JonRD463

I've quit simming, too. Actually, I quit some time ago. Recently, I reinstalled my copy of X-Plane 10 because I *thought* I'd gotten sparked to sim fly after taking a real world flight. This was usually the case in the past-- I'd get a little bored of it, but all it took was going up for real to get me back into the virtual cockpit. But now? I don't know. I'm not so sure it's simming that has changed, or if it's me. I've had a version of MSFS since 4.0, and then in the last few years, switched over to X-Plane. I can recall days where I'd be completely happy to do long haul flights, or island hop around the Caribbean. I was even a member of the Tradewind Carribean Airlines VA. I think my love for it peaked at FS98, and then slowly started to wane. In that time, Flightsim in general became more commercialized. Freeware was giving way to more payware. Not that there was anything morally wrong with that. Certainly, as the simming platforms got more complex, so too did the addons have to increase in their complexity to meet the desires of an increasingly demanding userbase. Quality, features, and fidelity took time-- time that many freeware authors didn't have without compensation, and thus the cottage industry of addon creation blossomed. Some freeware authors stuck to their guns, though, and some really amazing freeware would appear here and there. Through all this, I noticed a fractionation in the flight sim community as a whole. The major online presences coalesced into the Flightsim.com, Simflight, and Avsim camps. Rivalries began to be established. Even some of the freeware producers became competitive ventures, and I saw a lot of needless hostility start to creep up. Slowly but surely, I saw a community that was strong in the early days of the web-- and even prior, on BBS systems that were linked with newsgroups (And of course, anyone here remember Compuserve?)-- begin to crack and divide. I began to disengage from interacting much with the community myself, but I still enjoyed the hobby such that it was. In the meantime, my life was happening and more and more I got pulled away from it. My switch to X-Plane after years and years of the Microsoft platform was a shot in the arm, but only so. The divisiveness I'd perceived in the community of MS-based simmers was magnified when it came to the senseless arguments of whose sim was better. I blame pop culture in general for that. Everyone is "Team this" or "Team that" with no room for being just plain "Team Simming". As time wore on, I not only had time for simming, I had no time for what I was increasingly seeing as senseless BS. Sadly, my recent foray back into it has been cut short. It's just not fun any more. I've moved on, I suppose.

Is there another Bus out there that has as complete a FMGS as the JAR aircraft? I know some would argue that even that one isn't complete, but it does have the most features I've seen of X-Plane Airbus aircraft. I've been out of the hobby for a year and a half and am a bit behind on the latest developments.

X-Plane itself runs wonderfully, much better than it did on this same machine in Win 7. Perhaps the analogy wasn't completely apt, but my findings of better performance would be supported by the other Linux X-Plane users in this very thread. As for add-ons, well, it seems to me that their not being compatible is a cost I'm willing to bear. Some developers have chosen to not support it for reasons they're perfectly within their right to have, and I have chosen to direct my patronage elsewhere for add-ons that meet my needs and desires. It's really as simple as that. One thing I find interesting, however, is how the whole Windows vs. Linux debate mirrors the FSX/P3D vs. X-Plane debate. One would think X-Plane users would appreciate the idea that one could find enjoyment in using something not as popular as the mainstream alternative, but like the worst of the FSX users who have slammed X-Planers as using the inferior choice, there exists similar in this debate.

Look at it this way. You have two cars. Both can comfortably transport 5 people on a 50 mile commute. One, however, burns fuel at a rate of 1 gallon per 20 miles, and the other at 1 gallon per 50 miles. Which would you choose? Linux simply runs more efficiently and allows a program that supports it to use a computer's resources better. Now, for me, I might just run X-Plane in my Windows partition. It's not a question of refusal or making demands. I've already conceded the point that some companies, like X-A, have valid business reasons not to support it, and will not argue that point further. I am in 1000% agreement with Pascal_LSGC, though. Yes, I'm quite sure there have been Linux users that have been rude and demanding, but it's not all of us, and stoking the flames with snide comments only contributes to the general and mutual lack of respect. Don't support it? Fine. State your reasons and leave it at that. No need to stoke the flames by directly or indirectly belittling those who do choose to use Linux as their OS of choice for X-Plane, because it only invokes the interpersonal relations law of reciprocity. You insult me, I'll feel the need to insult back, etc. I myself felt this and decided to leave the thread be for a bit. And once again, as per the original topic, I appreciate the suggestions given since my last post. The Supercritical 747-8 has been in my crosshairs for some time. I've also got all my Flight Factor birds up and running. Been playing around with Ortho4XP for the time being as well.

Okay?

Cameron, I appreciate your reply. Like I said before, I understand the reasons for not supporting Linux, and it's certainly not my intention to demand it where it makes little sense. I also understand that people online can be nasty, given the relative anonymity and zero chance of getting their teeth knocked out for the kinds of garbage that's said. My main point is about representation and perception. You say Ben Russell isn't an employee of X-Aviation, but given that Gizmo is the plugin of choice for managing X-Aviation products, one could easily assume everything is part and parcel. Unless and until X-Aviation products utilize a different plugin to manage DRM, I can't see myself doing anything to enrich someone who cannot handle the pressure of a demanding userbase without coming across as a thin skinned jackass. As long as X-Plane supports Linux, there are going to be those asking for support. Few as they are, and as nasty as they may get, just state your case for not supporting and leave it at that. Ignore the vitriol, and for heaven's sake, don't contribute to it. It just makes makes you look bad. I use "you" here in general terms for anyone in this position, and not pointedly at you, Cameron. The bottom line is, X-Aviation doesn't support Linux for their products for valid business reasons. Understood, loud and clear, and there will be no whining from me about that fact. Just keep in mind that many folks' perception is their reality, and if it's perceived that a representative of X-Aviation deals with a volatile public by echoing their own vitriol, X-Aviation as a whole can be perceived as vitriolic. That's all I have to say on that particular subject. As for the subject of the thread at large, I'm reeaally enjoying the performance I'm getting after installing a number of sceneries and aircraft. The general graphical quality looks even better than my previous Windows install on the same hardware. It's crisp, and the depth perception really pops. Love it!

[deleted] Not worth it.

Okay, been flying around in the FF 757 for a bit. So far so good. On the small userbase of Linux: I totally get that a small user base is not a priority. I myself am a new user to Linux, so up until recently, I didn't have an opinion one way or another about it. Now that I've crossed over, I can understand the passion this small userbase has for the OS. For a long time, Linux held its position as an OS for ubernerds (said affectionatly, of course) who were willing to tinker with obscure settings in a totally foreign command-line environment for enjoyment that the general computer using public at large could only nod half-heartedly say "Yeah... cool... okay..." before going back to the comfortable environs of a Windows or Mac desktop. I was oblivious to it all. I never really had a desire to tinker with it, until I was chatting with some folks in the Kerbal Space Program community. That's a game that I've been heavily playing over the last year and a half or so, and like FS, it has a large, active, and lively addon community. The game is made with the Unity platform, and it begins to bulge at the seams when you add in a bunch of mods. It was suggested to me that the 64 bit Linux version was much more sturdy, used all available RAM, and ran more smoothly than the 32 bit Windows version. It was suggested to me to try the Mint distro when I expressed my concerns that Linux might mean a level of fiddling and tinkering that I wasn't ready to do. I tried it and not only was it absolutely painless to set up, I found that I kept using it for general tasks like web browsing, document writing, media watching, etc. I've got Windows set up for dual boot, but rarely use it. I am by no means a Linux fanatic or super user (except when I have to SUDO something ). It just works, and I'm a happy camper. Now enter X-Plane. I knew that it was supported on Linux, and the last time I was X-Planing in Windows, I'd modded the sim to the point that it was juuust on the side of playable with barely enough FPS to not kill the experience. I wondered if I would see the same performance increase in Linux that I saw with Kerbal. I installed, maxxed out just about all of the rendering settings, and found that stock game ran buttery smooth, looking practically identical to the view out my window on the recent flight I took that inspired me to reinstall X-Plane in the first place. I had a huge framerate overhead and wanted to start filling it with all the addons I'd previously purchased, like SkyMaxx Pro, the LES DC3, the Flight Factor and JARDesign birds, etc. I started with SkyMaxx, since I wanted to get the simming environment set up before adding in new aircraft, and I'd been getting the emails about the upgrade. I went to X-Aviation and checked the forums for information regarding Linux compatibility. I'm the type of person who figures that any question I may have has probably already been asked before, so I do thorough searching before I resort to asking things myself. What I found blew my mind. Now, Cameron and Ben, since you both have replied to this post, I'd like to address you directly. As I said, I understand that the Linux userbase is small and that for business reasons, you choose not to support it due to a poor ROI on time spent vs. income gained. Completely understandable. What I can't possibly fathom is how a relatively small company who relies on every sale to keep going would allow the kind of attitude I've seen on the forums. People are going to ask questions, and sometimes people can be annoying. Welcome to the world of customer service! I did my time in retail and if I ever displayed the sort of snark and disdain I've seen come from Ben to Linux users in my job at the time, I'd get disciplined so fast it wouldn't even begin to be funny. It's extremely off-putting, so much so that as I consider whether or not to install X-Plane on my Windows partition to use those plugins, and addons that aren't Linux compatible, I will not factor any of my previous X-Aviation purchases into the decision making, nor will I make any future purchases of anything that uses Gizmo until you reign in the attitude. Many entertainment software companies that have a heavy online presence already know the wisdom of keeping those deficient in the way of interpersonal relations out of the public eye and letting those who are more adept handle the community stuff. Perhaps you, Cameron, should assume the role of spokesperson and let Ben happily code offline. You know, when I was last active in simming, one of the more ubiquitous things in the X-Plane community-- including the one at X-Pilot-- was the commiserating about the nastiness of some of the moderators at the .Org. I honestly cannot tell the difference between some of the more nasty posts they've made over the years and some of the spew coming out of Ben with regard to Linux support for Gizmo. To everyone else who has replied, I thank you for your suggestions, tips, and advice. I'm slowly working my way towards getting things set up. The 757 is working great. I'm now starting the process of getting W2XP sceneries and the HD mesh installed. It looks like I'll have a fairly good running build in due time.

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 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

The attitudes in this thread are indicative of why I've pretty much given up on simming. Simming, for me, had always been about the community. Back in ye olden times, when addons were basically creations made with Aircraft & Scenery Designer or Aircraft & Adventure Factory for FS4, I have fond memories of dialing into my local flight sim themed BBS, checking the freeware, and patching into Usenet to read and participate in the wider (albeit smaller by today's standards) flight sim community from around the world. It was more of a brotherhood, and fairly free of constant bickering. But now? I don't know what to make of it. Whether literally or figuratively, I see the flight sim community as a bunch of bitter old men arguing for the sake of arguing. Further, it seems that whenever someone comes up with a new idea, the collective descends upon them waving their canes and essentially yelling for them to get off their damn lawn. Yeah, I'd say I'm done. Tired of the FSX-based engine, too impatient with X-Plane's glacial development pace, and watching this sideshow against Stephen B. for having the audacity to do SOMEthing to help progress the hobby. Makes me sick.

From their Facebook page: " Thanks for being a great sport of yesterday's April fool statement. To clarify, the team is not going to develop for MSFS or Prepar3D, we will still be developing sceneries for the X-Plane Community. Now on to my next point, and this is in my personal perspective and does not represent the whole team (can apply to all of us): I have discovered something else during this slight fiasco, particularly about our product release scheduling and our frequency of posting updates, in a thread about us below. As a freeware development group (currently), we obviously spend our spare time to develop sceneries for you followers to enjoy, and that results in a much slower and longer development duration, our payware projects are also made when we have free time. Since the announcement to stop posting frequent updates we have indeed stopped posting updates until something significant is completed. Another factor contributing to our slow roll out of our sceneries and updates is that our standards are very high, we strive to deliver a perfected product polished and complete with details in every corner, we do not take quantity over quality. I quote from a gentleman, the CEO of TFDi Design's statement which also applies to the X-Plane community: "Over the last few years, I've seen this community turn 180 degrees in the other direction." "Users are publicly demanding. Users expect those who donate their time (or work for a profit that does not match the effort put in) to operate at a super-human level, but do not appreciate it. I also find that people are too hasty in their assumptions, too severe with their decisions, and intolerant and unforgiving towards others with different opinions." Thanks for your time reading this post and I hope you understand. Kindest regards, Peter Tram"

I often find myself watching videos like this. I'm also a fairly regular listener of Coast to Coast AM on my nighttime commute from work (at least when they're not talking about vitamins or the banking system, which seems like every other show lately). It's not because I believe and accept this type of material, it's just there's always that bit of "what if?" that bounces around my head and I find it entertaining. I'm with Fr. Bill in thinking there's probably alien life out there, and that's based purely on the statistical probability of at least one other life-supporting planet in the gazillions of systems out there. Whether they're bi-pedal with funky foreheads a la Star Trek is a different matter, but again, entertaining to think about. My particular interest is in the possibility of former human civilizations on Earth pre-Ice Age. Maybe it's my love of the tales of Robert Howard, but since human evolution makes up a only a tiny percentage of the time this world existed, who's to say other civilizations didn't evolve, flourish, and then do the Great Stupid™ by utterly destroying themselves in some sort of worldwide apocalypse? Between time and geological changes, all evidence of their existence would be pretty much eradicated. I'll never be so gullible as to believe that the particular way a moss grows on a random tree means "they's 'squatch in these woods", but on the more abstract level, the concept of pre-ancient civilizations is at least intriguing.

Everyone else has posted great suggestions for enhancing the sim, so, if I may, I'd like to offer some advice on the attitude with which to approach getting X-Plane tweaked out. The sim is capable of some breathtaking visuals, as can be seen in some of the mind blowing screenies getting posted on the screenshot forum. Just remember, it takes a little time, a little patience, and a little trial and error to get things up to snuff. If you feel yourself getting frustrated that things aren't working out like you had hoped, take a deep breath and post your issues. While I can't speak truly for everyone, I can say that this group is a welcoming bunch that likes to see folks checking out and falling in love with X-Plane, and we're eager to help you try to make it the best it can be. X-Plane still has some rough edges, and not everyone will be satisfied with everything it has (or lacks), but I think you'll find that there's just some kind of... I don't know... "special sauce" with X-Plane that's hard to put one's finger on that's wonderful when all cylinders are firing. Have fun!

Awesome, Andras! Looks fantastic! Thanks!