I personally think to start petition for FD to do Linux crowdfunding/preorder effort after they finish Mac port. Who's with me? 
+1 for me.
correct me if I am wrong but for the MAC port they will need to get the engine working with OPENGL instead of DirectX?
So a lot of the work will have been done on that aspect.
As for what flavour I assume that if it is done for debian/Ubunutu/Mint etc then it most likely cover a large amount of people who want it on linux.
Also that is the flavours that Steam cover and so if it is sold through steam on Windows it could also be packaged up for Linux that way.
correct me if I am wrong but for the MAC port they will need to get the engine working with OPENGL instead of DirectX?
So a lot of the work will have been done on that aspect.
As for what flavour I assume that if it is done for debian/Ubunutu/Mint etc then it most likely cover a large amount of people who want it on linux.
Also that is the flavours that Steam cover and so if it is sold through steam on Windows it could also be packaged up for Linux that way.
<chuckles> You mean the trucks don't have lasers fitted?
By fixed I guess you mean SSD - lucky you. That in itself will speed things up a lot.
It took me a long time to install Windows again because:
1. I had to move a whole lot of data off the drive first, seeing that windows is not capable to install properly from an unbootable state without trashing the whole partition - at least I couldn't convince it to do so.
2. I had to make space on the other drive to which I was moving the stuff I needed to keep.
3. There were a few bad sectors on the drive I installed windows to, and windows update soiled its nappy because of that, giving me BSODs each time I tried to update, that's something you will not see on Linux.
4. I had to run chkdsk over 750GB several times.
5. I also ran the Linux equivalent of chkdsk once.
6. I had to do various research on the various issues that came up.
7. I downloaded the latest versions of the drivers.
8. I attempted to restore several unimportant system files that were supposedly corrupt using the sfc tool.
So yeah, it took a while. It would have been more sensible to buy a new disk, but it still would have taken a few hours. I should have known Windows could not handle the bad sectors correctly, even when starting from a clean format done the long way.
In my opinion as a computing professional, Windows is junk. I only installed it because Frontier are not making their game portable from the beginning. That is not clever at all if you ask me, it's much harder to port a game properly than to code it to be portable in the first place. Still, they are making a great game, and I think it will come to Linux sooner or later. I can forgive their ignorance of the right way to make portable software.
With Linux I can update my ENTIRE system with all applications and drivers, except the very rare ones that are not packaged in the distro, in 1 or 2 hours, non-interactively, by typing "apt-get dist-upgrade" or clicking the equivalent button. During that hour or two while thousands of programs are being upgraded automatically for me, I can go out to the pub and have a beer or a meal. That's a small sample of how much better Linux is than Windows.
To be clear, in this time it is automatically upgrading compilers and programming languages (about 20 of them), office suites, several excellent graphics packages, hundreds or thousands of tools, hundreds of free games, several web servers, a mail server, a DNS server and other internet servers, libraries (DLLs), the kernel (core of the operating system), documentation, TeX, LaTeX and LyX for mathematical typesetting, several programs for typesetting music, several excellent media players, windows compatibility systems, virtualbox qemu and other programs for running other operating systems, emulators for playing games, etc., etc. It would take me half an hour just to describe all the TYPES of software it is dealing with, and it would take at least a month to install or upgrade all this stuff by hand in Windows. If I get a new computer and want to install the same software on it, I just type "apt-get install ..." with a list of the names of the packages; or I install a "meta-package" which brings all the software I need with it. Here is a list of the main packages I install on my systems, there are 405. http://sam.nipl.net/code/nipl-packages/all. This does not include all the essential packages and the support packages these main ones depend on, nor the packages that are considered "standard" by the distribution, including the office suite/s, nor the contents of meta-packages such as kde-full. The total number of packages I am using is well over 2,000. Which can all upgrade automatically with little or no human effort needed. Unlike on Windows.
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We Linux users are generally more wealthy than Windows users because Linux is an intelligent choice. Many of us are computer programmers and engineers with high paying jobs in IT. We choose Linux not because Linux costs less than Windows, but because Windows is a piece of junk compared to Linux (or virtually any other operating system); and with Linux we can change, fix, and contribute to any software that might not be working as we need.
We pay more on average for games - when given a choice - than Windows or Mac users, because we can; we have more disposable income on average, because we have more valuable skills on average. See the humble bundle stats "by operating system" for evidence - even when a bundle contains only Windows/Mac games, no Linux games, we still choose to pay more than the people who identify as Windows or Mac users. e.g. the current Square Enix bundle: Average Windows: $8.08 Average Mac: $10.10 Average Linux: $10.59. Sure, there are more Windows doofus people than Linux wizards in the world, so you have a bigger impact overall. Mac OS X is quite decent, but still inferior in several important ways.
I coughed up my 100 quid for Frontier. I have paid for a steam library of 1000 games, a good half of which run on Linux and most of the rest work in wine the "windows quasi-emulator", and almost none of which I would have bought if Valve had not intelligently ported Steam to run on Linux. So yeah, we know how to pay money for things. And the only reason I reinstalled Windows was to play this game, Elite.
Your successful troll was a success, mate!
I personally think to start petition for FD to do Linux crowdfunding/preorder effort after they finish Mac port. Who's with me?
I'm with you, Pecisk.
So Windows is responsible for your bad hardware?
Actually it is portable. They use the Cobra engine which underpins their developement in Windows, XBox, PS, Android and Apple.
It's just that they are releasing on Windows first as there are more Windows users than there are Linux users. Also they will be releasing a Mac version as there are more Mac users than there are Linux users.
Just because they are not releasing it for your pet distro does not mean they don't know what they are doing.
I rarely need to update my entire system. In fact I don't think there has been one time when I have needed to update my entire system in one go.
Congratulations on having a massively bloated system. How many of those programming languages do you write in? How many of those Office Suites, graphical packages do you use? How many of those thousand games have you played? How many sites do you host?
Yes, it would take a while to install by hand, but it's not like you are doing it everyday. And besides you can create Windows images that have everything you need preinstalled and simply cloned.
That is also a crap argument. Of everyone who raises the fact that you can fix and contribute to Linux noone ever does because it is ' hard. A lot of people on here are in well paying IT jobs. Linux users are in the minority. I bet your intelligence is no better than mine and half of the rest of the people here.
I coughed up my 100 quid for Frontier. I have paid for a steam library of 1000 games, a good half of which run on Linux and most of the rest work in wine the "windows quasi-emulator", and almost none of which I would have bought if Valve had not intelligently ported Steam to run on Linux. So yeah, we know how to pay money for things. And the only reason I reinstalled Windows was to play this game, Elite.
Your successful troll was a success, mate!
I paid £600. And?
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TL,DR: My OS is bigger than your OS by at least an inch.
Most Linux users here want Elite for Linux. Most Windows users here don't particularly care whether it becomes available for Linux. Linux users often have to fight past the unfair "freeloader" opinion that some people develop because Linux is available for free. Windows users have to fight past the unfair "ignorant" reputation that some people develop because Windows is available pre-installed.
Of these things, we're all aware. Does anybody have anything new to say?
FWIW, Steam runs like a dream on my machine, and the Linux games that I've bought through Steam install easily, run well and are lovely. Personally, I'd be delighted if Elite found its way back into my life through there.
Most Linux users here want Elite for Linux. Most Windows users here don't particularly care whether it becomes available for Linux. Linux users often have to fight past the unfair "freeloader" opinion that some people develop because Linux is available for free. Windows users have to fight past the unfair "ignorant" reputation that some people develop because Windows is available pre-installed.
Of these things, we're all aware. Does anybody have anything new to say?
FWIW, Steam runs like a dream on my machine, and the Linux games that I've bought through Steam install easily, run well and are lovely. Personally, I'd be delighted if Elite found its way back into my life through there.
I'd delighted if Elite found its way through upcoming GOG Galaxy, so no DRM as well as on Windows, but I agree with the rest of what you wrote.
Please don't take this the wrong way. I fully expect a Linux client in the fullness of time, but...
Elite: Dangerous is being written for Windows because the userbase is large enough that crowdsourcing is a viable option. Without the Windows users, the game would not be possible at all.
Elite: Dangerous will be released for the Mac because Mac users added their commitment to the crowdsourcing effort as a stretch goal.
The fact that it will be relatively trivial to port Elite: Dangerous to OS X suggests that the COBRA engine is being leveraged as a cross-platform development tool. It further suggests that a Linux port will also be a relatively trivial task in the fullness of time.
However, there are solid commitments by Frontier in place to produce the Windows and Mac clients and, until that work is complete, it would be irresponsible for them to start work on supporting any other platforms.
Elite: Dangerous is being written for Windows because the userbase is large enough that crowdsourcing is a viable option. Without the Windows users, the game would not be possible at all.
Elite: Dangerous will be released for the Mac because Mac users added their commitment to the crowdsourcing effort as a stretch goal.
The fact that it will be relatively trivial to port Elite: Dangerous to OS X suggests that the COBRA engine is being leveraged as a cross-platform development tool. It further suggests that a Linux port will also be a relatively trivial task in the fullness of time.
However, there are solid commitments by Frontier in place to produce the Windows and Mac clients and, until that work is complete, it would be irresponsible for them to start work on supporting any other platforms.
technome, no one is trying to jump ahead of that. However, the question is what is going to be the next platform for Elite: Dangerous. I'm aware of media speculating about next gen consoles but...
Linux port was never offered as a stretch goal during KS and if porting to Linux would be relatively easy then porting to Linux seems logical next step. I'm sure if this kind of stretch goal was offered back then it would have attracted more people to the project. If FD is really thinking about next platforms we think it should be Linux and then X, Y or Z.
Linux port was never offered as a stretch goal during KS and if porting to Linux would be relatively easy then porting to Linux seems logical next step. I'm sure if this kind of stretch goal was offered back then it would have attracted more people to the project. If FD is really thinking about next platforms we think it should be Linux and then X, Y or Z.
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But will there be more Linux users than PS4 or XBox users? For that matter nothing I have seen in Elite Dangerous is impossible on the PS3, etc.
As nice as it would to have a Linux port Frontier has to do what is right for their bottom line. Maybe give it to intern to do over the summer.
Good question, however you could also ask: "But will there be more Mac users than PS4 or XBox users?" and you could probably get the same answer. I'm not going to question Mac's user base commitment however Linux user base isn't any less committed. I simply think Linux port should be the next step mostly because it would be relatively easy and cheap to do it than console port.
But would it be more cheap? They already have an engine that supports the consoles. Does it support Linux?
I believe that already a lot of backers are actually Linux users.
I have paid for Elite Dangerous because I want to play it, but in the future I'd love to play it on Linux.I know it's off, but I also have to tell everyone here that I've personally given up on persuading others to at least try out Linux. Most of the people cannot even image anything better, and they think it's natural to have random crashes, BSODs, malware and antivirus software, unexplainable slowdowns, upgrade when quitting, fragmented harddrives, searching for drivers, just to name a few fun stuff. 5-6 years ago I was one of them, and I was happy too. Today at work I have to use Windows, and it feels like a toy OS. I also have to add that I'm a programmer, and I accept that not everybody likes what I like.
Now on the topic again: I don't think porting the finished Elite Dangerous would be that difficult after releasing the Mac port, since the difference between Mac and Linux are actually smaller than it's between Mac and Windows. Plus the COBRA engine is a cross-platform, mature and stable engine, and it seems like there are some very talented and experienced programmers at Frontier. There is no need to fear anything, we only would like to knock on Frontiers' door to say we are here and waiting for a Linux port too...
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It's for certain Linux gamers would appreciate Elite: Dangerous more than Mac gamers would. Anyone gaming under Linux is most likely a giant science fiction fan to begin with, and would appreciate the deep technical nature of Elite
I take issue with this smear. I am a HUGE sci-fi fan, and I have a Mac. Alright yes I'm playing Elite: Dangerous on Windows 7 via Bootcamp, but I'm still using a Mac.
Douglass Adams, who wrote Doctor Who and Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy used Macs. In fact most people working in sci-fi film and television (like me) use Macs in our work and are avid gamers too. Editors, Writers, VFX artists, Matte Painters, Compositors, Colour Graders, Directors of Photography, Designers, Conceptual Artists, Sound Designers - Even the guys making the Blu Ray and DVD menus etc We are all Gigantic Fans and use Macs.
Just because Mac is not usually associated with gaming doesn't mean you get to cast your horrendous aspersions against those of us who use them. Not everyone has forked out hard earned cash for a pretty looking Facebook machine.
That being said, a Linux version would certainly expand the player base and the income for ED.
Just don't tar all Mac users with the same brush.
Well that's a good question but only someone from Frontier Developments could answer
I have even better, How much work would it require to port Cobra engine to Linux if it doesn't support it yet?
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Well that's a good question but only someone from Frontier Developments could answer
I only compile simple binaries on RHEL so never had to touch this kind of stuff but a sensible estimate would be:
Input: ?
Audio: OpenAL (is it still maintained?)
Video: Abstraction layer.
Network: ?
The largest problem is the fragmented nature of Linux window managers. If you aren't using Ubuntu or SteamOS then you are out of luck. You ain't getting the source to compile it yourself.
If Linux was the no 1 desktop operating system then virus and malware authors would target you.