[HN Gopher] Wine on Wayland year-end update: improved functional...
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       Wine on Wayland year-end update: improved functionality and
       stability
        
       Author : mfilion
       Score  : 114 points
       Date   : 2022-01-12 11:56 UTC (11 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.collabora.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.collabora.com)
        
       | Zhyl wrote:
       | Along with Proton, Steam Play, the Steam Deck, Easy Anti-Cheat
       | support for Wine, Battleye suppport for wine, FSR and a bunch of
       | other stuff, this means that gaming is getting more viable on
       | Linux.
       | 
       | It isn't there _yet_ , but it's close.
        
         | yepthatsreality wrote:
         | The only piece not there is the anti-cheat software support.
         | 
         | Most games run perfectly fine, even better than Windows
         | usually. Players just get kicked from online games because of
         | the anti-cheat software recognizing the OS as Linux
         | distribution.
         | 
         | This is mostly on lazy companies who can't seem to make a
         | simple update to support the proper anti-cheat binaries.
        
         | babypuncher wrote:
         | Have any games actually enabled EAC or BattleEye for
         | Wine/Proton yet? So far it's feeling like they put in a whole
         | lot of work for nothing.
        
           | oynqr wrote:
           | Planetside 2 comes to mind. Although the performance in big
           | fights is usually terrible.
        
         | edflsafoiewq wrote:
         | Does it? Isn't this just re-implementing stuff that works in
         | X11 to work in Wayland now?
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | It is there now. I play all sorts of games on Linux, including
         | VR. Some AAA titles are still a no-go but perfection should
         | cannot be the enemy good. I'd say that linux is more useful
         | than any console. Every console can only play approved games,
         | limiting each to a subset of the total number of playable games
         | in the world. Linux, via proton/wine, can today play more games
         | than any console. So if gaming on consoles is a thing today (it
         | is) then gaming on linux is too.
         | 
         | I have read that "gaming" now requires more than just playing
         | games, that you also need to be able to stream and edit videos
         | in order to "game". I think that definition goes to far as I am
         | certainly a gamer but have never felt any desire to stream.
        
           | zamadatix wrote:
           | Linux has always played some set of games well enough,
           | usually enough to keep a person busy I'd argue, but the
           | experience has remained subpar and excludes the most common
           | games which is what people mean by viability. E.g. of the 10
           | most popular Steam games the only 3 that are green (and they
           | are all Steam exclusives which bumps their Steam numbers a
           | bit), the rest either don't launch at all or have severe
           | bugs/limitations. Similarly "nothing has every game" doesn't
           | mean "everything with a game is equally comparable", Steam on
           | Linux is missing significantly more of the top 10 titles than
           | those same 10 titles on console for example. This also
           | largely extends into the top 100 or outside of Steam.
           | 
           | It's almost there though, one of my friends is finally able
           | to play some of the games with us via his Linux install but
           | he still has a Windows install he boots to for most games. A
           | couple years ago he didn't even bother and just ran all
           | gaming from Windows because it was giving too much trouble
           | for too few games. As long as it keeps moving in this
           | direction it will be good!
        
             | sandworm101 wrote:
             | >> but the experience has remained subpar and excludes the
             | most common games
             | 
             | Minecraft. KSP. Factorio. Counter-strike. Rocket League.
             | Among Us.
             | 
             | >> E.g. of the 10 most popular Steam games the only 3 that
             | are green (and they are all Steam exclusives which bumps
             | their Steam numbers a bit)
             | 
             | Which list are you looking at? Sales or how many people are
             | actually playing these games? I couldn't care less about
             | which games sell the most. What matters is which games are
             | actually being played, something very different than sales.
             | According to this list, the bulk of the most popular games
             | run fine on linux, several natively.
             | 
             | https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-20-pc-games/
        
               | zamadatix wrote:
               | Minecraft is only supported on the legacy version not the
               | new version you need to play with
               | Xbox/Android/iOS/Switch/PS/Bedrock users, same for
               | Minecraft Dungeons. Rocket League used to be natively
               | supported and now must be run through Proton (though at
               | least Epic hasn't blocked it via DRM like Fortnite),
               | Among Us barely makes the top 100 now and is regularly
               | broken/subpar but it is one my friend was able to play
               | with us when it was popular (with a bit of fighting),
               | Counter Strike works great but is one of the 3 Valve
               | titles I was talking about.
               | 
               | > Which list are you looking at?
               | 
               | ProtonDB https://www.protondb.com/ which uses Steam's
               | live statistics
               | https://store.steampowered.com/stats/Steam-Game-and-
               | Player-S.... I think that site you linked is just
               | republishing Steam's page in a static version (but
               | without the information on which that ProtonDB adds).
               | 
               | If you want to go beyond Steam the numbers only get worse
               | as Valve has been leading the push for Linux gaming, even
               | making their own Linux gaming devices for many years.
               | E.g. Fortnite from Epic typically peaks around 20-30
               | million active players each day (which is around the same
               | as the peak number of Steam users concurrently logged in
               | whether playing the game or not - albeit not all PC
               | obviously) and you can't even join a match on Linux.
               | 
               | > Sales or how many people are actually playing these
               | games?
               | 
               | The latter, a lot of the most popular games are F2P now
               | so it wouldn't even be possible to do the comparison by
               | sold copies.
        
               | bentheklutz wrote:
               | Rocket League has been officially unsupported for linux
               | since the beginning of 2020[0]. One can still play it via
               | means others in the thread have mentioned, but for me
               | it's more notable in this conversation as a popular title
               | that had native linux support and lost it later on.
               | 
               | [0] https://www.rocketleague.com/news/ending-support-for-
               | mac-and...
        
           | babypuncher wrote:
           | I don't stream on twitch but I'll regularly show off a game
           | or something to friends by streaming on Discord.
           | 
           | More than half of the top played games are still silver or
           | worse on ProtonDB so I really don't think we can go around
           | saying Linux is a viable option for most PC gamers. It's good
           | on a case-by-case basis.
        
           | Zhyl wrote:
           | It's on a per-case basis I think. I will call it 'ready' when
           | I can pick up a Linux PC or a Steam Deck off of the shelf
           | with zero fiddling, install and boot up a {Steam,
           | Multiplayer, Non-Steam, comes-with-own-launcher-on-PC} game
           | without any fuss and just play.
           | 
           | Proton has made more games playable than ever before, but
           | there are still those that won't run [0].
           | 
           | EAC and Battleye have announced official support for both
           | Linux and WINE, but still many games are unplayable due to
           | anti-cheat not being supported for those particular games
           | [1].
           | 
           | Steam Deck is coming, but is not out yet.
           | 
           | The Steam Deck UI and SteamOS 3.0 looks like it will be a
           | better replacement for Steam OS 1-2 and Steam Machines by an
           | order of magnitude, but they aren't there yet [2].
           | 
           | Linux active users on steam are at the highest they've been
           | since the release of proton, but still haven't pushed through
           | 3% (and currently around 1%) [3]
           | 
           | So all in all, all the elements are coming together and a LOT
           | of investment is going into it. 2022 will be an exciting year
           | for Gaming on Linux.
           | 
           | But it isn't there _yet_
           | 
           | [0] https://protondb.com
           | 
           | [1] https://areweanticheatyet.com/
           | 
           | [2] https://boilingsteam.com/steam-deck-developer-kit-
           | impression...
           | 
           | [3]
           | https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Steam-
           | Li...
        
             | krastanov wrote:
             | I probably mostly agree with you, but the standard you are
             | holding Linux/Wine/Proton to in your first paragraph is
             | definitely not met even by Windows (any version).
        
               | Zhyl wrote:
               | I mean that's fair. I think even getting to Windows
               | parity, warts and all, would be good.
        
             | sandworm101 wrote:
             | >> when I can pick up a Linux PC or a Steam Deck off of the
             | shelf with zero fiddling, install and boot up a {Steam,
             | Multiplayer, Non-Steam, comes-with-own-launcher-on-PC} game
             | without any fuss and just play.
             | 
             | That is today. Buy any linux PC from any number of vendors.
             | Download KSP and play. Download the steam client and play
             | Factorio. Or install wine/proton and play Subnautica.
             | 
             | My brother owns an Xbox. He wants to play star citizen but
             | cannot on xbox. In fact there are thousands of games that
             | don't run on xbox. That doesn't mean that xbox isn't a
             | fully-fledged gaming device.
        
               | Zhyl wrote:
               | > Buy any linux PC from any number of vendors
               | 
               | I choose Currys [0]
               | 
               | > Download KSP and play
               | 
               | I choose Fortnite
               | 
               | > My brother owns an Xbox. He wants to play star citizen
               | but cannot on xbox. In fact there are thousands of games
               | that don't run on xbox. That doesn't mean that xbox isn't
               | a fully-fledged gaming device.
               | 
               | True, I guess it will be up to the gaming community as to
               | whether Linux needs PC/Windows parity in order to be
               | worth using or whether it can be considered its own
               | platform which is worthwhile despite not having any of
               | the games from the links in my above post.
               | 
               | [0] https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/search-
               | keywords/xx_xx_xx_xx_xx...
        
               | smoldesu wrote:
               | Can you pick up a new Windows machine and play my Super
               | Tux Kart binary?
        
               | Zhyl wrote:
               | Seems so
               | 
               | https://supertuxkart.net/Download
        
               | smoldesu wrote:
               | then they're equal to me
        
               | sandworm101 wrote:
               | >> it will be up to the gaming community
               | 
               | No. It is up to gamers. I don't care about Microsoft,
               | RockStar or PewdiePie's position on the state of linux
               | gaming. All the matters is the people who actually play
               | the games.
        
               | Zhyl wrote:
               | By "the gaming community" I mean gamers.
        
             | bee_rider wrote:
             | By that standard it will definitely never be ready. But
             | that seems like a really specific and high bar that, for
             | example, Windows won't ever meet. I mean, even ignoring
             | Playstation and Switch exclusives, Windows support of, for
             | example, 10 year old Windows games can require tweaking and
             | fiddling.
        
             | 2Gkashmiri wrote:
             | >Valve claims enabling it for Proton is as easy as sending
             | an email.
             | 
             | and the megacorps can't be bothered to send and email and
             | let users fix their bugs, be their test dummies, pay for
             | their software in the name of chicken or egg?
        
         | yaomtc wrote:
         | > Easy Anti-Cheat support
         | 
         | Only the newer of two types of EAC:
         | https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/01/easy-anti-cheat-not-as...
        
       | Symmetry wrote:
       | Oh right. I was having trouble getting Cyberpunk to work nicely
       | with Wayland when it came out and switched to X where it worked,
       | baring some background sounds. I should revisit that and switch
       | back to Wayland and see how it does. Note: the background sounds
       | thing got fixed in a few weeks.
        
         | oynqr wrote:
         | Man, I remember running Cyberpunk on release. Single digit
         | framerates and kernel panics, on a 5700 XT. It became playable
         | within a couple of weeks.
        
       | 2Gkashmiri wrote:
       | this looks like this will help apps other than games as well.
       | nice. really hoping for wine to shine so that more software can
       | be used in a linux environment helping with reducing windows
       | dependence.
        
       | miduil wrote:
       | Oh I love the Chrome example, that could mean that one can watch
       | Netflix in 4K under Linux.
        
         | luckystarr wrote:
         | I tried it on Amazon and it works, but only for their in-house
         | productions. Anything outside of that, you'll get 720p because
         | it can't verify the HDMI chain or something.
        
           | spicybright wrote:
           | I get the same issues under normal usage (MacOS).
           | 
           | I pay for prime, watch a movie I can only legally view there,
           | but I'm not able to plug in a monitor/TV to watch it.
           | 
           | I get an error about DRM not being supported by the monitor
           | and/or HDMI cable. They make some excuse about cables not
           | supporting some ultra 4k setting, but I think that's BS. I
           | can pirate the same resolution content and play it fine on
           | VLC.
           | 
           | I'm paying but still can't watch what I'm paying for. This is
           | why people pirate.
           | 
           | Related to it: https://www.amazonforum.com/s/question/0D54P00
           | 007ccK4lSAE/ev...
        
             | krastanov wrote:
             | This is why I tend to pay for the movie on whichever
             | service they are on and then go ahead and download the
             | pirated copy for actual consumption. It is important for me
             | to find a way to fund the creators, but the user experience
             | with non-pirated media is quite bad. I just wish there was
             | a way to pay the creators and artists while also hurting
             | the DRM-pushing middlemen.
        
               | spicybright wrote:
               | Wish someone could pull a humble indie bundle on it. Pay
               | per title, download DRM free, most of the $ go to
               | creators, less money pumped into DRM platforms.
               | 
               | Works well with thousands of tiny studios, nearly
               | impossible with the few large ones we have though...
        
         | throwaway473825 wrote:
         | What's the point of going through all this trouble when all
         | content available on Netflix can be obtained more easily
         | without silly restrictions?
        
           | jrm4 wrote:
           | Creating and preserving the idea that, generally, individuals
           | ought to be able to view and experience content however they
           | wish, especially if it's legitimately paid for.
        
             | throwaway473825 wrote:
             | But you're supporting the opposite idea by paying for DRM
             | content.
        
               | jrm4 wrote:
               | Sure, but we've been at this for years. It's rarely an
               | all-or-nothing thing. Netflix strikes me as a very
               | reasonable, non-deceptive, consensus solution for the
               | issue. A non-deal-breaking preference would be for me to
               | use my computer just as I use the Roku.
        
               | diamondlovesyou wrote:
               | Due to the monopolistic nature of copyright/IP, there is
               | no option to avoid it.
               | 
               | But technically, nobody pays for it. They pay to access
               | an on-demand and at-will _service_ which provides the
               | content. The content itself is never bought (by the
               | consumer, that is).
        
         | est31 wrote:
         | I'm not sure that will work, as Wine will probably break the
         | DRM, which is the reason that non-Chrome OS Linux doesn't get
         | Netflix 4k in the first place.
        
         | muizelaar wrote:
         | I don't think Chrome supports Netflix in 4K under Windows.
        
           | miduil wrote:
           | Ah you I right, I assumed it's only a Linux issue.
        
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