has announced that CRYENGINE will finally officially build natively for Linux.
Here's the excerpt pertaining to Linux:

During presentations and hands-on demos at Crytek's GDC booth, attendees can see for the first time ever full native Linux support in the new CRYENGINE.  The CRYENGINE all-in-one game engine is also updated with the innovative features used to recreate the stunning Roman Empire seen in Ryse – including the brand new Physically Based Shading render pipeline, which uses real-world physics simulation to create amazingly realistic lighting and materials in CRYENGINE games.

I first learnt about his when someone posted to the Star Citizen forums of a thread I was following. 
Obligatory Phoronix post. 

My speculation history to date:
Just recently Star Citizen advertised Kingdom Come: Deliverance which utilised the same CRYENGINE and promises a Linux port.  It's triply funded on Kickstarter now!
Remember in this post I talked about that Linux programmer position they were hiring for Frankfurt (Crytek HQ) as proof of "almost fully official" Linux builds? Filled.
Or that time Chris Roberts said in the 24 hour livestream for Star Citizen that they can't say anything about non-Windows builds yet but Linux (and Mac) users will be "pleasantly surprised"?
And then me wondering about it here?
And these posts were a year after I read Phoronix' article back in 2012 where I first speculated about CryEngine on Linux. Of course, at that time I thought the more the merrier, but in 2013 Star Citizen changed that thought into "Come out on Linux already!"

Linux is complete with gaming rant
Yes, you're getting another (slightly reworded) one ;P
With Valve's SteamOS, Steam on Linux and Source, Unity, Unreal and CRY Engines being native on Linux, games ARE moving en-masse to the Linux OS. This is welcome news, since gaming, and atm, only one particular game -Star Citizen- is the only thing holding me back from never booting Windows on my laptop.
Games I also like and play on Linux are: Dota 2, KSP, Guns of Icarus Online, L4D2, TF2, X-series, Bastion, Killing Floor, Gemini Rue, Dust, Monaco, Surgeon Simulator, and an ever increasing amount of games, indie and big-publisher alike. I find if I'm looking at a game purchase/Humble Bundle, availability on Linux is a deciding factor. I also find I can usually get a good old game on Windows that wasn't built for Linux working on Wine. Especially with WineHQ database and PlayOnLinux. =P

The past year has been - and the next few years will be - very interesting for Linux =)

_________________________________________________________________

Star Citizen Update!

So they just reached $40 million and every backer who pledges/pledged before the $42million mark will get a special Galactapedia (Hitch Hiker's Guide, if you will) viewer. They'll also get a TOWEL! HAHAHAHAHA!!!! xD

Also, since I've done an SC update on this blog, a lot of things have happened - they're at patch 11.1 with OR support in the Hangar Module; check out the stretch goals, which are just examples of the ways SC improves with the money and were usually planned long ago.
Also check out their new monthly reports (link to Feb 2014) for those of us who don't have time to follow every website post.

And they now have 3 update videos every WEEK:

• Monday - 10 for the Chairman where Chris Roberts answers 10 questions from subscribers (monthly pledgers of $10/$20).
• Wednesdays - Wingman's Hangar (now moved to Wednesdays; the original development update show). 
• Fridays - The Next Great Starship, a kind of reality TV show featuring a competition for teams to make the next starship in Star Citizen with the judging and feedback of some folks from CIG (Cloud Imperium Games, RSI's real-world company name)!

Also Jump Point print copies are available, they look gorgeous! They're also a great example of how the folks at CIG tend to over deliver on promises and are always looking for the good of the game and the players - they promised 4-6 full colour pages of magazine format development updates for monthly subscribers and now they're averaging 50 pages a month! They've released some past Jump Point sections  to everyone before, check it out on their website (link goes to all slideshows in Comm-Link)! Check all their WIPs and Jump Point stuff at the link.

Can't wait to try the Dog Fighting Module after PAX East in mid-April!


Last Updated: 2014-03-16 06:39:53 AM AEDT; corrected Jump Point frequency to "monthly", added a few links.

Pidgin - my favourite IM, and Skype crashing my X Session

Pidgin - Because all the protocols are in one place =)
Skype, MSN, FB, Steam, etc.
Unfortunately Skype's a nuisance and needs to be running for pidgin to incorporate it.

Pidgin works cross-platform so I can have my logs (at ~/.purple/logs) symlinked to my window's partition logs so cross-partitions they're all the same logs =)
I could also symlink some of the files as shown in the config file link below. 

Good cheatsheet for config files:
https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/ConfigurationFiles

Learnt that account.xml contained saved passwords in plain text.
https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/PlainTextPasswords

And that Pidgin 3.0 will support a keyring feature (Like KWallet, Secret Service)
https://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/KeyringSupport

Help Pidgin get there! https://developer.pidgin.im/roadmap

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Speaking of Skype being a nuisance, for some reason when I logged into Skype my X session would crash, and the KDE log-in splash would display (logging back in). Since my KDE saves the previous session and restores it on login/boot, Skype would run and auto-login, and crash the session again, so I had to spam killall skype to stop the loop. 

Here is how I went about researching the bug trail to the fix:

[OK, so I wrote the intro above this line a couple of months ago and kind of forgot the whole process of how I got to the problem but here is a summary:]

While searching for a solution to the problem, I found this:
community.skype.com/t5/Linux/Skype-forces-reboot-on-Ubuntu-11-10/m-p/2844027
I may have used the search term I got while running skype in the terminal or something (still not too sure where Skype stores its logs)

Xlib: extension "RANDR" missing on display ":0.0".
skype: Fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on X server :0.0.

So my suspicions that it was related to the X server were confirmed, but I still didn't know the cause.
Then I found this:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2183029
And the work-around actually worked so now I hypothesise Skype loads some font loaded by X in "unix/:7100" and that supposedly caused it to crash.

The bug is in launchpad:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/738526

I opted to comment out the part in my xorg.conf instead of going to the extreme of uninstalling XFS:

# Apparently comment the below out to stop Skype crashing X Session
# Or sudo apt-get remove xfs (X Font Server)
#Section "Files"
#    FontPath        "unix/:7100"
#EndSection

Edit: Skype dumps massive (read GBs) of log files. If you delete the folder ~/.Skype/Logs as per this link from Arch forums, it won't create logs any more. It's probably some nefarious NSA reporting method.

So I didn't know I wasn't using Kubuntu's repositories for 1.5 years

That moment you realise for your entire 12.04 LTS usage life of 1.5 years, you've never pinged the Kubuntu repositories because you thought Canonical and Canonical Partners included them.

And I only found out when I saw the process "kio_file" take up massive CPU time when my Dolphin had preview on. So I googled it, and sure enough, it's in the KDE bugtracker, and they say the issue is resolved - after 4.9.3.
I check and I've got KDE 4.8.x. So I finally add ppa:kubuntu-backports and update, dist-upgrade, and bam, 4.11.

Well not really, because when KDM was configuring, I had to go through this wizard. I accidentally checked 'shutdown kdm' then clicked next, and sure enough, my X session died. After a reboot, I needed to
sudo apt-get -f install or sudo apt-get -f dist-upgrade
and dpkg -i --force-overwrite
and sudo dpkg --force-depends -r kde-workspace-data
giving me:

    dpkg: kde-workspace-data: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:

At least now everything is over thanks to APT, apt-get and dpkg. That said, I should be releasing something from one of my projects relating to APT soon. But don't anticipate a tech project, haha.

Interestingly enough I tried out i3 while fixing my KDE desktop environment and it was pretty nice to use.
Also, I'm still getting that error sometimes when my KDE session starts, and then restarts after like 10-30 seconds after splash image and you can see the actual desktop. It might have to do with Akondi crashing. [Edit: It was actually Skype using XFS.]
I've also lost the window decoration I normally use in 4.8, I forgot its name but it was a nice blue bar at the top with white text and minimal/compact buttons. I can't find it in the default window decorations where it was. At least the 4.11 oxygen looks pretty nice and is compact =)

Star Citizen - RSI, from the makers of Freelancer etc.

from the makers of Freelancer ... THIS. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen

• A rich universe focused on epic space adventure, trading and dogfighting in first person.
• Single Player – Offline or Online(Drop in / Drop out co-op play)
• Persistent Universe (hosted by US)
• Mod-able multiplayer (hosted by YOU)
• No Subscriptions
• No Pay to Win

Only thing missing from it is shiny MMORPGFPS gameplay on the planetary surface found in the likes of Precursors (which gameplay-wise was amazing =D).
What makes me so excited: MMO persistent universe, FPS elements, Ship combat which is like Freelancer and not MOBA-style (sorry DoTA2, D3, Torchlight, just not so into click click click =P).
Shameless plug for my favourite game of all time (Tribes 1) remade into an arcade style FPS: less gameplay complexity, and weird speed gain when skiing but nevertheless FUN.


BOARDING SHIP MECHANIC explained
Multiplayer and Single player instancing explained.
Because, FIREFLY for inspiration. =) - would love that job xD
Support Linux at the poll for stretch goals (click thru to RSI website for the poll), give CryEngine3 the incentive to go to the quickest growing gaming platform right now with Source, Steam, Unity supporting =) Linux. Speaking of Linux, Humble Bundle for Android 4 finishes in 6 days!


Final-week's (3 days left to pledge!) pitch:


FINAL WEEK PUSH from Roberts Space Industries on Vimeo.

So a few points of our next major stretch goal (from boarding ship mechanic post and RSI star citizen website):
$4.0 million Level Additions

• Melee & Heavy Weapons
• Zero-gravity Simulation
• Suit HUD Options
• Increased Customization
• Outside-the-ship combat (magnetic boots on a hull; think Moonraker)
• Pro MOD TOOLS FREE to players!
• Persistent Universe (forever instead of 30 months), 50 star systems
• More Squardron 42 campaign gameplay
• Increased community updates

- According to RSI website, we need $250k left till $4mil. Also, back on Kickstarter, your pledge will go towards stretch goals of BOTH kickstarter and the overall stretch goals at RSI.  
SO PLEDGE ON KICKSTARTER NOW =D.


I've always wanted to do Precursors MMO'd with friends. This is the closest thing I have ever seen. No amount of procedural universe generation, even if done by big industry pros would sway me. Just damn good gameplay with friends =).
That said, I've had my eye on Infinity Universe for years, because dang-it, its got great gameplay and scale, just without the FPS element >=| and definitely will be happily playing when it comes out.

omg 150k/year making hats!!

***Update 7/11/2012 (yes, Aussie/UK date format)***

nVidia supports Steam Linux beta in latest drivers:
http://steamforlinux.com/?q=en/node/127
Yay! I'm on nVidia GT330M on my laptop (Samsung R580-JS02AU) but I didn't really care which manufacturer: ATI or nVidia I got, as long as it was Linux-supported well. 
And yes, this post is basically another Steam fanboying post =P

*************************************************


Yes, TF2 hats woooot! xD
And yes, another Steam on Linux post and windows is =/ post .. =P

http://gamingbolt.com/gabe-newell-windows-8-is-a-catastrophe-for-everyone-in-the-pc-space
Wish I could make $150k/year making hats!!!

Found the link from here:
http://gamingbolt.com/valve-engineer-drew-bliss-explains-why-they-favor-linux-over-windows

And I didn't know Gabe Newell worked 13 years on Windows o_O
Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/378666/the-battle-between-windows-8-and-computer-game-developers/

Don't link to dropbox folder in windows anymore!

ARGHHHH!!!
OK, so putting folders outside your Dropbox folder into your Dropbox sync by linking to said folders with ln -s works perfectly in Linux, but using mklink in Windows it fails miserable.
Bad Idea.

This is the 3rd time I've had to restore my files from Dropbox, after this somehow makes Dropbox delete all my files in them.
Another reminder to self.

Now to find a syncing solution between the windows Dropbox folder and those folders outside my dropbox ... Probably will just use synctoy.

Troubleshooting on Windows >='(

I found this to be actually a lot more annoying than on Linux.
I usually haven't had to do much of this, but when I have had to really troubleshoot Windows, I always pull out my hair. Whereas Linux could range from: 10 minutes later done =D to, lol nope can't do it with my knowledge and resources online.

Situation/Problem
So I couldn't install a Libre Office package for a couple of days ... [lol, sounds Linuxy] I mean application package in the form of .msi
I kept getting this error: "Error 1935 ... missing dynamic link library ... policy.9.0.Microsoft.VC90.CRT ...".
I started using Libre Office exclusively about 3 months back when I reinstalled/upgraded Windows to 64-bit (the same Windows 7 license gives you access to both 32-bit and 64-bit versions!) And recently had to reinstall Windows just to get Steam service to run, so the client actually ran. It was after this most recent Windows reinstall (I usually don't reinstall Windows if I don't have to, went for like 2 years on the original install my laptop -a Samsung R580-JS02AU named Chopper- came with).

Research + Rant
I found the online resources in the form of forums answering questions lacking, and Windows documentation has always been horrible. Also, the Windows admin/system tools and settings is horrible to get to, I mean, who would know you had to right click My Computer to Manage it or msconfig.exe or services.msc or cmd.exe and THEN run some obscure command? Not to mention horrible network settings and internet options >_>
At least most Linux DEs provide pretty much all you usually require in usually two menus, System/Admin Tools and System Settings. And the only hardcore thing you'd have to do is custom scripts/configs in your home folder or elsewhere as advised from heaps of online resources. 

So after looking at http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10913 and http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-hardware/error-1935-when-trying-to-install-anything/bf5c834a-6f79-4bd3-b1b4-d4fdd3fe4a28 and running sfc /scannow with no problems, as well as Windows' famous "NEVER WORKING DIAGNOSTICS/SOLUTIONS" (I mean, if a program needs to be ended/force closed/killed, just do it, don't be misleading and pretend to "FIND A SOLUTION" in your fictitious dreams.)
 


Final Solution
I finally landed on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2438651#reso1
"Method 2: Make sure that the Windows Installer service is not set to Disabled"










And realised, while I did follow the openoffice forum advice of making sure my 'Windows Modules Installer' service was up and running, my 'Windows Installer' service wasn't, and I promptly set it to start on startup automatically, ran it, and my Libre Office msi worked like a charm.






The fix was so simple, I can't believe it took me that long to find the solution. If only the windows support(lol) website was easier to navigate.