Category Archives: Rant

Why Steam on Linux makes sense *now*

It’s all over the news. Steam for Linux is real and not another cruel April Fools prank. The gamer inside me is extremely excited about this, and after re-reading Phoronix’ article a dozen times, about how Gabe Newell is now a Linux Evangelist, it makes sense. If you believe the rumors, anyway.

From Phoronix, they’ve got Steam working on Ubuntu, as well as Left 4 Dead 2. I’m pretty sure they’ll release Steam for Linux in some sort of Beta fashion for Linux Gamers to iron out all the kinks, but once they feel confident, I think they’d move on to the next phase…

Rumors surfaced recently about Valve’s newfound interest for Hardware, and Valve making “SteamBox”, a dedicated console to play Steam Games, were mostly marked as ridiculous.

If Valve shipped “Valve Linux”? They’d probably bundle it up with propietary GPU drivers from NVidia and/or ATI to get a better bang from the GPU. They’d probably use a modified / custom UI. Sort of like MythTV, but for Steam Games.

Once they have the Distro, they’d need to come up with some hardware and sell it. I’m not saying it’d be easy for Valve to sell Steamboxes on Walmarts and Gamestops all over the world, but hey, we’re talking conspiracy rumors here.

And between Desura and Steam both appearing on Linux, I think it’s fairly safe to say that 2013 will finally be… The Year of the Linux Desktop.

Git + GitHub Appreciation

I’ve been using Github for quite a while, but yesterday I actually learned how to use it.

See… I’ve been working on a Patch for CyanogenMod 9 that will add several features to the Phone App. Features I really like and were part of CyanogenMod 7…

However one of the things I had to do was write each line of code’s author, which wouldn’t be a big issue, except that I included 18 language translations, and hunting down each translation via github’s Commit History was going to be a pain….

But then I learned, thanks to jcsullins on Freenode, that there’s this awesome “Blame” button, which I had seen a million times but never pressed. The Blame button shows you line by line, which commit/author made it possible. This allowed me to trace the translation authors down to their actual commit.

The issue I had then, was that Github super-flavored the actual git patch. A quick Google-search taught me that adding “.patch” to the end of a github commit url would display the actual patch in plaintext.

So it took me a while, but I managed to gather every author of every line of code and translation (And I hope I didn’t miss any), but thanks to Git’s advanced features and Github’s awesome UI, I got it done and it was easier than I had thought.

Thanks Git, Github!

Now, to rewrite the functions so they comply with CyanogenMod’s standards…

Why We (A)GPL’d PokeNet

There’s an awful lot of Free Software Licenses. Some, more permissive than others, and choosing the right license depends on what sort of project you’re working on.

I’d like to explain why we used the (A)GPL license for PokeNet, and why I continue to use it for other projects.

Reason 0: Because we wanted to.

The authors of the code can choose the license they want. It’s that simple. We believed that keeping the game closed was just bad mojo, and that there was a lot more to gain by open sourcing the game. We wrote the documentation. We debugged the game. We bugged the game, sure, but in the end, as a developer, it was our choice for the license.

Reason 1: Because we wanted to force forks to share back their code

Forks, Downstream, Leeches, however you want to call them, what we wanted was simple: That our efforts would not be closed up by some high school kid with a keyboard and our code. That’s the main reason we chose GPLv3 and AGPLv3 (For the Server) as our licenses.

We documented as much as we could in what little time we dedicated to the project.
How to compile the code, how to run your own server, how to contribute to the game.
I know, most of these articles are long gone. They were posted in forums that have been abandoned/deleted since the C&D, but that does not justify taking someone else’s GPL code and closing it up.

Reason 2: It makes contributing easier

By having your code open to everyone, you’re inviting others to fix bugs in the client or server that might otherwise bother them, or perhaps implement features, or help translate things. It starts with a patch, but they might become regular contributors. That’s how I got roped into PokeNet anyway.

Reason 3: It was our fail-safe in case we got shut down by Nintendo

Yeah, sad, but true. We knew it would happen eventually, and wanted that whoever took the project after us kept the project Open Sourced. That’s the beauty of the GPL, it forces derivatives to keep the same license as the original code. Sure, you “own” your modifications, but they still have to be licensed as the original project.

Bonus Reason: We had to.

PokeGlobal / PokeNet was based on ShoddyBattle, a Pokemon Battle Engine. This makes PokeNet a derivative, and therefore, has to abide to the same licensing restrictions as that battle engine.

I hope this illustrates a bit on why we Open Sourced PokeNet. I know I wasn’t one of the devs that chose the license, but I supported the decision and care enough for the project, to continue fighting for it.

On a final note. If you don’t agree with the GPL License, feel free to rewrite the entire project from scratch and choose your own License. :-)

Oh and if I may give you an advise on using other’s people’s trademarks without permission? Don’t. I learned my lesson, and I strongly advice you that if you wish to use the code, but make your own monsters, moves and sprites.

-Nushio

What I’m thankful

It’s Thanksgiving day in USA, and while I don’t get the day off, I did want to write down a couple of things I’m thankful.

  1. The Fedora Project. I run Fedora 16 on my laptop at home and at work, as a Media center at my Dad’s room, and Fedora 14 powers both my brother’s and my dad’s laptops. I really like the Fedora as my base of operations.
  2. Android. And Cyanogenmod. And all that’s in between. My phone (Currently a Galaxy SII) and my Tablet (Nook Color) are both powered by CM builds I’ve modded and built on my laptop. I like tinkering with my devices at the source code level.
  3. KDE. This one’s a surprise to me, as I’ve never really liked KDE, but given the options of Shell or a hard place, I chose the lesser of two evils, and I’m happy I did and am sorry it took so long for me to switch.
  4. Having a job that I like. While my job does not consist on creating Free Software (That would rock!), I do get to use Fedora 16 at work, and happen to run the RHEL/CentOS/Solaris servers that need maintenance. Not using Windows at work is a blessing.
  5. Friends and Family. I’ve met a lot of people, online and off, and there’s a lot I can count as my friends. I’m thankful to have met every one of you, but I’m specially thankful I met, Laura, my girlfriend.

It’s been quite a while since my last blogpost, lets hope this brings me up to the habit of blogging more often.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Gnome User Survey

Phoronix recently hosted a near Gnome User Survey, which surprised me, given Gnome Developers’ general “We know what’s best, bug off” attitude.

Then I read Bruce Byfield’s post on how Felipe Contreras suffered with Gnome Devs to help get the survey out the door, so to speak.

Give Bruce’s post a read, it’s worth it, but if you’d like a summarized version:


 

#OccupySourceForge

Lemme start by saying that I’m a bit in the dark when it comes to the whole #OccupyCity situation. I understand there’s an awful lot of people in the streets complaining about the Market, but besides proving they can go a very long time without a shower, I can’t seem to understand what they’re getting at.

Here’s a wild proposal though: Lets Occupy SourceForge. And you read me right, SourceForge. Not Github, not Google Code. SourceForge. The place Free Software goes to die.

Instead of waving signs in the air which leads to a potential arrest and a rather cool story for your kids, lets bang our keyboards together, help revive some Free Software projects or create new ones. Hell, if you’re opposed to Sourceforge, go ahead, use Github, Google Code or roll your own, just… do something productive!

I really wish you guys the best of lucks with your protests, whoever you are and whatever you occupy, but nowadays, I seem to prefer occupying myself in a hobby that can result in something useful than marching around in a rally, unless it’s one that vouches Sanity and/or Fear.

I’d buy that for a dollar

Larry wrote this “Time to Fork the FSF” blogpost a few days ago and it reminded me on why I stopped contributing (economically) to the Free Software Foundation.

You see, I feel their efforts are misguided, in particular, their “Defective by Design” campaign which actually drives me nuts.

Yeah, it’s cute that you’re sending Bricks to Nintendo, calling out Windows’ “7 Sins” and my personal favorite, the “Amazon Swindle“.

I see them raising attention to big problems, but I don’t see them providing an actual solution. And as long as a decent solution isn’t available, Free Software won’t prevail.

Sure, you can whine all you want about how Apple locks down iPads, but I don’t see them selling an “FSF-endorsed” Tablet that is about as good (Hint: They could start by grabbing Android as a base, or even Tizen) and offering a product that’s so awesome, it’ll actually generate revenue for the FSF, to further empower their campaigns.

I hear “Photoshop is bad”, but I think you should say “Gimp is awesome” instead. I hear “Windows is evil”, but I’d rather hear “Use Fedora today!”.

I see FSF at the same level as the PETA nuts or the Green Peace crazies, throwing buckets of red paint on leather coats of celebrities, yelling “MEAT IS MURDER”. This is a pretty bad image, one I do not want to be associated with.

What I’m trying to say is that instead of calling Amazon’s or Barnes and Nobles’ stores “evil”, that energy would be better spent creating a store of your own, with your ideals firmly in place, and advertising it. Instead of ranting how evil Nintendo is, create your own game console, one with Free Software, and advertise the hell out of it.

I’d buy that for a dollar.

-Nushio

Quick Gnome 3.2 Writeup

I’ve been using KDE 4.7 for the past few months, since Gnome 3 and me really don’t get along.

I decide to take 3.2 for a spin on my Fedora 16 computer, and found it to be more of the same.

Network Manager is as incomplete as ever. Just add an advanced button, dammit! I hate having to type “nm-connection-editor” because the Network panel is half-baked for people who actually need to choose their IPs. KDE has no problems with this. The old (Good?) Gnome didn’t have a problem with this.

The other issue I’m having is with Empathy, and I mean the chat program. I can’t find a way to bring it up after I’ve closed the buddy list, and checking the bottom right notification area corner doesn’t bring up anything either. At least pidgin hides itself there, but thanks to Gnome’s brilliant (And I mean this sarcastically, if it wasn’t obvious) notification area, I never get notifications when someone pings me, I have to constantly check, and that’s tick I’m not willing to adopt.

On more possitive feedback, Gnome handles multiple monitors way better than KDE. On KDE, whenever I unplug the monitor, I have to go to display settings, change my laptop’s screen res, and change it back to normal, otherwise it still thinks I have the external monitor configured. Gnome handles this perfectly.

Bottom line is that Gnome 3.2 still isn’t what I’m looking for. I’m switching back to KDE 4.7.1, and will might try again in 6 months, but as the Magic 8-ball says… “Outlook not so good”.

Our Independence Day

“How can you call yourself Free if you still depend on Privative Software?”.

September 15 marks the Mexican Independence Day, which started 201 years ago with a priest shouting at a church, calling us to arms and rebel against the kings and monarchs that ruled us.

I’m not trying to emulate the priest in any way, that’s a wild thought best left for a fanfic of some sorts, but with the current situation we live in my country, I really don’t feel as attached to this place as I used to be.

I don’t remember what day I first tried out Linux (Debian, Mandrake and Knoppix back then), or when I finally decided to get rid of the Windows Vista Beta partition and stick with Fedora Core 6 (That sounds like a loooooooooong time ago), but why not celebrate my independence from Bill Gates the same day most Mexicans celebrate their independence?

That’d give me something to celebrate.

Programmers’ Day

To be honest, I prefer the term “Developer”, but September 13 means it’s yet another Programmers’ Day.

It’s celebrated on the 256th day of the year, which means it falls on September 12 on Leap Years, and 2 years ago, it became an official day in the Tetris Motherland.

Apparently we’re supposed to wear white to celebrate the occasion (Or 0xFFFFFF in RGB).

Either way, Tip of the Hat to all the Open Source Devs out there, go out and celebrate. Carpe Diem and what not.

Edit: I just remembered this XKCD comic. Thought it was appropiate to post it here.