Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

blackout23 · 2012-03-31 12:43:50

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n … px=MTA3OTY

We are running into a bunch of performance issues in Linux drivers (e.g. 50 millisecond draw calls because the driver is compiling a shader).
We'd like to hire someone to work on these performance issues. If you know of anyone we should be talking to, I'd appreciate getting connected with them.
Gabe Newell
Valve, Bellevue

Maybe you are just the one they are looking for. Having Steam on Linux would be great and it would pull some people over to Linux Distros.

Regards,

blackout23

Last edited by blackout23 (2012-03-31 12:44:38)

boogy · 2012-03-31 12:52:37

Check this out : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh6EtWVf … AAAAAAACAA

masteryod · 2012-03-31 14:22:59

WOW! That's most interesting but I'm not sure if it's legit.

boogy wrote:

Check this out : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh6EtWVf … AAAAAAACAA

Desura is nice but we are talking here about BIG player of game market entering Linux world, this can be major turning point in commercial Linux gaming market/desktop popularity/holy year of linux.

Last edited by masteryod (2012-03-31 14:26:51)

Pr0Wolf29 · 2012-04-04 20:46:44

I use Steam on WINE to chat with people but it would be nice to have working games.

ConnorBehan · 2012-04-05 02:27:18

This is only about the Steam program itself right? It's not like they're planning a massive effort to port all the games delivered through it.

masteryod · 2012-04-05 09:49:31

ConnorBehan wrote:

This is only about the Steam program itself right? It's not like they're planning a massive effort to port all the games delivered through it.

Of course they won't roll out all the big titles right away (if ever*), I'm guessing smaller/older/indie titles first, BUT even that would be breakthrough not only for real gaming on linux but whole linux desktop ecosystem!

*porting of some bloats can be unprofitable and/or not in power of valve itself (steam is about distribution platform basically - not games per se), but this can lead studios/developers to think about linux as a profitable platform for future titles

jgreen1tc · 2012-04-05 18:24:00

I'd still say that the effort and cost of porting games to linux would not be made up with the sales of games on linux with the community being such a small percent of the market.

masteryod · 2012-04-08 18:54:25

jgreen1tc wrote:

I'd still say that the effort and cost of porting games to linux would not be made up with the sales of games on linux with the community being such a small percent of the market.

Steam on Linux doesn't mean that all titles from windows will be ported to linux. I would be surprised if any big title. But official Steam for Linux would be breakthrough and not only for gaming but whole Linux desktop.

der_joachim · 2012-04-09 10:20:30

masteryod wrote:

Steam on Linux doesn't mean that all titles from windows will be ported to linux. I would be surprised if any big title. But official Steam for Linux would be breakthrough and not only for gaming but whole Linux desktop.

I would not be surprised if the Half Life series were to be ported, as well as the Portal series. OTOH, I would not bet any money on that.

b9anders · 2012-04-09 10:42:07

Android tablets I think could really bridge the gaming market to Linux. There's a much stronger push to port games to tablets than Linux, but it shouldn't be too difficult to port games from android to linux. I imagine the process would probably be made easier by way of windows -> Linux -> android, since desktops don't need touchscreen adaptation to work.

Gusar · 2012-04-09 10:52:55

b9anders wrote:

but it shouldn't be too difficult to port games from android to linux.

It is. Android has a whole different graphics stack.

Kopfweh · 2012-04-09 19:51:00

Gusar is right, Android uses for example OpenGLES (OpenGL for Embedded Systems), while a "regular" Linux Desktop with X11 makes use of the "normal" OpenGL

gondsman · 2012-04-11 14:21:25

There were some rumors of a "steambox" console-like thing from Valve. It would make perfectly sense for it to be a PC with standard components, running an ad-hoc linux distro with steam on it. Valve could port first-party titles (L4D, TF2, HL, Portal...), it would have a large number of indie games already running (all of the humble bundle titles). They could even bundle ad-hoc wine configs for games that are known to behave well under wine. If they can convince some big names to release just a handful of new games on linux it would be a solid starting lineup, better than most lineups we had on consoles this generation. I may be speculating too wildly, but I think it can work from a commercial point of view.

WorMzy · 2012-04-11 21:02:43

I would assume that any games that have been ported to Mac will eventually be ported to Linux too.

It's nice to see that the Linux Steam client hasn't completely dropped off the face of the world. I remember reading an article about it several years ago, but there's been nothing since then, so I'd started to think it was just a hoax.

It'd be nice to get rid of Windows from my PC once and for all.

Paingiver · 2012-04-17 12:55:55

And with it comes the SecuROM, Tages etc...

And also it will chain you to Steam DRM...

Oh, Steam welcome!

ZekeSulastin · 2012-04-17 14:01:06

The only DRM that actually comes with Steam is in fact the Steam DRM - all that other crap is mandated by the publisher of the games, and more likely than not games using said software wouldn't come to Linux anyways.

I fail to see how a native Steam client would do anything but help Linux on the desktop, especially since once games start being ported the incentive to dual-boot (sorry, Wine is not a panacea) into Windows is lessened.

dysoco · 2012-04-17 15:42:12

ZekeSulastin wrote:

I fail to see how a native Steam client would do anything but help Linux on the desktop, especially since once games start being ported the incentive to dual-boot (sorry, Wine is not a panacea) into Windows is lessened.

I totally agree, and that would be simply AWE-SOME

Paingiver · 2012-04-18 08:49:31

ZekeSulastin wrote:

The only DRM that actually comes with Steam is in fact the Steam DRM - all that other crap is mandated by the publisher of the games, and more likely than not games using said software wouldn't come to Linux anyways.

Look at MAC. Some of the publisher DRM's are ported to MAC already. And if even it is Steam DRM only, does it not bother you? Chaining to a client?

ZekeSulastin wrote:

I fail to see how a native Steam client would do anything but help Linux on the desktop, especially since once games start being ported the incentive to dual-boot (sorry, Wine is not a panacea) into Windows is lessened.

Yes that would be an advancement. Cause they will port the Source engine to Linux too. And with it comes Half-Life, Portal...From there we can begin...

WorMzy · 2012-04-18 12:58:20

Paingiver wrote:

And if even it is Steam DRM only, does it not bother you? Chaining to a client?

I'm not sure what you mean by chaining, but it doesn't bother me. I'd get the benefit of having a significant number of my games accessible from anywhere in the world, at the cost of having to use a single client to access them. I don't even have to update my games manually.

To me, Steam is basically just a package manager. I don't mind having to use it any more than I mind having to use pacman.

The only downside is that you can't (AFAIK) play most (all?) of your games when you're offline. I'm connected 99% of the time anyway, and I'm not going to throw my toys out of my pram over the other 1%.

alphaniner · 2012-04-18 13:49:40

My main issue with Steam is that it kills second-hand gaming. If Steam allowed a game to be moved from one account to another, I'd support it 100%; even if the transfer had a small fee attached.

WorMzy wrote:

The only downside is that you can't (AFAIK) play most (all?) of your games when you're offline.

I've never used Steam, but I thought that was FUD.

WorMzy · 2012-04-18 19:41:15

alphaniner wrote:

WorMzy wrote:
The only downside is that you can't (AFAIK) play most (all?) of your games when you're offline.
I've never used Steam, but I thought that was FUD.

Yeah, I'ma take back that statement. I just tried Steam while offline in Windows, and the only game that I couldn't open was one that's half-way through updating, which is fair enough really.

So the only downside is that there's no downside.

Oh, I guess you could count the wallet sapping sales as a downside.

Paingiver · 2012-04-20 13:07:08

WorMzy wrote:

Paingiver wrote:
And if even it is Steam DRM only, does it not bother you? Chaining to a client?
I'm not sure what you mean by chaining, but it doesn't bother me. I'd get the benefit of having a significant number of my games accessible from anywhere in the world, at the cost of having to use a single client to access them. I don't even have to update my games manually.
To me, Steam is basically just a package manager. I don't mind having to use it any more than I mind having to use pacman.

The only downside is that you can't (AFAIK) play most (all?) of your games when you're offline. I'm connected 99% of the time anyway, and I'm not going to throw my toys out of my pram over the other 1%.

It is not like pacman. You don't need to launch pacman when you are launching your applications. Or be online. The offline mode is broken purposely everyone knows that. Apart from them Steam has regional pricing and regional locking.

How can you salivate a program doesn't even a bit respecting your freedom and use Linux?

Misfit138 · 2012-04-21 00:59:34

Paingiver wrote:

How can you salivate a program doesn't even a bit respecting your freedom and use Linux?

How? Just fine, thanks.

I'd use whatever works. Right now gaming on GNU/Linux is a joke. New titles are unusable and partial functionality on wine is not an option for a serious gamer.

Contribute what you can to your distro of choice, use whatever works, and leave the crusades to the crusaders, I'd say.

alphaniner · 2012-04-23 13:19:13

Paingiver wrote:

The offline mode is broken purposely everyone knows that.

My FUDey senses are tingling again.

Draje · 2012-04-25 06:10:27

After visiting Valve, Michael Larabel confirms that Steam is coming to Linux! [source]

Arch Linux

#1 2012-03-31 12:43:50

Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#2 2012-03-31 12:52:37

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#3 2012-03-31 14:22:59

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#4 2012-04-04 20:46:44

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#5 2012-04-05 02:27:18

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#6 2012-04-05 09:49:31

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#7 2012-04-05 18:24:00

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#8 2012-04-08 18:54:25

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#9 2012-04-09 10:20:30

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#10 2012-04-09 10:42:07

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#11 2012-04-09 10:52:55

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#12 2012-04-09 19:51:00

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#13 2012-04-11 14:21:25

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#14 2012-04-11 21:02:43

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#15 2012-04-17 12:55:55

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#16 2012-04-17 14:01:06

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#17 2012-04-17 15:42:12

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#18 2012-04-18 08:49:31

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#19 2012-04-18 12:58:20

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#20 2012-04-18 13:49:40

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#21 2012-04-18 19:41:15

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#22 2012-04-20 13:07:08

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#23 2012-04-21 00:59:34

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#24 2012-04-23 13:19:13

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

#25 2012-04-25 06:10:27

Re: Looking forward to having Steam on Linux? Read this.

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