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Indie dev finds that Linux users generate more, better bug reports

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Gaming

An indie developer has found an interesting observation: Though only 5.8% of his game's buyers were playing on Linux, they generated over 38% of the bug reports. Not because the Linux platform was buggier, either. Only 3 of the roughly 400 bug reports submitted by Linux users were platform specific, that is, would only happen on Linux.

The developer, posting as Koderski for developer Kodera Software on Reddit, makes indie game ΔV: Rings of Saturn—that's Delta V, or DV, for the non-rocket-science-literate. It's a hard science, physics-based space mining and piracy game that I quite like, personally, for its blend of playability that still honors the basics of spaceflight. If you quite like the space combat of, say, The Expanse, DV is a sim that might be for you.

Koderski says he's sold a little over 12,000 copies of his game, and about 700 of those were bought by Linux players.

"I got 1040 bug reports in total, out of which roughly 400 are made by Linux players," says Koderski's post. "That’s one report per 11.5 users on average, and one report per 1.75 Linux players. That’s right, an average Linux player will get you 650% more bug reports." Koderski's numbers are a limited sample size drawn from one person's experience, but tell a compelling story.

Read more

This Game Developer Loves the Linux Community for an Unusual...

  • This Game Developer Loves the Linux Community for an Unusual Reason

    The Linux community, in general, is one of the most active and helpful communities out there.

    And, a significant chunk of that can also be toxic or aggressive to newbies or someone who tries to break traditions.

    However, a game developer seems to be appreciating the Linux community for complaining too much…

Authored by Liam Dawe

  • 5.8% sales and over 38% of bug reports from Linux said one dev but it's been helpful

    According to Kodera Software, developer of the space sim ΔV: Rings of Saturn, quite a lot of bug reports come from Linux users considering the smaller share but that's not actually a bad thing. If you're interested be sure to check out our previous interview with the developer.

    Speaking in a Reddit post, creator Mariusz Chwalba mentions how a "disproportionally" large amount of bug reports for their game were being made by Linux users. After actually investigating it, the outcome was a bit of a surprise and not what might be expected. Instead of it being a case of low sales and high support needs, it's somewhat the opposite.

    For a game that's now sold over 12,000 units only 700 were from Linux so that's about 5.8% of sales. Out of 1,040 bug reports it seems that about 400 of those were made by Linux users. So on face value, that it's pretty high as Chwalba says "That’s one report per 11.5 users on average, and one report per 1.75 Linux players. That’s right, an average Linux player will get you 650% more bug reports".

Linux gamers are way better at finding game bugs than Windows

  • Linux gamers are way better at finding game bugs than Windows users, says game dev

    Here's some news that Linux users and supporters would probably really like. Kodera Software, a game developer for an indie title called ΔV: Rings of Saturn, has posted some interesting findings about bug reporting in the game.

    The title has been in early access for a couple of years and the developer has noted that about 38% of all the bugs found in its title came from the Linux Community. This is despite just 700 copies out of the total 12,000 units sold being based on Linux, which is just 5.8% of the entire userbase for ΔV: Rings of Saturn. As such, Kodera praises the typical Linux gamer by saying they report back 650% more bugs.

Linux users provide more detailed bug reports

  • Linux users provide more detailed bug reports according to one indie dev

    Reddit user koderski, with the tag @KoderaSoftware, has provided a detailed post on bug reports. They found that even though only 5.8 per cent of sales of their game, DeltaV: Rings of Saturn, were Linux users, over 38 per cent of bug reports came from them.

    They did the maths and determined that they received an average of one bug report for every 11.5 users. However, they got one report per 1.75 Linux users. They also state that only three of the bug reports were for Linux specific issues and that the rest of the bugs were affecting every player.

    They said, “the thing is, the Linux community is exceptionally well trained in reporting bugs. That is just the open-source way. This 5.8 per cent of players found 38 per cent of all the bugs that affected everyone. Just like having your own 700-person strong QA team. That was not 3 per cent extra work for me, that was just free QA.”

For One Game Dev

  • For One Game Dev, Linux Users Submit More Bug Reports Than Any Other

    When you take a look at the state of Linux gaming as it was just a decade ago, and then look at it again today, the differences are almost staggering. More developers have jumped on board with native builds, while many others have ensured (or maybe not) that their titles run fine through Proton. We’re at a point now where even if a newly-launched game requires Windows, it may very well work for Linux on day one.

    Whenever we think about the current state of Linux gaming, we can’t help but be reminded of our fifteen-year-old article taking a look at the top ten free Linux games. Admittedly, we had to try hard to come up with a worthwhile ten titles to promote, because developer support back then just wasn’t what it is today. Things have certainly changed, and because of that, just how seriously Linux users take gaming has become all the more evident.

Linux Users Make Better Software Testers

  • Linux Users Make Better Software Testers

    An indie developer is reporting that his Linux users generate a disproportionate number of bug reports, and the reports are higher quality.

    User-submitted bug reports are one of the main ways many developers — especially smaller ones — identify bugs and improve their apps. Despite Linux having a much smaller desktop market share than either Windows or macOS, at least one developer is crediting Linux users with being far more productive as bug reporters.

    Koderski, at Kodera Software, posted his findings in a thread on Reddit.

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