HHGttG.... but can you take the time to do the same amount of research as Arthur Dent; scrounge up that notice, (where blue states you will get linux support very very soon... and link it here?

This thread has been truly inspiring.
Shame on you, GOG. Where's System Shock 2?!

Spot on.

I am no apple fan either, but if this initiative can help getting gog more customers, which may result in more revenue. This will only be good.

Bigger financial gains means more power and growth, which in time will result in more triple-a titles here for us to enjoy (;

What? So it's a HUUUGE jump of logic that when GOG announces a new OS right at the same time as Steam does (Linux), which is the second most requested new site feature (Linux), the announcement will either be Win8 or Linux?
Yeah, obviously Mac comes to mind much quicker.
Also, Enicmatic T posted a comment in a wish with 400+ comments, which, given the way wish comments work, no-one was noticed of. Yeah, that sounds like something everyone should naturally have noticed by themselves.

Anyways, I'm out. I'm getting in a bad mood, and one should never write in forums under such conditions. I know I'm overreacting right now, sorry.
Maybe I won't feel so disappointed tomorrow.

I can understand if some people aren't excited about Mac support, especially if they don't use a Mac... but I just can't get my head around the anger, the "torch and pitchforks" mentality and the hatred for Mac that's spewing about. Or how this was a stab in the back to Linux users.

First, they *added* the ability for more people to play their games. Period. That can't, in any way, be a bad thing. Don't use/like OS X? Then move on. Especially if you're a Windows user. Your experience with GOG, for all intents and purposes, is unchanged. What is gained by pouting about how you dislike Macs? I admit, as a Linux user, Apple's practices aren't my favorite... but Microsoft is hardly a group of saints. And again, either way, what purpose does it serve to rant on how much you hate Mac?

Secondly, to my fellow Linux users... and I've said it before, but just because GOG doesn't "officially" support Linux doesn't change a whole lot. Despite being unsupported, GOG (and Humble Indie Bundle) fully sparked me finally getting back into gaming on my laptop, as a full-time Linuxer. I've always had hit-or-miss luck with WINE, and sorta fell out of a gaming (at least on my computer) lately (though that's as much attributed to me being a old fuddy-duddy who still prefers 8- and 16-bit, but whatever).

Along comes GOG, who is pushing out all these old games, many of which run in DOSBox or ScummVM, making them essentially native for me. I set up a bash script to handle moving some files around post-WINE install (which runs flawlessly), and I suddenly have access to a store full of Linux-capable games, many of which are classics. Add in that the majority of the older Windows games run perfectly in WINE, and that with GOG has come more community support for said games in WINE, and suddenly we have a buffet of native, or damn near, games to digest. I'm still working through a giant backlog.

Anyways, I know how forums work. I've been that guy before. People are gonna keep ranting, and take out their {jealousy, frustration, disappointment} on Mac and GOG for opening up support to the second biggest OS on the market (I love Linux, but it's still roughly 1% right now...), allowing more people to enjoy games. But that's just my two cents on the situation. Everyone needs to step back, chill out, a realize that whether you love or hate Mac (or use Linux), nobody was hurt by this announcement.

At worst, Linux users trying to play the latest releases from GOG might've missed out on Ubuntu packages being released (if they exist). Which, no offense because I'm often in that type of niche, is a tiny, tiny portion of people. People, who being my fellow, crafty Linux users, will be able to find a way to make it work.

*steps down from soap box* You may now continue waging war.

I am a Linux user. I do not feel terrible about the news. I did read TET's opinion on (not yet) supporting the platform, thus I did not expect much, and so I was not disappointed at all. After all, if Mac is supported, perhaps someday Linux will be too. Just trying to think positively for now.

But I think that's exactly why many people are miffed: supporting DOS games under Linux is no harder than supporting them under OSX, so why OSX only? The only thing that comes to mind is that the setup of timidity and the midi fonts for midi playback varies slightly between distros, everything else is the same thanks to 1) unified driver architecture, 2) FreeDesktop standards, 3) the fact that DosBox runs on every PC with a decent CPU, no special graphics capabilities required --> no issue with free VS proprietary drivers. That's why people react emotionally, because it doesn't make sense on a technical level (it might on a business level, although I don't see how, none of the arguments against linux support hold for pre-Windows games).

And it doesn't help that GOG won't make the slightest change that would make life easier for Linux users. In particular, why can't we get Linux versions of the recent indie games for which native ports exist that are supported by the developers? We don't even get some kind of code for redeeming a copy of the Linux version straight from the developers' website so that GOG doesn't have to offer official support.

In the same vein, why do we need to run Wine to install a DOS game? Since the installer only runs some md5 checks and then copies a bunch of files to another location, I don't understand what's so difficult about making it cross-platform.

In sum, adding limited OSX support that could just as well include limited Linux support from a technical perspective... that can easily be perceived by some as a deliberate smack in the face after the community has made it very clear through the wishlist that they're not 100% content with the way Linux is being handled here.

Lol, nice artwork

After every conference there is always massive amounts of hurt butt. Makes a good after show.

popcorn? *hands over box*

Wow, next thing you know people will be complaining about getting free games.


Oh wait.

You're right. They could technically do a few things to make things easier... GOG is still (aside from the eventual release of a Steam client, though I'm not a fan of Steam's DRM) the biggest place to get Linux gaming anywhere right now. Humble Bundle is there, but has a much smaller overall library (and has more than it's share of technical issues). But there's nowhere, right now, Linux users can go and get more high-quality, working games than GOG. Given that, it just seems a bit childish to me to lash out at GOG for not going out of there way to appease a teeny, tiny group of people. And they haven't said they'll never do it, either. Humble Bundle was damn near the first group to show legitimate Linux consideration, starting just a few years ago (excusing random id Software releases). And Steam is planning it, but hasn't yet. So it's not like GOG is screwing Linux gamers. And they've never said they won't work towards offering more. But as it stands, they one of the best allies a Linux gamer can get.

I'm enjoying watching this thread switch from regular color to grayed out as I refresh the General Discussion subforum.

Hey, you know that fucking wishlist entry with six times more votes you keep going on about like it's a goddamn Mayan prophecy? There's a 4 day old comment on the page from TET explaining why they don't plan to support Linux in the near future. It's in bright blue, kind of stands out, you know, like all GOG staff posts. Sorry they didn't email you personally, maybe they have better things to do.