Support us on Patreon
PayPal
In an unsurprising move, Steam has replaced the Linux icon of "tux" with their own SteamOS icon. I completely understand why they did this, but it does make things confusing.
I can see plenty of people getting confused about what the icon is for, as it's so close to Steam's own icon. At least Tux was a clear separation to the Windows and Mac icons. I hope people don't get confused by it, but I can guarantee people will be.
They do need their own clear SteamOS branding of course, as they need to constantly keep it in gamers and developers minds. The problem is, how long before SteamOS is the only "distribution" supported on Steam? I hope game developers and Valve don't become that silly, but there are some problematic developers out there already. At least as long as Valve keep the Steam Runtime working as it is now, other distributions shouldn't have any problems.
For those that don't have the new version:
Looks like that little saying going around of "No tux no bux" is going to have to be tweaked?
I'm still excited to see what happens with SteamOS and Steam Machines, and what would happen if they fail miserably. I hope they don't of course, but they obviously won't be an overnight success. I will eat a tux teddy live on air if they are an overnight success (please don't hold me to that).
Well, at least it still says "SteamOS + Linux" right? Let's hope there's never a hint of Microsoft style "embrace extend extinguish".
It's easily possible this change will be reverted though, as certain parts of the site keep breaking, like the title now being "#title_welcome_to_steam". Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I can see plenty of people getting confused about what the icon is for, as it's so close to Steam's own icon. At least Tux was a clear separation to the Windows and Mac icons. I hope people don't get confused by it, but I can guarantee people will be.
They do need their own clear SteamOS branding of course, as they need to constantly keep it in gamers and developers minds. The problem is, how long before SteamOS is the only "distribution" supported on Steam? I hope game developers and Valve don't become that silly, but there are some problematic developers out there already. At least as long as Valve keep the Steam Runtime working as it is now, other distributions shouldn't have any problems.
For those that don't have the new version:
Looks like that little saying going around of "No tux no bux" is going to have to be tweaked?
I'm still excited to see what happens with SteamOS and Steam Machines, and what would happen if they fail miserably. I hope they don't of course, but they obviously won't be an overnight success. I will eat a tux teddy live on air if they are an overnight success (please don't hold me to that).
Well, at least it still says "SteamOS + Linux" right? Let's hope there's never a hint of Microsoft style "embrace extend extinguish".
It's easily possible this change will be reverted though, as certain parts of the site keep breaking, like the title now being "#title_welcome_to_steam". 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.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
it's kind of a dirt bag move, leaving the ambiguity of maybe it becoming a closed platform on the long run.
0 Likes
It has been this way for a long, long time. Visit Steam in a browser, and it's still Tux.
No it's not, that's your cache keeping the tux icon. Do a hard refresh.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm totally fine with that. There's so many logos, brands and profiles swirling around in the Linux world, it's all good. It's what we are.
7 Likes, Who?
1mHfoksd1Z May 27, 2015
For people who don't know much about Linux this is going to be VERY confusing. Also the Tux logo was like an advertisment for Linux, which was a good thing. I don't think this logo is gonna get people to try Linux as much as the other one did.
Maybe they should keep the Tux logo and also have an additional SteamOS logo only for those games that have full controller integration and work on SteamOS just like on a console. There are plenty of games that don't have controller support (mainly strategy games) but they have a Linux version. Why would anyone install them on a SteamMachine?
Anyway. I find this a pretty minor thing that's not worth complaining. It's not a big deal really. And maybe in time people will recognize that logo as implicitly pointing to Linux, just like the Debian/Ubuntu/Arch/[insert-distro-name-here] logo...
Maybe they should keep the Tux logo and also have an additional SteamOS logo only for those games that have full controller integration and work on SteamOS just like on a console. There are plenty of games that don't have controller support (mainly strategy games) but they have a Linux version. Why would anyone install them on a SteamMachine?
Anyway. I find this a pretty minor thing that's not worth complaining. It's not a big deal really. And maybe in time people will recognize that logo as implicitly pointing to Linux, just like the Debian/Ubuntu/Arch/[insert-distro-name-here] logo...
6 Likes, Who?
It has been this way for a long, long time. Visit Steam in a browser, and it's still Tux.
No it's not, that's your cache keeping the tux icon. Do a hard refresh.
Screenshot after ctrl+shift+r in Firefox: http://s1.zrzut.pl/f6GiOdD.png
Also you didn't discover anything new, maybe you just switched from Firefox to Chrome?
http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/2y07g8/did_steam_just_switch_the_tux_logo_to_a_steam_logo/
0 Likes
It has been this way for a long, long time. Visit Steam in a browser, and it's still Tux.
No it's not, that's your cache keeping the tux icon. Do a hard refresh.
Screenshot after ctrl+shift+r in Firefox: http://s1.zrzut.pl/f6GiOdD.png
Also you didn't discover anything new, maybe you just switched from Firefox to Chrome?
http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/2y07g8/did_steam_just_switch_the_tux_logo_to_a_steam_logo/
The sale page showed it yes, but the rest of the store did not. I haven't switched any browser, it's a new forced changed for everyone across the whole store where as it wasn't before. Ps. I tested this in other browsers as well, obviously ;)
Try viewing Steam on the waybackmachine if you for some reason don't agree/believe.
0 Likes
I agree that it's very confusing. It looks like it's just part of the "SteamPlay" logo rather than something separate. Having said that, however, a good marketing campaign could convince people of just about anything. It will be up to Valve to do that and also convince people that they want/need Steam Machines.
4 Likes, Who?
Segata Sanshiro May 27, 2015
Boo. I hope this doesn't become like Android now. Linux fanboyism aside though, they need to come up with a new icon for SteamOS because it's just their logo... Hopefully one with a penguin on it.
4 Likes, Who?
I am all for it.
There comes the catch - if proper Steam Machine/SteamOS campaign follows and identifies that logo with it. As long as it happens - sure, it has to be done. Before we cry for Tux (which I love a lot), most people don't know what Tux is or how it's related with Steam Machines and SteamOS. We can't expect them to know. Valve has invested big money and time resources in this, and thankfully it seems they follow it with marketing and PR. Their brand for this is Steam Machines.
We have logos for Fedora, Debian, etc. We even don't mention word Linux sometimes when we speak about these distributions. As long it has strong marketing following this change - yeah, it's not big deal for me. Otherwise that would be change for change's sake and then it would be like...stupid to do that.
There comes the catch - if proper Steam Machine/SteamOS campaign follows and identifies that logo with it. As long as it happens - sure, it has to be done. Before we cry for Tux (which I love a lot), most people don't know what Tux is or how it's related with Steam Machines and SteamOS. We can't expect them to know. Valve has invested big money and time resources in this, and thankfully it seems they follow it with marketing and PR. Their brand for this is Steam Machines.
We have logos for Fedora, Debian, etc. We even don't mention word Linux sometimes when we speak about these distributions. As long it has strong marketing following this change - yeah, it's not big deal for me. Otherwise that would be change for change's sake and then it would be like...stupid to do that.
8 Likes, Who?
LinuxGamesTV May 27, 2015
I have the SteamOS Logo in the List (Opera with turned off Chache)
I have no problem with the SteamOS Logo, but the Tux was better for non power linux users.
I have no problem with the SteamOS Logo, but the Tux was better for non power linux users.
0 Likes
muntdefems May 27, 2015
Is there any official announcement about this? If my mind doesn't play tricks on me, I'd swear the same exact thing happened some time in the past, only for Tux to be restored after a couple of hours or the following day.
If it's for good, well, at least the filter checkboxes and drop-down menus still say "SteamOS+Linux".
If it's for good, well, at least the filter checkboxes and drop-down menus still say "SteamOS+Linux".
1 Likes, Who?
Ugh, I hate it.
Another thing I just found out and hate: Enhanced Steam stopped supporting Firefox. 7.3 was the last version for Firefox, the later ones are Chrome-only. Instead, they want to concentrate on an Enhanced Steam standalone application, which just defeats the purpose of Enhanced Steam altogether. Blergh.
Another thing I just found out and hate: Enhanced Steam stopped supporting Firefox. 7.3 was the last version for Firefox, the later ones are Chrome-only. Instead, they want to concentrate on an Enhanced Steam standalone application, which just defeats the purpose of Enhanced Steam altogether. Blergh.
2 Likes, Who?
It has been this way for a long, long time. Visit Steam in a browser, and it's still Tux.
No it's not, that's your cache keeping the tux icon. Do a hard refresh.
Yeah, I did that, but you're too fast with your fancy fast internet speed.
Still, I don't really care. It's not like the games will stop working on Linux, and Linux itself has a bad rep. This actually kinda makes sense. Would I prefer the Tux icon? Yep. But it's not the end of the world until the games won't run on my Debian.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm happy to see this and at the same time arguing too much about it is a waste of time.
2 Likes, Who?
Is there any official announcement about this? If my mind doesn't play tricks on me, I'd swear the same exact thing happened some time in the past, only for Tux to be restored after a couple of hours or the following day.
If it's for good, well, at least the filter checkboxes and drop-down menus still say "SteamOS+Linux".
So I'm not the only one with this déjà vu
1 Likes, Who?
Ugh, I hate it.
Another thing I just found out and hate: Enhanced Steam stopped supporting Firefox. 7.3 was the last version for Firefox, the later ones are Chrome-only. Instead, they want to concentrate on an Enhanced Steam standalone application, which just defeats the purpose of Enhanced Steam altogether. Blergh.
NOOOOOOO!!!!!! I'm not going to use chrome and "browsing" Steam via the Steam app sucks! I want the extra info and I want to easily open/close tabs. This sucks.
0 Likes
May 27, 2015
I'm having a hard time to instantly recognize which games run on Linux for now.. that said I actually think it's a good thing. I mean that just says they are more committed to SteamOS than ever which is great for all distributions and great for Gaming on Linux in the long run. =)
2 Likes, Who?
I agree that it's very confusing. It looks like it's just part of the "SteamPlay" logo rather than something separate.
totally this. Its going to confuse people and make it look like no games are supported on Linux. Its a crap move, or at least the way it has been implemented is terrible.
0 Likes
See more from me