FreeGameDev

GOG, a digital distributor of computer games, had a makeover and one of the features this makeover introduced was a community wishlist where users get to submit suggestions for either games or website features and vote on these suggestions. One such request submitted by a user called JudasIscariot was to add Linux versions of games that GOG already sold for Windows to their catalog i.e. games like Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Unreal Tournament 2004, and Neverwinter Nights.

JudasIscariot {l Wrote}:If a game has a Linux version and it is made and supported by the developer please allow the option to download the Linux version if at all possible.

It's taken a while, but the Add Linux versions of games request on the GOG Community Wishlist has surpassed 10 000 votes! This entry is currently placed fifth on the wislist. Get to voting and make it first! This shows that there are gamers using Linux and that they are ravenous for support. With Linux seeing great support thanks to Kickstarter, the Humble Bundle, and Steam, it is only a matter of time before our votes reach the folks at GOG and they go through the simple task of adding Linux versions of the games they already sell for Windows.

Your votes count and they are just a click away!

Thread in the GOG forum asking for Linux support.

What GOG is all about:

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Try to tone down the GOG advertisement aspect the next time... I nearly disapproved this post because of that.

I'd rather they did not release their proprietary games to GNU+Linux.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/nonfree-games.html

(A page which I like to link because it links back to us )

I think more proprietary support coming to Linux is good in the long run. The Linux community (and I say this as a full time Linux user) [removed trolling part] needs to accept that games are an essential component of a successful desktop system, and that they prevent a wide cross-section of people from abandoning their previous operating system. Sooner or later, they'll get in touch with the licensing movements and whatnot.

Anyway, it's not like internet petitions have ever worked. Well, okay, this one did. GOG.com explicitly said they won't support Linux, as they don't want to be like Steam and support only one distribution -- which would make the cost of support too high to justify. A fair reason, though I think most Linux users can generally help themselves (installing the OS yourself makes it a big difference from Windows and OS X already). I'll skip.

I think in the "long run" any kind of proprietary software is bad, but in the short to medium term is is good for Linux adoption and thus beneficial overall.
Taking the FOSS extremist position when 95% of all users are in an even worse position (gaming on windows or a console) simply doesn't make sense.

And if you don't like it, just don't use it.

But I am really just parroting Stallman here

I have seen the ramifications of Steam on GNU+Linux. Stallman was wrong.


P.S.
I put that freegamedev link there.

Would you care to elaborate further?

According to my anecdotal evidence Stallman was very much right: Interest in switching to Linux increase tenfold with the availability of Steam and some high profile games.

Personally I see much more danger to the Free Software ecosystem coming from Android, which is IMHO a very twisted and controlled version of the GNU/Linux idea.

Julius {l Wrote}:Try to tone down the GOG advertisement aspect the next time... I nearly disapproved this post because of that.

My apologies. Those were the words that sold me initially, hence why I wanted to pass them on untouched. Thank you for editing the post for me!

Evropi {l Wrote}:I think more proprietary support coming to Linux is good in the long run. The Linux community (and I say this as a full time Linux user) [removed trolling part] needs to accept that games are an essential component of a successful desktop system, and that they prevent a wide cross-section of people from abandoning their previous operating system. Sooner or later, they'll get in touch with the licensing movements and whatnot.

Anyway, it's not like internet petitions have ever worked. Well, okay, this one did. GOG.com explicitly said they won't support Linux, as they don't want to be like Steam and support only one distribution -- which would make the cost of support too high to justify. A fair reason, though I think most Linux users can generally help themselves (installing the OS yourself makes it a big difference from Windows and OS X already). I'll skip.

GOG initially did paint the picture rather negatively, but with the the most recent information that we have, chances seem a lot better now, especially as the votes keep increasing. Bring the discussion to the thread dedicated to the matter on the GOG forum and shmerl will happily bring you up to speed.

Paradox {l Wrote}:Basically I (we) see a big potential in Linux beyond the 1% . Currently Linux sales either just break even or yield a very small profit. But Rome wasn't built in a day.

We don't have a higher idealistic goal about freedom of choice - not more than it meaning that we'll reach a bigger audience.

In the end of the day Paradox makes hardcore games for smart gamers who want smart games - I think the average Linux user just happens to overlap with our niche business quite well.

Source. Wish GOG saw it that way as well.