Re: Problem with InstallShield (Was Re: [Bug 629] Changed - Problemwith InstallShield: ole:CoTreatAsClass(stub), ole:CoGetClassObject)

On Fri, 10 May 2002 11:17, Francois Gouget wrote:

> On Fri, 10 May 2002, Sean C. Farley wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 9 May 2002 15:17, Francois Gouget wrote:
> >
> > > On Thu, 9 May 2002, Sean C. Farley wrote:
> > > [...]
> > > > > Well, how about the Wine project? Some people claim that the
> > > > > development of some code has come to a halt. Why? Because TG promised
> > > > > to submit that code.  So people stopped coding, waiting for that code,
> > > > > which didn't come till today. TG is not releasing it for free, but
> > > > > wants to trade it...
> > > >
> > > > This is hard to prove.  My thoughts are that people needed WINE to run
> > > > business applications more than games and switched to making code for
> > > > those applications.
> > >
> > > What makes you think that?
> >
> > Multiple reasons for the demand of productivity tools:
> > 1) When talking with people who use Linux, they talk about Lotus or
> >    Office (or equivalent productivity tools) running on Linux.  Rarely
> >    do they talk about games.
> > 2) Personally, if I want to run an alternative OS at work, I need Lotus
> >    Notes to run on it.  Running UT does not seem to be a job
> >    requirement.  :(
> > 3) WINE has noticed a drop in development for game support, yet I do not
> >    believe it has suffered in Office support.
> > 4) Although there have been several articles on SlashDot about games,
> >    many more articles are about productivity tools.
>
> I believe you are right in that the number one thing people are
> missing on Linux is Microsoft Office. And number two is represented by
> a large number of other 'productivity applications'. At least that's
> what you hear in the press and when you talk to non-linux users.
> However making games work seemed more 'sexy' and for the longest time
> I had the feeling that Office applications were ignored by the Wine
> community, or at least, they did not receive the attention that I
> thought they deserved.
>
> I think you are right too that the proportion of office related patches
> is higher now. But I attribute it to three factors:
>  * first CodeWeavers is actively working on Microsoft Office, and they
> *are* releasing their changes. I think the main reason why you see so
> much Office activity now.

Didn't Corel also contribute to WINE for WordPerfect?  I still do not
think it is because of recent patches from CodeWeavers.  Just my
opinion and not based on any particular fact.  :)

>  * now that Office works so much better, it is more rewarding to come in
> and fix a bug: before nothing would work, and fixing a bug would just
> get you to the next blocking bug. Now the applications are usable and
> you just have to fix the one bug that really irks you.
>    (btw, this is why I think Wine can really benefit from focusing on
> making a few applications work well and _then_ widen the scope. But I
> also realize this would mean telling people what to work on which is
> impossible to do in an open-source environment)

I agree.  Once a product works fairly well, developers usually flock in
to finish it up.  If it just scratches the surface, it will have a
harder time of finding developers.

>  * I also think that there has been a significant drop in game related
> activity. We still see patches to make games start and a few things like
> that. But when you look at the patches in dlls/ddraw (DirectDraw +
> Direct3D) you see much fewer non-transgaming contributions in 2001 than
> in 2000. So there are fewer obviously game related patches too, hence
> the even higher 'office' patch proportion.

I just thought of a very big point in why WINE game development may have
stopped:  Loki.  Why run a game through WINE when you can have a native
binary for Linux (or FreeBSD :))?  People were buying the Linux binary
to show support for Loki's efforts.

I think WINE will start seeing more gaming interest now that Loki is
defunct (isn't it?).

Sean
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