Journal jd's Journal: Beowulf MMORGs 3
Found this interesting site, which is focussing on developing grid computing systems for gaming. The software they seem to be using is a mix of closed and open source.
This could be an important break for Linux, as most of the open source software being written is Linux compatible, and gaming has been the biggest problem area. The ability to play very high-end games - MMORGs, distributed simulators, wide-area FPS, and so on, could transform Linux in the gaming market from being seen as a throwback to the 1980s (as unfair as that is) to being considered world-class.
(Windows machines don't play nearly so nicely with grid computing, so it follows that it will take longer for Microsoft and Microsoft-allied vendors to catch up to the potential. That is time Linux enthusiasts can use to get a head-start and to set the pace.)
The question that interests me is - will they? Will Linux coders use this opportunity of big University research teams and big vendor interest to leapfrog the existing markets completely and go straight for the market after? Or will this be seen as not worth the time, the same way that a lot of potentially exciting projects have petered out (eg: Open Library, Berlin/Fresco, KGI, OpenMOSIX)?
moolah (Score:1)
So devs work on offering code to these game companies, so the companies can turn around and charge them a subscription for it? Something like that?
Re: (Score:2)
Not sure exactly what the system is, but it looks to me like a Sourceforge or a Free Software Foundation collection of tools but specifically for developing grid-based games (ie: highly specialized open source software), however with an X.Org-like committee system for managing the project. I suspect the organizational structure will prove incorrect and will doom (no pun intended - ok, well maybe a bit) the final outcome, but the tools they circulate in the meantime will likely be valuable to all open source
Re: (Score:1)
Thanks, great clarification! I was just worried all those folks were getting ripped off, now I grok how this would be setup better.