https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/ULWGL
From the github:
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OTHER LAUNCHERS (lutris/bottles/heroic/legendary,etc):
- everyone can use + contribute to the same protonfixes, no more managing individual install scripts per launcher
- everyone can run their games through proton just like a native steam game
- no steam or steam binaries required
- a unified online database of game fixes (protonfixes)
Read the GitHub page. I don't understand all of it, but what I think I understand sounds great! Proton would be available without Steam!
What's all of this stuff about "protonfixes" though? What is "protonfixes"? And how is it better with this new launcher?
Wine attempts to translate Windows calls into Linux, its developed by Codeweavers whose focus is/was application compatibility.
Valve took Wine and modify it to best support games, the result is called Proton. For example:
Someone built a library to convert DirectX 9-11 calls and turn them into Vulkan ones, it was written in C++ and is called DxVK.
Wine has strict rules on only C code and their directx library handles odd behaviour from old CAD applications.
Valve doesn't care about that, they care that the Wine DirectX library is slow and buggy and DxVK isn't. So they pull out Wines and use DxVK.
There are lots of smaller changes, these are 'Proton Fixes', sometimes Proton Fixes are passed on to Wine. Sometimes they can't but discussion happens and a Wine fix is developed.
Fairly accurate except that Wine predates Codeweavers. They do contribute to Wine but Codeweavers did not make Wine.
Codeweavers makes CrossOver, a paid product.
Its basically bugfixes for specific games through proton. Different fames need different fixes, so you cant just make a general fix for some bugs if they only exist in one game. The new launcher promises to make one database for those fixes where all the launchers can fetch their data from instead of everyone having to do their own thing and having to fix each game separately.