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1 • Gaming on Linux (by seacat on 2016-08-01 00:49:57 GMT from South America)
I only play War Thunder (FPS 3D WWII simulator) on Internet with my Debian 7.11
2 • Gaming on Linux (by bigdealz86 on 2016-08-01 00:55:26 GMT from North America)
Games I play in Linux are CS:GO, Quake 2, and WoW. More support for games needed, but has come along way in the past few years.
3 • Gaming on Linux (by slick on 2016-08-01 01:36:14 GMT from North America)
Not a Gamer! But have plenty of friends and family that use Linux for their gaming needs, some say absolutely great while others simply state it could be better. Regardless very happy and proud of the fact that Linux steadily improves over time for everyone's daily needs and wants.
Others have commented that they simply modified their gaming experience to suit Linux versus Windows and just accept the limitations.
Just wanted to say thank you and salute to those developers who strive to improve Linux for all users.
Thanks! : )
4 • Jesse Smith please describe walking into phone store (by woodsmoke on 2016-08-01 01:36:42 GMT from North America)
Hi
Thank you very much for the THOROUGH article on the Ubuntu phone!
However, one salient point. You said that the "phone system" worked which is great!
But I would like to ask you to please describe just what happened, in relatively good detail, when you actually went to the "telephone provider store" and asked them to enable the phone system, such as AT&T in the U.S. on the phone.
Again, thank you VERY MUCH for the fine article! :)
woodsmoke
5 • Games on Linux (by WTY on 2016-08-01 01:53:07 GMT from Oceania)
Sadly games are probably the biggest thing still tying me to Windows (7). I've played games native to Linux and more recently cross-platform Steam games on Linux. The unfortunate fact is that there are still many games which are DirectX-only and so are Windows-only or at least not available to Linux. And of the ones which are, there is still a divide in the performance between games on Windows and Linux.
I'm not a super-duper-latest-game-only kind of player, in fact I still play a lot of older games where a poorer-performing Linux platform can still deliver a good experience. And yes, I know there is the possibility that Wine can provide some Windows-based functionality but it really is a hit-and-miss affair. I really like that Valve has done much to promote Linux-based games and I hope that the future of games on the PC continues in that direction, particularly with the adoption of Vulkan vs DirectX 12 (the latter is tied to Windows 10).
If anything good has come of my time playing games on Linux, it was my introduction to The Battle for Wesnoth. It might be viewed as rather simplistic by today's standards but I love story-based games and its background lore is quite in-depth. Disclaimer: I joined its development team about a year ago but was a player for many years before that.
6 • Activating phone (by Jesse on 2016-08-01 01:53:31 GMT from North America)
@4: >> "I would like to ask you to please describe just what happened, in relatively good detail, when you actually went to the "telephone provider store" and asked them to enable the phone system"
We don't have to do that in Canada. When the Ubuntu phone arrived, I could just take the SIM card out of my Android phone and pop it into the Ubuntu phone. Then log into my provider's website and click a button to indicate I had upgraded the phone. I didn't have to visit a store or talk to a mobile carrier representative.
If you don't have a phone with a SIM card, or have an older, larger SIM card, then you can visit any mobile carrier store and buy a new SIM card. A new card costs $10. Pop it into the Ubuntu phone and you're done. The rep will activate the SIM card on your account and the phone will start working. They do not need to touch the phone or know what OS it is running.
7 • Game Performance on Linux and Windows (by WTY on 2016-08-01 01:56:48 GMT from Oceania)
Further to my remark on game performance, I am referring to both the game itself as well as the graphical drivers which support them. I'm looking forward to seeing how AMD's amdgpu driver performs compared to radeon, fglrx and DirectX. I know NVIDIA's proprietary driver, while terribly closed, often does better than AMD's Linux offerings, but I hope the direction taken by AMD is progress for the better, even if they are still maintaining a closed-source component of their Linux driver platform.
8 • Linux and memory usage (by Gustavo on 2016-08-01 02:02:44 GMT from South America)
The problem with Linux is its swapping is very slow. Once the free memory is scarse and kernel starts swapping you´re back to 386 performance.
9 • Thank You for the Ubuntu Phone Review (by Greycoat on 2016-08-01 03:48:52 GMT from North America)
Thank you Jesse for the Ubuntu Phone review. I love it that permissions are by default off and there are no advertisements. I don't own a smartphone, but do own a cheap Android tablet that does not have phone capability. I hate installing an app being told all the permissions that are required, none of which can individually be turned off, and feeling like said app is going way overboard asking for permissions one would think it does not need to run. I love the way you pointed out that Ubuntu takes a different approach.
10 • Gaming on Linux (by A van der Tweel on 2016-08-01 05:45:15 GMT from Europe)
Virtual box is useful for playing older Dos games and some windows games (via ReactOs). I only use Wine for puzzleMaster. Somehow there is, in my view, no good jigsaw puzzler native to Linux. (and I tried quite a few). Vassal is to me the most important piece of gamers software, and it runs better on Linux than on any other platform.
11 • Meizu pro 5 (by Thom on 2016-08-01 05:56:24 GMT from Europe)
Nice review. Made me curious. I am SO annoyed at the Android/Google's app pushing (down-the-throat-ramming, actually). Went to Meizu's page... no mention of OS. Went to Amazon (UK). All Pro 5 models listed came with Android Lollipop, which sort of defeated the purpose. Oh, and the price quoted was around £ 480 - rather a bit more than the $ 399 mentioned ($ 400 = £ 360).
They sure aren't making it easy. This does not take anything away from the review. It just make you wonder
12 • Memory usage (by a on 2016-08-01 06:40:50 GMT from Europe)
Not sure where the high memory usage story is coming from; I have never seen a tool that reported only total RAM usage including caches by default. And most people don’t even think of looking at RAM usage.
13 • Linux and gaming (by Andy Mender on 2016-08-01 07:38:23 GMT from Europe)
I don't really game on either GNU/Linux or FreeBSD (my main OS). However, some leisure is nice from time to time. OpenTTD and a couple of other games have been ported successfully and work well :). For major gaming titles I use Steam via WINE.
14 • kudos_and_much_thanks_to_DistroWatch_Jesse_and_Canonical (by k on 2016-08-01 08:11:15 GMT from Europe)
Excellently written and presented review of more "pure" Linux phablet(?),
AND overview of most established other mobile phone(s) -- operating systems --.
Jesse, the care really shows.
Still too expensive for this pauper's purse, but most promising overall so far.
15 • Great Weekly (by AT on 2016-08-01 09:15:31 GMT from Europe)
This week's DIstrowatch weekly was superb. A really informative look on a good quality Ubuntu phone. I hope, that the software keeps on improving, and I am sure people will prefer a hacker friendly phone. In Gaming, unfortunately, I still use VGA-passthrough to windows for all my gaming, as lack of good titles on Linux still is a huge problem.
16 • How much? (by Billyboy on 2016-08-01 09:19:59 GMT from Europe)
So, these large phone companies are now providing FREE operating systems, including linux and windows BUT their prices for such are still very expensive. They appear to be creaming off the fact these os's are free instead of offering affordable phones. OK, they are not apple prices but for how often the modern human being changes or needs to change their phone, the prices need to drop by quite some way.
I do not understand how you can buy a great android tablet very cheaply now but phones are still being touted at such high premiums. This is NOT a way to get the public involved in any ubuntu phone, in fact, the exact opposite. Totally bad planning and management in my opinion by ubuntu's people, get your act together.
17 • Ubuntu Phone (by Linux Apocalypsis on 2016-08-01 10:15:32 GMT from Europe)
I have never owned or used a smart phone (other than helping my wife to understand her Samsung with Android, which she hates and so do I). In addition to all the spyware, I feel that both Android and iOS are extremely intrusive and clearly stay on the user's way rather than helping you to carry out your tasks. They direct you to wherever they want you to be rather than allowing you to get to where you would like to be. Truth be told, even answering a call can be challenging for both of us.
I would like to know how Ubuntu compares to other mobile OS on such respects. Furthermore I would also like to know how it compares performance-wise (the reviews tend to suggest it is worse) and whether or not the technology is mature enough for everyday use (reviewers tend to think it is not).
The one other problem I see is the lack of applications. For instance, I need an application to activate the roaming, another one for banking, another one for buying myself a coffee, yet another one to find out the real-time bus schedule, etc. Those could be reasons to finally succumb to the temptation of wasting my money on such an expensive toy as it is a smart phone. However, none of those useful applications that make your life a bit easier would be available for my Ubuntu phone.
18 • @8 (by Jeffrey on 2016-08-01 10:32:41 GMT from Europe)
You can adjust the swappiness to fit your needs, why don't you just do that?
19 • Ubunte Phones (by silent on 2016-08-01 10:43:50 GMT from Europe)
So, actually how many serious games are available in the store? What about software development for the phone? Is there some sort of publicly available SDK?
20 • Gaming (by OhioJoe on 2016-08-01 11:11:45 GMT from North America)
I answered "I am not a gamer." I do play a game of pysol or aisleriot (both solitaire games) when waiting for a slow update.
21 • Gaming (by Kry on 2016-08-01 11:48:39 GMT from Europe)
I'm an avid gamer, used to play all AAA games when I was younger. Since then I play a bit less, but still consider myself a gamer. A bit more than a year ago I switched to Linux, and started using Steam for starters. (I switched for a completely different reason. I needed some important work to do, and the Windows 7 was constantly updating for a long time. I got fed up, and deleted it.) Now I use openSUSE 42.1 with LXDE (I started with Ubuntu, but used only a bit less resources compared to Win7).
Some AAA games I play and I can recommend: CS:GO (obviously, uses a bit older Source engine), Dota2 (flagship, now with Vulkan support, on my gaming PC it always had capped framerates, but word is it's still getting better), Europa Universalis 4 (uses way too much RAM at later dates, with LXDE it takes a bit longer to run out of free space), Life is Strange (Not so high graphics, played it on maximum, but regardless, the game is awesome.), Pillars of Eternity (Loading for eternity, but it's the same for Windows. With Linux, you can alt+tab out of the game, and do something else, last time I played on Windows it wasn't working, maybe they patched it already), Stellaris (borders can't be seen, but otherwise works normally.), World of Warcraft (also constantly capped framerates, so I can't comper it to Windows. Should be somewhat slower because of Wine.), StarCraft 2 (Not on max graphics, but still runs smoothly).
There are of course a lot more games, ARK is receiving good reviews, but not really my kind of game. I'm planning to buy a Steam Controller, was told to lobby by the packagers to implement native support to openSUSE, but I already know how to do it. There are currently no VRs that would work normally, but should have drivers for Linux this year.
(Which reminds me, is there BSD gaming?)
22 • Is there BSD gaming? (by Andy Mender on 2016-08-01 12:15:48 GMT from Europe)
@21,
While neither of the BSDs is a gaming platform, some games can be run, similarly to GNU/Linux. The most prominent older open-source projects like openTTD have a native port, while others, like Enemy Territory use the Linux compatibility layer. Of course, Windows games can be run through WINE and FreeBSD has an additional safety layer via jails to separate the pesky MS ecosystem from your data. I personally run Steam only via WINE, though there is a new effort to port Steam to FreeBSD via a more recent Linux compat library set (still CentOS based).
23 • linux phones (by Bob Anderson on 2016-08-01 12:47:45 GMT from Europe)
Personally went from an N900 to a Jolla phone, good to see more pure linux devices coming out
24 • Linux gaming (by Hank on 2016-08-01 13:40:58 GMT from North America)
I assume "other platforms" includes consoles. You should include a "console-only" category to see how many of us have given up on computer games entirely, or have always preferred consoles, as the case may be.
25 • Memory usage (by cykodrone on 2016-08-01 13:46:16 GMT from North America)
For starters, if your computer or device is so old and has such a tiny amount of memory that you have to worry about its usage, time to get a new one. This is laughable, proprietary operating systems come with tons of unnecessary processes and bloatware that load in the background, just so their apps or utilities don't seem slow when called upon to do their meager tasks (most of it amounts to corporate 'desktop presence', like a virtual billboard for the company and its product). My experience has been any Linux distro loads very little extra processes in the background, which can be easily shut off.
I am so sick and tired of this myth, AAMOF, the more your computer loads in to memory, the faster it responds and runs, especially for those still using spinning rust HDDs. If you want to speed it up, do some research and trim it down.
This discussion is so 20 years ago, it's 2016 for crying out load.
26 • Linux Gaming Poll (by SharkJumper on 2016-08-01 13:52:29 GMT from North America)
I use Linux for all my gaming but want more/better selection. Much better support of different brands of graphics cards is needed, that said I have NO intentions of going back to Windows, as long as Linux stays free, open source and no spyware (Looking at you Windows 10.) If proper support is not there for a certain game, I move on to the next one, or save the cash. ;)
27 • Meizu Pro 5 (by Jesse on 2016-08-01 13:59:46 GMT from North America)
@11: The Meizu Pro 5 is hard to find as far as making a purchase. I've linked to the Ubuntu version of the phone on Meizu's website in the review. The Joy Buy website has the item listed, but it is currently out of stock. I suspect they are keeping stocks low as the Pro 6 is expected out later this year, which should offer a similar experience with slightly updated hardware.
@19: There are games in the Ubuntu Store. Mostly small ones. I mean, you're not likely to find big name titles in there like Plants vs Zombies or Heroes of the Galaxy or Pokemon Go. There are some fun ones though. I particularly like 0h n0, Dotty and Monster Wars. If you visit the on-line store (link in the article) you can search for available games.
As for the phone's SDK, there is one. It's called Ubuntu SDK and it's available for free through a PPA. It's fairly young, but I suspect it'll be ported to other distros in the near future.
28 • I've seen the ram complaints (by dmacleo on 2016-08-01 14:56:56 GMT from North America)
even though people have said the unit is operating fast they were confused as to why it reports like that.
so, in my case(s), not really a complaint but more like a puzzlement they wanted to find the answer for.
29 • Ubuntu Phone (by Fronton on 2016-08-01 14:58:34 GMT from Europe)
> "One aspect of Ubuntu I greatly appreciated was that I could remove unwanted applications, including the ones bundled with the device. On most builds of other operating systems there are programs baked into the operating system which cannot be removed and which may nag the user. Ubuntu allows us to get rid of programs we do not want."
You can make the same thing with Windows... But not with Android, except if you root your phone.
30 • Ubuntu phone on Verizon? (by bigbenaugust on 2016-08-01 15:29:20 GMT from North America)
You said "The Meizu phone appears to offer complete compatibly with mobile networks in Canada and the United States of America"... so just GSM or CDMA as well?
31 • Phone and Games (by Jesky on 2016-08-01 15:52:48 GMT from North America)
I'd love to buy an Ubuntu phone here in the US. I read several notes saying that they may not be banded properly and that Meizu may not sell to the US because they are not FCC certified (FYI, carriers like ATT are shutting down their GSM networks this year, so you need 3G/4G bands). I don't like Android, and it's hard to swallow overpriced Apple. This phone sounded like it would be better, and I'm willing to (try to) live with the limitations.
Does anyone know how long the OS is supported? If it's running 15.04, isn't that already EOL? Why not use an LTS release? Is it possible to upgrade?
For games, I basically just gave up playing them. Once or twice I've busted out my old XP machine to play something that doesn't work on Linux (always graphics problems). I've gone back to board games and books.
32 • Ubuntu phone (by Jesse on 2016-08-01 16:15:23 GMT from North America)
@30: Whether the phone is comparible with your provider's network will depend on the frequencies used. The bands and speeds provided by the Pro 5 can be found on this page: http://m.gsmarena.com/meizu_pro_5-7573.php
When in doubt, compre them to your carrier's options.
@31: >> " If it's running 15.04, isn't that already EOL?"
You are thinking of the Desktop edition of Ubuntu. This is the mobile edition which follows a different release cycle. It is still receiving updates. See the link to the update process in the article for more information.
33 • Meizu+GPS (by Grzegorz W on 2016-08-01 16:30:43 GMT from North America)
I miss test of GPS Navigation in review. This is my main concern about new phone systems. For me it is very important feature and Goggle Maps works great for me. I wonder if open-street maps based navi could be up to task (espacially out of "main locations" - e.g. in coutry-side in Poland).
Anybody knows good open-street based Navation app for Android (which I could test in my neighbouhood)?
34 • GPS on Ubuntu (by Jesse on 2016-08-01 16:44:16 GMT from North America)
>> "I miss test of GPS Navigation in review.
I did not do much with GPS on the Ubuntu phone, other than to confirm GPS works. There are a few navigation apps in the Ubuntu Store and they were able to pin-point my location and at least one of them will provide directions the same way Google Maps does. Check out Here Maps and uNav if you want to navigate using GPS on an Ubuntu phone. I have not used it in the car, but Here Maps will give directions for when I'm walking on foot around town. Actually, while I found its interface wasn't quite as friendly as Google Maps, the directions Here Maps gave were more clear.
35 • assorted (by shar on 2016-08-01 16:53:03 GMT from North America)
@8
Hmm, seems inaccurate to generically state "linux swap is slow", especially if one considers that the swap may reside on SSD.
@16
"So, these large phone companies are now providing FREE operating systems, including linux and windows BUT their prices for such are still very expensive."
Agree, and it's not just true for phones. BQ Aquaris tablet, with preinstalled ubuntu, was priced at a $50 (fifty euro) premium compared to same device with android preinstalled. What are they thinking?!?
36 • gamer poll (by Jordan on 2016-08-01 17:58:39 GMT from North America)
I guess I'm a "lame gamer," in that I only play neverball/neverputt and knights chess. lol
So, I checked, "not a gamer."
37 • gps (by denflen on 2016-08-01 19:04:14 GMT from North America)
I can confirm that Here maps is truly an awesome map that can be downloaded,(using no data usage). It has always got me where I wanted to go. Google Maps is great also, but it uses your data.....
38 • Meizu Pro 5 Phone Availability (by Willie on 2016-08-01 19:06:52 GMT from North America)
When and where can I get a Meizu Pro 5 in the US? The link in the article says out of stock. I'm tired of these apps and systems spying and doing what they want.
I want control back.
39 • Ubuntu phone (by Risto Alanko on 2016-08-01 19:49:52 GMT from Europe)
A mobile phone with a TERMINAL? Why, why?
One-finger-tapping commands from a tiny keyboard... please, not in 2010s!
40 • Linux and gaming... (by tom joad on 2016-08-01 20:54:41 GMT from North America)
I don't game as much as I used to but I do some...mostly Doom. And I play some chess too using Pychess which is pretty ok. But chess doesn't make a lot of demands for a computer to deal with. Mostly it is about the engine and that is it. But Doom makes a lot more emands on a computer.
And I have played Doom in both Linux and Windows XP. I can tell you that Doom is a lot more fun to play in Windows.
But then I don't play many games these days. Maybe at some point in time Linux will become a more robust game environment. If and when that happens the result will be that Linux will spread wider and faster. That will benefit most all of us and Linux will be more fun too.
41 • U'bu phone (by Kragle von Schnitzelbank on 2016-08-01 21:17:44 GMT from North America)
"One-finger-tapping commands from a tiny keyboard" … would adding a keyboard be difficult? (wired? bluez-toothy?) (and a mouse?) (and a second screen? full-size?)
42 • Root Access on Ubuntu Phone? (by Matt on 2016-08-01 22:10:11 GMT from North America)
What happens if you type "sudo su" in your terminal on the Ubuntu phone?
I have a rooted Android phone, but it is a pain to get root access on new phones. Even with root access, it is difficult to remove things you may not want. Canonical seems like a less evil company than Google, but I'd still like to be able to delete whatever I want from the phone.
On a related topic: How easy is it to install Ubuntu phone OS if you need to wipe your device? If you have root access, it is always possible to make your phone broken. Installing a new ROM might be the only fix in some cases.
43 • Measuring memory usage (by mikef90000 on 2016-08-01 22:19:24 GMT from North America)
The LXDE task manager (lxtask) gives you the option of showing memory used by cache as free, and this appears to be the (hidden) default in Xfce's task manager. Yes, it IS confusing if you don't know about it. Some well known podcasters keep overlooking cache behavior as they obsess on whether MATE, Xfce or LXDE use less memory. Sheesh. At any rate I can't tell the practical difference on my ten y/o laptop with 2MB.
---------
Kudo to Jesse for the very thorough Ubuntu Phone review. Canonical needs to try harder to get it on a more available and popular smart phone.
---------
Not a gamer, but what's wrong with dual booting? No one has 30 seconds to spare? Flight Simulator works just fine on XP :-) .......
44 • ubuntu Phone (by Jesse on 2016-08-01 22:25:31 GMT from North America)
>> "What happens if you type "sudo su" in your terminal on the Ubuntu phone?"
Typing "sudo su" gives you root shell, just like on other flavorus of Ubuntu.
>> " If you have root access, it is always possible to make your phone broken."
It is possible, but with Ubuntu Touch you really have to try to mess up the device. While you can have root access, by default critical parts of the file system are mounted read-only. For example, /etc and /usr are read-only file systems, by default. This means you would have to re-mount the file system in write mode, switch to the root shell and then do something to mess up the system. If you manage to go through all that, then recovery should be relatively simple. There are instructions for performing a fresh install here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/767323/how-to-install-ubuntu-on-meizu-pro-5-that-was-originally-with-android
45 • Linux gaming (by Rich on 2016-08-01 23:02:28 GMT from North America)
Most of my games are from Steam. Out of 131 in my library, 66 run on linux. That's not bad.
46 • ubuntu phone (by Tim Dowd on 2016-08-02 02:10:42 GMT from North America)
I really wish these were more available. I'm at the end of life of my current phone, and this review makes me think I need to go for a Ubuntu phone, but I can't believe how hard they are to find. Is the pro 6 going to get any wider release?
47 • good question! (by marta on 2016-08-02 06:18:37 GMT from North America)
@42
Q: What happens if you type "sudo su" in your terminal on the Ubuntu phone?
A: doG kills a kitten.
48 • Ubuntu_promise_vs_"extremely_intrusive_Android_and_iOS" (by k on 2016-08-02 06:31:00 GMT from Europe)
@17 • Ubuntu Phone by Linux Apocalypsis
Too true what you wrote, and many of similar "feelings" (mind), including
-- it seems -- Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_mobile_operating_systems#Security_and_privacy
Many question marks under the Ubuntu Touch does not seem to express
open-source philosophy or transparency.
Nevertheless, after Stephen Elop "turned" on Nokia and MeeGo, and
Jolla "abandoned" :) trying to market an affordable secure mobile phone
with Sailfish, it is really hard to know the truth, and decide. All the best.
49 • @#4 (by Glenn Condrey on 2016-08-02 10:54:18 GMT from North America)
hey woodsmoke...
EarthBoundMisfit from Xandros forums.
Got it to run firefox 17.0 8-)
50 • Ubuntu Phone (by Fronton on 2016-08-02 13:50:40 GMT from Europe)
No thanks. No real apps.
And Ubuntu... But it's me.
51 • Ubuntu Phone (by G. Savage on 2016-08-02 15:39:07 GMT from North America)
Sounds great, but the price point is too high for this phone, It should cost more than a week's minimum wage (~$7.25US/1h typ) for a phone for which you seek wide adoption.
This phone costs 9 days labor (before taxes). That's too much for a phone to learn/experiment on, and that you might not like. I think the price point is a marketing mistake, especially given the hardware design and development costs were amortized into the Android version.
If they drop the price 50%, I'll order one. If I get it to work properly. I'll buy more for my family, and promote it to others. The ball's in your court Meizu; What'cha goonna do?
52 • Gaming (by Brian on 2016-08-03 03:53:32 GMT from North America)
I firmly believe gaming drove PC growth. Two things required to make Linux explode in popularity: Office and Gaming.
53 • Games on Linux? Giggle Giggle. (by imnotrich on 2016-08-03 04:02:18 GMT from North America)
I primarily use my Linux box for work, but when it's time to play games I have options:
1. Wine
2. DOSBOX
3. Virtual Box
4. Supertux
When it's time to work, I have options:
1. Wine for Microsoft Office
2. Acroread (old, vulnerable version)
3. Virtual Box
4. Supertux
I have experimented with some games written specifically for Linux, but just like the old MS Office vs. Open and now Libre Office conversation, for the most part games written for Linux just are not the same. Which is OK, because I have a dual boot system plus run multiple OS's from 16 bit on up in emulation.
I'd rather run Babas Chess in WINE than eboard, exboard or raptor. Babas (last version written in the XP days) still stomps the Linux alternatives.
54 • Games on Linux (by mark on 2016-08-03 09:32:43 GMT from Asia)
@53 sincerly disagree about babschess. Jin is written in java and works great in linux
On the plus side of linux are simple games such as SDL games. Lbreakout2 is my favorite. And it does not work well - last time i tried not at all - on windows.
Yes I am not a heavy gamer and what i need I usually find on linux.
55 • *that* phone and distro (by Jordan on 2016-08-03 12:24:44 GMT from North America)
Well I look at the bright side wrt *that* rather prolific distro with so many versions, forks, siblings, children and copy-cats; it brings other OS users to linux and distrowatch, where they'll see all that's offered in the linux world.
Perhaps a few will run across Arch based distros (or Arch itself), Slackware based distros (or Slackware itself), or PCLinuxOS or you name it. *That* distro can be a gateway to better things, even if it's just a damned phone this time.
56 • Ubuntu phone notifications insecure (by Fructose Free on 2016-08-03 14:08:42 GMT from Oceania)
The only gripe that seems to be with replying to text messages from being notified is that you get asked if you want to reply before you enter your passcode. If someone steals your device, or annoys you by looking over your shoulder if you just want to know the time or the weather but you get a text, your done for.
57 • Sorry (by pivoron@gmail.com on 2016-08-03 19:25:52 GMT from North America)
"I firmly believe gaming drove PC growth. Two things required to make Linux explode in popularity: Office and Gaming."
Sorry, perhaps its just me, but I consider gaming on any device a truly aimless activity!
58 • @56 "sorry" / aimless or not, gaming is influential (by Julian on 2016-08-03 20:58:54 GMT from North America)
A lot of tech and its supporting infrastructure was created or improved just so that people can play games and look at naughty videos/images.
Whether the activities are aimless themselves (and i tend to agree that they are) they have a lot of impact on technology -- people figure new things out so that they'll work!
59 • gaming on linux-kernel based OS (by Julian on 2016-08-03 21:00:40 GMT from North America)
okay so lately I do roughly 100% of my gaming on a Linux kernel based OS, and that OS is the not very opensource Android that came with my Google Nexus device & my Samsung device
60 • @30 @31 - Answering my own question (by bigbenaugust on 2016-08-04 14:54:44 GMT from North America)
http://meizu.com/en/products/pro5/spec.html
says CDMA, so I will eagerly await this to hit the used market. :)
61 • @60 • Meizu Pro 5 (by bigbenaugust - from North America) (by Kragle on 2016-08-04 15:45:37 GMT from North America)
Does China's CDMA tech work with that used in North America?
3G WCDMA/TD-CDMA western patents
62 • Games on Linux (by nobake on 2016-08-04 21:02:12 GMT from North America)
I do some gaming on Linux, primarily via console emulators. Occasionally there's a game I want with a Linux port, but not often.
Gaming is the main, maybe even only, thing that still ties me to Windows. This used to be a big hassle - reboot to play some games, then reboot again to do anything else. It sucked, and WINE is just not a good enough substitute in my experience. I'm so much happier now that GPU passthrough is a thing and I can just boot up a Windows VM to play games while keeping Linux easily accessible.
63 • Gaming on Linux (by Linux Apocalypsis on 2016-08-06 14:54:25 GMT from Europe)
I installed an Android emulator once so that my nephew could play FIFA16 on Linux.
64 • Linux gaming (by Trooper on 2016-08-06 18:35:55 GMT from Europe)
As for gaming on Linux, I try and do as much of my gaming via Linux as possible. I seek out compatible games, or at the very least, run them through WINE, trying to avoid using Windows as much as possible. I'm more of a retro gamer, and play a lot of games via emulation, though do venture into native strategy (resource management) games where possible.
DosEmu is a great alternative to Dosbox, and so much less of a recource hog (especially on older hardware), because it runs compatible games directly on the hardware, and not via emulation, as Dosbox does.
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