Newsletter #28 - October 2024 (Health issues, Duo & WIP updates)

Taking a deep breath

Whether I want to admit it or not, I haven't been the same since my bout with pneumonia at the end of last year.

While I have improved, I still experience frequent lung-related issues that require medical attention, and my calendar is filling up with more doctor appointments than I'd like to admit.

Three weeks ago, I faced another setback when breathing became difficult again. I ended up seeing local specialists, only to discover that my lungs had suffered a bit more damage than initially expected.

In response, my medication was adjusted, and I've been mostly okay since then—aside from the fact that I can no longer do strenuous exercise due to below-average lung capacity.

I lost about two weeks of potential work time to this latest bout—one week due to sick leave, and the other bleeding into my three-week holiday. Now, I'm playing catch-up, which brings us to the next topic in today's newsletter.

Projects that keep me up at night

I'm currently focused on two main projects: Duo and GarlicOS.

• Duo is my attempt at making PC gaming more affordable by allowing multiple users or devices to share a single physical computer.

• GarlicOS is my effort to streamline the growing number of retro handhelds by creating a single, easy-to-use, game-focused operating system for them all.

Both of these projects come with their own unique challenges, but we're making progress one step at a time.

Duo now has built-in Sandbox support

After overcoming numerous hurdles, we’re left with three remaining issues in Duo:

• Input device segregation not working well on certain hardware

• Games refusing to run multiple instances of themselves

• Games refusing to start in remote desktop sessions

Virtualization addresses issues 1 and 2 effectively, but it comes with noticeable administrative and performance costs.

That’s why Duo now gives you the option to choose what works best for you.

You can run your instances on bare metal, maintaining the excellent performance you’re used to, or virtualize them via the Windows Sandbox. This makes it easier to multi-box games or manage input device segregation on troublesome hardware.

As for issue 3, as mentioned in last month's newsletter, I'm still reverse-engineering Windows' Local Session Manager, hoping to solve that one soon.

GarlicOS work-in-progress update

Those who follow the public repositories may have noticed a few commits over the past few weeks. While not all changes have been pushed yet, here’s a list of work-in-progress updates I aim to complete before the 2.0.3-Alpha release:

• Hardware acceleration for H700 targets (Done)

• Shader support for hardware-accelerated targets (Done)

• Device-specific auto-configuration of cores and runners (~30% complete)

• Expanding UI theme customization (~50% complete)

• Finishing 5 more WIP device ports (~50% complete)

• Implementing an EGL rotation quirk for applicable devices

• Implementing a sleep mode quirk for devices that support it

There’s more to be done, but we need to draw a line somewhere for a release build.

Some words of appreciation

I love working on these projects because I believe they add value to someone’s life, and I deeply appreciate the support you all have given me. It enables me to keep going, even through rough patches like the one I’m experiencing with my health right now.

It's frustrating knowing I’m not at my best right now, but at the same time, I feel hopeful. I know I have an amazing community to lean on, and that gives me strength even when things are tough.

I look forward to seeing you all soon for the GarlicOS 2.0.3-Alpha release!

– Black-Seraph