octoblade

With the Steam Deck getting more popular and more SteamOS handhelds on the way, it has never been a better time for game companies to support Linux. GOG does already sell some games that have Linux support, they just don't have a convenient way to download and install them.

GOG galaxy appears to use CEF and Qt, as well as some parts (such as plugins) that use python. All of those are cross platform. So I doubt it would be incredibly difficult to port to Linux. The fact that there is already a macOS version indicates that it can be made cross platform and can run on Unix-based systems.

I am jealous. I live in Australia and because of where I live the only way to get anything symmetrical is enterprise Ethernet. As you can imagine, it is outrageously expensive. So I am stuck with 50 Mbps upload for the foreseeable future.

If they were to force a TEE based DRM like Widevine L1, it would likely cause significant issues as there are a considerable amount of devices that don't support it (for example most PCs).

If they were to use software based DRM like Widevine L3, it would be easy for enthusiasts to crack and the tools for doing so would just get much much better.

Widevine L3 is trivial to decrypt at this point, there are even APIs on the web to decrypt it. Playready SL2000 is starting to get much easier to decrypt as well.

Forcing TEE based DRM (Widevine L1 and playready SL3000) would have the potential to cause too much collateral damage. They would almost certainly have to have exceptions some devices. If they intentionally break compatibility on browsers other than chrome, they would probably face antitrust issues.

So it is likely there will always either be a way to bypass or decrypt.

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This whole situation was a concern for me too, but with Ladybird being spun off into its own not for profit, these kind of things are much less likely to occur again going forward. The project is a lot more focused now.

Yeah it was the sliding mechanism I was thinking of as a potential issue, not the actual keys themselves. Phones with keyboards that don't slide seem ok, but I personally wouldn't want one.

I am too young and missed this era of phones, but personally I don't like the idea of slide out keyboards. They seem like they would be very prone to dirt clogging it up. Would it even be possible to get an IP68 rating with a slide out keyboard?

The one phone feature I miss most is the alert slider from the OnePlus 5T I had. The 3 position switch is so intuitive when it comes to putting the phone on vibrate or mute. It sucks that no other phones have it, as I vowed never to buy a OnePlus phone again due to them never selling phones officially in my country. That, the increase in price, the trend towards more mainstream conformity, and the software deficiencies really soured my opinions of OnePlus.

GTA Online isn't server based, it is peer-to-peer. Hence why it is so easy to cheat. Rockstar decided to use the cheaper option instead of the much better option.

Well the thing is, for it to be viable for the average person it would need to be able to suit a lot of different use cases. A lot of systems and infrastructure would need to be built up as well, likely to the point where it starts to resemble currently available typical phone OSs. There would need to be consistency and some amount of stability in terms of APIs and such for app developers to use. Having fragmentation of the ecosystem (different distros), with low level differences (compared to just a manufacturer or carrier skin+apps), means that it will be more difficult for app developers to target all platforms.

So to some extent, I guess it is partly due to a lack of momentum, however it is impossible to ignore the extent to which the Linux way of doing things is going to hinder adoption.

And don't forget that the Linux ecosystem has a habit of competing against itself for the little marketshare it does have. The fragmentation of the ecosystem also leads to work being done many times over for each distro. It makes it very hard for Linux to catch up and keep pace with the likes of Android and IOS.

I am not hating on Linux by any means, just being realistic about the situation.

It is definitely getting there (depending on the device), but there are still more than a few rough edges. Calls, SMS/MMS and data is working for the most part, still some bugs here and there. The biggest issues with calls, SMS and data tend to depend on the carrier and country.

On my Linux phone (FLX1) battery life tends to be good enough if not using android apps, and... acceptable if using android apps. It is definitely a phone you need to charge every night though. Audio tends to be OK, but isn't configured out of the box to use USB audio.

Notifications tend to be my biggest problem with Linux phones at the moment, as they aren't well handled by apps and software outside of SMS and missed calls. Installed apps tend to need to be open for notifications to go through.

Honestly, I don't see Linux phones as being viable for the average person for quite a long time. But it is definitely possible to get by using it as your only phone.