Linux software on fire!
 

I would like to take this time to inform fellow Linux users of a few things. If you are trying to customize Linux to becoming as Windows friendly as possible, you may want to read on. The only reason why I am bringing this information to you is because I wish to migrate entirely into Linux as a desktop user. I know that I am not the only one who feels this way, and I hope, by working with others, I may achieve a successfully migration within the year. As I have stated before on another post, I predicted Linux to achieve much within this one year, as far as compatibly is concerned. So far, my word has yet to be proved wrong.

-WineX-
Transgaming.com has updated there two programs revolving around allowing DirectX programs to run under Linux. The update is huge, and was considered so big, they decided to change the name of the program. Be advised, WineX is no longer being called WineX. This is a good thing, since my experienced has shown me that many people have confused Wine with WineX, and believing it is one of the same. I was once a victim of this as well. Go to www.transgaming.com for further details.

-Wine-
Apparently, there's been some huge updates to WINE. I can not really comment on any of this yet, since my experience with WINE is far less then that of WineX, but I will try a few things and get back to you. (Photoshop 7 will be one of the major tests I will run)

-FLASH-
There is a update for Flash which allows more support for it under Linux. This is required if you check out the new introduction to Squaresoft's Final Fantasy XII Advent Children clips. I've seen other sites requiring Flash ver. 6 as well, but do not recall them at this moment.

-ShockWave-
I would like to get the Macromedia Shockwave installed so I may use it's functions on my Mozilla/Netscape 7 on Linux. My last experienced however has proved disappointing. Has anyone been successful getting ShockWave to work on Linux? If so, could you give me some feed back please?

-Real Player-
Has anyone been able to get the Helix Plug-in and Player to work with Mozilla/Netscape 7 on Linux? If so, please give me some feed back.

-Red Hat Fedora-
I've read reports about the kernel on the RH Fedora which has given me reason to reconsider not updating from RH9. Though RH Fedora is a great project, there is still much instability found within the kernel. One such report can be found at www.transgaming.com.

-ATI-
If you use the ATI video card under Linux, there have been a few updates made. Nothing to go nuts about, but hey, better stable version, better reason to get it. I do have a question though, does anyone know if Shiny Water is supported by these drivers?

-nVidia-
Well, I am Pro-ATI, though I am reading much content that shows that nVidia blows away ATI when running it under Linux. I am very much considering a new video card within the next four months, and I would like to get a nVidia card (simply because there physical design is better). However, I am fearful of getting one because I will want it to be cross compatible between Windows and Linux. The rear fear is from the tainted kernel experiences I get when trying to install nVidia's drivers on a Linux OS. If someone would be willing to help me out on this, it would be much appreciated. No URL's please. I seen much of them.

-On the Side-
I'm going to run a few games using the new program founded by www.transgaming.com under a ATI Radeon 9000 Pro video card. I'll voice if the improvements that are claimed by them, are as real as it sounds.

Re: Linux software on fire!
 

There are no problems in either Windows or Linux, as far as my experiece goes (TNT2, Geforce2, Geforce4). The tainted kernel messages are not error or warning messages...just information. The reason behind it is because the Nvidia driver is not GPL, or even open source....it has nothing to do with its performance.

Do you have a nVidia video card with fully functioning drivers working on Linux? If so, can you please submit your copy of the XF86Config & XF86Config-4 files?

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "speedo"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "PS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Geforce 4 MX440"
Driver "nvidia"
VideoRam 131000
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Sony 21' Trueflat"
HorizSync 30-130
VertRefresh 50-160
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Geforce 4 MX440"
Monitor "Sony 21' Trueflat"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1200" "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "Generic Mouse"
EndSection

Nvidia's drivers are open souce. Just download the file and run it using the extract option. It will then extract to a directory. You can then look at the source code or modify it anyway you want it.

ATI does not have sufficent amount of bandwidth to handle OpenGL although ATI cards works better with DirectX. Nvidia cards has poor support and poor performance for DirectX but they have very good support and performance for OpenGL. In LINUX, every 3D software uses OpenGL. If ATI puts a lot more effort into their LINUX drivers, people that are making a DVR can take advantage of ATI's built-in MPEG decoder.

Nvidia's drivers are not open source. The only thing open about them is the interface provided so you can build it against a custom kernel. The driver itself, nv-kernel.o, comes pre-compiled and obfuscated (to make reverse engineering harder).


Håkan

Its true...nVidia is NOT open source.

I have installed and used both. nVidia was easier to install...you have to know the answer to a lot of questions when installing ATI. BUT, as far as OpenGL, they both perform quite well.

Not gamer, use it for other stuff.

Mike

Thx much for the config file twsnnva. It will prove to be useful.

i have had shockwave working using crossovers plugin, this was a while back, and i havent seen a website that uses shockwave so, i haven't looked at it since then. as far as helix goes, i had it installed about 8 months ago and i loved the plugin, its actually a really good media player

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/toonami/play/index.html

I have three younger brothers who like Jap. animation, and I'm not an exception to this either.

Shockwave 10 was required in order for my younger brothers to play these games.