Scene and Linux

Icebreaker

Intro

I haven't really seen articles on Linux in Hugi so I thought that I'll write one ... anyway Linux and Open Source in general affect the scene as well, at least that's what I tend to believe.

Guess which is my favorite Linux distribution at the moment? Tadammmm.... Ubuntu. So what can a scener do with a PC and a Linux distro? The answer is quite simple ... everything a scener using Wind0ze can ... I'm sure that most of you will hate me after reading this article, but that's it ... though life :)) I'm not anti-Microsoft, or anything. I have a dual boot system with Ubuntu 7.10 and Windows Vista Home Premium. I "code", and I like to play/experiment with both platforms, so I need them both :))

Intro

1st - Yakuake

It doesn't matter that you are using Gnome or KDE, Yakuake is indispensable ... This tiny utility lets you have a Quake 'like' terminal window which can pop up at a keypress. It's really, really nifty, and it's a must for any hard-core Linux fan.

2nd - The IDE of Dreams

This is a hard decision mostly because at the very moment there isn't anything which could be compared to what we call "Visual Studio Express Editions" ... I know, I know, some of you will disagree, but that's it. When it comes to coding, I go for a "simple" editor like Kate or Gedit, though notable IDE's are the exceptional CodeBlocks (which is cross-platform), KDevelop and Anjuta.

Of course, I don't even have to mention the compiler which the awesome, GCC.

For C#, the Mono Framework and Mono-Develop are pretty much the only viable and usable solutions at the moment.

For HTML and Web, Blue Fish is a good one, also Quanta or Eclipse. Personally I use, and prefer Eclipse for web development, mostly because I can install "extensions" to support PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS, and this makes development fun.

3rd - Version Source Control

You are using SVN, or CVS? It doesn't really matter because you will find plethora of clients, both command line and GUI. Personally I prefer the command line counterparts, but SmartCVS is a good one if you want GUI, no matter what. You can even configure Eclipse to make use of CVS if needed.

4th - Everything else ...

Of course, there are plenty of IDE's, editors for Python, and other languages, so this list is no way complete, I'm just trying to raise interest in using Open Source technologies on daily basis.

Why? Simply, because we can ...

Artists Tools of Trade

1st - 3D Modeling

I think I don't even have to say the magic word ... what's the magic word? Huh? Blender ... but notable examples are also Wings3D and K-3D. Blender is really powerful, though isn't that user friendly at first, but once you got used with it, you can do some pretty amazing things with it. It also has 'simple' game making capabilities. Yay!

2st - Audio / Video

For Audio Playback, I use the excellent Amarok, even though that I'm a Gnome fan, and I'm using Gnome. For Video Playback, I use the excellent, but a bit overrated VLC.

When it comes to Sound editing, Audacity is the number one, as for Video Editing Kino, Cinelerra (Adobe Premiere 'like') and Open Movie Editor come in my mind.

In this case too, there are tons of other tools, you just have to seek, and use the one you find the one which fits your needs the best.

3rd - Graphics

I don't even have to mention here the incredible GIMP.

You have the tools, use them ...

Now that we spoke about the tools, I would like to list a few Open Source games, and in particular one "scene demo"...

Open Source Games I Like (name - genre):

- Glest - RTS

- Open Arena - FPS (multi)

- Cube 2 (a.k.a Sauerbraten) - FPS (multi)

- Tux Racer - 3D Arcade

- SuperTux - vertical scrolling Action (a la Mario)

- Warzone 2100 - RTS

For a more complete list click here.

My all time favorite scene demo, which happens to be cross platform, is "System Apoc" from "Astral". You can get it and take a look here. No matter what the critiques say, I like it, and it's one of my personal favorites.

You can see yourself that quality content is being created, and this is a good thing. Hell yeah, Open Source itself it is a good thing, we all benefit from it, and it reduces our costs!

Outro

Hmmm, if you are a hardcore Windows user, maybe I raised your interest, if you are a (newbie) Linux user, and you already knew all these, then at least you know one of my favorite scene demos ... ha!

As you can see there are better ways than using crappy warez. No offense to those who make "quality releases", though, and yeah ripping is good, if you can create something new.

In either case, happy coding, and may the source be with you. ...

Thank you, and good night, and believe me, you won't miss your Windows ... at least not so much after trying at least one Linux distro... lol

PS: Windows Vista doesn't suck, you just need powerful hardware to enjoy it, you don't realize that the history is repeating itself? Huh? The same thing happened in 2001 with Windows XP. Who wanted to drop Windows 2000, for "just" that fancy Luna theme? Or how many people had at least 256 MB ram in their machines ... hmmmm.v

Icebreaker