[BozemanLUG] Interesting times for Linux gaming

[Brian Vincent]

This kind of brings up a slightly different topic - what the future of what PC's look like in a decade.

People have been predicting the demise of PC's for years and it's never happened.  Remember Wyse terminals?  The "Network Computer" revolution?  Sunray?  Heck, netbooks?  I'm not naïve enough to think they'll actually be gone in the future.. I suspect we'll all still be having these same discussions in another decade.  

However.. here's how I would like to work in 2020:

I'd like to wake up in the morning and check the my cell phone for new emails and alerts (um, and already do that.)  Then go to work and plug my phone into a port that connects a monitor, keyboard and pointing devices.  I'll open a virtual desktop app of sorts on the phone to connect to any corporate applications I need.  Of course, that app would be smart enough to have built-in VPN capabilities so if I'm away from my desk I can still access those applications.  If I go home and want to play a game, I run the game on the phone and display it wirelessly on the TV, perhaps using the phone as the controller or a separate Bluetooth controller (using Bluetooth version 8.0, the version that everyone will widely consider the only version that has ever "just worked".)  When I switch jobs next year, the company will have the ability to turn off the access to the desktop apps and the new company I go to will make me set theirs up.  

Now, regarding the second email about Linux finally offering a competitive desktop experience, it's been that way for over a decade.  Linux has offered a competitive, albeit very slightly less friendly way of doing everything on the desktop for a long time.  Remember Loki games?  They had some great titles.  Where Linux completely falls apart is when it comes to directory services.  Active Directory is SOOOO simple and braindead to use.  I won't pretend to be a wizard administrator of AD by any means, but the best part is I don't have to.  It all just works.  It also means that Exchange is the natural choice for email because it's all integrated.  Yes, we could get a free email solution, but the $7000 or whatever we'll pay for a set of Exchange CAL's is worth it.  

Regarding the other email about editing Office docs, go get CrossOver office and use Office 2007.  It'll work great and exactly like how you'd expect.  

----------------
Brian Vincent
Moonlight Basin Technology Manager



-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-bounces at bozemanlug.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at bozemanlug.org] On Behalf Of David Boreham
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 11:07 AM
To: Bozeman Linux Users Group
Subject: Re: [BozemanLUG] Interesting times for Linux gaming

I don't play games, but I think this is a pretty interesting point in the history of computing.

Since...oh...say...1979 with Unix V7 on the PDP-11, you've been able to buy a reasonably priced bare machine and install software of your choice on it, beyond the control of the hardware vendor. Many of us enjoy working in an industry where that is still the case, but for how much longer?

If the PC becomes a dongle for Windows, where are we going to get cheap powerful hardware to run our code?


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