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Launchbox for Linux - Preliminary Discussion


Lordmonkus

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This was the discussion today on the live stream so I am opening this thread here for discussion on the matter.

Please feel free to post your thoughts and opinions. I am going to think for a while before posting my thoughts but I will come back and update later.

The poll is now live here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WPVG975

Please vote everyone! :)

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I will start off by saying that I would love to see a Linux version of Launchbox / BigBox. While I am not a daily user of Linux I do have a Linux computer here in my setup for occasional tinkering. I always want to see more support for the OS and one day I would love to be able to move full time to it, been wanting to that for many many years now. Unfortunately for Linux though it is stuck in a chicken and egg situation, no one uses it cause there is very little support for it and there is very little support for it because no one uses it.

My heart says please make a Linux port of Launchbox but my brain says this is not a good use of current resources. If you can figure out a good solution that doesn't take dev time away from the Windows version, the "Small Things List" and bitbucket feature requests is a mile long and so many features on both of those lists are still badly needed long before ever seeing a Linux port. I know in the video you talk about a Kickstarter to gauge real interest and to see if there's enough money there to hire a dev for it that is a good idea if it's something you decide you want to do.

I also know in the video there was some thoughts about about open sourcing it for Linux and this would be a great idea as long as it doesn't compromise the Windows version code making it easier to pirate.

There is definitely a lot more discussion to be had and things to consider but those are my thoughts.

 

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So... @Jason Carr you asked for feedback so here it is: No, thanks. I use LB to have ALL my games in one place. PC Games included. And Linux doesn't have the big ones, so no, I don't want you to invest time in a port for a little user base - compared to Windows. I don't like Windows's privacy issues either, but ultimately I don't care that much about them. I know I'm part of the problem, but such is life.

But I think we get the message (from this port, and Music Box) that you are bored, you need to do other things. So go ahead, my friend. Do what's best for you. And be happy.

Looking forward to the next LB beta! :) 

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4 minutes ago, alfredolvera said:

So... @Jason Carr you asked for feedback so here it is: No, thanks. I use LB to have ALL my games in one place. PC Games included. And Linux doesn't have the big ones, so no, I don't want you to invest time in a port for a little user base - compared to Windows. I don't like Windows's privacy issues either, but ultimately I don't care that much about them. I know I'm part of the problem, but such is life.

But I think we get the message (from this port, and Music Box) that you are bored, you need to do other things. So go ahead, my friend. Do what's best for you. And be happy.

Looking forward to the next LB beta! :) 

It's honestly not that I'm bored...this came from the numerous requests that I get asking for LaunchBox on Linux. Every weekend I typically take a break from normal development to attempt something crazy, and sometimes those crazy things turn into something, and sometimes they don't.

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Mixed feelings here. As some of the other members have mentioned, more time and resources should be focused on the windows version of LaunchBox, rather than anything else. However, I do play around with Linux from time to time, and understand that it would be extremely welcome from the large (and growing) community of Linux users out there. My "free" advice to you would be that if you have enough users contribute to kickstarter, then by all means, go for it! :)

Edited by bundangdon
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Just done your little poll. After looking at the options, i do think you should have asked if the people wanting a linux version would be willing to pay for a premium version as well.   The only time i see linux running is on a old outdated pc and then just for fun.

Also if you let people have input in the next poll you might get some other interesting options  that will let your creativity demon out again . Ok there will be a lot of Rocket Luncher features asked for and ignored. 

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I like the Linux idea. If it makes fiscal sense, I'd say to go for it. However, I completely agree with trying to add some Rocketlauncher features. A fade in/out screen would be awesome. I would also love the emulator controls overlay that  Rocketlauncher has. (So you could have universally mapped save/load state keys for all emulators and other universal key mappings).

Edited by bbweiners
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At this point I am heavily considering hiring another developer. So there's that.

According to the poll results so far, more than 40% of active LaunchBox users are hoping for a Linux version (they marked "I was hoping for this" or "I MUST HAVE IT NOW"). Beyond that, another 24% on top of the 40% are at least "slightly interested" in a Linux version. Honestly these results are very surprising to me; I would have guessed that most people would still want me to focus only on Windows. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.

So 64% of active LaunchBox users who took the poll are interested. Those numbers are fairly telling, and much higher than I ever would have expected.

Even more surprising are the results of the "How important is Linux development vs. Windows development for LaunchBox?" question. 39% of active LaunchBox users think that Linux and Windows development should be equally prioritized, while 46.29% think that Windows should be the priority (my personal stance on it as well). The surprising thing, though, is that only 14% think that Linux development is a waste of time and that nothing should take away from Windows development. That's quite a shocker to me.

I still hate the concept of Kickstarter (I much prefer to sell people something that I've already built rather than take people's money and make risky promises for the future), but it's also surprising that 37% of active LaunchBox users claim that they would support and contribute to a Kickstarter for Linux. I'm on the fence as to whether I would actually want to go through with a Kickstarter, but that is also very surprising.

Keep in mind that in all these results, I've filtered out the people who are not actively using LaunchBox, as I wanted to get accurate numbers from our actual user base. All the numbers go up even farther if we include the die-hard Linux community (of course).

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I abstained from the poll but you know my thoughts from the post above :)

But basically I like the idea but certainly not at the expense of the Windows version as it sits right now. There are still far too many things on the Small Things List and bitbucket requests before that could happen.

If you do a Kickstarter and get enough money to hire a dev for it then by all means go for it because a free poll where people can say what they want is one thing but when it comes to plopping down the cash for it is a whole other thing.

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I didn't get to watch the entire live stream but was it ever answered if LaunchBox would work on the Raspberry Pi or not as I think that would be a deal breaker for a lot of people? Also I think you clearly stated that it would be LaunchBox only and not BigBox that could get ported to Linux correct?

I personally do not know anything about Linux but do have 3 Raspberry Pi's so I guess I know a little but I only use them for Kodi. Myself personally would like to see the main and only focus on Windows. Even if LaunchBox did work on a Pi, I would not be interested because why would I use a Pi when I have 3 Windows machines that run LB/BB perfectly without any restrictions.

On the other hand if enough people are interested and you hire another developer, taking away from LB development should not be an issue but I would make it clear if a Raspberry Pi would be supported or not and that BigBox would not be ported over to Linux as I think that would effect voting results.

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I agree with making it clear that BigBox would not be a part of the Linux development. I voted in favor of Linux development not realizing that. I probably would have changed my vote if I knew otherwise at the time. I also had Raspberry Pi in the back of my head as well. I just assumed that would be part of the Linux package.

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1 minute ago, bbweiners said:

I agree with making it clear that BigBox would not be a part of the Linux development. I voted in favor of Linux development not realizing that. I probably would have changed my vote if I knew otherwise at the time. I also had Raspberry Pi in the back of my head as well. I just assumed that would be part of the Linux package.

It's displayed prominently in bold at the top of the poll... Though, good to know that some users might not be catching that.

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