trojan in my computer need help

[ulthar]

JohnL wrote:


> Of course then you have the problem of compatibility...

With what?  Linux is useful, with TONS of useful software, lots of Winders sw runs under wine, etc.  Okay, so there may be some stuff that doesn't, but there is probably an alternative.

I know A BUNCH of people using Linux, and I don't hear them complaining about lack of software...that's a complaint for 8 years ago that is no longer applicable.

[JohnL]

>With what? Linux is useful, with TONS of useful software, lots of Winders sw runs
>under wine, etc. Okay, so there may be some stuff that doesn't, but there is
>probably an alternative.
>
>I know A BUNCH of people using Linux, and I don't hear them complaining about
>lack of software...that's a complaint for 8 years ago that is no longer applicable.

Unless you want to run specific software.

Ok, I admit it, I'm talking about games. For as long as I've had a computer, I've been into computer games. In fact, if I wasn't into gaming, it's doubtful that I would have ever gotten a computer in the first place. Of course I use it for more than that, but I still consider games to be an important part of why I own a computer.

I have no direct knowledge of this, but I'd be willing to bet that not too many modern games will run under Wine.

Also, I like this bit from someone's Usenet post about Linux;

>Yuhuh, thats whats always put me off linux, everytime its like "ooh this looks
>good...*downlaod*" oh i need gaylib 4.x, but gaylib wont install without cocklar
>3.1.2.3.1.3.4.6.3, of course cocklar wont run without cheesewizz, cheesewizz
>being only availble in an unstable beta. All for what, to echo your uptime in irc :P

I've seen this happen with ports of *nix programs as well. I gave up trying to figure out how to get a working WIndows version of The Gimp graphics program because you need about a dozen other things to make it work. Back on the Amiga, there were a lot of programs ported from Unix and without fail, all of them needed additional programs and support libraries to make them work.

There there is my, admittedly, limited experience with compiling programs on a Unix shell account. First you need to go through a 20K file and set all the configuration options, like;

Disable save blocking enable=0/1

"This option will disable the option to enable the save blocking function. This option can also be set in a local configuration file, where it will override the default, unless it has been set in a global confiruation file. It can still be overridden by using the command line switch DSBE=x, unless the option to disable the disabling of user enabled features has been set at the time of compile. If this is the case, then the only way to override it is to put the line DUEF=x in the local config file, although it can still be overridden by the global config file, or by using the DUEF=x switch on the command, which will enable the use of the disabling options..."



Post Edited (05-11-04 14:17)

[ulthar]

JohnL wrote:


>
> I have no direct knowledge of this, but I'd be willing to bet
> that not too many modern games will run under Wine.
>

(1) There are many 'modern' games that run ONLY under Linux/Unix ... a lot of server based games are *nix games, for example.

(2)  If by modern games, you mean DirectX based MS games, you need a variant of Wine called WineX, which implements the DirectX API.

Many games are compatible with this emulator.  For example, Battlefield 1942 runs with WineX.  For a general site on this topic, see

http://www.transgaming.com/

As for your other comments, they GENERALLY apply to older distros/versions of Linux.  The compiling/library issues you mentioned are largely eliminated by distributed binary packages, such as rpm (Red Hat) and deb (Debian based), and others.

On the topic of editing config files, well, that's a small price to pay for the TOTAL increase in power and versatility Linux gives...and make no mistake.  I don't think I have installed a single Windows game that ran correctly 'out of the box' without some tweaking or configuration setting.  The point is, as is most always the case, you are more familiar with how to do these things in Windows, and thus probably resist 'the other way' used on Linux.

For general computer use, word processing, web surfing, email, etc, etc, Linux such as Mepis Linux is so far superior to Windows (and is free, and comes with a boat load of free software, such as KOffice and OpenOffice.org, and others) it is not funny.  I know of many people use Mepis once, and never go back to Windows.

It's not fair to 'condemn' a very useful OS as having software compatibility problems when that statement has not been true for at least five years.  Likewise, it is not fair to further condemn it for software distribution issues (compiling errors) when

(a) these are the fault of the developer, not the OS
(b) these issues have largely been solved for a lot of popular software.

And again, to keep things On Topic to the board (a little bit, anyway), the big CGI houses are *NOT* running Windows...one could argue they are the ultimate in computer entertainment, eh?

[ulthar]

DoomIII is due out this summer, and includes a Linux client.

http://www.linuxgames.com/news/feedback.php?identiferID=6635&action=flatview

[JohnL]

>(2) If by modern games, you mean DirectX based MS games, you need a

Yes, that's what I mean.

>variant of Wine called WineX, which implements the DirectX API.
>
>Many games are compatible with this emulator. For example, Battlefield 1942
>runs with WineX. For a general site on this topic, see
>
>http://www.transgaming.com/

Interesting site, thanks. I searched for several of the games that I own and a couple that I plan to buy at some point. Out of all the games I searched for, only one is listed as working perfectly. 17 are listed as having problems, some mild, some severe. 23 of the games are listed as not working at all. Here's the list;

Works perfectly
---------------
Half Life

Works, but has problems
-----------------------
Curse of Monkey Island
Escape From Monkey Island
Freespace
Half Life Blue Shift*
Half Life Opposing Force
Heavy Metal f.a.k.k. 2
Homeworld
Jedi Knight
Majesty
Mortal Kombat 4
Rune
Soldier of Fortune
Spiderman*
Star Trek Elite Force
System Shock 2
Thief Gold
Thief II

Doesn't work
------------
Aliens vs. Predator Gold
Aliens vs. Predator II*
Crazy Taxi
Grand Prix 3
Heavy Gear
Lemmings Revolution
Mechwarrior 2
Mechwarrior 3
Oni
Outcast
Populous The Beginning
Project Eden
Resident Evil 3
Serious Sam The First Encounter
Silent Hill 2*
Silent Hill 3*
Star Trek Armada 2
Star Trek Elite Force 2*
Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Starlancer
Tomb Raider
X-Com: Enforcer
X-Wing

I suspect there would have been more on the not working list, but some of the games I searched weren't found (like Carnivores 2, Prince of Persia 3D).

>The point is, as is most always the case, you are more familiar with how to do
>these things in Windows, and thus probably resist 'the other way' used on Linux.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not really a fan of Windows. Personally, I liked the Amiga, it was easy to use, there was a lot of free software for it (I don't think there ever was a commercial virus scanner on Amiga, they were all freeware), and if things went wrong with it, it was a snap to restore a backup copy of the OS. Unfortunately, it never had the kind of mainstream support that Windows did (that and Commodore just let the design stagnate for years...) so it died off. Unfortunately, for a lot of stuff, if you want to run it, it means using Windows. I've love to be able to dump Windows, but for years with the Amiga I sat back and saw all the great looking new games that I couldn't run because they were for IBM clones. Now I finally have one, and however much I hate Windows, I'm not about to switch to a possibly superior OS and be back to not being able to run the software I want.

>For general computer use, word processing, web surfing, email, etc, etc, Linux
>such as Mepis Linux is so far superior to Windows (and is free, and comes with a
>boat load of free software, such as KOffice and OpenOffice.org, and others) it is
>not funny.

I assume that there are Linux programs to play all the common video formats? Such as Quicktime 6+, Real Video 9, WMV9 etc? What about codecs like DivX 5.11, Xvid, 3ivx, VP3 etc? As well as DVD player software?

>It's not fair to 'condemn' a very useful OS as having software compatibility
>problems when that statement has not been true for at least five years.

Judging by the search results from the WineX site, the compatibility is still fairly poor for Windows games.