Effects on Linux? (Score: 3, Interesting) by quadrox@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 10:04 (#P0) I have traditionally welcomed all efforts at porting games and software in general to Linux, but recently I have started to be concerned about what effects this will have on the Linux ecosystem. Things like Steam and in general the perceived need for "trusted" computing and DRM raise the possibility of commercial products requiring locked down software/hardware platforms that may run Linux under the hood, but are not anywhere near being as open as they are supposed to be.If all of this just ends up requiring a non-free and non-open version of Linux it would be pointless - might as well just use windows then. Re: Effects on Linux? (Score: 2, Interesting) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 12:21 (#P3) I agree with that. But perhaps we'd see a split - due to community demand - for some distros that handle the games and some that remain free/unDRMed? So RedHat would decide they want in on the action and you'd get a RedHat distro knowing what you're getting into. Ubuntu would follow suit. But you'd also have niche distros that specialize in DRM-free kernels and so on, for those that prefer to give up the games than to give up freedom.I'm hopeful anyway. Re: Effects on Linux? (Score: 1) by gumpish@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 16:40 (#PF) Although in an ideal world there would be no need to dual-boot, I'd definitely be less annoyed with a Linux / DRMLinux dual-boot system than a Linux / Windows dual-boot system. Presumably a Linux kernel with DRM baked in would still be more secure than Windows and Microsoft wouldn't be collecting money from game enthusiasts anymore.
Re: Effects on Linux? (Score: 2, Interesting) by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 12:21 (#P3) I agree with that. But perhaps we'd see a split - due to community demand - for some distros that handle the games and some that remain free/unDRMed? So RedHat would decide they want in on the action and you'd get a RedHat distro knowing what you're getting into. Ubuntu would follow suit. But you'd also have niche distros that specialize in DRM-free kernels and so on, for those that prefer to give up the games than to give up freedom.I'm hopeful anyway. Re: Effects on Linux? (Score: 1) by gumpish@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 16:40 (#PF) Although in an ideal world there would be no need to dual-boot, I'd definitely be less annoyed with a Linux / DRMLinux dual-boot system than a Linux / Windows dual-boot system. Presumably a Linux kernel with DRM baked in would still be more secure than Windows and Microsoft wouldn't be collecting money from game enthusiasts anymore.
Re: Effects on Linux? (Score: 1) by gumpish@pipedot.org on 2014-03-19 16:40 (#PF) Although in an ideal world there would be no need to dual-boot, I'd definitely be less annoyed with a Linux / DRMLinux dual-boot system than a Linux / Windows dual-boot system. Presumably a Linux kernel with DRM baked in would still be more secure than Windows and Microsoft wouldn't be collecting money from game enthusiasts anymore.