playing wav & mp3 in linux

[jamil]

Has anyone tried playing the wav & mp3 files in the new preload under linux? To my knowledge, linux doesn't support file encryption (only file permissions) so it maybe it'll work...

 

[Ragnarokk]

That won't work.

 

[jamil]

but linux is the shiznit

 

[f0rked]

but linux is the shiznit

Yeah, too bad it won't play HL2
Seriously though, for some things linux is ok, but for others, such as games, there really isnt any comparison. Without directx, its really limited, gaming wise, unless you use rediculously complicated linux programs designed to emulate windows for playing games.

 

[Adrien C]

No, and please don't answer any questions regarding to hack the or listen to the HL2 Steam files.

 

[jamil]

theres always OpenGL for linux...

...which doom3 is being ported to

 

[Tadashi]

File encryption also works under linux.
Compare it with Macrovision. If you have a VCR/DVD player with a Macrovision chip, it will screw your copies, but if you have a VCR/DVD player without a Macrovision chip, you can copy like there is no tomorrow^^

Your idea would only work with a client-side copyprotection/encryption.

-edit-
please don't bash linux, if you haven't tried to use it seriously and without the thought of "it has to have eyecandy until my eyes are bleeding!"

 

[f0rked]

theres always OpenGL for linux...

...which doom3 is being ported to

Notice how I said limited. That means it can't play everything. Doom 3 is one of the few windows-based games that seem to be getting an official linux port, UT2004 being another that comes to mind. However HL2, and any other game using exclusively using DirectX wont work on linux.

Edit: And I'd also take HL2's realistic looking, wide open outdoor areas and freeform gameplay and physics over doom3's cramped, over-shiney, pitch black, zombie slaughtering borefest.

Edit2: I'm not 'bashing' linux. I've installed several distros on my box before, and can't be bothered with the hassle that comes with compiling programs, being unable to run most progams/play most games. I'm speaking from personal experience. And "it has to have eyecandy until my eyes are bleeding!" is exactly (one of) the reason(s) I don't like doom3. Also, linux definitely has a use in sever applications, due to its stability. I just don't think its really a viable desktop OS, at least not yet, though it is getting closer.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Um, no talking about cracking steam files etc and deencrypting them please.

 

[Mountain Man]

Seriously though, for some things linux is ok, but for others, such as games, there really isnt any comparison.

Linux is a great gaming OS. It just doesn't have as much developer support as Windows. It's about market share, not OS capabilities.

Without directx, its really limited, gaming wise, unless you use rediculously complicated linux programs designed to emulate windows for playing games.

If you don't know what you're talking about then it's best to keep your mouth shut. For graphics there's OpenGL. For sound there's OpenAL. And there's another open source package for the user interface, the name of which escapes me. DirectX offers no unique advantages that are not available in these other APIs.

Point is, there is no technical reason for developers not to support Linux, and in fact, a handful of developers such as Epic, id, and Bioware have supported Linux for years. It's just our market share isn't quite large enough to attract more AAA titles.

 

[Chris D]

At the end of the day, it's irrelevant if Linux supports encryption or not. The files are already encrypted before they're sent down the line. That won't miraculously change just because they're put onto a computer that doesn't support encryption.

 

[soul]

I don't think he meant to say that DirectX is the greatest API since sliced bread (yay for my stupid analogies!). I think he just meant that when a developer decides to use DirectX, they are at the same time deciding to not support anything but Windows.

Personally, I want to see hardware manufacturers either be more willing to write their own linux/BSD drivers, or release the needed information to allow the user base to write their own drivers. Nvidia is a good example of a step in the right direction (for their video cards at least).

Anyways, back on topic... the OS of choice makes no difference for playing the sounds. FreeBSD has a rather robust selection of encryption algorithms to choose from, but it makes no difference since the algorithm used to encrypt the cache files is unknown, as well as the key used for the encryption. It'd be quicker to wait for the game to hit shelves than it would be to even think of trying to brute force the correct key.

 

[Chris D]

Additionally, it would be illegal to brute force it too as it would constitute theft until you've paid for it.

 

[Asuka]

Has anyone tried playing the wav & mp3 files in the new preload under linux? To my knowledge, linux doesn't support file encryption (only file permissions) so it maybe it'll work...

Why would you want to? Its wrong.

 

[f0rked]

If you don't know what you're talking about then it's best to keep your mouth shut. For graphics there's OpenGL. For sound there's OpenAL. And there's another open source package for the user interface, the name of which escapes me. DirectX offers no unique advantages that are not available in these other APIs.

At no point did I say that linux COULDN'T have games through any limitations of OpenGL or OpenAL, in fact, the technical features of the OpenGL based Doom3 engine prove that. I was just saying that any game coming out only in Direct3D won't work on linux. And for me, not being able to play HL2 would be hell. The point I was trying to convey was that developer support for linux from a lot of game companies is poor/non-existant.

CNC:ZH, Half-Life, CS:S, Homeworld 2, Vice City, Evil Genius, Theif 3, all games that have no native linux support (at least for the clients), and there are many, many more. Though I suppose anyone who really wanted to could install Windows and set it up for dualbooting, though I don't see the point of changing between OS's just to run one or two games, when one OS can run all those games, and offer me as much customizeability as I want to have over my system, and doing everything I need it to do.

And just because I can't phrase things in the best of ways doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. Best to keep your mouth shut instead of jumping to conclusions, eh?

Point is, there is no technical reason for developers not to support Linux, and in fact, a handful of developers such as Epic, id, and Bioware have supported Linux for years. It's just our market share isn't quite large enough to attract more AAA titles.

Exactly, and as more developers make their software for both linux and windows, and there is enough developer support to let me run all the games I want to on linux (including linux drivers for all my hardware), then sure, I'll drop this security hole-ridden windows and switch. But until then, I'm sticking with it.

Edit: Yes soul, that's exactly what I was trying to say.

 

[jkf]

Additionally, it would be illegal to brute force it too as it would constitute theft until you've paid for it.

It wouldn't be theft. They've given us the encrypted files, so we wouldn't be stealing anything.
It would probably be a DMCA violation if we were to try to break the encryption.

 

[Danimal]

Yeah, too bad it won't play HL2
Seriously though, for some things linux is ok, but for others, such as games, there really isnt any comparison. Without directx, its really limited, gaming wise, unless you use rediculously complicated linux programs designed to emulate windows for playing games.

I think the prgram is called whine or wine

 

[Darth Valium]

c'mon, linux isnt this complicated. ist only a question of choosing the dist for your needs. beginners can start very well with suse or fedora(formerly known as redhat) or a ready to start linux on cd like knoppix. my personal favourite is debian, in a mixture of woody and sid.

you can have so much eye candy on your linux desktop, depending on your wm(shiny gnome or conservative kde for ex), so this is no argument against it.

linux lacks a little bit in fixed standards for gaming, like dx for ms.

file-encryption under linux? for sure, its always a question of configuration and scripting, but you can encrypt most of the files, if you want to. but playing those "encypted" wav isnt a question of decryption, it depends on the approbiate codec.

 

[f0rked]

No, it isn't a question of having the appropriate codec. All media players come with codecs for mp3/wavs, but the ones inside the .gcf are encrypted by valve until release. So even with all the right codecs, you still couldn't play them.

And my point of view isn't that linux itself is too complicated, I mean some distros like Mandrake are just plain easy to use. It's that making windows games work on it is too complicated and hit-or-miss to be worth trying, due to the lack of developer support. Currently, no distro has (and ever will have) DirectX, so there is no way of choosing 'the dist for my needs'.

 

[jamil]

yay I'm dumb!

 

[Darth Valium]

perhaps they are encrypted, perhaps they are only slightly different. a wav isn't equal wav, only because of the file-extension. if they are really encrypted, how will they solve the decryption? create a gcf with unencrypted files? unpacking and decrypting? decrypting during runtime? last one makes me frighten(the same with doom3, they didn't used a "store only"-container, instead they compressed it, which wasn't a good decision, 'cause it must be decompressed during gameplay, which needs a bit more cpu then usual).

the way the wavs are looking hexed seemed to be very wav-unlike, so i tend to believe you are right.

but still, wav isnt wav, and mp3 isnt mp3, just think of the avi-container.

nah, noone wants to "import" dx games to linux, they should be "ported". and this is a question of similiar standards. a solution could be the /dev, but even here the dists are sometimes different. using a wrapper like wine is relativ easy, the main-prob is the cpu-consumption of this process. maybe okay for old games.

---
edit:

jepp, in this case you are right, if your main-desktop-computer-usage is playing games, there is really no dist for your needs. i solved this trough a dual-installation, xp for gaming and linux for serious stuff. as office suite i use openoffice, so intercompatibility isn't a problem(would be dumb just to boot again only to type in 2 pages; file storage happens central, on a linux server of course:-] )

 

[Tlaloc]

how does linux "not support encryption"? ...

 

[Darth Valium]

it's kind off ot, so take a look on your own.