Re: [gentoo-dev] games.eclass

["Daniel Campbell (zlg)" <zlg@gentoo.org>]

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On 08/21/2015 02:09 PM, James Le Cuirot wrote:
> On Fri, 21 Aug 2015 12:42:07 -0700 "Daniel Campbell (zlg)"
> <zlg@gentoo.org> wrote:
> 
>>> Sure, we did drop this, but I don't really see this line of 
>>> argument actually accomplishing anything productive.  Creating
>>> a games team that fixes these issues would be productive.
>>> Letting others fix them is also productive.  Nobody is opposed
>>> to having a games project - it just seems like nobody cares
>>> enough to actually make it happen. That's ok - we can still get
>>> things done.
>> 
>> What would be required to revive the games project? One of the
>> reasons I became a dev was to help out the games team, and if
>> it's defunct, I want to see what's necessary to fix it. I'm still
>> a new dev (May 2015), but I wouldn't mind doing some dirty work
>> if it means we can put squabbles like this behind us and get
>> enough devs together to give game ebuilds the attention they
>> deserve. I don't have a lot of free time, but sitting here
>> discussing stuff isn't fixing anything, either... If I can spend
>> what little Gentoo time I have on fixing things, I'd be glad to.
> 
> At last, some positivity! As I said before, I would like to work on
> a few games too. I would certainly take up any Java-based ones and
> I have four of those in mind already. I've dabbled with ebuilds for
> many other games in the past, some already in the tree and some
> not, and some from source, some not. The Humble Bundle games are of
> particular interest to me. I'm obviously bogged with the more
> boring Java stuff for the foreseeable future though so as much as
> I'd like to, stepping up to be a lead would be unwise.

I, too, have interest in Humble Bundle games since most of the games I
have and can test come from them.

> 
> Do we actually need a team? Games come in all shapes and sizes so
> I think the assertion that they should be handled like any other 
> application is somewhat valid. Many games are commercial so it's 
> likely that certain games would only be handled by one or two team 
> members anyway. The main thing I've been concerned about in the
> past is how to handle data. Should it be packaged separately? How
> do we handle the cdinstall flag these days when there are also
> multiple online sources like Humble Bundle and GOG? Do we just do
> whatever seems best for the game in question? I'd be happy to hold
> such discussions in a distro-wide fashion though.
> 
Despite games being "just another application", I think they differ
simply because they're a *different type* of application. Fonts and
icon-sets are similar to games in that they are mostly assets, and
they get the separate treatment they deserve. Games are an odd mix of
software and assets, so I think they deserve to be considered their
own type of software. They're also built in different ways than most
typical software is.

Great question on the 'cdinstall' flag. Games from Humble Bundle and
GOG are basically fetch-restricted and require the user to put the
relevant distfile in /usr/portage/distfiles to install. 'cdinstall'
could be applied only for games that the user wants to install via
optical media. With it off, it could default to the fetch restriction.
However, that could result in different checksums for the source. It
may not be feasible to go the cdinstall route forever. Honestly, I'd
need a concrete example and knowledge of the other releases to offer a
better-informed opinion.

I think hasufell works on games... thoughts?

- -- 
Daniel Campbell - Gentoo Developer
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