[ Thanks to Joe
Barr for this link. ]
“Some felt I had been too harsh with Epic Games when I wrote
about Unreal Tournament 2003. Others said I was paranoid for
suggesting Microsoft might be using exclusionary terms in its
contracts with game publishers. Some said I shouldn’t have even
brought up the question, because even if my suspicions proved to be
right, it was ‘just business.’ Still others raged against me
without citing specifics, saying only that I was too clueless for
them to even bother explaining it.“Fearing that there may have been some validity in that last
item, I’ve been hanging around all the gaming channels I can find
on irc.freenode.net over the past week or so, trying to learn more
about the Linux gaming scene. I’m definitely still persona non
grata with some, but others are starting to accept me on friendlier
terms. One thing I’ve learned is that the fault line over which the
scene sits–the thing that makes it such a volatile and dangerous
place for clueless journalists like me to visit–has little to do
with me. It’s more about game-players and developers from the world
of Windows and proprietary software coming into direct contact with
the great unwashed hordes who love open-source and free
software.“Putting aside my natural distrust of Microsoft’s business
practices, there really are other things to consider as
explanations for why Linux games continue to be afterthoughts.
Things like ports of games previously released for Windows. Things
that usually require Linux users to buy the Windows version to run
the game on Linux…”