[Gambas-user] SteamOS and GAMBAS

[Kevin Fishburne]

On 12/14/2013 04:59 PM, Benoît Minisini wrote:
> Le 14/12/2013 22:50, Kevin Fishburne a écrit :
>> Valve just released the first beta of SteamOS, a Debian Wheezy-based
>> distro which runs the Steam client in Big Picture mode (designed for
>> televisions). SteamOS is Valve's attempt to circumvent the walled
>> gardens that are Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS/OSX and allow the
>> digital distribution of their games though Steam independent of a
>> locked-down OS. Their plan is to allow third party OEMs and VARs to
>> install SteamOS onto "steamboxes", which essentially are HTPCs (PCs
>> designed for the living room). Valve is developing their own custom
>> input devices (gamepads, etc.) for the OS and are pushing game
>> development studios hard to port past and future games to Linux so they
>> may be distributed through SteamOS.
>>
>> http://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/0045211/valve-releases-debian-based-steamos-beta
>>
>> I'm downloading the ISO now to test it in a VM:
>>
>> magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
>>
>> http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/download/?ver=default
>>
>> Currently GAMBAS can't run on iOS, OSX, Windows, Android or any game
>> console OSs (PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, etc.). There is a strong possibility,
>> especially if we contact Valve head Gabe Newell directly, that GAMBAS
>> will be able to run on SteamOS with GAMBAS applications being
>> distributed through Steam. I think it would be a serious mistake to let
>> this opportunity slip by while SteamOS is still in beta. It's a very
>> rare opportunity to increase the potential install base of GAMBAS
>> applications that we may not see again.
>>
>> One glaring issue however may be GAMBAS's required packages and
>> dependencies. SteamOS is basically a console OS, meaning it is expected
>> to work the same way throughout its lifespan with the exception of
>> Valve-tested updates. I doubt Valve would allow an application to
>> arbitrarily install packages. Is there a way to package a GAMBAS
>> application such that all the dependencies and libraries are stored with
>> the application and not installed system-wide? It would be like a
>> Windows application having all it's DLLs stored in its installation
>> directory, ignoring the Windows system DLLs.
>>
>> Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on this. I'm pretty damn
>> excited!
>>
> If SteamOS is a Debian and use the Debian package manager, you should be
> able to install any Gambas program the same way as on Debian. Why do you
> want to install Gambas programs the Windows way?
>

I don't... I think it's a bad idea in general. What it comes down to is 
whether or not Linux applications distributed through Steam must be 
self-contained or are allowed to install system packages as required 
dependencies. I'll have to ask Valve, but I just don't think they'd 
allow it as it could produce unexpected results and potentially cause 
problems with the OS. So I'm thinking either GAMBAS and its dependencies 
would need to be preinstalled on SteamOS or the GAMBAS application would 
need to be self-contained.

-- 
Kevin Fishburne
Eight Virtues
www: http://sales.eightvirtues.com
e-mail: sales at ...1887...
phone: (770) 853-6271