[Wine] Re: Big test coming up: fallout 3

[dayosh]

It is true.  The Virtual boxes can emulate a mean Windows OS.  The unfortunate truth, as dyzmani just said, is that they are not yet able to also properly recognize video cards, so gaming on a VM box basically becomes moot (fun word, "moot").

I hear tell from a close friend of mine however (who knows a bit more about news and code than I do), that it is a possibility that we will see an update for VMware in the future which will be able to properly recognize video cards.  Unfortunately, no one knows how far of a wait in the future that is (could be next month, could be in 10 years).


Many are certainly welcome to disagree with me on this point, but my personal feelings are that the time has come (and the need has arisen) for more and more linux users to try and become involved in the contribution process.  Whether this means learning how to program (via online tutorials or classes), testing software and constantly searching for /reporting bugs, and the like.

There is a saying: "Good things come to those who wait."  In this particular scenario, however, I'm not sure that waiting is particularly the best avenue to follow.  To better understand what I'm talking about, take a look at the "Wine To-Do Lists" that are posted on the main page.  While there have been many accomplishments, there is still much to be done.  The current team of Wine developers (bless them for all their hard, selfless work) are all freely devoting what little free time they have available to fix bugs, make new additions, and generally make Wine run more smoothly.

There are currently two problems with this, as I see it:

1. They must "figure out" how to make programs run with Windows programs.  They are not simply copying and pasting code from native Windows programs.  Everything they build is from scratch, so it is probably safe to assume there is quite a bit of "educated guess work" involved, and many times it is "hit or miss."

2. While I am unsure of exactly how many people comprise the Wine development team, I'm sure that regardless of the number, it could always use more talented individuals looking to contribute.  These folks are donating their precious free time, as I've said, and considering there might be little free time to spare (due to work, social life, etc.), they are undertaking a project of truly massive proportions.  More people breaks the work load up into smaller, more-manageable chunks.

I'm currently attempting to learn basic C++.  I have a long way to go, but if it means that I can help not only these developers, and also give back to the Linux community (which has been very kind to me, in the form of other users taking the time to answer my many questions and help me with various problems), it will be most certainly worth the time spent.  To end with another saying, "None of us is stronger than all of us."

::Addendum:: Sorry for the novel, lol.  Just my $5.   ;)