Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:It could be for licensing reasons since QT versions newer than 2.1 incure a license cost if you use it commercially.
No you don't unless you modify Qt and don't disclose changes. In fact, you can choose to use Qt as GTK (LGPLv2.1) or GPLv3 or commercial license.
I have not looked closely at the commercial licensing restrictions, but I do know that the commercialisation of QT was a bone of contention with GNU/OSF and part of the original GNOME v. KDE debate.
In any case, the most likely reason for GTK being selected over QT is that the current port of X3:R was done in GTK. As this is the starting point for the TC/AP port it would make little sense to change such a fundamental design decision.
Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:[I have not looked closely at the commercial licensing restrictions, but I do know that the commercialisation of QT was a bone of contention with GNU/OSF and part of the original GNOME v. KDE debate.
Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:I have not looked closely at the commercial licensing restrictions, but I do know that the commercialisation of QT was a bone of contention with GNU/OSF and part of the original GNOME v. KDE debate.
I'm pretty sure that had become a non-issue before GNOME 1.0 was ever actually released--the Qt toolkit licensing was altered to be compatible with the GPL. Of course, the GNOME guys went ahead anyway, but they've been a bit bloody-minded that way since the beginning.
it wouldnt hurt you guys to go around the ubuntu forum's and over such large linux distro's sending out your advertisement and looking for developers/coders
there is probably some people out there interested in the job who dont actually play the game but want the coding challenge
Roger L.S. Griffiths wrote:In any case, the most likely reason for GTK being selected over QT is that the current port of X3:R was done in GTK. As this is the starting point for the TC/AP port it would make little sense to change such a fundamental design decision.
IIRC X3:R port was done with GTK1 and some other ancient libs. Porting out-of-game menus will require a rewrite anyway.
Are you looking for people to work on this full time or in their free time outside of their regular jobs? I've not had a great deal of experience with OpenGL but I can learn quickly and I have worked as a C++ software developer since I left university.
Thrilled to see more Linux activity on the X-series as well.
I've been beta testing the Steam for Linux client for a while now. Darwinia and SPAZ have been fun to (re)play and have been working really well with minor quirks on Ubuntu.
Mellen wrote:Btw. any chance X3: Reunion could be made available through Steam on Linux?
Not speaking officially for Ego (obviously!), but right now IIRC Steam is just in it's beta for Linux and thus it will be a while before it could even be available.
Secondly, it probably wouldn't be because Egosoft didn't directly develop X3 Reunion on Linux. Case in point: the Mac versions of the X games (since X2) are not on Steam even though Steam supports Mac, because Virtual Programming released the Mac version and not Ego.
Mellen wrote:Btw. any chance X3: Reunion could be made available through Steam on Linux?
Not speaking officially for Ego (obviously!), but right now IIRC Steam is just in it's beta for Linux and thus it will be a while before it could even be available.
Secondly, it probably wouldn't be because Egosoft didn't directly develop X3 Reunion on Linux. Case in point: the Mac versions of the X games (since X2) are not on Steam even though Steam supports Mac, because Virtual Programming released the Mac version and not Ego.
I know it is a long shot but it is the month of miracles according to some.
I did away with physical media games a long time ago and I've repurchased the games I liked the most through Steam - including the X-series, only to find my attention shifting almost completely to working on the Linux platform. I've never come across a digital download version of X3 for Linux, so I haven't played the game in a very long time now.
... and WINE and I have never been very good friends. I seem to always hit the "FIXME"s in the WINE code.
Mellen wrote:... and WINE and I have never been very good friends. I seem to always hit the "FIXME"s in the WINE code.
You could always fix the FIXME's It's like a self assembly car kit... they give you the nuts and bolts but you have to fit them together to make it all work
Porting X3 to Linux is a great thing, Egosoft. The Linux Game Publishing versions were always outdated and too expensive. I never purchased them.
I think SteamPlay is a great concept. Buying a game once and play it on all 3 major platforms is awesome.
By the way: Have you tried to contact Ryan C. Gordon (aka Icculus) yet? He certainly won't join the company but I am sure he will do a good job at porting the X3 games to Linux.
The ports he made always worked fine. From UT2004 to many of the Humble Indie Bundle games.
