Steam coming to Linux ?

By ShMaunder
in PC Gaming

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Experienced

ShMaunder

Posted
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Added 'Rumor' tag as it is coming from Michael Larabel of Phoronix and of course, nothing is official.

In 2010, Phoronix ran several articles claiming that Steam is officially coming to the Linux platform, but Valve denied it.

Fast forward 2 years and Valve have recently asked for Linux developers to iron out bugs and furthermore, invited Michael to Valve's HQ to discuss Valve and Linux.

That visit took place today and Michael has tweeted "steam is coming to Linux...". We are waiting for an article to be posted on Phoronix with screenshots and other goodies from the visit.

Is it true or not, I'm not sure due to the previous articles ran in 2010. But this time, it sounds far more realistic than before.

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1072703-steam-coming-to-linux/
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Grand Master

Vice

Posted
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I think my favourite part of that whole article was this gem at the end:

Valve and Gabe Newell's interest in Linux goes beyond what would be expected of any normal game company, but Valve is certainly a unique beast. Listening to Gabe Newell talk about Linux for hours made me wonder whether he was a former ex-Microsoft employee (where he actually did work in his pre-Valve days in the 90's) or the director of the Linux Foundation. His level of Linux interest and commitment was incredible while his negativity for Windows 8 and the future of Microsoft was stunning. In fact, as soon as I return to my office this weekend I plan to try out Windows 8 simply to see if it's as bad as Gabe states and because he's curious about my opinions of this latest Microsoft operating system.

Doesn't surprise me one bit that Gabe Newell thinks Windows 8 is a pile of ****. I couldn't agree more with him.

  • Motoko. and Hurmoth
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Grand Master

threetonesun

Posted
Posted

Hah, with this on Linux, Ubuntu is just a few decent drivers and a solid UI from being the best OS you could run. :laugh:

App store? Check (and had it for a long time). Cloud backups? Check. Loaded with developer tools? Check. Free? Check. Runs on a toaster? Check and mate!

Community Regular

butilikethecookie

Posted
Posted

I would dump windows for this. (Maybe VMware'd on Ubuntu).

You also have to remember the games have to be ported to linux. It's not all in the Steam Client itself. For example, HL:Blue Shift works on PC but not on Mac because it is old, and unsupported. Same theory with Linux right? So basically you'd have all the source games and other ported titles--that's it. So initally you'd be able to run like what, 10 games untill it gains momentum? 10 games is better than nothing! Hardcore gameing on linux is currently like a speed boat in a swimming pool. So much wasted potential :(

Grand Master

Growled Member

Posted
  • Member
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His level of Linux interest and commitment was incredible while his negativity for Windows 8 and the future of Microsoft was stunning

Bit of a shocker there for an ex-Microsoft employee. Linux needs apps desperately and if having Steam would help ease the way for other apps to make their way to Linux.

Experienced

ShMaunder

Posted
  • Author
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Indeed, I will be steaming out my dual boot Windows system if this comes out. I only use Windows for Steam.

I do wonder if Valve will put some of the back catalogue of games (ones that are too old) into a wine wrapper.

Michael is posting a video soon of the visit. No idea what it'll contain though.

Grand Master

Growled Member

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Yea, I'm going to say it again: The only reason I run Windows so for Gaming.

Linux, with free programs like LibreOffice, does everything else I need.

I wish I could say that. I use Access a great deal, as well as Adobe products. I am also trying out FL Studio with an eye to purchase it.

Done with /off topic now.

Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

There are several potential issues Valve will face with Steam on Linux:

  • Which distributions are they going to support?
  • Use the distribution package manager to handle Steam client updates, or roll their own update mechanism?
  • Graphics drivers. I'd expect the Steam client setup scripts to check for a small subset of current proprietary drivers, refusing to install otherwise. Chances are that Valve working on a Linux port of their games could persuade AMD and Nvidia to improve their Linux drivers though.
  • Getting other publishers like EA to port their games to Linux. Sure, Steam:Linux will have a selection of games - the Valve line-up and a bunch of indie games. Will that be enough though?

It's going to be interesting to see how Valve tackle those issues.

Grand Master

articuno1au

Posted
Posted

This is pretty insignificant news. As stated above, this means you can now play Source based games on Steam.. In time.. L4D2 was picked because it was already close to being usable on Linux due to it's strong code base.

How long do you think it will take them to fix TF2 up to run on Linux.. I'm betting a long time. Then they have to move on to CS:S and so on and so forth.

While exciting from an academic stand point, this announcement has little real value.

Add to this abysmal 3rd party driver support for Linux, fairly poor OpenGL support in the drivers and the fact that for all us "nerds" willing to bust out Linux, there are 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 retarded Windows and Mac users; this is just a non-event :\

What's more, EA won't be porting games to Linux because they don't exactly like Steam.. None of the others will either because there is no market for Linux. They won't be willing to invest on the offchance it works well. Also, developing with OpenGL is more expensive than with DirectX. It just won't happen :\

In before flamez..

Grand Master

Praetor

Posted
Posted

sadly, there a ton of games using DirectX instead of OpenGL, so unless the developer converts their games (not going to happen) the only thing to expect is a small catalogue of games in Steam adding the Steam client itself (same happening with the Mac game scene).

still a small step forwarding games in Linux.

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