The other day we pointed out that platforms for games are increasingly GNU/Linux-based. Valve might be taking GNU/Linux to the top of the gaming scene, some say [1,2], so it's not about about indie [3], ports [4], and various cross-platform games [5,6]. It is about creating hardware stacks which are GNU/Linux-based and run very well with GNU/Linux desktops/applications. Benchmarks from Phoronix help show that Windows has lost its advantage [7], power consumption in Linux is improving [8], and Free/libre graphics drivers are rapidly maturing [9], so this needn't require binary blobs at all, except perhaps for the games. All in all, it is exciting to see how GNU/Linux turns from underdogs in gaming to a potential leader and perhaps de facto platform. Developers of games should target GNU/Linux, not jails to their users. ⬆
At the request of many Phoronix readers, here are some new battery power usage benchmarks on every recent Linux kernel release from Linux 3.7.0 to Linux 3.13 Git. Has an Intel "Ivy Bridge" Ultrabook's power consumption changed much due to the continuous kernel churn? Here's the answer.
If you are hoping to snag some deals on computer hardware this holiday shopping season, for helping guide you in any graphics card purchases are a fresh round of benchmarks of 21 different graphics processors from the Intel HD Graphics, AMD Radeon, and NVIDIA GeForce families tested on their respective open-source Linux graphics drivers.