Support us on Patreon
PayPal
Here is the latest instalment of Steam's Hardware Survey, as usual we do our monthly thing and compare it and talk about it and make sure you know not to use it as a hard figure.
Linux results for August 2014
Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.43% +0.37%
Linux Mint 17 Qiana 64 bit 0.10% +0.01%
Linux 3.10 64 bit 0.08% -0.01%
Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS 0.06% +0.06%
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64 bit 0.06% -0.33%
Total: 1.06%
Last Month: 1.11%
My thoughts on it
Nothing special and not surprising really. Our back log of games is growing, but it's not enough to sway a lot of people. Hopefully with games like Borderlands coming to our platform it will strengthen the numbers just a little.
I very much look forward to seeing how Valve position SteamOS on these statistics a month after it's live. Will it be under Linux, or will they give it their own SteamOS section?
I am still highly sceptical of what traction SteamOS will gain, but I imagine it will be slow to begin with. Either that or it will be massive at the start, and then quickly settle down much lower than the initial numbers.
Things to note
A minor point: Distro-hoppers will slightly mess up the statistics, Linux users are far more likely to switch between different distributions than say a Windows user due to how many we have.
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.
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.
Final Note: Look at it this way, Steam has around 75 million active users, 1% of 75 million is about 750,000 people. What developer wouldn't want to hook into a potential market that big? We are still under-represented in my eyes. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
0 Likes
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
I hope they implement an opt-in/out anonymous hardware stats recording so we get a truer picture with the massive sample size of 75 million users minus the opted-out people. (Or, potentially size of 75 million opted-in users (who only have to opt-in once, but can opt-out anytime).
0 Likes
Personally I would prefer an opt-out for everyone over an opt-in for a % of the userbase.
It will never happen though as privacy people would kick up a stink about it I'm sure.
It's a shame that traditional consoles can do it so easily by simple things like tracking the amount actually sold, or just releasing the number of people signing into their online services.
It will never happen though as privacy people would kick up a stink about it I'm sure.
It's a shame that traditional consoles can do it so easily by simple things like tracking the amount actually sold, or just releasing the number of people signing into their online services.
0 Likes
Quoting: liamdawePersonally I would prefer an opt-out for everyone over an opt-in for a % of the userbase.
It will never happen though as privacy people would kick up a stink about it I'm sure.
It's a shame that traditional consoles can do it so easily by simple things like tracking the amount actually sold, or just releasing the number of people signing into their online services.
You called me, here I am, the privacy person! :D I don't want any opt-out recording of my hardware/software/whatever. Valve should mind its own business, I already mistrust Steam as it is now.
Not that being able to better estimate the nth decimal position of people using GNU/L for gaming would be of any help.
IMHO a good boost will only come once Valve releases its Steam Machines.
0 Likes
oldrocker99 Sep 7, 2014
1% of 75,000,000 is still a hell of a lot of users, and that's why there is a market for Linux games on Steam. As we've read on this forum, devs are satisfied with the sales they're getting on Steam. I'm not worried by the low percentages; we've always been a minority compared to the closed-source OS users.
0 Likes
The overall change (-0.05%) is too small to be significant, especially since, as you pointed out, they don't poll all users.
0 Likes
QuoteLet'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.
Not sure if you're implying that this is a potential reason for the low Linux user number.
It's perfectly fine and understandable that Valve does not survey the full user base. I guess it has been said many times already but: taking samples is absolutely valid as long as the probability to get surveyed is equal among all users, i.e. there is no systematic bias towards a platform. Yes, increasing the sample size reduces the uncertainty, but I assume Valve makes a reasonable choice concerning the sample size.
1 Likes, Who?
I dual boot with windows and just happened to fill out the survey on the windows partition.
0 Likes
valve absolutely have the real numbers. Do they match this survey? who knows
Total number of users for linux is not bad. Linux users/total number of users do look bad
If people put the 1/10th of the amount of money they put into proprietary programs into floss... There would be no war. You cant compete floss...
free is what is "killing" linux. (i use quotes, because it probably cant die)
Total number of users for linux is not bad. Linux users/total number of users do look bad
If people put the 1/10th of the amount of money they put into proprietary programs into floss... There would be no war. You cant compete floss...
free is what is "killing" linux. (i use quotes, because it probably cant die)
0 Likes
i never see the survey except in windows, etc.
(the number is accurate, and in absolute terms it is probably growing.)
(the number is accurate, and in absolute terms it is probably growing.)
0 Likes
See more from me