Remember folks, it doesn't matter if the overall Linux percentage drops right now. There's a lot of room for errors, we have tons of games to come, and Linux is still awesome.
Why shouldn't I be worried?
It’s a percentage from a survey, and Steam's overall user base is increasing massively all the time. This means that even with lower percentages, our overall user count is actually higher. To make that clear: Linux is growing all the time, but so is Mac and Windows.
We have no idea how they are sampling their data, and to state this again, it’s a survey. It’s not a hard statistic to be thrown around to claim Linux gaming is dying, it’s really not.
The numbers
Total: 0.88% -0.06%
Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS 64 bit 0.26% -0.02%
Ubuntu 15.04 64 bit 0.14% +0.14%
Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca 64 bit 0.09% 0.00%
Linux 64 bit 0.05% +0.05%
See the survey results here. 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.
Mohandevir Jun 4, 2015
Quoting: subI hope rumours are not true that Newell just came up with Linux/SteamOS/SteamMachines to put pressure on Microsoft.
As Win10 seems like it will get good reception and "lacks" all the stuff Newell was afraid of, some people argue Valve might abandon Linux sooner or later. After all, SteamMachines missed the fantastic "Win8" time window to take off - and that sounds reasonable to me. :/
Valve won't drop SteamOS or Linux Support because it's the leverage that keeps M$ from doing anything foolish. Remove SteamOS and M$ will fall back to their old ways.
Add to this the fact that many partners (hardware, software and game developers) have invested time and money into this project. It would be nonsense to just drop the ball at the last minute.
The train is on the move... Slowly but it's moving. Let's hope it gains some momentum.
By the way, I still don't see any SteamOS mention in the survey and I never got the survey on mine. It's probably not a big percentage yet, but my belief is that it's not included in it. I don't think Valve would accept a mere Linux 3.xx entry in the survey for their own OS... :)
0 Likes
Mountain Man Jun 4, 2015
Quoting: sarmadWhy do so many people think that the survey appears more on Windows than Linux? If it's appearing more on Windows than Linux with you that just means you are using Steam under Windows more than you do under Linux.Wrong. I use Linux the vast majority of the time, but it seems like every time I boot into Windows after months of not using it, I get a Steam survey. Is that what triggers it? The fact that I so rarely boot up Windows these days?
0 Likes
Mohandevir Jun 4, 2015
Quoting: Mountain ManQuoting: sarmadWhy do so many people think that the survey appears more on Windows than Linux? If it's appearing more on Windows than Linux with you that just means you are using Steam under Windows more than you do under Linux.Wrong. I use Linux the vast majority of the time, but it seems like every time I boot into Windows after months of not using it, I get a Steam survey. Is that what triggers it? The fact that I so rarely boot up Windows these days?
It did the same for me. A couple of months ago, I kept an old Win7 partition on a backup drive and when I started my Steam client on this platform, I got the survey 1/3 of times but I get it maybe twice a year on my Ubuntu system even if I start the client daily. Quite weird.
0 Likes
It's not wierd at all to never see a survey one Linux. More people refuse the survey on Windows (and Wine, especially Wine). This means they need to survey more people to get the number of responses they need for statistical significance (which means you see more surveys on Windows and Wine than on Linux native). Refusing the survey does nothing to change the result, they will just ask someone else on that platform.
This is standard practice with opt-out surveys. It's much easier to manage with a system like Steam as the client identifies itself by OS on connection. (Side note: if you have ever been telephone surveyed they often start with demographic questions for this reason.)
This is standard practice with opt-out surveys. It's much easier to manage with a system like Steam as the client identifies itself by OS on connection. (Side note: if you have ever been telephone surveyed they often start with demographic questions for this reason.)
0 Likes
This should give you food for thought, as said in the other similar thread. Its in their benefit to keep interest at an even point. Once SteamOS is out you will magically see the results slowly lift up over two years ;)
There not going to say "hey look Linux is actually 3% now" ..
release SteamOS and shout a year later ...
"hey look Linux is actually 3% now"
:/
its obvious to most by now if you did a broad sweep taking Indie / Humble / GOG / Steam / Opensource you would have a 'Decent enough' for some profits user base for all but the most greedy AAA studios. But as an EA executive said, the real money and markets are now in community games and games that take less than a few million to make. So Linux is still viable because the actual gaming development market from a financial perspective is changing. So linux is well within the 'zone' for developers, it just needs vulcan and steamOS to highlight its ability.
I suppose if you really want to you could say Linux has the biggest gaming share right now, just get those Android "Gamers" (filthy casuals) included :P
There not going to say "hey look Linux is actually 3% now" ..
release SteamOS and shout a year later ...
"hey look Linux is actually 3% now"
:/
its obvious to most by now if you did a broad sweep taking Indie / Humble / GOG / Steam / Opensource you would have a 'Decent enough' for some profits user base for all but the most greedy AAA studios. But as an EA executive said, the real money and markets are now in community games and games that take less than a few million to make. So Linux is still viable because the actual gaming development market from a financial perspective is changing. So linux is well within the 'zone' for developers, it just needs vulcan and steamOS to highlight its ability.
I suppose if you really want to you could say Linux has the biggest gaming share right now, just get those Android "Gamers" (filthy casuals) included :P
0 Likes
Mountain Man Jun 4, 2015
I read somewhere that when you include Android, servers, embedded operating systems, etc., Linux is by far the most used OS in the world. It's just on the desktop where it has always struggled to get a foothold.
0 Likes
Quoting: linux_gamerIt also wouldn't be a problem at all to just send 1 additional byte to identify the OS every time users log into Steam.2. Sorry, I couldn't resist :)
When I was using steam on windows, I was getting the survey quite often. Once every 2-3 months maybe, on the same install.
But I didn't get it more than once or twice on my computer in two years.
So, either I have bad luck, or the survey is buggy on Linux. I got it last time I logged in on windows (that was to allow a computer for family sharing). Previously, silentely dismissing the survey would have made it appear on my Linux box, but it didn't worked.
It could also be Valve keeping the numbers low enough for whatever reason (yeah, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but they could use the numbers to claim that they were in fact the big actor making people switch over to Linux after the SteamOS release, or whatever reason they want).
0 Likes
[quote=MyeulC]
Having a theory like you did, isn’t a conspiracy, its just a thought out theory. A conspiracy usually requires collusion.
Your theory probably has a lot of truth in it.
Quoting: linux_gamerIt could also be Valve keeping the numbers low enough for whatever reason (yeah, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but they could use the numbers to claim that they were in fact the big actor making people switch over to Linux after the SteamOS release, or whatever reason they want).
Having a theory like you did, isn’t a conspiracy, its just a thought out theory. A conspiracy usually requires collusion.
Your theory probably has a lot of truth in it.
0 Likes
Quoting: subI hope rumours are not true that Newell just came up with Linux/SteamOS/SteamMachines to put pressure on Microsoft.
As Win10 seems like it will get good reception and "lacks" all the stuff Newell was afraid of, some people argue Valve might abandon Linux sooner or later. After all, SteamMachines missed the fantastic "Win8" time window to take off - and that sounds reasonable to me. :/
Microsoft lost it's Mojo, when it decided to create a single UI and promotional content for both the ARM and x86 architecture combined. Now online usage of Microsoft Windows has fallen from 95% to below 55%
...meaning right now, only 55% of Internet usage is from Windows devices.
GNU/Linux is at 1-2%, with Europe at 2.4%
Android Linux is at 22%
Chromebooks is the top selling Laptop on Amazon. FireTV(Android) and Chromecast are the bestselling computing devices on Amazon
Upcoming Linux devices are Google Chromebit, Steam Machines, and C.H.I.P, the 9$ System On Chip.
...You really think 'Steam Machine' is just Valve putting pressure on Microsoft ?
0 Likes
Mountain Man Jun 6, 2015
Well, today I finally got a Steam survey in Linux, two-years after first installing Steam in Kubuntu.
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me