A couple of graphic-related tidbits ahead of next week’s Ubuntu 18.10 release that some of you might be interested to know about.
First up, Mesa.
A feature freeze exception was granted to allow Mesa 18.2.x series in to the Ubuntu 18.10 archives, with Mesa 18.2.2 specifically (i.e the latest update) now ready in the archives.
A feature freeze exception well worth granting, Mesa 18.2 features a veritable gantry of improvements, ranging from new Vega GPU support, compatibility with OpenGL 4.4, and better tweaks for AMD APUs.
The move means that the ‘Cosmic Cuttlefish’ will wash ashore with the latest stable Mesa graphics drivers available right of the box — thus ensuring that Ubuntu is in top form for great gaming from the get go!
Support for Gallium nine in Ubuntu 18.10
Also of note is official support for Gallium nine in Ubuntu 18.10.
What is Gallium nine? Gallium nine is an open-source implementation of DirectX 9. The patch allows Linux users to “enjoy games designed for Windows DX9 at full resolution”.
How is it able to deliver near-native gameplay? By not converting native D3D9 calls into OpenGL (like Wine does), and instead feeding them directly to your graphics card.
I’ll admit that it’s all a bit over my head (I’m not a much of a modern gamer – and yes, to me, games using DirectX 9 are modern 😆) but on paper, from what I can tell, this sounds like a good addition, if arriving few years later than most people would have liked!
Thanks Aaron!