cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/227964
There used to be a time when Linux gaming was a tricky affair, filled with trial and error, obscure fixes, and things randomly breaking. Many gamers used to avoid gaming on the platform due to those issues.
Now? Things have changed dramatically. Tools like Wine, Proton, DXVK, etc. have taken Linux gaming to another level. Bottles is one of those handy tools helping make the experience that much easier for gamers.
Sadly, the project has hit a funding roadblock.
Hard Work Deserves Appreciation
The lead developer behind Bottles, Mirko Brombin, recently shared an update on the project’s current state. He points out that, while Bottles has sponsorships from companies like Linode, JetBrains, and Hyperbit, they are still facing funding shortages that make sustained development difficult.
Despite having over 3 million downloads on Flathub, the project receives only about €100 per month in donations, an amount easily overshadowed by the server costs alone.
That sounds concerning. 🫤
Mirko also brought attention to Bottles Next, a complete rewrite of the app designed to modernize the codebase and improve performance. He said that they are still working on it, and while it’s due sometime in the future, continued support from Bottles users will help the team focus on development and deliver a better product faster.
He further added:
I am actively working to find sponsorships, I am in contact with a possible funding that could allow us to accelerate development, to pay a small bonus to those working on Next, to give some breathing room to those who are contributing. But here too, it takes time. And that’s precisely why today I feel the need to speak openly.
We don’t want to make Wikipedia-style appeals, with the usual “just one euro each.” But it’s right that those who love Bottles know how things really are. If you want to see Next grow, if you want to see Bottles finally become what it’s meant to be, we invite you to consider supporting us. Even just a symbolic donation, even just a monthly subscription, if done by many, can become what we need to take the next step.
If you use Bottles and want to see it grow, even a small donation helps more than you might think. Supporting the project now means faster updates and a better experience down the line.
Suggested Read 📖
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I have access to none of these options, except SEPA iff Bottles accepts it.
I have a feeling that fundraisers would get a lot more funding if they weren’t so US-centric. I’m German. I don’t need a goddamn credit card. I have money. And I don’t want some private company snooping through my accounts.
Complains about pretty much every method of digital transaction because they're centralized, then dismissed cryptocurrency out of hand. Truly genius.
I'm also in Germany. Most banks offer either a credit or debit Visa or MasterCard, with the debit version usually being accepted like a credit card would be, excluding some edge cases.
Even Sparkassen seem to slowly be transitioning to that option, though it took them 10 years longer than everyone else. So, unless you don't want to use a Visa or MasterCard for philosophical reasons (which I could understand, their stranglehold on the market is very annoying), your bank probably offers something that would be accepted there.
As a German living abroad this is how the rest of the world operates. My regular debit card functions as Visa in situations where that is required. And it's all I ever use. I literally haven't used cash once this year. Germans are so backwards
That's also how it works for almost everyone I know in Germany. I think the last time I wasn't able to just tap my card was before the pandemic. The only time I touched cash recently was when an old lady insisted on giving me some for fixing her computer. Feel like we're mostly caught up (in that regard - don't mention fax machines). Well, in the cities at least. Outside of them ... I honestly dunno.
I think the most cash based country I've been to was Japan, funnily enough.
What's the problem you see with crypto? I think it's a good platform for payments, especially if it's fully anonymous like Monero. And no, I don't care that it's used for scams. It doesn't have to be. Just don't buy shitcoins and you're good.
This only moves the question. What payment methods does the currency exchange accept? What are the transaction fees there? Also crypto is way to volatile for my liking. Crypto bros may claim that states can devalue currencies at any time, but ever since BTC was invented, the Euro has been orders of magnitude more stable than any cryptocurrency.
For the first two questions... just pick a good exchange? You have a lot of options, and chances are high that one supports your preferred payment method.
I do agree that crypto is quite volatile though.
What is your preferred payment method?
I've considered payment systems many times and there is no "free" option outside of Taler, which requires your bank to support it, and the bank doesn't give a shit about your freedom. And frankly, most people don't either.
My preferred payment method is wire transfer. I instruct my bank to move x monies from my bank account to someone else’s bank account. No need for a third party.
That's costs money and is very insecure.
[Edit: ~~It does not and it is not. What the fuck are you talking about?~~ Why do you think it’s insecure and what costs are associated with it?]
I don't think it's insecure, I know it is. I work in an industry where tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are stolen on a regular basis. If you accidentally wire the funds to the wrong account, there is no recourse. And there are scammers targeting these types of transactions.
Well, duh. That’s not what I’d call insecure. If you only accept a system as “secure” if it is resistant to any user error, then I propose you keep away from knives, cars, electricity, staircases, and basically everything.
You also didn’t provide any rationale for the “costs money” part of your statement.
Maybe it's different in Germany, but at least in the US, wire transfers have a fee. My bank even charges me $5 just to receive a wire transfer, and if I wanted to send money internationally it's a $65 fee. It's a terrible system to buy things too because it takes days for the transfer to clear.
Another comment mentioned ACH, but that is not the same as a wire transfer.
No fees in Germany, neither for sending nor for receiving and the funds get transferred within seconds.
Thanks for clarifying that. I just thought they used a technical term I was unaware of.
ACH is Automated Clearing House, which is US-specific and what's used for faster bank-to-bank transfers than wire. They still take up to a day or two to clear. I suspect what you are calling a wire transfer is not actually the same thing as a SWIFT network wire transfer, which is what's used for international transactions. German banks charge the same fees for those: https://wiretransfer.io/deutsche-bank-germany-wire-transfer/
German banks might have arrangements for doing domestic transfers more quickly, and obviously it's instant if the recipient is at the same bank, but I don't know that that's considered a wire transfer anymore. It would be a direct deposit/debit through some other bank-bank system. (In Canada this would be like Interac transfers, or Zelle in the US)
That’s absolutely possible. Whenever I’m researching how to move moneys, I find that there’s a bit of a language barrier. When I say “wire transfer”, I’m trying to communicate a scheme by which I instruct my local bank to reduce the number of Euros in my bank account and somehow instruct the recipient’s bank to increase the number of Euros in the recipient’s bank account by the same amount. Specifically, I’m trying to communicate that there is no credit involved here. No end-of-moth balancing of a credit account, no sending money I don’t actually have.
I think what I mean is the “SEPA Instant Credit Transfer” as Wikipedia describes it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area#SEPA_Instant_Credit_Transfer). I am aware that this cannot possibly work with banks outside of SEPA. And these are also free-of-charge, as I said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_transfer#European_Union
Ah interesting, so the European banks have agreements on how to settle wire transfers quickly, but going outside those SEPA agreements gets you about the same experience as US wire transfers.
That SEPA system seems kind of nice, since in the US it's been up to a bunch of private companies (like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard) to pick up the slack and enable instant transfers. We've only recently got the Zelle system, which is free and instant, but even that's just run by some corporation that went around making agreements with banks on their own.
Unfortunately, for this sort of international transaction, the only real options are: Credit card companies (via credit or debit), SWIFT wire transfers (slow and expensive), or Crypto (volatile and maybe slow depending on which one).
I've had annoying times trying to purchase parts from a small UK company, since my only option was wire transfer with a $65 fee, or calling them long distance and giving a credit card over the phone at 1am my time)
Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't I do that when possible?
I don't know what you're expecting of me. ACH transfers cost money. It's as simple as that.
A quick search in their github didn't show anyone requesting this. maybe just open an issue?
In Germany you essentialy have the choice between a debit card or a Girocard, why anyone would choose a Girocard instead of a debit card is a real headscratcher for me. So many disadvantages for only a few advantages. Especially if you consider that many banks without a debit card also have fees just for having an existing account and often times you can‘t even get money from every atm without fees. So while i underdzanf your points i don‘t think taking a credit card is US centric at all, it is just the superior card.
With SEPA transfer your choice of "card" is totally irrelevant. This has been a thing for decades (at least half a century, even before SEPA existed) to transfer money from one account to another. It's easy and straightened. Nowadays it's even quick.
I never understood why people felt a need for PayPal when you could just as easily send someone money. And if you wanted something with more customer protection there's "Bankeinzug" for which I don't even know if an English word exists. You basically give a company permission to pull the money from your account. In case of fraudulent activity you can retroactively revoke that permission.
is Direct debit.
From my quick internet search it seems that these “bank-issued” debit cards are all either a rebranded MasterCard or rebranded Visa. Both American companies. Given how unpredictable their government behaves recently, and how recklessly the banking sector has behaving for decades now, I would rather not rely on them for something as essential as my bank account.
Using crypto for international transactions is the intended purpose and has no connection to the shitcoin speculation that people associate with the name, and refusing to use it because of that is absolute puritan nonsense (people get scammed with regular money too, are you going to cease transaction over that?)
GitHub allows you to use a debit card, at least in the US. You might want to check again.
You prompted me to read up on these things. It turns out that Germany has been cooking their own debit card scheme (Girocard) for the last 20 years, and it’s incompatible with the rest of the world. But banks seem to be transitioning towards Visa or Mastercard.
Github doesn’t accept Girocards.
TBH, I’m not a fan of yet another entanglement with US-based companies for something as simple as moving money.