Any plans to a Linux version of Launchbox?

[Fursphere]

Android has succeeded because it has a corporate agenda behind it, and a full hardware integration team.   You don't see DIY hardware platform running Android out in masses.  They exist, but they're niche.  

My first experience with Linux way back in the day was Slackware.   Tried getting it going, got stuck, asked for help online - and got "f*ck you n00b, go away and figure it out yourself" as a response.  (almost verbatim)  25-30 years later and people are like "why is Windows still so popular.   #facepalm 

I realize today's distros are far more welcoming and 'easy' to setup (I still dabble from time to time), but they're still not Windows. 

I am wondering what's going to happen with the WIndows 11 hardware mess.  The minimum processor spec (age) and TPM chip arbitrarily retiring old PC hardware sure is an interesting move.  Of the 7 modern desktop PCs I have in my home (5 of them in arcade cabinets), all of them in theory are capable of running WIndows 11, but I've only gotten 4 to upgrade in place.  I haven't spent enough time with the others to figured out what the holdup is (i.e.  too lazy to do a bare metal reinstall on a working system).    I would love to jump to linux on the various Arcade machines, but they've all got specialized 'windows only' hardware / software - so that just ain't going to happen.  

[Tecleador]

I have already switched to Linux. It would be nice if the Linux version of Launchbox were released in the coming months. 🐵

[C-Beats]

31 minutes ago, Tecleador said:

I have already switched to Linux. It would be nice if the Linux version of Launchbox were released in the coming months. 🐵

Well good news, we can use months as a unit of measure! I mean a year is nothing more than 12 months right?

[Tecleador]

3 hours ago, C-Beats said:

Well good news, we can use months as a unit of measure! I mean a year is nothing more than 12 months right?

😂

[locutis]

Linux support would be awesome. A stable arcade cabinet yaay!

[Whatscheiser]

Yeah I have a few computers in my house. I'm half in and half out at the moment with Linux. I'm basically running it as my daily computer and I have yet to run across a game or emulator I can't get working on it. Honestly LaunchBox is the only application I don't want to run through a compatibility layer that I don't have a 1:1 replacement for. I've entertained some of the other frontends for Linux. The one that I really liked that felt nice to use was Pegasus, but nothing really exists that fully takes LaunchBox's place. Especially in terms of customization with options for launching apps and custom platforms. (At least not that I've managed to stumble into yet).

Anyway. At this point LaunchBox is the only thing keeping me on Windows. I'd love to not be on Windows.

::EDIT:: Have to revise this a bit. I've started using the AppImage distribution of ES-DE. It's not quite as slick as LaunchBox in terms of structure but you can get pretty into the weeds customizing it and its fast. Especially with a little bit of scripting to utilize relative file paths and then pairing it with some other appimage packaged emulators, portability becomes really attainable. Just plop it on an external drive and go. At that point portability is mainly limited by the emulators themselves when you start getting into more modern platforms that want to look for folders containing DLC and whatnot. But if you're going basic retroarch, maybe some PS2... hell, even WINE. It's pretty good.

Edited September 30 by Whatscheiser

[SnakeWildlife]

After using the Steam Deck for so long, and how bad Windows 11 was...i made the switch without even needing to consider anything further. I hook up the Deck to the monitor by Docking it and run it as my main PC now.

I am convinced once SteamOS-Desktop Edition is finally finished, a mass-exodus from Windows to Steam will occur across the Desktop PC space.

SteamOS is the future for gamers.

Edited October 19 by SnakeWildlife

[duerra]

I'm interested in this.  Especially with the sunsetting of Win10 and the push to Win11, which is much more aggressive with data collection and privacy concerns.  There's not a ton of games I can't play on Linux anymore, so I'm all in for a native Linux-friendly version of LB.

[Techbane]

Jumping generations in Windows has always come with proportionate to disproportionate headaches and growing pains, but with the exceptions of the odd ones out like ME, 8, and Vista, I think most of the grousing could be tied more to people's traditional dislike of change. At least speaking personally I was usually able to look back and go, "Yeah, that was pretty decent all told." 95 was leagues more advanced than 3.1, 98(SE) was very familiar while extending functionality, XP was a thing of beauty, 7 actually managed to improve on it in some respects even if it lost more compatibility than I was anticipating.

Personally I made the jump when Win7 hit EOL simply because 8 was such a hideous laughingstock and 10... definitely wasn't better than 7. The best praise I could possibly give 10 from my comparatively limited exposure to it is, "It still works, mostly. It isn't Vista or 8." But more things than usual just started breaking that weren't breaking before and shouldn't have had reason to break. More stuff was forced. More restrictions were in place. The aesthetic is modern minimalist garbage. But... it mostly worked.

Everything I've seen of 11 is so in-your-face consistently, aggressively hostile, restrictive, forced, borderline if not outright broken, and bad that it staggers belief, and adoption rates have been as reluctant as I've ever seen them if not moreso. I'm not saying the year of desktop Linux is here, I'm not saying Microsoft is finished. They might never be just because of the footprint they have in the market with default installs on new hardware, and the comparative level of engagement and computer fluency that's required for someone to adapt to Linux. But I will point out that the ~3% global install base Linux has now is between double and triple what that percentile was just 5 or so years ago. That Linux, especially where gaming is concerned, is leagues ahead of where it was just a few years ago in terms of compatibility, accessibility, and ease of use thanks in large part to Proton and the popularity of the Steam Deck. That Valve just unveiled the "GabeCube" as their new standardized hardware rig and are seemingly on the cusp of extending SteamOS compatibility to ARM64 devices writ large. That with the economy the way it's been, being able to game on a budget is much more viable on Linux now that Win11 is overnight obsoleting millions of otherwise functional devices out of hand.

It'd be a lot of work. I get it. I can't imagine the headache that must go into the process, and it's for a comparatively tiny install base. But it's an install base that's slowly been gaining traction and seems to have a brighter future ahead of it in spite of all its own proprietary headaches.

Edited Wednesday at 06:56 AM by Techbane

[Mummelpuffin]

The most important thing about this, to me, is that I suspect the EMULATION community in particular is broadly shifting towards Linux, and for that matter Linux users were always pretty likely to be interested in emulation. Developers in this space have always been pretty Linux-friendly. Launchbox remaining on Windows could start to limit sales fairly significantly over the next few years. 

Plus, on the Steam Deck / Machine side of things, EmuDeck exists, but it isn't as big of a competitor as one might think. Smushing everything into Steam is, despite everything, hacky at the best of times. Your non-steam games stick around on your account whether you have them or not, and they all end up pointing at locations that don't exist any more. There's no integration with things like RetroAchievements. Metadata is limited to box art, mostly. I want to see LaunchBox on Linux because I enjoy having it REPLACE Steam as a front-end without having to put Windows on my Steam hardware, which just feels sacrilegious honestly.

Edited 2 hours ago by Mummelpuffin