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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.
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Who cares what logo they use? It's ther platform, they can use whatever logo they want. The only influence you have is the choice of whether to use it or not. I don't care what logo they use to represent Linux games because I'd rather just be playing the games. You can filter the games by OS anyway, so there's no confusion as to which platforms are supported. Besides, the SteamOS logo is different enough from the windows and mac logos to clearly indicate a different system.
As for the "confusion" issue, if people are confused by a logo because it doesn't look like a penguin, then Linux is not the OS for them.
As for the "confusion" issue, if people are confused by a logo because it doesn't look like a penguin, then Linux is not the OS for them.
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Old topic I missed, but I'll comment anyway. Here's my point of view.
I don't care, as Linux has become synonymous with SteamOS (rightfully), resulting in Linux ports. I have nearly 200 games on Steam, and only had issues with 1-2 of them, which eventually got resolved.
For example, Rockboshers DX had an outdated dependency (libcaca) because of Ubuntu 12.04 and one of the developers initially told me to use that version of Ubuntu for the time being (naturally I refused at downgrading). Having said that, this is a small indie team new to Linux that still rectified the issue and I can now play it on 14.04 (LTS releases should not be written off!).
So what could Valve do for those upset? Simple, use two interchangeable icons. Basically the SteamOS as default, and the penguin for those with identified current OS as Linux (except SteamOS, obviously). Personally, for outsiders, it makes sense to use the SteamOS logo. For the current/new Linux user base, it makes much more sense to use what they recognize from a marketing perspective.
Though, I wouldn't mind using the SteamOS logo as an option regardless. As stated before by a previous comment, the Tux logo is extremely bad at such a size and 2 colours. It just cannot work from an artist's perspective, unless it is cartoonified (which would defeat the purpose and still be unrecognisable). Every Linux distro has their own symbol and would work in 2 colours, except the old Tux logo, how ironic. I love penguins as a symbol, but the original Tux is so dated, I almost wish there was a movement to modernize it (still can be a penguin). But I'm sure somebody or a majority will complain per usual.
I don't care, as Linux has become synonymous with SteamOS (rightfully), resulting in Linux ports. I have nearly 200 games on Steam, and only had issues with 1-2 of them, which eventually got resolved.
For example, Rockboshers DX had an outdated dependency (libcaca) because of Ubuntu 12.04 and one of the developers initially told me to use that version of Ubuntu for the time being (naturally I refused at downgrading). Having said that, this is a small indie team new to Linux that still rectified the issue and I can now play it on 14.04 (LTS releases should not be written off!).
So what could Valve do for those upset? Simple, use two interchangeable icons. Basically the SteamOS as default, and the penguin for those with identified current OS as Linux (except SteamOS, obviously). Personally, for outsiders, it makes sense to use the SteamOS logo. For the current/new Linux user base, it makes much more sense to use what they recognize from a marketing perspective.
Though, I wouldn't mind using the SteamOS logo as an option regardless. As stated before by a previous comment, the Tux logo is extremely bad at such a size and 2 colours. It just cannot work from an artist's perspective, unless it is cartoonified (which would defeat the purpose and still be unrecognisable). Every Linux distro has their own symbol and would work in 2 colours, except the old Tux logo, how ironic. I love penguins as a symbol, but the original Tux is so dated, I almost wish there was a movement to modernize it (still can be a penguin). But I'm sure somebody or a majority will complain per usual.
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muntdefems Jun 11, 2015
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