Ben Russell

Here is a set of greyscale only shaders for X-Plane. These allow X-Plane to be started inside a Virtual Machine that uses Gallium OpenGL drivers. https://github.com/benrussell/GreyscaleShadersXP Intended for use by plugin developers, not much use for scenery or aircraft.

It's completely irrelevant what the rest of the Linux experience is like, or what it could be like. We're talking about what it's like to support the Linux customer base, NOW. We're talking about what it's like for an average dev looking to add support using a VM... TODAY. It's a complete pain in the ass. ...and I already know Linux really well.

I made it sound like a transcription of what happened. Yesterday.

Attention Linux users: New poll running here: http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/5712-gizmo-development-focus/ Vote.

Windows can be temporarily ignored. Linux will just drown you in 404 repo errors if you try that trick... it never ends well.

1. Download, unzip, run. 2. Download X-Plane for your OS by clicking "Continue" approx 5 times in a row. 3. "Start X-Plane Now." Sincerely, Your Windows or Mac OS There is no debate here.

Just getting the Official X-Plane installer to run on modern Linux is a joke. 1. Download, unzip, run. 2. "/bin/bash: File not found." or something very similar and utterly useless. 3. Google. 4. Oh, right, the sim is 64 bit by default but the installer isn't yet. http://forum.avsim.net/topic/365129-in-ubuntu-i-cant-install-x-plane-10/?p=2287026 Time to install "ia32libs"... with modern Ubuntu's crap package manager that's too smart and too "app store", makes it hard to find anything except an exact match. (I'm looking to do this as cheaply as possible, I'm not interested in learning how good their new process is, I've been using debian on and off since about 1998.) 5. Stuff around figuring out that it's NOT ia32libs, it's ia32-libs. 6. Ubuntu is out of date since you installed it and needs a 400 mb update. 7. The X-Plane installer now runs, but promptly tells you, via secret command line only note, that Gallium display drivers are not supported. 8. Download the "demo installer" for Mac, download a copy of X-Plane Linux using my Mac. 9. Transfer demo over to VM host. 10. Oh, that testing you did for X-Plane a few months back using a Virtual Machine, yeah, we killed that feature. 11. Wait until Ben Supnik is online to query how to start the sim even though we know the drivers suck. ...and that's just to get a test copy of X-Plane running.... so bad that it's just funny.

br@ubuntu:~/Desktop/Gizmo/build_linux/plugin_source$ uname -a Linux ubuntu 3.2.0-29-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jul 27 17:03:23 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux br@ubuntu:~/Desktop/Gizmo/build_linux/plugin_source$ ls -la total 17112 drwxrwxr-x 3 br br 4096 Sep 18 17:46 . drwxrwxr-x 4 br br 4096 Sep 18 08:27 .. drwxrwxr-x 4 br br 4096 Sep 18 08:27 CMakeFiles -rw-rw-r-- 1 br br 1160 Dec 27 2012 cmake_install.cmake -rwxrwxr-x 1 br br 17414698 Sep 18 17:44 Gizmo_lin.xpl -rw-rw-r-- 1 br br 86075 Sep 18 08:27 Makefile br@ubuntu:~/Desktop/Gizmo/build_linux/plugin_source$ ldd Gizmo_lin.xpl linux-vdso.so.1 => (0x00007fff4678c000) libGLU.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGLU.so.1 (0x00007f987348a000) libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/mesa/libGL.so.1 (0x00007f9873229000) libpng12.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpng12.so.0 (0x00007f9873001000) libz.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1 (0x00007f9872dea000) libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 (0x00007f9872aea000) libm.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 (0x00007f98727ef000) libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 (0x00007f98725d9000) libc.so.6 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 (0x00007f987221c000) /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 (0x00007f9873fd4000) libglapi.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglapi.so.0 (0x00007f9871ff6000) libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXext.so.6 (0x00007f9871de5000) libXdamage.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdamage.so.1 (0x00007f9871be2000) libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXfixes.so.3 (0x00007f98719db000) libX11-xcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11-xcb.so.1 (0x00007f98717d9000) libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libX11.so.6 (0x00007f98714a5000) libxcb-glx.so.0 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb-glx.so.0 (0x00007f987128d000) libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libxcb.so.1 (0x00007f987106f000) libXxf86vm.so.1 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXxf86vm.so.1 (0x00007f9870e6a000) libdrm.so.2 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdrm.so.2 (0x00007f9870c5e000) libpthread.so.0 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 (0x00007f9870a41000) libdl.so.2 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 (0x00007f987083d000) libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXau.so.6 (0x00007f9870639000) libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x00007f9870433000) librt.so.1 => /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 (0x00007f987022a000) br@ubuntu:~/Desktop/Gizmo/build_linux/plugin_source$ ....but will you actually support it?

This is a ridiculously narrow minded and selfish point of view. Gizmo allows artists to free themselves from the tedious job of fighting with a compiler for not one platform but upto THREE. Instead of spending a week figuring out how to compile and link (whatever that means) the sound library so they can make a beep noise, they can create a complete 3D sound engine with rich fidelity and feature sets. Gizmo, whether you like it or not, is dragging X-Plane kicking and screaming from its dark ages. It will go a long way to building the customer base that X-Plane so sorely needs. The customer base that will provide the profit margin and focused time, to allow us to build Linux support, so that you can all just be happy, and the artist is free to build great things with much detail - instead of living on in mediocre buggy compiler hell. You have it entirely the wrong way around. How can I be so sure? Not even one artist using Gizmo has asked about Linux support, I have plenty of other feature requests though, to let them make cool things more easily, faster and with less time spent chasing script bugs.

I never mentioned the input device. One of my pet hates about Consoles is the lack of input options. If they can push "PC Games" with fallbacks to GamePad controller layouts they'll have a serious winner. (and that's a pretty trivial challenge.) I've been a Console gamer for a few years now; for the convenience. I know the graphics aren't as good. I know the input isn't as precise. I miss both. But I still prefer the appliance-dumb simplicity of using a Console to unwind. Just had a quick look at the stats for X-Pilot: it's about 6% Linux traffic.

I guess I should have quoted this, too: So basically even Valve accept that it's never going to be a mainstream desktop event. They're going to make it the future of gaming, by making(or licensing) their own gaming hardware. Sounds an awful lot like a Console to me... convergence. Not a bad thing. This thread is a little bit tongue in cheek from me. I want to support Linux, but it's very hard to justify the time put into it. It's a justifcation on-top-of all the other justifications I've already made about the time I spend on X-Plane. At the moment I spend all my programming time on contract work, I haven't put any work into X-Plane for a couple of months now. I'm still waiting for X-Plane to pay off the last 2.5 years I put into Gizmo. If only we had $256M budgets and 5 year time frames, like some of the games people love to compare X-Plane to. We don't. It's just that simple.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/09/gabe-newell-linux-is-the-future-of-gaming-new-hardware-coming-soon/ Emphasis added.

Well, hello...

I live in the EST time zone. The Australian EST time zone.... GMT+10 (or 11 during summer, daylight savings...) Now if only we had a Zulu offset for seasonal references... "_________ shipping at the end of Fall" is one of my pet hates.

You're very welcome. Glad to hear we've resolved the issue properly.

Side Note: The message: "Unknown Product This product cannot be activated" ..was added because many people were fishing around in the Gizmo menus trying to activate SASL products. Using Gizmo to activate a SASL product is obviously impossible and triggers an X-A system alert notifying us of a customer having trouble activating a product we don't even sell. To stop people abusing the activation process out of frustration with the "SASL upgrade problem" (and it IS a problem when you have to refer your customers to a fruit-salad spread sheet) we made the Activator ignore products we do not publish, eg: User Mods. Edit: Adding link to "fruit salad" spread sheet... anyone for watermelon and grapes? Carenado Aircraft Compatibility Chart http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=68492 Gizmo: Move one folder, in or out. SASL: Hope pray and wait for your upgrades, eventually, then figure out yourself which version you need. I know which I prefer, but I'm definitely biased.

If you want a prime example X-A Vapourware just refer to the CRJ which was officially, publicly, cancelled. Only to be finished off in peace and released to go on to become easily one of the most popular X-Plane products ever. And who published it? X-A.

WRONG Use GMT offsets.

1 week in 3 years is 0.64 % ...perspective. It's a wonderful thing.

I think the Saab is more like the 25 year old living in the basement.... get the hell out in the world and experience something! (and send some money home if you wanna be good to your parents...)

If you have trouble activating a product we know.

X-A never sleeps.

http://123d.circuits.io/

64bit only. Please email Laminar to tell them how frustrating it is for you as a customer. They don't consider 64bit squawkbox to be much of a priority, much to our collective frustration. The more customers they hear from the better.