Virtual Worlds : Linux vs. Windows ~ Mac

By Avatar JayR Cela

     Ok I'm here to rant, Linux vs. Window's, and to a lessor extent Mac's ( Mac's are really Linux Disguised ) Let's face it, if you are a serious Virtual World person, your running a Linux Box. Personally I am using Ubuntu Studio ( a.k.a. Debian ) 10.04 with Gnome 2.x as the UI. Yes I know it is a bit older of a release, but it's stable as the Brooklyn Bridge, and fully supported until April 2013. If your running a Mac, you probably already know OS~X is nothing more than Berkeley Linux with a fancy, yet highly evolved and integrated Skin.

    So what's the point I am driving at here ?

     90 % or more of the general computer Virtual World population is running on a MS Windows based machine, which is fine 90% of the time.

     That is until something like an errant script goes array, and corrupt's the Windows Registry. I recently ran into this problem while trying to access a private Open Sim grid, using a custom Virtual World Viewer. Now for myself is not that big of a problem to correct, just a pain in the ass is all. Why is it a pain in the butt ? Because of the deep dark quagmire, otherwise known as the Windows Registry.

     This Black Hole of a Nightmare, never should have been allowed to happen in the first place, regrettably it already is so ingrained into the MS Windows framework, that we are stuck with it.

     So here in lies the problem. You are a developer, and you know that you have got to design your software product to be compatible and work within a Windows environment, but you are sick and tired of screwball anomalies.

     I'm here to tell ya right now, as far as I can see, not much that can be done about the situation. The Client side of the equation will almost certainly be written for a Windows based machine, with Linux and Mac port's done as an afterthought.

     What I would really like to see, is that the beginning of the software development cycle begins with Linux, then Mac, and then ported to Win. Currently what I am observing is the initial development is being done in WINDOWS. Then things get borked during the development process, and...........................................

    I guess I'm asking for a LiL to much here / *LOL*

    JayR Cela :_)