Steam and Linux Are Now an Item

[ripdajacker]

Linux vs Windows is always a heated discussion.
Which is better? Well define better.

In terms of application availability for the general consumer, not to mention games, Windows does take the lead.

Linux is better in the sense that it has been designed better, it is much less bloated from installation, the file system is more effective and so on. While many developers swear to linux, it hasn't gained any mainstream adoption on the desktop. This is mostly due to applications not being ported to it.

Will it be better for games? In theory yes. If someone (Microsoft) were to release a DirectX runtime for linux, then one could build a more stable, more streamlined gaming machine, since linux requires less services and such to run.

Windows does not use resources less effectively, it just has more components. You have all these services targeted at the corporate business model, you have a lot services targeting legacy software, DRM and security. All these things would eventually make it to linux should it get a broader adoption.

 

[Lukeje]

Of course being able to play games on Linux and having games to play on Linux are two different things. I'm willing to be Steams 'Linux' section will have the Source Games and nothing else.

And presumably all the games that have been in Humble Indie bundles. And those that have linux versions already available on Desura.

 

[ScruffyMcBalls]

For as much as I despise Steam and I don't use Linux yet (my server, however, will) I'm glad that a company is finally paying attention to a demographic that's so far gone unnoticed despite being a potentially strong source for sales.

 

[Daedrin]

Linux users have literally been trying to throw money at companies to take it. Valve is finally just grabbing it. I, for one, welcome our new FOSS overlords.

Seriously though, it won't be hard to port it to other *nixes once the ubuntu beta is up. I will soon enjoy the delicious combination of Fedora and Team Fortress 2. A hat for my hat simulator.
And valve shall receive buckets of my money. Buckets.

 

[notimeforlulz]

Damn you valve! I purposely side-by-side installed linux so I could have an OS that didn't have my steam library installed on it! Damn your conceited efforts to undermine my productivity!

 

[Matthi205]

Bit of a noob question I know but, what's a Linux?

This MIGHT seem a lot to read , but it answers your question and some questions that WILL come afterwards:

Linux is an Operating System that can run on multiple "platforms" (x86,x86-64,PowerPC,ARM(Mobile Phones,Tablets),sparc,...and many more) . Linux comes in a package which is called a "Distribution" or "distro" for short . Major distributions are Ubuntu , Debian , Gentoo , Red Hat , Fedora , SuSE & OpenSuSE , Android , ...

Linux makes better use of hardware because it is not as heavy on RAM and CPU usage as Windows .

If you use a Linux distro , you also get to choose what User Interface (UI) you want. In no particular order : GNOME , KDE (much like Windows) , tab window manager (TWM) , XFCE (very customisable) , X11 (the basic window manager , gives you a console in a window and lets you start applications from there) , text-only interface (console) . All User interfaces launch automatically on start of the OS , but can be started out of the text-only interface using their desktop manager names (gdm,kdm,twm,xfdm,x11) . On OS installation a Graphical UI is automatically installed (for Ubuntu - GNOME/Unity, Kubuntu - KDE , Xubuntu - XFCE)

Something very very major about Linux (at least for me) is : The file system (you can choose the FS -like NTFS or FAT32 on Windows - yourself) . You don't have , like , "C:\" , but you have a central filesystem called "/" located on one partition with mountpoints pointing to other partitions . This way , if a partition gets deleted/formatted , you don't lose data that has been stored on other partitions . Also , if you make separate partitions for your /home and /usr (Program Files+ProgramData+AppData) folders , you can reinstall your OS at any given time and not lose a thing .

 

[Ickorus]

Microsoft clearly don't want people to game on Microsoft (Less money for them!) and Windows 8 is such a shitty locked down OS that I think Valve might be considering the possibility that Microsoft will try forcing us to move to Xbox at some point in the future and are testing the waters of Linux in case of that eventuality.

Yes I do think this tinfoil hat looks good on me.

 

[DazZ.]

Looking forward to this, I hate fiddling with WINE and much prefer using Kubuntu over Win7.

Downside is I've kept games off my Linux partition and used it for work, so if Steams going over I'm going be losing some productivity!

 

[Elate]

Other than the aforementioned better usage of resources of Linux, I will never understand why people prefer it. I ran it on my laptop for a while, Unbuntu, it was pretty crappy frankly. And my PC is powerful to handle anything I throw it, without windows holding it back.. As are most people's gaming PCs..

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

 

[Clearing the Eye]

Whoop! A Linux client! Wait... Ubuntu only? Surely further ports would move a lot faster if they open source their client and game-engines (presuming they're native too). Here's hoping that that's what they do...

*snip*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man

That rant had nothing to do with a straw man. You might think it was obnoxious and stupid, but it never attempted to discredit or rebuke anything by setting up a false observation and then knocking it down. It certainly made a silly argument and one that is entirely false, but it was simply an opinion piece.

 

[yuval152]

Other than the aforementioned better usage of resources of Linux, I will never understand why people prefer it. I ran it on my laptop for a while, Unbuntu, it was pretty crappy frankly. And my PC is powerful to handle anything I throw it, without windows holding it back.. As are most people's gaming PCs..

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

Same here,I can't see how linux is better than windows.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Microsoft clearly don't want people to game on Microsoft (Less money for them!) and Windows 8 is such a shitty locked down OS that I think Valve might be considering the possibility that Microsoft will try forcing us to move to Xbox at some point in the future and are testing the waters of Linux in case of that eventuality.

Yes I do think this tinfoil hat looks good on me.

I think you may be onto something here.

How does my hat look?

 

[BeerTent]

[...]

Semantics aside, graphic novels are called what they are to avoid the idiocy of people who assume all comics are stupid superhero things, just as WINE is called a compatibility layer to avoid the idiocy of people who assume all emulators recreate the machine/OS using multiple times the power/CPU they need. I'll agree that WINE is literally an emulator according to the dictionary, but the actual in-depth definition of "emulator" in the context of computing does not fit WINE.

I'm kind of with Jimi on this one.

While WINE doesn't introduce a whole lot, or intentionally bog you down, we're still tossing some libraries where they don't belong. And that, is going to take a notable amount of work to get going right. Compatibility layer with bells or whistles, It's still emulation.

You don't need a VM to emulate something.

Grey Carter, just under the quoted post got it right.

Fuck, I don't even use that OS. I'll stick with something I can work with, yanno...? So I don't have to spend 2 days just to install something, and then another day to make it produce a file I can actually give my friends for review. And then I actually work in this industry, so it's better to stick with the OS people use. I still think it's good that Steam is going in this direction though.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

This is frikkin incredible. Valve are making shiz for Linux and Ubisoft and Rockstar can't even be arsed to make things for Windows. Hah.

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

It's free, it's open source allowing anyone to tamper with and alter the OS's underlying code, less bloated and more streamlined than Windows and oh yes, it's completely free.

 

[Doom972]

That's great news, but it doesn't mean that all games will be ported to Linux. I guess it'll be like with Mac and Steamplay (both Windows and Mac) games on Steam, which are a fraction of the entire library. The reason for that is that porting a game that's based on the Direct3D platform takes time and resources that developers will probably want invest in making new games.

 

[draythefingerless]

This is frikkin incredible. Valve are making shiz for Linux and Ubisoft and Rockstar can't even be arsed to make things for Windows. Hah.

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

It's free, it's open source allowing anyone to tamper with and alter the OS's underlying code, less bloated and more streamlined than Windows and oh yes, it's completely free.

cant remember the last time i paid for windows mate. its pretty standard that you get windows with anything you buy nowadays.

 

[gallagherhjh]

This is frikkin incredible. Valve are making shiz for Linux and Ubisoft and Rockstar can't even be arsed to make things for Windows. Hah.

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

It's free, it's open source allowing anyone to tamper with and alter the OS's underlying code, less bloated and more streamlined than Windows and oh yes, it's completely free.

cant remember the last time i paid for windows mate. its pretty standard that you get windows with anything you buy nowadays.

You pay for windows in the cost of the prodcut, the actual computer you're buying would be a hundred or so euros/dollars etc cheaper without it.

 

[FEichinger]

This is frikkin incredible. Valve are making shiz for Linux and Ubisoft and Rockstar can't even be arsed to make things for Windows. Hah.

I just.. Fail to see any upside of using it rather than windows.

It's free, it's open source allowing anyone to tamper with and alter the OS's underlying code, less bloated and more streamlined than Windows and oh yes, it's completely free.

cant remember the last time i paid for windows mate. its pretty standard that you get windows with anything you buy nowadays.

Yet a custom rig without the Windows license is by far cheaper than the pre-assembled Windows-infected "things" ... Not to mention the fact that Windows 8 is the lovechild of Windows Phone and Windows 7, which simply doesn't suit me, as I'd prefer not having a gazillion layers of cluttered icons.
Combine that with great resource management, full control over the OS and near-immunity to most viruses due to said ability to tamper with the OS itself ...
Yes, I toootally don't see how Linux ever could be better than Windows, like ... at all.

 

[Techsmart07]

As a linux user, this makes me very happy. Currently, I'm running steam through wine, and it's... unreliable. I'll be happy when I can run it without issues like that.
As for reasons to like linux (ubuntu in particular)
1) FREE - it's free, open-source software. Oh, and most of your regular windows programs have a free equivalent. Money? No, I don't spend that.
2) lightweight - ubuntu can do most of what windows can, but more efficiently.
3) stability - there's a reason linux/unix has the server market. It's much less prone to catastrophic failures (or even minor bugs, assuming a knowledgeable user). It's also more resistant to viruses. This doesn't mean it can't get them, but it's a lot more resistant.
4) community - the ubuntu community is great. If I ever had a problem, posting it on the forums will get a constructive reply in almost no time.
5) drivers - I've had more "Plug and play" things work more like plug&play in linux than windows (never had to worry about driver install or anything like that. Results on this one may vary).

I understand that some people don't like linux, and I can understand some of the reasons.
1) there is still more software for windows than linux.
2) linux is harder to learn.
3) if you DO need a driver for something in linux, it's probably hard to find, or not there.

 

[wizzy555]

Games require graphics and the graphics support on linux is terrible for all except a select few cards (NVidia using the proprietary drivers are considered good).

Valve are basically going to have to write half the drivers themselves to make this work, and add a ton more tech support infrastructure.

Could work in the long run (microsoft seem to want to alienate the desktop PC market with windows 8), but at the moment it's early days.