When I first started using Linux 15 years ago (Ubuntu) , if there was some software you wanted that wasn’t in the distro’s repos you can probably bet that there was a PPA you could add to your system in order to get it....
Another issue I’ve had with Snaps is just increased boot times. Something to do with mounting all the virtual images involved or something, makes boot take noticeably longer. I’ve tested having an Ubuntu install with Snaps, and then removed the snaps and snapd while installing the same software via Flatpak, and had a noticeable boot time improvement. Hopefully they’ve been working to improve this, but it just soured me on them even more.
As for another install method, mostly for CLI tools, but working with a lot of GUI apps too now, there’s Distrobox. It has a bit of a bloat issue, because you’re basically installing an entire extra headless Linux Distro with it, but it for example allows you to run AUR inside an Arch based Box, and then you can integrate the app you installed with AUR into the host OS, running it near seamlessly, while keeping its dependencies contained in the Box which you can easily remove. By default apps in the Box will have access to the host’s filesystem but you can mitigate this if you want. Distrobox is especially great on atomic read-only Distros, where you can’t directly touch system directories, by allowing you to install apps that expect such access from things like AUR.
The main issue I run into is that even when I use a standard format like ODF, sending a document to someone using a different office suite often leads to various formatting breaking. It’s to the point that if I know the person I’m sending the document to, isn’t going to be editing it, I send it as a PDF.
I felt deceived when Microsoft added ODF file support, only for formatting to still break when exporting/importing from another suite. What was the point if I’d get the same results as loading a DOCX in Libre Office?
Distro agnostic packages like flatpaks and appimages have become extremely popular over the past few years, yet they seem to get a lot of dirt thrown on them because they are super bloated (since they bring all their dependencies with them)....
Yeah, if it wasn’t for my niche needs and desires of using my SteamDeck without touching the system partition, I probably wouldn’t have messed with Nix because of how much of a confusing mess of modes and switches there are, and I’ve used terminal based package managers for years. It’s very far from the simple “it just works” of Flatpaks.
They added the Nix directory in SteamOS 3.5 and linked it to the User partition, so now Nix survives SteamOS updates without any workarounds, which is part of why I tried using it.
What’s extra ironic is that with how slow Valve is at changing things, Epic had a window where they could’ve released a superior user experience to out compete Steam and sustainably attract users away from Steam. But they’ve taken so long that slow moving Valve has actually improved things, further solidifying their position, and now Epic is even further behind.
I can’t think of any hardware that Valve has abandoned. Sure they’ve stopped making plenty, but pretty much everything is still supported, and in many cases works even better because the software developed for them still exists and gets updated(SteamVR, Steam Input, Steam Link, etc). Closest you can get to abandonment were the Steam Machines, and even then they were just PCs and you could easily install another Linux Distro on them, or even Windows.
According to the guys who left, Management forced unrealistic targets on the Editor in Chief, then used him not meeting those targets as an excuse to fire him. Everybody else quit in response.
Denuvo doesn’t prevent games working on Steam Deck, but depending on how it’s implemented it can cause other problems like preventing a game from launching if it hasn’t been able to connect online in a while, or weird performance issues. It varies from game to game.
You can disable that feature, and some people do because they get tired of the constant downloads and shaders taking up space for games they haven’t even played yet.
That’s what confused me the most. When your customers are consumers, screwing them over might be no big deal. But when your customers are businesses, how were you planning to get away with something like this where anything involving fees in the 6 to 9 figures is game changing. That’s, “Cheaper to move my business elsewhere” levels of money.
It’s the complete unpredictability that devs and businesses hate. 2% of every purchase they can plan for, but with install fees they could get randomly billed for copies that were already sold, and that is unacceptable. This isn’t a one time fee, whenever somebody installs the game on a new device, the dev gets charged. Not to mention the fact that some people might have multiple devices, but randomly in 3 years they could get a new PC and suddenly the dev gets charged again, all the while the dev didn’t make anymore money from that copy. Who the heck would agree to a system like that?
Not to mention that if a game gets added to a service like GamePass, then the service gets the bill. No way Microsoft would say yes to that, which means the Dev misses out on deals that could’ve made them a bunch of money.
I was digging through some stuff and stumbled on this. To think it’s been 15 years. Crazy what you used to be able to get a free CD of back in the day.
Why does nobody maintain PPAs anymore?
When I first started using Linux 15 years ago (Ubuntu) , if there was some software you wanted that wasn’t in the distro’s repos you can probably bet that there was a PPA you could add to your system in order to get it....
LibreOffice 24.2.1 Office Suite Is Out with More Than 100 Bug Fixes (9to5linux.com)
Why aren't more people using NixPKGs?
Distro agnostic packages like flatpaks and appimages have become extremely popular over the past few years, yet they seem to get a lot of dirt thrown on them because they are super bloated (since they bring all their dependencies with them)....
The ESRB has started slapping blockchain games with Adults Only ratings, so Epic has changed its store policy to allow them (www.pcgamer.com)
Valve says it is committed to the Steam Deck, has a "road map" (www.axios.com)
Yahtzee Croshaw: Today, I formally resigned from The Escapist and Gamurs. I don't have the rights to Zero Punctuation, but whatever happens you'll be hearing my voice again soon, in a new place. (twitter.com)
Ubisoft just added Denuvo to Assassins Creed Mirage via a day-1 patch a few minutes ago. AFTER all the major reviews went online. (meta.masto.host)
https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/0c095e3d-ac73-49eb-b142-65d0c7d2b8af.webp
Counter Strike 2 is surprisingly awful on Steam Deck right now (www.pcgamesn.com)
The Minecraft wiki has been moved from Fandom to Minecraft.wiki (minecraft.wiki)
KSP2 is Spamming the Windows Registry Over Weeks/Months Until the Game Will Stop Working Permanently (forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com)
Unity May Never Win Back the Developers It Lost in Its Fee Debacle (www.wired.com)
Creators of Slay the Spire will migrate their next game to a new engine if Unity doesn't completely revert their changes (nitter.net)
Picture taken from their Twitter
Remember when they'd send you these for free? (sh.itjust.works)
I was digging through some stuff and stumbled on this. To think it’s been 15 years. Crazy what you used to be able to get a free CD of back in the day.
I feel called out (sh.itjust.works)