IL2 and Linux
Apr 28, 2014 17:55:23 GMT -5
Post by GreyWolf on Apr 28, 2014 17:55:23 GMT -5
The last several days, I have been assisting Centerline of the AG8 Raiders, in trying to get IL2 working in Linux. My apologies to Centerline, as it is looking like I am going to be unable to get his IL2 up and running. I would feel more bad about it, if not for the following info .....
Now IL2, for the most part, can run in Linux. It is one of the highest rated programs in Wine. I have in the past, been able to crank up IL2 just by accessing the Windows partition where I have it installed, and starting IL2 from there by double clicking the IL2_FB.exe.
Besides the workarounds to get Windows only games running, the major problems are .....
1 ) TrackIR. There is a version of a linux workaround called linux_track and it's website is here ...
code.google.com/p/linux-track/
Now taking into consideration, that the Naturalpoint software is Proprietary, and NP has gone to extrodinay efforts to keep anyone from developing an alternate to their software, including adding Un-necessary encryption to their communication protocol to the TrackIR 4 and 5 cameras, it is amazing that anyone has been able to create software that will work.
Personally, this is just another example of the "collusion" between Microsoft (convicted of Anti-trust laws for their collusion with HW and PC manufacturers) and companies like NP, that have tried very hard to keep MS as the defacto OS for PCs.
But back on topic. The use of TrackIR in Linnux, has been difficult, or impossible, in varying degrees, for many years. There is progress, but it is still a very difficult process to get TrackIR working properly in Linux. Just ask Centerline.
2 ) Game Controllers have always been an issue in Linux. Again, there have been great strides made, and many people have contributed to the effort. But getting commercial game controller products to work in Linux, can be a chore. And again, if the controller requires "Proprietary" drivers or software to work, we are right back to the Collusion between MS and HW manufacturers in an effort to squelch the development of and use of an alternate OS. This is not hyperbole. Remember MS's conviction for exactly that.
And in some circumstances, it becomes even more difficult. In my case, I have built parts of my sim-pit myself. Drivers for and software to use those controllers, is almost impossible to setup, configure, and program and use.
Some manufactures are unlike the ones that have conspired with MS to squash Linux and other alternate OSes. They just do not have the resources to develope drivers for multiple OSes, and that is understandable.
Lastly, I know my way around a linux system. I have been using it since 1994, way back in the day when there was not a Desktop GUI (X Windows) included, jsut a command line interface. To get XWindows to operate, you had to download the source code, configure it, compile it, and hope that your knowledge of your HW was sufficient that the compile was correct and the new executables would actually work. It was at best a trial and error process, that required a lot of homework on your HW and knowing the abilities and limitations of the HW, and the XWindows. ( X11 ) drivers and software.
Just Say RAMDAC speed, horizontal refresh, etc etc , to a Windows only user and watch his eyes glaze over.
So for now, I will continue to do what I have done for the last 20 years. I and my family, will use linux for everything, except gaming. I have resolved myself to the fact that I will HAVE to keep a version of Windows installed, if for no other reason, than to play some of the games I enjoy playing. I have been dual booting Linux and Windows since 1994, and I shall continue. That is not a back-handed insult to linux, just the fact that MS has been able to get, or force, the vast majority of Gaming companies, Hardware and game developers, to ignore the Linux community,
But that is fine, I tell people all the time that I use Windows, for playing games. For serious computing, I and my family use Linux. *Note, my children have grown up using linux. IT is funny seeing a 3 or 4 year old, about the age all of my kids and grandkids started using computers, sitting at the keyboard of a Linux machine, using it like old pros within a few months. And I get a real kick out of them having friends come by, and asking "What is Linux"
The point, an entire generation has grown up using Linux, and it is only getting better. BTW, you may be using Linux in one form or another on cell phones, PDAs, and all sorts of portable devices, and you do not even know it .....
So for now, I am relegated to using Windows, to play my games.
This is "Not" a surrender, unless MS, and their fanboys, want to admit that, playing games is all that Windows is good for.
Grey Wolf
Now IL2, for the most part, can run in Linux. It is one of the highest rated programs in Wine. I have in the past, been able to crank up IL2 just by accessing the Windows partition where I have it installed, and starting IL2 from there by double clicking the IL2_FB.exe.
Besides the workarounds to get Windows only games running, the major problems are .....
1 ) TrackIR. There is a version of a linux workaround called linux_track and it's website is here ...
code.google.com/p/linux-track/
Now taking into consideration, that the Naturalpoint software is Proprietary, and NP has gone to extrodinay efforts to keep anyone from developing an alternate to their software, including adding Un-necessary encryption to their communication protocol to the TrackIR 4 and 5 cameras, it is amazing that anyone has been able to create software that will work.
Personally, this is just another example of the "collusion" between Microsoft (convicted of Anti-trust laws for their collusion with HW and PC manufacturers) and companies like NP, that have tried very hard to keep MS as the defacto OS for PCs.
But back on topic. The use of TrackIR in Linnux, has been difficult, or impossible, in varying degrees, for many years. There is progress, but it is still a very difficult process to get TrackIR working properly in Linux. Just ask Centerline.
2 ) Game Controllers have always been an issue in Linux. Again, there have been great strides made, and many people have contributed to the effort. But getting commercial game controller products to work in Linux, can be a chore. And again, if the controller requires "Proprietary" drivers or software to work, we are right back to the Collusion between MS and HW manufacturers in an effort to squelch the development of and use of an alternate OS. This is not hyperbole. Remember MS's conviction for exactly that.
And in some circumstances, it becomes even more difficult. In my case, I have built parts of my sim-pit myself. Drivers for and software to use those controllers, is almost impossible to setup, configure, and program and use.
Some manufactures are unlike the ones that have conspired with MS to squash Linux and other alternate OSes. They just do not have the resources to develope drivers for multiple OSes, and that is understandable.
Lastly, I know my way around a linux system. I have been using it since 1994, way back in the day when there was not a Desktop GUI (X Windows) included, jsut a command line interface. To get XWindows to operate, you had to download the source code, configure it, compile it, and hope that your knowledge of your HW was sufficient that the compile was correct and the new executables would actually work. It was at best a trial and error process, that required a lot of homework on your HW and knowing the abilities and limitations of the HW, and the XWindows. ( X11 ) drivers and software.
Just Say RAMDAC speed, horizontal refresh, etc etc , to a Windows only user and watch his eyes glaze over.
So for now, I will continue to do what I have done for the last 20 years. I and my family, will use linux for everything, except gaming. I have resolved myself to the fact that I will HAVE to keep a version of Windows installed, if for no other reason, than to play some of the games I enjoy playing. I have been dual booting Linux and Windows since 1994, and I shall continue. That is not a back-handed insult to linux, just the fact that MS has been able to get, or force, the vast majority of Gaming companies, Hardware and game developers, to ignore the Linux community,
But that is fine, I tell people all the time that I use Windows, for playing games. For serious computing, I and my family use Linux. *Note, my children have grown up using linux. IT is funny seeing a 3 or 4 year old, about the age all of my kids and grandkids started using computers, sitting at the keyboard of a Linux machine, using it like old pros within a few months. And I get a real kick out of them having friends come by, and asking "What is Linux"
The point, an entire generation has grown up using Linux, and it is only getting better. BTW, you may be using Linux in one form or another on cell phones, PDAs, and all sorts of portable devices, and you do not even know it .....
So for now, I am relegated to using Windows, to play my games.
This is "Not" a surrender, unless MS, and their fanboys, want to admit that, playing games is all that Windows is good for.
Grey Wolf