this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
-43 points (21.3% liked)

Linux

48186 readers
1348 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

To be clear, I’m not complaining that we don’t have these aforementioned applications on the Linux desktop. That’s not the point. The point is “we” still don’t have a robust way for developers to monetise their application development work.

Most desktop Linux users run Ubuntu. Followed by others you’ve likely heard of like Arch, Fedora, Manjaro, SUSE and friends. Most users of these desktop Linux distributions have no baked-in way to buy software.

Similarly developers have no built-in route to market their wares to Linux desktop users. Having a capability to easily charge users to access software is a compelling argument to develop and market applications.

For sure, I can (and do) throw money at a patreon, paypal, ko-fi or buy a developer some coffee, beer or something from their Amazon wishlist. But I can’t just click “Buy” and “Install” on an app in a store on my Linux laptop.

Maybe one day all the ducks will be in a row, and I’ll be able to buy applications published for Linux, directly on my desktop. Until then, I’ll just keep looking longingly at those macOS app developers, and hoping.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] e0qdk@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's preinstalled if you buy a Steam Deck -- which by default runs a corporate backed (i.e. by Valve) Arch-derived distro called SteamOS. I bought one. If you hook it up like a regular computer (plug in mouse, keyboard, and external monitor with the dock) damned near everything I've tried has worked acceptably. Some games need a little fiddling around (e.g. installing video codecs or CJK language support or changing the proton version from the default setting to "experimental") and I've run into bugs with full screen or the on screen keyboard a couple times, but I have yet to find a game I straight up could not play even if it was marked as unsupported. (I expect some games with obnoxious DRM/anti-cheat or that need ridiculously powerful cutting edge GPU specs probably wouldn't work well though, but haven't really tested the limits in that direction.)

[–] averyminya@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Oh definitely, the Steam Deck is a great example of this - the preinstalled package manager handles desktop side updates while Valve handles the Steam side updates. You could never use the package manager and know none the wiser, and likewise you could pretty much never boot into gaming mode and it's still all handled for you via package manager. Love my Steam Deck. I've experienced basically the same as you, pretty much nothing I've thrown at it fails, unless I were to cheat and try VR or something.

The only actual thing that made me sad was I planned on using it for portable Rocksmith but there are some pretty major issues with audio, even in a Windows install, but I was pretty much expecting that since the software already has issues. But that's fine, it does stellar emulating switch games :)