If there is a free codec alternative I assume they can use that when the game calls for that codec? Perhaps I don’t know enough that that’s harder than replacing DirectX calls with Vulkan.
The issue is one of licensing, not technology. There’s all kinds of patents in the space, and using free codecs could still infringe them. DirectX doesn’t have the same patent protection. I believe in theory you could make a fully open source Linux native version of DirectX.
For more info from someone who knows more than me, see here.
If there is a free codec alternative I assume they can use that when the game calls for that codec? Perhaps I don’t know enough that that’s harder than replacing DirectX calls with Vulkan.
The issue is one of licensing, not technology. There’s all kinds of patents in the space, and using free codecs could still infringe them. DirectX doesn’t have the same patent protection. I believe in theory you could make a fully open source Linux native version of DirectX.
For more info from someone who knows more than me, see here.