FOSS Fun Friday - Proton, the Z1, and UK Slams Breaks on MSFT/ Activision Merger

FFF 3.1 – Proton Experimental
Valve released an update to Proton Experimental on April 26th that includes these newly supported games:

· Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
· Minecraft Legends.
· Company of Heroes: Battle of Crete.
· STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN.
These are fixes from regressions in Proton 8:

· Baldur's Gate 3 no longer launches to a black screen in Vulkan mode.
· Divinity: Original Sin: Enhanced Edition and Divinity Original Sin II: Definitive Edition no longer crash on resolution change.
· Path of Exile no longer crashes.
· GTA V no longer freezes after each key press.
Plus there's these other improvements too:

· Fixed Proton Experimental regression causing Payday 2 to crash on start.
· Improved Elden Ring compatibility compared to Proton 8.0-1. It can still be a bit finicky.
· Fixed memory leak in Trackmania and Ubisoft Connect overlay.
· Added a temporary workaround for EA Launcher crashing. Steam Deck's on-screen keyboard may not pop up automatically while using it.
· Fixed Madballs in Babo: Invasion claiming the game wasn't purchased.
· Fixed PlanetSide 2 launcher.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/04/proton-experimental-upgraded-for-april-26th-brings-fixes-and-new-game-support/
#FFF #steam #proton #steamdeck #Linuxgaming #FOSSNews #TechFreedom

FFF 3.2 – New AMD Chips for Handhelds
A new line of chips for devices like the Steam Deck? OOOhhhhh, shiny!!! What’s the big deal with these little guys? These are Zen 4 based chips with RDNA3 GFX built in, and are being billed as more efficient and powerful (standard marketing speak) than what is currently available. If you didn’t know AMD powers most current-gen home consoles at this point, and is the heart of the Steam Deck. The first devices to run one will be a new Steam Deck competitor from ASUS, the ROG Ally. We don’t know much of anything about these devices right now, but this bodes well for the future of handheld PCs. Personally, I’m not sold on the longevity of the form factor, but then I’m not particularly mobile these days, and I don’t game much, so I suppose I am not the target demo for these products.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/04/amd-ryzen-z1-series-announced-for-handhelds-asus-rog-ally-first-to-get-it/
#FFF #AMD #Z1 #Linux #Linuxgaming #handhelds #performance #FOSSNews #TechFreedom

Freed Computer

https://techfreedom.pro/freed-computer/
https://techfredom.pro/free-your-pc/
#freedcomputer #linux #nospying #safe #TechFreedom #Truth

FFF 2.3 – UK CMA Blocks Microsoft’s Purchase of Activision

Could this mega-deal be on the rocks? I don’t know who has been paying attention to this since the attempt was announced 6-8 months ago, but if the EU and the FTC follow suit with the UK regulator, whose primary concern is with cloud gaming, as MSFT already has too much control the cloud space in general, and this deal would only make it harder for other cloud services to gain access to those Activision/Blizzard titles (Call of Duty, Overwatch, and World of Warcraft, specifically) which seem poised to be released to other platforms in the coming decade. MSFT tried to get around these issues over the time since the merger was announced, but their moves were not enough to assuage or allay the regulator’s worries in the UK. Another point of interest for those who watch my content is that the UK regulator was also concerned that the deal was not open enough for providers who might wish to make these titles available on alternative PC operating systems (see: Linux).
It would appear that the FTC has been itching to block this deal as well, and with the nascent go-ahead by the fact that the UK’s CMA have already blocked it, it just might give them the peace of mind to do so as well. I wish it weren’t so linked together. We should be more independent than all that. We have our own country still, don’t we?
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/04/uk-cma-blocks-the-microsoft-takeover-of-activision/
#FFF #Linux #games #Linuxgaming #microsoft #activision #deathknell #FOSSNews #TechFreedom