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Launchbox for Linux - Preliminary Discussion


Lordmonkus

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About kickstarter 

For myself i would never have pledged anything into a kickstarter for the Windows Launchbox, but was happy to upgrade to premium, after using the program with the high level of support .

That said, most of my retro time has been with the raspberry pi of late. It's fun and the hardware is cheap, not to mention  the software is free

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57 minutes ago, Rincewind said:

For me it's windows development over everything. Also if there needs to be a kickstart to help with development then maybe a BigBox feature request kickstart could happen, not sure how it would work but it's worth a thought.

Sure, I don't think it would work out to do a Kickstarter for Windows since users have already paid for it. Currently, we're making plenty of money for me to continue focusing heavily on LaunchBox and Big Box for Windows, and that's not going away. What becomes more difficult is if we introduce Linux (another platform). Unless we hire another developer for some significant time, of course it would significantly cut into Windows development, which I would like to avoid. I'm still thinking through things, but my current thought is to run a Kickstarter (with a relatively lofty goal) in order to hire another developer so that Windows development doesn't slow down.

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Those numbers are definitely not what I expected. I attribute it to 3 main things that others have also mentioned:

  • People thinking LaunchBox == BigBox
  • People expecting BB to run on a Pi or other weak SOCs
  • People who wouldn't actually put $ towards it when the time comes

I just can't imagine there are that many existing LB users that would run LB on a Linux desktop when they currently have it running on Windows. My initial thought when seeing the thread title and nothing else was "I wonder how many people think this means BigBox on a Pi". Maybe I'm just underestimating the amount of Linux users currently using LB but I think the positive feedback makes a lot more sense if it were a bunch of current users who want to run BB on a Pi. I don't think anyone would want to run LB on it since people that use those want a flashy frontend, not a desktop oriented K+M interface. I don't have a Pi and don't know much about them but I've seen plenty of people on other frontend forums mention having to use pretty minimalistic themes, lower quality media, etc and those frontends are typically less resource intensive than BB IMO.

I also find it hard to believe the share of dev priority peopls said Linux should get. Maybe that's because a lot of the posts here are about feature requests or complaining about features not being implemented that I read and they're just a vocal minority.

The only true gauge of interest will be a kickstarter. Once people have to back their opinion with money that's when you'll get an accurate determination of viability. You'll see a lot of those people on the fence or gung-ho about it disappear when it comes down to it.

All that being said, there is probably still a market for LB on Linux, although I have no idea what size. Assuming the Pi isn't a viable option there goes a huge chunk of potential users, people who only want BigBox, and some FOSS fanatics that won't back a closed source app. I'm sure there are still plenty of people who would want LB as a rom management/launcher in a desktop K+M interface though.

I personally have zero interest in a Linux version and think Windows should be the sole or at least main focus. I dual boot but see no reason to do any sort of gaming when everything is better on Windows and I couldn't care less about the gimmicky Pi boards and whatnot for the same reason.

Edited by Agent47
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4 minutes ago, Agent47 said:

Those numbers are definitely not what I expected. I attribute it to 3 main things that others have also mentioned:

  • People thinking LaunchBox == BigBox
  • People expecting BB to run on a Pi or other weak SOCs
  • People who wouldn't actually put $ towards it when the time comes

I just can't imagine there are that many existing LB users that would run LB on a Linux desktop when they currently have it running on Windows. My initial thought when seeing the thread title and nothing else was "I wonder how many people think this means BigBox on a Pi". Maybe I'm just underestimating the amount of Linux users currently using LB but I think the positive feedback makes a lot more sense if it were a bunch of current users who want to run BB on a Pi. I don't think anyone would want to run LB on it since people that use those want a flashy frontend, not a desktop oriented K+M interface. I don't have a Pi and don't know much about them but I've seen plenty of people on other frontend forums mention having to use pretty minimalistic themes, lower quality media, etc and those frontends are typically less resource intensive than BB IMO.

I also find it hard to believe the share of dev priority peopls said Linux should get. Maybe that's because a lot of the posts here are about feature requests or complaining about features not being implemented that I read and they're just a vocal minority.

The only true gauge of interest will be a kickstarter. Once people have to back their opinion with money that's when you'll get an accurate determination of viability. You'll see a lot of those people on the fence or gung-ho about it disappear when it comes down to it.

All that being said, there is probably still a market for LB on Linux, although I have no idea what size. Assuming the Pi isn't a viable option there goes a huge chunk of potential users, people who only want BigBox, and some FOSS fanatics that won't back a closed source app. I'm sure there are still plenty of people who would want LB as a rom management/launcher in a desktop K+M interface though.

I personally have zero interest in a Linux version and think Windows should be the sole or at least main focus. I dual boot but see no reason to do any sort of gaming when everything is better on Windows and I couldn't care less about the gimmicky Pi boards and whatnot for the same reason.

Yep, agreed.

 

 

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Just now, damageinc86 said:

I thinking the idea of a kickstarter for bigbox features is interesting though.

I think I am safe in saying that won't be happening. Jason has expressed a pretty strong dislike for the whole Kickstarter thing and would only use it for the Linux port of LB to hire a dev full time to develop it.

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Just now, Lordmonkus said:

I think I am safe in saying that won't be happening. Jason has expressed a pretty strong dislike for the whole Kickstarter thing and would only use it for the Linux port of LB to hire a dev full time to develop it.

Not here, not now. for me at least, pi does it well already.

 

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Based on the fact that the words "Big Box is not feasible" was pasted in bold at the top of the poll, I very much doubt that the majority of people were confused on that aspect of the poll. I'm sure some people were, but I don't think that that alone should disqualify the poll results, as I do believe that most people can actually read. That said, I am fully aware that a large number of people are for a Linux version largely because they would like it to run on the Pi. My only regret so far is that we didn't specifically ask that question on the poll.

However, running LaunchBox on the Pi is certainly feasible. Before jumping on anything I would certainly do some testing from that front, because I am aware that it's probably going to be a fairly popular request.

My excitement has toned down a bit on the Linux side since yesterday, but my perspective has been changed for the future. It is very clear that a good chunk of our user base wants a Linux version. So the next question is whether or not it's feasible from a business perspective, and I am currently researching that. As a business, it's important for us not to have all of our eggs in one basket. I'm slowly thinking everything through too see what is feasible going forward.

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6 minutes ago, Lordmonkus said:

I think I am safe in saying that won't be happening. Jason has expressed a pretty strong dislike for the whole Kickstarter thing and would only use it for the Linux port of LB to hire a dev full time to develop it.

Yes. The only way I would ever do a Kickstarter is for a new/branch-off project. I feel like doing a Kickstarter for more Big Box features would be basically money begging and trying to say that the money that everyone spent on their LaunchBox Premium licenses wasn't enough. Truth is, it's plenty of money for me to continue focusing on Windows development.

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