Hi all. I've decided to dip my toe back into simming, which usually happens after making a real world flight. Anyone else have that happen? You drop out for a bit, then get the fire re-lit after flying for real? Heh...

 

Anyway, since I was last active in simming, I've switched over to Linux Mint. Originally, it was so I could play 64 bit Kerbal Space Program with a ridiculous amount of addons, since it uses memory better than Windows. As a side effect, the last time I logged into Windows was to snag a free Win 10 upgrade, but Linux is now my default OS.

 

I was wondering if there were any addons that had a problem running in Linux. IIRC, anything that uses Gizmo from X-Aviation is pretty much a no-go, which is a shame since I already have a handful of their products. Any Linux users have any issues flying Flight Factor or JARDesign birds? Any other aircraft or sceneries that don't do so well in Linux?

 

Thanks, and I hope everyone had a great Holiday season and New Years!

 

-Jon

Jon,

 

I'm afraid I can't be of any help, since I am in Win 10, but welcome, and, I just re-installed it as well :-) for testing the torque fix ...

the flight factor planes require microsoft redist 2013 to function correctly, without it the menus don't work right, not sure about the jardesign

Wow... since making this post, I've done some digging around on the net and found that not only is Linux pretty much ignored in the X-Plane community, some aspects of it are downright hostile. It's a pity since recent distros are very user friendly and practically plug and play. I'm using Mint 17.3 and it was an absolute breeze to set up. Stock X-Plane 10 runs so much better on it than in Windows, with all options maxxed out. I was eager to get some of the payware I'd previously bought into the sim to see how it performs, but no go. I knew X-Aviation didn't support it in their Gizmo DRM, but the attitude displayed by some of their personnel when the subject is broached is deplorable.

 

Guess my re-entry into simming has come to a halt for now. I can't go back to Windows. It'd be like having to fly domestic coach after experiencing a dozen international first class flights on Emirates or Singapore Air.

Hi Jon,

 

If you go to the .org and look at the addons they sell, most are Linux compatible. Just browse to the requirement tab in the sales page of the products that interest you. Flightfactor, FlyJSim, Carenado, Peter's Aircraft, QPac and others all support Linux.

Jon,

 

give a look to FlightGear latest nightly releases, going through 3.7... It's probably worth the try at least, and fully Linux compatible. Actually, mainly Linux by the dev team...

 

I think Austin tried hard to make the success of X-Plane 10 in the Linux community bigger than it got to be, but life is life ... :-/

the flight factor planes require microsoft redist 2013 to function correctly, without it the menus don't work right, not sure about the jardesign

 

No they say that Linux is supported. I might get the A350 when it's cheaper, just forgot in the last sale. I've the CRJ-200 which is pretty good.

Very happy with Ubuntu, evenmore with the upcoming Steam games.

As for X-Plane.org I'm not aware of any planes not supporting Linux.

Wow... since making this post, I've done some digging around on the net and found that not only is Linux pretty much ignored in the X-Plane community, some aspects of it are downright hostile. It's a pity since recent distros are very user friendly and practically plug and play. I'm using Mint 17.3 and it was an absolute breeze to set up. Stock X-Plane 10 runs so much better on it than in Windows, with all options maxxed out. I was eager to get some of the payware I'd previously bought into the sim to see how it performs, but no go. I knew X-Aviation didn't support it in their Gizmo DRM, but the attitude displayed by some of their personnel when the subject is broached is deplorable.

 

Guess my re-entry into simming has come to a halt for now. I can't go back to Windows. It'd be like having to fly domestic coach after experiencing a dozen international first class flights on Emirates or Singapore Air.

well it's a simple affair really:  the flightsim market is a niche, out this niche x-plane takes a niche compared to fsx/p3d. 

 

And now look at this chart laminar provided:

 

 

 

Out of the niche of the niche only 3% of the users actually play on linux. Since developing is already more a labor of love than a financially sound business, i think in future it will be even harder to get support for linux as the planes get more and more complex. Laminar will probably continue support for Linux to proove the multi platform point, but that was never a financial reason.

I think this is super simple. Ben Russel is coding gizmo. He does not answer to anyone but himself. If you want him to support linux, you can try - but making him angry or getting on his nerves is certainly not the way to achieve the desired result.

 

Some X-Aviation products use gizmo. Those don´t support Linux. Get Windows, Mac, miss out or make Ben Russel an option he can´t refuse! Four options.

 

There is no law that requires a free enterprise to support every OS.

 

Jan

I use Ubuntu for everything and multiboot other os only for recompiling my stuff. I don't care at all about one or two overprized addons to be to lazy to support Linux. Any good programmer will target crossplatform right from the beginning.

Option A; work at a loss on Linux port.

 

Option B; enjoy time with my family.

I'd have to agree with Ben, at 3% of the userbase (And how many of those users would actually purchase addons), it really isn't worth the time or effort to do a Linux port. I know this statement may annoy some people, but you have to think in terms of the support and time required to do so.

 

I have and use Linux for work, and I tried to get XP running, but I had so many issues with drivers and graphical glitches that I gave up. That being said, the vast majority of scenery (free and paid) and GA aircraft should work fine. I do know that Skymaxx Pro and the Saab don't work (Two of my favourite addons).

 

Sometimes even Mac OS users get left behind, e.g. We can't use the weather engines because they're Windows only. A lot of Mac users run XP10 because they have no choice, this is what originally got me using XP9.

 

Edit: Off-topic, I'm shocked that over 50% of users fly with the mouse ;-)

Looks like the FF B767, apparently considered the most complex aircraft addon for X-Plane, works both in Win, Mac and Linux. So much for the "working at a loss" argument.

 

 

So much for the "working at a loss" argument.

 

No offense, but if you think there's profit to be made on a segment of a 3% segment of the X-Plane market, you're ill informed and not qualified to make statements like this.

 

Flight Factor may well be developing for the platform (ever occur to you one of their programmers is a Linux user?), but it signifies NOTHING from a profitability standpoint.

 

Ben is very right. There is no market there. Laminar also concurs with this thought, but there's a very key person on the team using Linux, thus support continues. A case of "if he's happy, we're happy."

 

It's sad, really. The truth is we would love to support all three platforms (and have done so in the past). But, the support costs/time over the profit margins (or lack thereof) do not promote this tri-platform support.

 

Linux is a GREAT platform for development. A number of us use it, but in some things you have to face reality and separate personal wants vs business sense. Linux simply doesn't make viable business sense, and if we had to depend on Linux users to buy add-ons in the X-Plane platform, well...we'd be in deep s*&%.

 

Sucks, but that's reality. :(

Any Linux users have any issues flying Flight Factor or JARDesign birds?

 

No problem with FlightFactor addons, they all works in Linux. JARD dont support Linux, but I got the A320 v2.3r4 to work, but not the A330. Others addon I know support and work well in Linux are the JRollon CRJ-200, Rotate MD-80 and addon from FlyJSim, Carenado.