Reaching critical mass

If you are subscribed, like me, to the foremost Linux users' mailing list in the Philippines, you'll be amazed at the sheer volume of emails lately, mostly concerning the (immediate, urgent) switch to Linux because of the recent spate of BSA raids on establishments using pirated software.

And the running thread is, can Windows games work on Linux?

As I wrote in a previous entry, it bodes good tidings for Linux and F/OSS. But I can't help but bear reservations. Among them: is Linux ready for primetime here in the Philippines, at least in the gaming scene?

I'm not much of a gamer myself, but I understand that there's a market out there for that. One needs only go to the nearest neighborhood internet cafe to know. But how big is that market? One poster in PLUG says that it's miniscule, if not insignificant. Well, not exactly like that, but words to that effect.

For game developers (the big ones in Korea, US and EU) to even think about porting games to Linux and other platforms for that matter, there must be a significant market out there. That's free market for you: build enough demand and they will come.

Well, there's always Wine and a new (?) gig called Cedega. But these are at most bandaid measures — they don't actually port the games but make them run in a sandbox environment that emulates Windows, sort of. From what I hear, they're not that hot neither.

So there are two choices: build that critical mass of users — the market — for big-time game developers to take notice, or, in the grand tradition of F/OSS, roll our own.

The first isn't happening yet, and I don't think it will happen soon. With net cafe's owners' tendency to get the most of their bucks (read: use pirated software to save on costs), they're not about to pay for software they can get through illicit means, Windows or Linux. And since Windows is more conveniently available, they'd just as soon stick to it than switch to one with which they're not familiar.

The second bears some interesting thought, but it would entail huge logistics. How do you farm out the production process required in game development? I'm not so sure there's a bazaar equivalent for that — at least not yet.

So does the open source community have to admit defeat and lay down its ideological weapons? I hope not, because, as the recent raids show, there will always be people willing to switch. When the going gets tough, they will all switch to Linux and F/OSS. Heh. Or, Microsoft will take notice and lower licensing costs. Or, game developers will see the diaspora and join in as well. Or...

Just passing wind, I suppose. :P