Hi Petr, Yeah, I am also running Ubuntu 10.4. I agree that in terms of accessibility it is still the best Linux solution for someone interested in accesibility out of the box. Especially, if you have to perform a talking installation from scratch using Orca which blows Windows away right there. However, you are also right that Linux is great when it comes to using Open Office, Firefox, Evolution, etc for work, but is a bit lax in the entertainment area. Wine might be alright for running some Windows programs, but really fails when it comes to gaming. That is why I am so excited about the Cedega Project by Transgaming. It might be a commercial product, but it also is slowly beginning to attract more mainstream game developers to the platform, and they at least seam interested in giving it a try. That would be good, because if mainstream game developers begin getting in on the act, so to speak, there will be more advanced game APIs created and there will be more Linux drivers for a much wider range of game controllers available for the platform. What we have here is potential to go far, but we need someone to break the ice. As I briefly mentioned in my earlier e-mail there is no real reason we couldn't create accessible games like Mysteries of the Ancients, Shades of Doom, Q9, or whatever other than there isn't a lot of money in it. I could certainly build an engine using LibSDL for input and use OpenAL for virtual 3d audio support. I could even use Libvorbus to decompress ogg files and then pass them to OpenAL for playback and positioning. That's not really any big deal if there is some financial backing to make it worthwhile. Unfortunately, that is where the problem lies, because most Linux users are use to having free and open source software unhindered by commercial licenses. That, of course, is why it is hard to find something like Openbook or K1000 for Linux. The accessibility technology companies don't want to touch it, because they don't think they will make any money off their products. Many open source developers don't have a disibility so there isn't a huge demand for something equal to Openbook or K1000 for them. Although, I have thought several times of trying to write my own OCR package for Linux that is a clone of something like Openbook. Although, I'm not quite sure how I should license something like that since I believe that software like that should be free, but yet it wouldn't hurt to be paid something for my time and energy creating it. Anyway, I agree with you that things by and large are getting better for those of us who do use Linux. That's why eventually once Mysteries of the Ancients is released I want to do more research into creating platform specific games for Linux. I already know how to create games for Windows, but creating games for Linux requires different libraries, APIs, etc and is a new ball game. So it certainly takes more time and energy to do the proper research and development for that.
Smile. On 7/10/10, Petr Bláha <hammet...@seznam.cz> wrote: > Hi thomas, thank you for the great article about the gaming under the > linux operating system. > I am user of whidows seven, but of Linux Ubuntu 10.4 as well. > I can say that this version of ubuntu is the most usable one for the > blind users, who want's to use the grafic environment in linux. > I can use wifi conncetion, mail client, instant messaging client, file > manager, text editor, lot of software which is necessary for my work. > Situation is worst in entertainment area. > I tried to run some games via WINE emulation, but unfortunately, i > wasn't successful. > Another thing which is annoing is, that the scanning is not possible in > Linux, i mean scanning which has the same quality as in the windows > operating system, and that's the main reason for me, why i am not > planning to stop use the windows. > Cause i love books and i scann them - from time to time. > But as i said, now i can use Linux for mi work without any problems. > Web browsing, text processing, e-mails sending and writting, no problem. > So i believe, situation will become better and better also with the > entertainment area. > By the way - which distribution of linux do you use? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
