Linux support would be the best possible thing I could imagine. Servers would run much better and linux users (like me, running kubuntu 13.04) would be able to play the game. OpenGL support is needed for this, which means there's much work to do, but valve proved that this is possible (their games even run smoother and much faster on linux!). I tried playing rF2 using WINE, but I couldn't launch the game. The launcher just froze. When fast enough, it's possible to launch the demo. It runs without many problems, but it's horribly slow (10-12% performance), not playable. rFactor 1 ran fine using this method. As rFactor 2 is the only sim worth playing, I'm very sad about this. I switched to linux after Windows just ate 2tb disk space without doing anything and it was horribly slow and crashed all the time. rFactor 2 was the only reason I kept it on my hard drive. Now, I decided to never boot windows again, it just takes too long only for playing rFactor 2. And I'm not the only one. Many people switch to linux. So... Please, ISI, make it happen!
If I can just point out 2 things: 1. With the current state of rF2 I don't think having dev time devoted to building/maintaining a linux port (especially of the client) would be a popular move. 2. Windows doesn't/shouldn't take that long to start or mysteriously start eating disk space. Sounds like you were doing it wrong
Win8 boots in 8 secs (including BIOS posting time) on a traditional 7200rpm disk. If you do a "restart" which bypasses all the fancy hibernation stuff it takes about 20secs to boot. Sounds like you have a serious problem with your setup. Hell I can't even remember the last time windows hung up or crashed on me. Seriously.
I'm sure I have seen on one of the Devs twitter\facebook that Linux will be investigated in the future. Edit: Jeremy Miller @jeremymmiller 11 Jun I want a linux dedi server then I want a linux client. Have not wrote windows only code since 2011. I hear you. Its on my plate. No timeline
But none of the underlying code has been stripped of the Win32 stuff. So even though the additions aren't Win32, it would still be a project to port it. The dedi server has a GUI less mode now and people have been known to run it under WINE. Hoover is a die hard Linux guy and I believe he had success with it under WINE but ultimately ended up running Windows on VirtualBox for his server. I am sure he could chime in with some more knowledge. Running the client on Linux sounds like a waste of time IMO. iRacing did it but I believe they are doing it with emulation. Hoover probably knows more on that topic too.
iRacing partnered with Codeweavers to do an unsupported Linux port and a supported MacOSX port. It is a Windows emulation layer; in fact it is WINE but with some newer code that it is not yet integrated into WINE (it will be later though). Performance is not on par, but with good enough machines it runs smooth.
For the server, yes please. Anyone can then host on a spare PC or leased/shared server without the acquisition of an additional Windows license. A league can easily afford a Dedi through, say OVH, but add the monthly or one-time cost of a Windows Server license and things start getting pricey. For clients... dev time needs to be focused on Windows to address the final issues in this sim.
I'm also voting for Linux. It's an only desktop OS with RT capabilities. Afaik rFactor PRO is running on Real Time Linux and RTOS. It would give an ability to take the rF2 into higher level. Furthermore, Linux is superior when comes to performance, but it would demand porting the game to Vulkan. Thanks to EXT4 file system rF2 will load much faster. Some proofs: Cyberpunk2077 (via Proton) runs as well as in Windows, but loads ways faster on Linux.
It crashes all the time for many people. Furthermore, many users prefer to do 'normal' restart instead. It's bloated POS full of spying services.
This might be of your interest: https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/guide-to-rfactor-2-on-gnu-linux.69875/
Thanks. Game seems to be running fine except my Logitech G29 isn't working even with new-lg4ff driver. I'll post the issue in the thread you provided.
