Another month goes by and another month worth of Steam's hardware survey goes up, this time is no different than any other, a mixture of issues.
The main issue is they have now lumped all the smaller Operating Systems together so it's a bit harder now to actually see the total for Linux.
May's Stats
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.47% +0.36%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.23% 0.00%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.14% +0.14%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.13% -0.01%
Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit 0.12% -0.23%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 64 bit 0.11% 0.00%
Linux 64 bit 0.11% +0.01%
Ubuntu 12.10 0.05% -0.09%
Other 0.62% +0.06%
Total without Other: 1.36%
Total with Other: 1.98%
Last months total: 1.56%
Just taking Ubuntu into account, Ubuntu alone altogether over last month has had a 0.17% increase so it seems Ubuntu is actually doing reasonably well.
It's probably quite safe to say a large majority of "Other" are all the other Linux versions that are now not shown in the list.
You can view last months here.
Things to note
Just be aware these results will probably not be that accurate as we don't know how they do their percentage results, they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the percentages. So a 0.5% could actually be nearly 0.6% as it could be 0.59% but they could do no rounding and simply truncate it.
Also it won't be every Steam user (it's a survey not a full statistic) so it can be as simple as not actually showing the survey to many Linux people. Let's face it we know they don't survey 100% of their user base, only a small fraction of it, so bear that in mind as well. Personally I am still yet to see it under Linux so it's not counting me that's for sure and I am logged in every day!
Lastly Linux users typically shy away from any form of DRM, so you can bet there is a large bunch of Linux users who just simply refuse to use Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
The main issue is they have now lumped all the smaller Operating Systems together so it's a bit harder now to actually see the total for Linux.
May's Stats
Ubuntu 13.04 64 bit 0.47% +0.36%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.23% 0.00%
Ubuntu 13.04 0.14% +0.14%
Ubuntu 12.04.2 LTS 0.13% -0.01%
Ubuntu 12.10 64 bit 0.12% -0.23%
Linux Mint 14 Nadia 64 bit 0.11% 0.00%
Linux 64 bit 0.11% +0.01%
Ubuntu 12.10 0.05% -0.09%
Other 0.62% +0.06%
Total without Other: 1.36%
Total with Other: 1.98%
Last months total: 1.56%
Just taking Ubuntu into account, Ubuntu alone altogether over last month has had a 0.17% increase so it seems Ubuntu is actually doing reasonably well.
It's probably quite safe to say a large majority of "Other" are all the other Linux versions that are now not shown in the list.
You can view last months here.
Things to note
Just be aware these results will probably not be that accurate as we don't know how they do their percentage results, they could be rounding up, rounding down or truncating the percentages. So a 0.5% could actually be nearly 0.6% as it could be 0.59% but they could do no rounding and simply truncate it.
Also it won't be every Steam user (it's a survey not a full statistic) so it can be as simple as not actually showing the survey to many Linux people. Let's face it we know they don't survey 100% of their user base, only a small fraction of it, so bear that in mind as well. Personally I am still yet to see it under Linux so it's not counting me that's for sure and I am logged in every day!
Lastly Linux users typically shy away from any form of DRM, so you can bet there is a large bunch of Linux users who just simply refuse to use Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
I got surveyed this time around.
I'd take these statistics with a grain of salt, not just as a measure of Linux gamers, but as a measure of Steam users. They have not published any of the methodology behind the survey, not just including how they round numbers. There may be flaws that are not so obvious.
I kind of wish the stats where in real time, although most people would consider that a violation of privacy.
I'd take these statistics with a grain of salt, not just as a measure of Linux gamers, but as a measure of Steam users. They have not published any of the methodology behind the survey, not just including how they round numbers. There may be flaws that are not so obvious.
I kind of wish the stats where in real time, although most people would consider that a violation of privacy.
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Quoteyou can bet there is a large bunch of Linux users who just simply refuse to use Steam.I'm one of them.
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I got the survey for the first time, ever, during the linux beta - been a steam user since 2005'sh, actively since early 2012 (on Windows). So yeah, these stats are skewed beyond belief. They're a sampling of a sampling, of a tiny sampling. I can't see how they're useful as is.
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We could come up with our own survey, but the trick would be seeding it somewhere platform neutral (not here) so that we get the best sample we can. Of course it may not work, as Linux users are probably out to prove a point.
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Quoting: psychoticmeowOf course it may not work, as Linux users are probably out to prove a point.
Which is why there is always a stream of arguments whenever one of these surveys comes out. Personally, as someone outside of this particular spectacle, I am finding all this fidgeting about a smidgen of a percent to be kind of annoying. I know some developers take this survey very seriously, but still, arguing with the numbers every month is not going to change the results.
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Quoting: HamishI would be glad to see Desura surveysQuoting: psychoticmeowOf course it may not work, as Linux users are probably out to prove a point.
Which is why there is always a stream of arguments whenever one of these surveys comes out. Personally, as someone outside of this particular spectacle, I am finding all this fidgeting about a smidgen of a percent to be kind of annoying. I know some developers take this survey very seriously, but still, arguing with the numbers every month is not going to change the results.
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If such a thing did exist I would not be surprised if Linux had a far greater share, not necessarily because Desura has more Linux users, but most likely a greater proportion in comparison to Windows ones. If you truly would like to see one, feel free to suggest it on their forums - they have a place for suggestions just like these.
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If you want satisfying Linux stats, check the worldwide OS stats from StatCounter.
Tiny but steady growth since january from 0.84% (december) to 1.31% (may). Which corresponds to the launch of Steam's open beta (december).
And if you check previous data, it's been in the 0.7-0.8% for years. (november 2010 to may 2012
So this is really significant.
Tiny but steady growth since january from 0.84% (december) to 1.31% (may). Which corresponds to the launch of Steam's open beta (december).
And if you check previous data, it's been in the 0.7-0.8% for years. (november 2010 to may 2012
So this is really significant.
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IMHO, these statistics are very unstable right now. There probably will be up & down until we have more games (especially AAA titles). I believe that steam statistic is based on play time, if it true that good Humble Indie Bundle probably means positive impact to numbers.
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GNU/Linux wasn't built with statistics success in mind, and that's why it is the way it is and I like that. Steam is against what GNU/Linux users usually want in a computer, control, so it would be no surprise that some don't want it. Besides, Valve hasn't made it easy to install their client on any distribution, Debian users can't install it easily yet. For me, this statistics could be seen as Valve's success/failure to sell his services to a certain kind of user that may prefer using DRM-free services like Desura or HIB.
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