Now that Stop Killing Games is actually being taken seriously - maybe we need to take a look at Stop Fucking Around In Our Kernels
I haven’t really been personally affected by it before - I don’t play any competitive multiplayer games at all. But my wife had her brother over, and he’s significantly younger than us. So he wanted to play FortNite and GTA V, knowing I have a gaming PC. FortNite is immediately out of the question, it’ll never work on my computer. Okay, so I got GTA V running and it was fun for a while, but it turns out all of those really cool cars only exist in Online. But oh look, now they’ve added BattlEye and I can no longer get online.
While this seems like a trivial issue (Just buy a third SSD for Windows and dual boot), it’s really not. Even if I wanted to install Windows ever again, I do NOT want random 3rd party kernel modules in there. Anyone remember the whole CrowdStrike fiasco? I do NOT want to wake up to my computer not booting up because some idiot decided to push a shitty update to their kernel module that makes the kernel itself shit the bed. And while Microsoft fucks up plenty, at least they’re a corporation with a reputation to uphold, and I believe they even have a QA team or 2. CrowdStrike was unheard of outside of the corporate world before the ordeal and tbh nobody has ever heard of it afterwards again.
So I think this would be a good angle to push. That we should be careful about what code runs in our OS kernels, for security and stability reasons. Obviously it’d be impossible to just blanket ban 3rd party kernel modules to any OS. However, maybe here in the EU at least we could get them to consider a rule that any software that includes a component running in the OS kernel, MUST justify how that part is necessary for the software to function in the best possible way for the user of the computer the software is running on. E.g I expect a hardware driver to have a kernel module, and I can see how security software needs to have a kernel module, but I do NOT see how a video game needs to have an anti cheat with a kernel module. How does that benefit me, the customer paying to be able to play said video game?
I’m late to the thread but am I understanding this correctly? The issue is gaming on a Linux or non-windows pc, right? Also, the general sentiment in this chat room is to not buy the games requiring windows, right?
Are you all high or just idiots? What cinpany is going to give a flying fuck if 1% of their customer base stops buying. 100% of all Linux gamers would have to commit to even make the 1% dent. 🤣🤣🤣
No, you’re not understanding it correctly. The issue is that kernel-level DRM is a terrible thing on Windows, the fact that it doesn’t work on Linux is also a side effect.
“Spy on me harder Daddy”
You mean like the “multi-million units sold” Linux based Steam Deck?
Not, the problem is that kernel level ACs are a security and privacy risk, a violation of what I do and what I am willing to share, and a bullshit way to enforce fair play. They already suck at detecting cheats, it is a cat and mouse game, and the mouse has always been ahead.
Next thing is they will require for me to stream my face, hands, and feet to ensure I am not cheating…
I wasn’t buying their games because they suck.
Anti-cheat was way down the list of reasons. It’s not like even on Linux that there’s a drought of games to play.
I guess they just can’t handle Team Fortress 2.