Linux Web Player?

[ippdev]

There is so much incorrect information in this post that it's not even worth responding to.

Thank you for your enlightening contribution. This post has almost no info worth responding to, but i did what i could with it

Best
BTH

[jchance]

Historical reasons. OTEE was born a game company and the guys all preferred to use Macs, so the tool grew from there. Going forward we are most definitely interested in adding Windows authoring into the mix, we have a job listing posted on our site for a Windows GUI developer:

Jobs at OTEE


Believe me, I understand the desire to have the platform support be as broad as possible but Linux is still a finicky beast. As Taumel indicated, things 3D-related aren't quite so stable and clear and all times and it is still far and away the smallest user base (so the cost to benefit ratio isn't there just yet). But no matter what, as I said above, we are keen on exploring new platforms and so we'll keep Linux on the radar as part of our future plans if/when it becomes an appropriate move for us.

You have to get your facts straight. Many polls and studies on OS market share have Linux on more systems whether laptops or PC's then Apple has for market share with Mac OS X. That is a fact. As it is also a fact that all Mac OS X is, is Free BSD with a custom kernel known as a MACH style kernel and GUI. Apple should not be able to sell it and hinder the free adoption of the BSD components as it does because it is in violation of the licensing the original BSD code is released under.

3D in Linux is far more stable then you claim. So much so that Windows based games that run on Wine tend to run better then on Windows itself. OpenGL and GLX are 3d rendering engines, and less resource hungry on Linux then OpenGL applications on Windows or Mac OS X. I have been using Linux now for well over a decade and a half now and have seen how much better it works then Windows and Mac OS X, especially stability wise, and hate when people talk about it who are obviously clueless, like here.

Here is an example of this being clueless. AMD's graphics drivers for Linux are basically the same drivers as those for Mac OS X. So much so, that quartz API acceleration calls will work with them. I have proven this with Myth TV using the Mac OS X quartz settings under Linux. BSD being Unix and Linux are very similar and compatible animals. Where Unity has been designed for Mac OS X, it would be relatively easy to port it to Linux. But being a non "commercial" OS, there is no way you will port Unity to Linux, just admit it instead of making excuses because that is what you are doing!

You are making claims about Linux that have not been based on any facts except those from it's infancy as an OS.

[jchance]

I received a user complaint on a website I was working on a while back, which sent me straight to my server logs. It would be great to say that I could justify the additional planning, development and testing to accommodate the bloke, but it wasn't viable given time and testing budget constraints.

Unless they are so 733t they are sliping by undetected, they have not been interested in anything my clients sell in any quantity that could be considered a target ("paying") market. This does match the available market research which indicates that Linux users have no dress sense, smell funny and always wear unfashionable glasses.

In closing, if they're so tight they won't fork out for a more fashionable operating system, there's little sense in trying to sell them shiny bl1ng ;

Just because you waste your money on Windows, which is a hacked up and highly modified version of early Max OS that Gates stole from Apple's first Mac prototypes or pay for Mac OS X when under the BSD license everything that makes it what it is minus the MACH kernel and GUI are free you are the one who needs to get a clue. Maybe your client sells crap and that is why Linux users haven't sunk large amounts of money on their site.

Before you make comments about Linux users look at Windows users. The majority of Windows PC's, laptops, netbooks, and the rest are running pirated copies of Windows, especially since 7 came out where basic is a complete sham and joke. Windows is the OS of pirates! Almost every single case of piracy that has been prosecuted around the world has involved a computer running Windows. Most Windows users don't pay for a any commercial software, they just download it with cracks and serial keys for free.

[ippdev]

Just because you waste <snip autoblither> for free.

Too much caffiene? Pre Testosterone Release Syndrome (PTRS)? They got an app for that

HTH
BTH

[stimarco]

You have to get your facts straight.

And you might want to check the date of the post you quoted. (The references to "OTEE"—which is what Unity Technologies used to be called some time ago—should have been clue enough.)

Also, OS X is no longer just a BSD Mach variant. The kernel is now a hybrid variation. Also, FreeBSD != OpenBSD—there's a reason for the differentiation as FreeBSD is NOT released under a license as draconian as the GPL series, so no, Apple aren't "violating" a damned thing. (In case you weren't aware, Apple do contribute to Open Source projects. Google "Darwin" and "WebKit", among others.

And those are just the mistakes in your first paragraph. I can't be bothered to proofread the rest; I prefer to charge for that service.

So: 9/10 for enthusiasm, but 3/10 for accuracy and 0/10 of observation.

[divinebovine]

Thanks for the kind words my way. With the above you've captured the situation nicely, it's just not viable (in our opinion) as of today but that is likely to change as time rolls on. We're keeping a close eye on this and other "behind the scenes" developments we're tuned in to so that we don't miss out on things. But so far it's just not measured up as something worth our effort compared to other new platforms like consoles*, iPhone**, Android, etc.

Have you seen Arstechnica's article concerning the Humble Bundle and how supporting Linux was an important part of their success? Analysis of the humble bundle sales numbers by DIYGamer found that interest in Linux gaming is far greater than what most people would assume.

Really though, I’d suppose the biggest surprise is that Linux, on a revenue basis, is able to keep up with the likes of Mac users given that Mac is far more ubiquitous than Linux. I would even go so far as to say that this proves that there is as large a market for games on Linux as there is for Mac.

source

Just doing my part to encourage Linux support.

[Vectrex]

Uh oh.. Spaghettios

[natosha.bard]

Hello Everyone,

Vectrex, it seems you've got us on this one

We are in fact working on Linux support to be released initially as a preview feature. We have no set release date yet.

Cheers,
Na'Tosha

[Vectrex]

Vectrex, it seems you've got us on this one

Sorry if I ruined the surprise and I hope I didn't get anyone fired

[natosha.bard]

I hope I didn't get anyone fired

No, of course not. It doesn't seem like we were making much effort to hide it, now does it?

Cheers,
Na'Tosha

[Vectrex]

No, of course not. It doesn't seem like we were making much effort to hide it, now does it?

Heh, well you never know. A slip of a #define here, unticked compile flag there and bam! YOU'RE FIRED! :P

[Prominence]

Vectrex. Love how you pulled out the news.

I loved Spaghettios back in the day. xD

[Karm]

I keep hearing the same songs.

Corporate says, "Yes , We agree. It is a wonderful OS. True, not many people in the USA use it. It is very stable and secure. I use it myself there are some very good programs. but the distribution is lacking. No one properly markets the software and no one really supports it. There are not enough users, if there were a bigger market share we would jump on the band wagon.
.
Programmers say:
Yes we agree that it is a wonderful OS; true not many people in the U.S.A use it. It is very stable and secure. I use it myself . There are some very good programs but the distribution is lacking marketing and proper support , due to statements of lack of use. If enough people used it we would jump on the band wagon
.
IT. says
yes we agree that it is a wonderful OS ;true not many people in the U.S. A use it. It is very stable and secure. I use it myself and there are some very good programs, but the distribution is lacking marketing, and no one really supports it. There are not enough users. If there were , We would jump on the bandwagon.

users say:
(*&^*(&^%^&$ )&^%T^&%$&*^ ()*^*&%( windows crashed !!!!!
Linux sounds good but not many people in the U.S. use it it is very stable and secure there are some very good programs. I would use it myself but, the distribution is lacking no one markets the software, and no one really supports it . Maybe ill buy a APPLE no there to expensive,...

I say:
If YOU BUILD IT.... We WILL COME

[sivael]

Heh, well you never know. A slip of a #define here, unticked compile flag there and bam! YOU'RE FIRED! :P

That was hilarious xD

I keep hearing the same songs.

Exactly. It's not that there's no interest in Linux. It's that gamers choose windows for lack of options.
If Unity made a player for Linux, the companies porting to MACs would have very little trouble porting to LInux and the games would work on linux. Now that makes NVIDIA and ATI think about writing better drivers for Linux. And that makes Linux better for gaming and more people would use it. Now that would mean better Linux distros, better Linux drivers, more Linux games and the cycle continues :P
Someone has to go first:P

[PatrickAupperle]

It appears you have decided to support Linux. If this is true, why is there no status here: http://feedback.unity3d.com/forums/1...ds-/filter/top . I also would like to put my support behind a Linux port. I do have a few comments on the thread.

First, the multiple distribution thing really is not a problem. The same binary will work on most Linux distributions. Personally I run Arch Linux and a lot of companies who do not provide source only provide .deb and .rpm files. If you do not already know, those are the two main package formats in Linux. Ubuntu, Debian, and several others use .deb files to distribute programs. Fedora, Red Hat, openSUSE, and several others use .rpm files to distribute programs. Arch Linux uses .pkg.xz (I think) to distribute programs. This has nothing to do with the underlying binary. It is just the different ways that dependency resolution and installation are handled. Companies should, either in addition to the above, provide binary packages. This would make it installable on all distributions. Although this is true, it is not my main point. I, as an Arch user, have actually installed .debs and .rpms. No, this is not the best method of installing software on Arch, but it does show that the different bases mean very little. The same program runs the same on all bases. If you are worried about various package formats, give us the binary and we will make the packages ourselves. You don't even have to give us any source for us to do this. Basically, supporting Linux is just supporting one platform.

Second, although you may see the user base as small, the developer base of Linux is much larger. Many developers use Linux, not because they don't want to spend money but because they want to use the best OS. Most of us Linux users have spent money on Windows. I personally have several Linux computers, a Mac, and a Windows computer. My main machine, which is also my best gaming machine, runs Linux almost full time. I keep one Mac and one full-time Windows computer around to test things against against them. I refuse to develop anything that won't run on all three. The point is that I am not afraid to spend money. How many people do you know with this many computers? I buy the most recent version of Windows and Mac every time one comes out. Yes, I do dual boot my main computer, but I am seriously considering deleting the Windows partition. If you want to attract devs, support all platforms. Even if I didn't use Linux, I would never support a platform that doesn't support it. There are enough good platforms that do support Linux (Native Client and WebGL are the ones I am looking at now) that I never have to feel bad about avoiding Unity. All of my desktop applications support all three major OS. It is a bit of effort, but as long as the code is written with cross platform support in mind, it is definitely not insurmountable. I have seen a single Linux dev easily maintain Linux compatibility in his spare time. If you can't handle this, you have problems. You could always open source your code and we would port and maintain it for you, provided you have a decent code base.

On the before mentioned page ( http://feedback.unity3d.com/forums/1...ds-/filter/top ), Linux support is by a large margin the largest feature request. I really can't believe you would choose not to fulfill the single greatest request of your customers.

Anyway, I really like this project and would love to throw my support behind it. Unfortunately, I can not support what refuses to support me. Even silverlight (created by Microsoft) is more supporting of Linux than you are. If supporting* the competition is good for Microsoft, then how could supporting that same platform not be good for you? You are not even trying to compete with Linux.

I hope I did not come off as fanatical or otherwise not of sane mind, but I do feel strongly on this issue. I see your concerns, but they are baseless. Linux is a great platform. Also, the Linux comunity loves to support projects that support Linux. I know someone who buys almost every game he hears about that supports Linux, just to support a company that makes the smart decision. We may be a small number of people, but we are an important group of people. Who do you think has the most powerful, game capable computers? Computer enthusiasts. That's right, Linux users.

*I do realize that there is not an official silverlight for Linux, but Microsoft supports and helps with Moonlight.

[hobbes2120]

Hi. Linux user. New Star Trek Infinite Universe coming out and uses Unity. Checked downloads but no Linux download. I do have a Virtual XP with plenty of power behind it to probably go that route but preference would be to use Linux in all truth. Seen someone post something with a Linux port, where do I get it?

[niosop2]

There currently is no native linux Unity web client or build option. You might be able to get it working under WINE, or you could try VirtualBox with 3D acceleration enabled, but that's about it for now. They did get a web client working under Linux during the recent Ninja Camp, so we're all hopeful that at least web player and possibly standalone build support will be added in the not so distant future.

[Lab013]

You have to get your facts straight. Many polls and studies on OS market share have Linux on more systems whether laptops or PC's then Apple has for market share with Mac OS X. That is a fact. As it is also a fact that all Mac OS X is, is Free BSD with a custom kernel known as a MACH style kernel and GUI. Apple should not be able to sell it and hinder the free adoption of the BSD components as it does because it is in violation of the licensing the original BSD code is released under.

3D in Linux is far more stable then you claim. So much so that Windows based games that run on Wine tend to run better then on Windows itself. OpenGL and GLX are 3d rendering engines, and less resource hungry on Linux then OpenGL applications on Windows or Mac OS X. I have been using Linux now for well over a decade and a half now and have seen how much better it works then Windows and Mac OS X, especially stability wise, and hate when people talk about it who are obviously clueless, like here.

Here is an example of this being clueless. AMD's graphics drivers for Linux are basically the same drivers as those for Mac OS X. So much so, that quartz API acceleration calls will work with them. I have proven this with Myth TV using the Mac OS X quartz settings under Linux. BSD being Unix and Linux are very similar and compatible animals. Where Unity has been designed for Mac OS X, it would be relatively easy to port it to Linux. But being a non "commercial" OS, there is no way you will port Unity to Linux, just admit it instead of making excuses because that is what you are doing!

You are making claims about Linux that have not been based on any facts except those from it's infancy as an OS.

This is largely incorrect. While at one time linux had as many or more users than OSX, it currently doesn't (or so the statistics I've seen have stated).

Also, OSX is not based on BSD, it is POSIX compliant, which allows it to run recompiled BSD applications. All such applications are released open source, and there is no license violation. OSX is based on Mach, and mach has virtually no licensing (as well as when Apple modifies the lower levels of their kernel, they will usually release it for mach as well.)

My experience hasn't been the same as the one you have stated for 3D linux, as well as linux isn't guarenteed to have drivers for the latest graphics cards, which are generally very poorly documented, and hard to write drivers for unless you know someone with the knowledge needed to interface with the card.

Your third paragraph sounds like a load to me, unless I am misunderstanding it.

Converting any large software project to a different platform is a challenge. I think your theory that Unity won't transfer their engine over because Linux is Open Source is one of the least intelligent arguments as to why they wouldn't do it that I can think of.

[Unityplayer187]

unfortunately niosop i have tried the WINE program to start the unity player but for some reason it made my internet really laggy and slow to run, in addition after adding the unity player to WINE the games i try to play with unity dont work for some reason.
they just appear as a White screen...
battlestar galactica online, dead frontier, just a blank white screen...
The virtual box i'm not sure i haven't tried it yet and im not sure if i will.

A linux version of unity will be released soon i hope?
cause the linux limitations are torturing me and i dont have any other boot disks till A long time from now.

[Dreamora]

Unlikely there were not plans for Linux revealed so far. You might have to wait for molehill targeting to get any way to support linux.

If the linux limitations are torturing you, I would recheck if you choose the right OS for your needs as gamer