this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2025

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3 Million Installs, Only €100/Month: Bottles Needs Your Support! (news.itsfoss.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/linux@programming.dev

58 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/227964

There used to be a time when Linux gaming was a tricky affair, filled with trial and error, obscure fixes, and things randomly breaking. Many gamers used to avoid gaming on the platform due to those issues.

Now? Things have changed dramatically. Tools like Wine, Proton, DXVK, etc. have taken Linux gaming to another level. Bottles is one of those handy tools helping make the experience that much easier for gamers.

Sadly, the project has hit a funding roadblock.

Hard Work Deserves Appreciation

The lead developer behind Bottles, Mirko Brombin, recently shared an update on the project’s current state. He points out that, while Bottles has sponsorships from companies like Linode, JetBrains, and Hyperbit, they are still facing funding shortages that make sustained development difficult.

Despite having over 3 million downloads on Flathub, the project receives only about €100 per month in donations, an amount easily overshadowed by the server costs alone.

That sounds concerning. 🫤

Mirko also brought attention to Bottles Next, a complete rewrite of the app designed to modernize the codebase and improve performance. He said that they are still working on it, and while it’s due sometime in the future, continued support from Bottles users will help the team focus on development and deliver a better product faster.

He further added:

I am actively working to find sponsorships, I am in contact with a possible funding that could allow us to accelerate development, to pay a small bonus to those working on Next, to give some breathing room to those who are contributing. But here too, it takes time. And that’s precisely why today I feel the need to speak openly.

We don’t want to make Wikipedia-style appeals, with the usual “just one euro each.” But it’s right that those who love Bottles know how things really are. If you want to see Next grow, if you want to see Bottles finally become what it’s meant to be, we invite you to consider supporting us. Even just a symbolic donation, even just a monthly subscription, if done by many, can become what we need to take the next step.

If you use Bottles and want to see it grow, even a small donation helps more than you might think. Supporting the project now means faster updates and a better experience down the line.

Donate to Bottles

Suggested Read 📖

‘Don’t be Afraid to Contribute’: Mirko Brombin Talks about Vanilla OS and Other Future ProjectsA conversation with Mirko Brombin, founder of Vanilla OS and Bottles creator.It's FOSS NewsAnkush Das

From It's FOSS News via this RSS feed

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[–] bombadil@feddit.org 8 points 8 hours ago

Probably better to buy Crossover and thus fund the people actually developing Wine instead of some project blowjng $100 on server costs for a Wine wrapper.

[–] kadup@lemmy.world 16 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I wish we had some sort of libre "package" platform to donate to.

I'd drop $10 a month to support the myriad of libre software I use, but they're so many I can't hunt down how, and I'll end up forgetting to support some invisible package that's actually super important.

[–] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 3 points 10 hours ago

I have felt the same way about the fediverse projects.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I never even heard of Bottles, but it seems to me that free/opensource software gets into trouble like this when it tries to go bigtime by hiring a fulltime paid staff. If everything remained a side project that grew at the pace of however much time people had available to devote to it, wouldn't it avoid overwhelming server costs and having to beg for money?

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 3 points 7 hours ago

It would, we'd also have more projects like freecad that are objectively great all things considered, but that gets absolutely slaughtered because they're not up to the standard of a professional program even though they've been in development for 15 years. Also why do you expect people to work for free?

[–] ninepointeight@lemmy.ml 11 points 16 hours ago

https://www.winehq.org/donate

[–] carrylex@lemmy.world 30 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

I'm having no problems with donating to OSS projects, yet what always prevents me from doing so is when such projects are not transparent where my donation money actually goes.

Yet, the average donations we receive are around 100 euros per month. A sum that doesn’t even cover server costs or the resources we use.

Well, I see no linked explanation where this money goes or why the server costs are so high, which is immediately a red flag for me.

[–] rozodru@lemmy.world 21 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

Hello Hyprland. for 5 Euros a month you'll have access to "Hyprland premium" which has yet to be disclosed as to what Hyprland premium even is.

that compositor is just shady front and back with a very questionable dev and maintainers.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 14 hours ago

thank you for justifying my dislike of the name

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 29 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know how much of the 3 million installs I represent but I installed it, found the whole process to create a bottle an unnecessary hurdle and didn't see any functional benefits over the five or so alternatives that also aim to make Windows software compatible with Linux. The Gnome headerbar UI also is alien on both game and desktop modes of SteamOS.

So I uninstalled it.

[–] harbard@fedia.io 5 points 21 hours ago (2 children)

I am similar.

I have found the process to be rather overly complicated; though I do recognize some benefit in more granular control in certain areas. Between running different versions of wine and proton, I have been able to do everything I've needed to and wanted to do with far less steps and time invested into the setup. I haven't really thought about bottles again until now.

However, I do think that it is important to support projects like these anyway -- as gaming on Linux is one of the few consistent barriers for people switching over from windows or mac; just because it isn't my cup of tea or that I personally don't see the benefit of it doesn't mean that there isn't a whole community of people who prefer to use bottles and enjoy the fine control over runners and such. In a larger sense, I think supporting them would be supporting gaming on Linux as a whole.

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 8 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

In a larger sense, I think supporting them would be supporting gaming on Linux as a whole.

Bottles and similar projects don't develop the underlying technology, though. That's Wine. Bottles is a front-end with a bunch of support scripts.

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[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 2 points 18 hours ago

Same installed found useless and now just sits there.

[–] rozodru@lemmy.world 7 points 18 hours ago

I mean...it's not very good though. I've used it a handful of times and decided it wasn't needed. I can just use Lutris or Steam or just straight up Wine itself and they all work better than Bottles.

[–] axEl7fB5@lemmy.cafe 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How expensive are the server costs? The website can be hosted from Github Pages since it's all static and the forums feature are also on Github aswell. For installing Bottles, I'm pretty sure that is handled by flathub.org

[–] carrylex@lemmy.world 9 points 20 hours ago

The website is actually hosted on GitHub pages.

Just type in a random non-existing path and it shows the GitHub pages 404 path.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 59 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (11 children)

Last time I checked, Github required a credit card for its paid stuff.
PayPal is a privacy nightmare. LiberaPay does accept the usual SEPA wire transfers and debit collects, but only if the recipient accepts them, too.
Patreon only accepts credit cards or PayPal.
Crypto… is crypto
Polar only accepts credit cards and whatever the hell „Cash App Pay” is.

I have access to none of these options, except SEPA iff Bottles accepts it.

I have a feeling that fundraisers would get a lot more funding if they weren’t so US-centric. I’m German. I don’t need a goddamn credit card. I have money. And I don’t want some private company snooping through my accounts.

[–] ZoteTheMighty@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 hours ago

Complains about pretty much every method of digital transaction because they're centralized, then dismissed cryptocurrency out of hand. Truly genius.

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 2 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

What's the problem you see with crypto? I think it's a good platform for payments, especially if it's fully anonymous like Monero. And no, I don't care that it's used for scams. It doesn't have to be. Just don't buy shitcoins and you're good.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

This only moves the question. What payment methods does the currency exchange accept? What are the transaction fees there? Also crypto is way to volatile for my liking. Crypto bros may claim that states can devalue currencies at any time, but ever since BTC was invented, the Euro has been orders of magnitude more stable than any cryptocurrency.

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 3 points 8 hours ago

For the first two questions... just pick a good exchange? You have a lot of options, and chances are high that one supports your preferred payment method.

I do agree that crypto is quite volatile though.

[–] VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 19 hours ago

I'm also in Germany. Most banks offer either a credit or debit Visa or MasterCard, with the debit version usually being accepted like a credit card would be, excluding some edge cases.

Even Sparkassen seem to slowly be transitioning to that option, though it took them 10 years longer than everyone else. So, unless you don't want to use a Visa or MasterCard for philosophical reasons (which I could understand, their stranglehold on the market is very annoying), your bank probably offers something that would be accepted there.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What is your preferred payment method?

I've considered payment systems many times and there is no "free" option outside of Taler, which requires your bank to support it, and the bank doesn't give a shit about your freedom. And frankly, most people don't either.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 5 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

My preferred payment method is wire transfer. I instruct my bank to move x monies from my bank account to someone else’s bank account. No need for a third party.

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 7 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

That's costs money and is very insecure.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

[Edit: ~~It does not and it is not. What the fuck are you talking about?~~ Why do you think it’s insecure and what costs are associated with it?]

[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 6 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

I don't think it's insecure, I know it is. I work in an industry where tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars are stolen on a regular basis. If you accidentally wire the funds to the wrong account, there is no recourse. And there are scammers targeting these types of transactions.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 11 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

If you accidentally wire the funds to the wrong account, there is no recourse.

Well, duh. That’s not what I’d call insecure. If you only accept a system as “secure” if it is resistant to any user error, then I propose you keep away from knives, cars, electricity, staircases, and basically everything.

You also didn’t provide any rationale for the “costs money” part of your statement.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Maybe it's different in Germany, but at least in the US, wire transfers have a fee. My bank even charges me $5 just to receive a wire transfer, and if I wanted to send money internationally it's a $65 fee. It's a terrible system to buy things too because it takes days for the transfer to clear.

Another comment mentioned ACH, but that is not the same as a wire transfer.

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 5 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

No fees in Germany, neither for sending nor for receiving and the funds get transferred within seconds.

Another comment mentioned ACH, but that is not the same as a wire transfer.

Thanks for clarifying that. I just thought they used a technical term I was unaware of.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 3 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

ACH is Automated Clearing House, which is US-specific and what's used for faster bank-to-bank transfers than wire. They still take up to a day or two to clear. I suspect what you are calling a wire transfer is not actually the same thing as a SWIFT network wire transfer, which is what's used for international transactions. German banks charge the same fees for those: https://wiretransfer.io/deutsche-bank-germany-wire-transfer/

German banks might have arrangements for doing domestic transfers more quickly, and obviously it's instant if the recipient is at the same bank, but I don't know that that's considered a wire transfer anymore. It would be a direct deposit/debit through some other bank-bank system. (In Canada this would be like Interac transfers, or Zelle in the US)

[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I suspect what you are calling a wire transfer is not actually the same thing as a SWIFT network wire transfer

That’s absolutely possible. Whenever I’m researching how to move moneys, I find that there’s a bit of a language barrier. When I say “wire transfer”, I’m trying to communicate a scheme by which I instruct my local bank to reduce the number of Euros in my bank account and somehow instruct the recipient’s bank to increase the number of Euros in the recipient’s bank account by the same amount. Specifically, I’m trying to communicate that there is no credit involved here. No end-of-moth balancing of a credit account, no sending money I don’t actually have.

I think what I mean is the “SEPA Instant Credit Transfer” as Wikipedia describes it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Euro_Payments_Area#SEPA_Instant_Credit_Transfer). I am aware that this cannot possibly work with banks outside of SEPA. And these are also free-of-charge, as I said:

Since 2009 the European Union Regulation No 924/2009 […] regulation Article 1 […] states that an IBAN/BIC transfer within Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) must not cost more than a national transfer […]. As of 2022, most European banks do not charge private customers for SEPA transfers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_transfer#European_Union

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 1 points 8 hours ago

Ah interesting, so the European banks have agreements on how to settle wire transfers quickly, but going outside those SEPA agreements gets you about the same experience as US wire transfers.

That SEPA system seems kind of nice, since in the US it's been up to a bunch of private companies (like PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard) to pick up the slack and enable instant transfers. We've only recently got the Zelle system, which is free and instant, but even that's just run by some corporation that went around making agreements with banks on their own.

Unfortunately, for this sort of international transaction, the only real options are: Credit card companies (via credit or debit), SWIFT wire transfers (slow and expensive), or Crypto (volatile and maybe slow depending on which one).

I've had annoying times trying to purchase parts from a small UK company, since my only option was wire transfer with a $65 fee, or calling them long distance and giving a credit card over the phone at 1am my time)

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[–] wiki_me@lemmy.ml 1 points 17 hours ago

A quick search in their github didn't show anyone requesting this. maybe just open an issue?

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[–] 0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago

Original Source: https://usebottles.com/posts/2025-07-06-bottles-need-help/

[–] burgersc12@mander.xyz 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I had trouble with Bottles but Lutris just works

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[–] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I installed Bottles for one application, Hex Kit which is an indie application for making hex maps and I couldn't get it working on Linux, and it didn't work. Idk if it's a me thing, but that was a perfect example of something I'd have expected Bottles to easily have solved but didn't.

[–] woelkchen@lemmy.world 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Why not just use the Linux version directly?

[–] gusgalarnyk@lemmy.world 1 points 20 hours ago (8 children)

"...and I couldn't get it working on Linux..."

The Linux native version does not work for me on Arch Linux. Maybe it's a Wayland thing or something, I don't really know, but it doesn't work out of the box and I don't even know where to begin troubleshooting it.

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[–] Eyekaytee@aussie.zone 9 points 1 day ago

We don’t want to make Wikipedia-style appeals

do it

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