is linux really this good?

[Workaphobia]

Also, I would assume that it's a lot easier to pirate a game using Linux, then on WindWoes and Macintosh systems. This probably scares away a few game developers.

[ibowtotux]

Personally I like it this way. Linux filters out all the crap and keeps you with the good games...such as Quake, Doom 3, and Savage.

[hal]

linux is about power and freedom. you can know better your machine, your S0. you get *almost* every apps you need easy and free. and when i say free i dont mean "free", as piracy. linux and open source software are a state of mind, a life way.

[Fallen Angel]

If you bought a PC to play games (like many people I know) you made a mistake because it's not for that. You should buy Play station.

[Redman]

Many companies believe it more wise to follow Bill Gate$, rather than to spend time/money on "some little used operating system" (mind you, the quote came from an answer of the Minister of Finance I got)...

Luckily, there is plenty on the internet to be found. But, as long as shops don't sell "Linux software", people won't know it's there and feel it "obsolete and on the way back" (said by my mother-in-law who knows nothing about computers)...

I always had ideas to start my own company selling OEM linux computers and Linux software, the so-called "different" store. And with these reactions from people towards Linux, I seem to get this itch again...

[smindinvern]

^^That's a good idea, but as for the thing about games, I've heard that Wizard, who already ports all their games to mac, is considering porting them to linux as well. I've also heard that Half Life 2 might also be ported to linux sometime in the future... Just what I've heard though, I don't know if they would follow through with such a thing, but if they did port such games to linux, I would definitely be willing to pay for them

[Talyz]

As Microsoft owns a great part of Apple, I guess all the big companies want to be safe, so they port their apps to the Mac. Sadly, most of the biggest product makers still think of Linux as a small platform, fought down by Windows, and thereby see no reason why porting to it. But don't forget about all the great software made only for Linux!

[smindinvern]

true, true, but, you know, M$ officially recognizes us as their number two competitor

[techieMoe]

4.linux hasn't been around as long as Windoze or Mac and therefor is less understood by game developers.

No, sorry, I don't believe this. Linus Torvalds wrote the Linux kernel in 1991. That means Linux had been around 8 years before Apple released Mac OS X in 1999. Any systems programmer will tell you that programming for Macintosh OS 9 and below was completely different than programming for Mac OS X, so game developers had to completely re-learn the new OS in order to port to it natively. This took several years and actually kept some people from moving to OS X because their favorite programs weren't supported yet.

Had game developers wanted to, they could have *taken their time* learning to program in Linux and their porting to OS X would have actually been *easier*. Instead, because Linux was not a commercial entity, they kept up with MS Windows and bided their time.

Many factors contribute to the lack of game market for linux, but this IMO is *not* one of them.

[Richard_The_Lionhearted]

4.linux hasn't been around as long as Windoze or Mac and therefor is less understood by game developers.

No, sorry, I don't believe this. Linus Torvalds wrote the Linux kernel in 1991. That means Linux had been around 8 years before Apple released Mac OS X in 1999. Any systems programmer will tell you that programming for Macintosh OS 9 and below was completely different than programming for Mac OS X, so game developers had to completely re-learn the new OS in order to port to it natively. This took several years and actually kept some people from moving to OS X because their favorite programs weren't supported yet.

Had game developers wanted to, they could have *taken their time* learning to program in Linux and their porting to OS X would have actually been *easier*. Instead, because Linux was not a commercial entity, they kept up with MS Windows and bided their time.

Many factors contribute to the lack of game market for linux, but this IMO is *not* one of them.

I meant Apple. Sorry about that. But I'm glad you brought that up. You see the "Mac" is very popular because of it's graphics. Many people that depend on graphics in the work field go to Apple for this reason. Also remember that Apple came first and because of this it had an advantage when making the mac. Another thing is that the cofounder of the Mac invented the ideal back in the 80's. And one more big thing that people have to remember is that linux was made back in 1991. So why is this a disadvantage? Because "linux" was made not a company. Distributions didn't appear that were easier and that appealed to the family user until later on. So basically linux found it's self having to face Microsoft at it's best.