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Free Valve Games For Debian Developers

By Linas -
Never thought that being a reader of GamingOnLinux and Debian mailing lists would intersect so directly. But look at what just arrived at my mailbox. That is right, Valve is giving away all their past and future games to Debian Developers.
QuoteHi all,

At $dayjob for Collabora, we've been working with Valve on SteamOS, which is based on Debian. Valve are keen to contribute back to the community, and I'm discussing a couple of ways that they may be able to do that [0].

Immediately though, they've offered a free subscription to any Debian Developer which provides access to all past and future Valve produced games [1]!

If you're interested, and a DD, simply mail [email protected] with a mail signed by a key in the Debian keyring, and he'll send you back a redemption code to add in Steam. If you haven't heared from him in a couple of days, you can also prod me at [email protected] as he may happen to be on holiday that week.

Happy gaming,
Neil

[0] If anyone has any specific ideas, drop me a mail :)
[1] List at http://deb.li/91yz, but excluding Steam Greenlight.


Read the original post at debian-devel-announce. Disclaimer: I am not a Debian Developer. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Steam
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Liam Dawe Jan 22, 2014
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That's pretty kind of them, it is the least they can do though building from others work of course ;)
Half-Shot Jan 22, 2014
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Nice of Valve to do that. Think some source code would have been more valuable but I guess in this case the DD's know more than Valve :D.
Shmerl Jan 22, 2014
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If Valve wants to make a positive move, they should start offering DRM free games, rather than "free" games. That would be a welcome step. And it's time for them to address the issue of DRM anyway.
Liam Dawe Jan 22, 2014
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Quoting: Quote from ShmerlIf Valve wants to make a positive move, they should start offering DRM free games, rather than "free" games. That would be a welcome step. And it's time for them to address the issue of DRM anyway.
Well TF2 and DOTA2 can't be DRM free, since they use Valve's servers.
Shmerl Jan 22, 2014
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So, can you install and run them without running Steam? I thought it was impossible for any games offered there. To provide DRM-free offerings Valve should address the installation / backup step first.
Half-Shot Jan 22, 2014
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Quoting: Quote from ShmerlIf Valve wants to make a positive move, they should start offering DRM free games, rather than "free" games. That would be a welcome step. And it's time for them to address the issue of DRM anyway.

I wouldn't expect them to give out DRM free games because Steam. But GoldSCR games really should be open sourced/DRM Free these days since it would be a gesture of openness without having to give away all their trade secrets ;). Its funny though that if you own the CD edition of Half-Life its pretty much DRM free anyway.
Shmerl Jan 22, 2014
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Quoting: Quote from Half-ShotI wouldn't expect them to give out DRM free games because Steam.

Why? In many cases developers have no objections to DRM-free distribution (and sell the same games on HB and GOG DRM-free for example). It's only Steam service limitations prevent DRM-free options from being offered. So as I said - it's time for Valve to address that. And that would be welcome. Offering games at no charge but with DRM? No, thanks.
n30p1r4t3 Jan 22, 2014
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*Starts looking up the steps to becoming a Debian Developer*
Liam Dawe Jan 22, 2014
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Quoting: Quote from Shmerl
Quoting: Quote from Half-ShotI wouldn't expect them to give out DRM free games because Steam.

Why? In many cases developers have no objections to DRM-free distribution (and sell the same games on HB and GOG DRM-free for example). It's only Steam service limitations prevent DRM-free options from being offered. So as I said - it's time for Valve to address that. And that would be welcome. Offering games at no charge but with DRM? No, thanks.
Well no, Steam is the most integral part of their entire service, they won't give that up, ever.
fowll Jan 22, 2014
good thing is that Valve already offer DRM free games. DRM is not a part of steam but a option for developers who require DRM.
try for example "sir, you are being hunted" by double clicking on the ELF file, with steam closed.
the game starts and steam stay closed.
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