Steam has now taken a first small step towards increasing awareness of their SteamOS.
The Linux category is now "Linux + SteamOS" and it's easy to see why they have done it. Linux probably doesn't mean a lot to your average Joe so adding in "+ SteamOS" seems quite logical to me.
Not only does it increase awareness of SteamOS games, but it will also show your average Joe that Linux games run on SteamOS and vice-versa.
I do wonder how long it will be until the "Linux" bit is taken out, but then they would need to replace the little tux icon on games with the SteamOS icon too. Maybe they will add the SteamOS icon in addition to the tux icon, what do you think? Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: liamdaweHonestly, I like nothing less than people who try to force people to say "GNU/Linux"
Yes, I figured you'd be one of those people.
Quoting: liamdawefor one who cares
The FSF and related organizations and persons, obviously.
Generally people who are into free/libre software for ideological reasons. Like me.
Quoting: liamdaweit sounds crap
Subjective.
I happed to think it sounds great. But I also like the term FLOSS, so YMMV.
Quoting: liamdaweWe don't need to confuse people even more.
There I agree.
But my solution would be to educate people, not keeping them confused and ignorant by hiding away everything. It's also the reason why I hate it when people say "PC" when they means "Windows", or just say "Ubuntu" (hell, or "SteamOS" ) when they mean "GNU/Linux".
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Quoting: liamdaweWe don't need to confuse people even more.
This is true; however, how many people associate Android with Linux? No average Jane / Joe at least.
We have to be careful that we don't dumb it down to the same point, lest people forget.
Quoting: liamdaweTo add to that, a reason why I hate it is "GNU/Linux" isn't even correct, it would be "GNU/Linux DISTRONAME"
Thing is, SteamOS is also just a distro. You can argue that Google have tweaked their Kernel's heavily, so their lack of "Linux" is less obtrusive; but Valve don't appear to have plans beyond UI in terms of changes. You can't say having the nVidia propriety blob and Steam installed out of the box is the same as a custom kernel AND all the extra gubbins.
A fair percentage of distros have the word Linux in the name; Arch Linux, Majaro Linux, Linux Mint, Slackware Linux, Gentoo Linux etc.
"Steam Linux" would have been a more appropriate name; however, "Steam OS Linux" would suffice, in my opinion.
Personally I don't think GNU/Linux makes much sense; from an English standpoint, it's indicative of the phrase "GNU or Linux". Now, "GNU Tools + The Linux Kernel + A Ton of Third Party Tools and Libraries = My Awesome Distro" (or GTTLKATTPTL for short) I can get behind.
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I'm going to personalize my computer by adding an espeak that says the name of my distribution accordingly: "Welcome to Linux Mint(Slash)Ubuntu(Slash)Debian*take breath*(slash)Gnu(slash)Linux!" :D
Joking aside, I personally don't like GNU/Linux. It's a bit bulky. Accurate, maybe, but I think it's irrelevant. Credit should be give when asked where Linux came from, of course, but being so stringent on the naming convention is a losing battle at this point. That said, if something uses "GNU/Linux" more power to them.
Honestly, I was way more worried about Ubuntu doing something like this. If I recall, Valve have said that Linux is the future of gaming, not SteamOS.
Joking aside, I personally don't like GNU/Linux. It's a bit bulky. Accurate, maybe, but I think it's irrelevant. Credit should be give when asked where Linux came from, of course, but being so stringent on the naming convention is a losing battle at this point. That said, if something uses "GNU/Linux" more power to them.
Quoting: ScotsmanI was afraid of this. Eventually 'Linux' is phased out, and then companies stop talking about supporting it. What if SteamOS ends up moving in an Ubuntu or even Android like direction, that is, very separate from any regular distro?
From what Gabe has said, it doesn't seem likely at the moment, but I wonder if someone could reach out to him for clarification.
Honestly, I was way more worried about Ubuntu doing something like this. If I recall, Valve have said that Linux is the future of gaming, not SteamOS.
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Quoting: FutureSutureQuoting: WotanI see it now. Well I think it's quite logic. They are showing their distro to the big public, telling them "Hey, we have an easy solution if you want to try another o.s. and play some games without thinking too much or complicating your life".Why are you suffering? The latest news regarding AMD's open source drivers for that card has shown remarkable improvement. Things are looking up quite a bit.
Steam OS is VALVE's Distro... I don't think that shows any kind of disrespect to other distros. After all Steam is a private platform. And as far as I'm concerned, and as long as Valve keep pushing AMD to improve linux drivers, I'm happy.
Gosh, amd 7770 + linux.. what a suffering.
Because he doesn't use open source drivers?
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I don't think they will remove "linux", since they also have a linux desktop client and they want devs to develop on the linux desktop too.
But to steamplay they will probably add an extra icon, not sure.
Or at least those games OPTIMIZED for the COUCH / steam machines, will also have some sort of badge or wording.
But to steamplay they will probably add an extra icon, not sure.
Or at least those games OPTIMIZED for the COUCH / steam machines, will also have some sort of badge or wording.
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lordfragger Feb 7, 2014
Quoting: DrMcCoyQuoting: liamdaweWe don't need to confuse people even more.There I agree.
But my solution would be to educate people, not keeping them confused and ignorant by hiding away everything. It's also the reason why I hate it when people say "PC" when they means "Windows", or just say "Ubuntu" (hell, or "SteamOS" ) when they mean "GNU/Linux".
If they want to educate people, they should change the "linux + steamos" to "linux / steamos", that makes it more obvious they are basically the same (imo).
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FutureSuture Feb 7, 2014
Quoting: n30p1r4t3Then maybe he should try them so his suffering can potentially end?Quoting: FutureSutureBecause he doesn't use open source drivers?Quoting: WotanI see it now. Well I think it's quite logic. They are showing their distro to the big public, telling them "Hey, we have an easy solution if you want to try another o.s. and play some games without thinking too much or complicating your life".Why are you suffering? The latest news regarding AMD's open source drivers for that card has shown remarkable improvement. Things are looking up quite a bit.
Steam OS is VALVE's Distro... I don't think that shows any kind of disrespect to other distros. After all Steam is a private platform. And as far as I'm concerned, and as long as Valve keep pushing AMD to improve linux drivers, I'm happy.
Gosh, amd 7770 + linux.. what a suffering.
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philip550c Feb 7, 2014
While I don't want to see the tux icon go, in the end as long as the games work just as well on GNU/Linux desktop as they do on SteamOS I'll be happy.
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I see no problem with this.
They are trying to build a brand on top of Linux, that are two different things.
Linux isn't a brand and never was intended to be one (which is exactly the misconception of many GNU/Linux "evangelists" and the reason why they failed so badly).
In the end Linux will just be the Computer OS on top of which different brands of GUIs run.
The same way as most of the cars run on a Benz motor (or Otto/Daimler/Benz/Maybach, for the purists ;-)) on "Benzin". Yet when we talk about brands, I'm quite sure I don't drive a Daimler-Benz nor Maybach.
Windows, Apple, Commodore, Atari, etc. pp. such are footnotes from the beginning of a technological evolution.
Do you think in 30 years from now there will be such a thing as different brands of kernels / OSes?
That will just be the underlying technology, the unifying thing of every computer.
Maybe it will even be called "the linux" of a computer, maybe people will forget the name altogether.
Who cares as long as it will be our favourite OS. Just don't forget to thank old genius visionary Stallman for the GPL then; in a way it is like a spreading virus and he knew it from the beginning.
So relax, the "completely unintentional side effect" Torvalds was talking about is taking place right before our eyes. Linus knows it, RMS knows it and Gabe apparently knows it too, playing his (not unimportant) part in making it happen.
They are trying to build a brand on top of Linux, that are two different things.
Linux isn't a brand and never was intended to be one (which is exactly the misconception of many GNU/Linux "evangelists" and the reason why they failed so badly).
In the end Linux will just be the Computer OS on top of which different brands of GUIs run.
The same way as most of the cars run on a Benz motor (or Otto/Daimler/Benz/Maybach, for the purists ;-)) on "Benzin". Yet when we talk about brands, I'm quite sure I don't drive a Daimler-Benz nor Maybach.
Windows, Apple, Commodore, Atari, etc. pp. such are footnotes from the beginning of a technological evolution.
Do you think in 30 years from now there will be such a thing as different brands of kernels / OSes?
That will just be the underlying technology, the unifying thing of every computer.
Maybe it will even be called "the linux" of a computer, maybe people will forget the name altogether.
Who cares as long as it will be our favourite OS. Just don't forget to thank old genius visionary Stallman for the GPL then; in a way it is like a spreading virus and he knew it from the beginning.
So relax, the "completely unintentional side effect" Torvalds was talking about is taking place right before our eyes. Linus knows it, RMS knows it and Gabe apparently knows it too, playing his (not unimportant) part in making it happen.
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Quoting: CaldazarDo you think in 30 years from now there will be such a thing as different brands of kernels / OSes?
Yes. There will never be one swiss army knife of operating systems to rule them all.
- Devices that watch over the brakes in your car will still be constrained by strict timings, low memory footprint and low power consumption; something like MicroC/OS-II is more fitting
- For low-power distributed devices, OS's like Contiki exist.
- For music playing devices, there's RockBox.
- For education purposes, MINIX is still a good showcase for microkernels and the UNIX-philosophy in general
- For compatiblity with DOS programs and, again, education purposes in simple operating systems, there's FreeDOS
etc., etc..
There will never be just one OS for the same reason there will never be just one architecture, or just one programming language: You can't fit all different use-cases and requirements together into one single bundle.
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