Note: I should highlight that this is an editorial, this is my opinion and yours will differ. These thoughts have been gathered after having a SteamOS machine that I regularly use, running Linux on my desktop, and from the comments I have seen across the wider community.
Hey Valve, what’s the point of SteamOS? I joke, of course, but that was a very real headline on a website. There’s a number of hit-pieces like this aimed at SteamOS, the problem is a lot of people haven’t used it for longer periods, don’t understand what they are actually doing, or just parrot what they read from others.
Valve have a lot of work to do to bring SteamOS up to full speed and actually show that they regard it as an important platform. And it has to be not just important to them, but be truly useful to us.
I need to state for the record that I am actually feeling positive about it all. I’ve said time and time again SteamOS and Steam Machines would never be an overnight success, but Valve certainly aren’t helping matters. This is more of a “what I hope to see” and not a “we are all doomed” piece. If someone at Valve is reading, please take some notes. I want it to succeed, but Valve need to actually help it.
Valve have pushed Linux gaming to incredible levels. That is clear, but I want more. We will probably never have an issue with getting enough indie games thanks to their push, but we need something bigger.
I think SteamOS is actually quite good at what it does. I really didn’t like using a normal OS from across the room on my sofa, so it did solve that issue for me. The interface is actually pretty good and easy to navigate around, with some niggles here and there. I actually prefer it to the PS4 interface which I’ve used for years. I completely understand that the Steam Link offers a good compromise if you don’t want a full machine, but not everyone will want to use a Steam Link due to networking issues, or just not having a good enough PC for streaming. Many people will be sharing a PC too, so the Link is not really an option for them either.
A lot of what is wrong with SteamOS boils down to issues within Steam itself, as I will highlight. I could probably go on all day about the issues with Steam that affect SteamOS, but here’s a drop in the ocean of my thoughts for you.
Some issues I have
New games arriving on Linux & SteamOS that previously had a Windows/Mac version don’t appear in the new releases list. This is stupid considering it has been an issue since Steam came to Linux over three years ago now. Valve used to update that manually for certain titles, but they appear to have stopped even doing that. Visibility for newer Linux & SteamOS games is a problem, so people end up relying on us and other websites to know that they exist. This should not be a problem, but it certainly is. This sort of issue can’t be hard to fix if they are able to manually populate it like they once did. It could only be a matter of detecting games that previously did not have a Linux version that now do. As a programmer myself I know how easily such a comparison can be done.
Leading into new games, let’s talk about advertising. Very few Linux games get big announcements on Steam. Some actually do, but they’re few and far between. Many Windows games get massive front-page banners to announce their availability. Why on earth don’t they want to advertise some of the bigger games gaining support for their own SteamOS operating system?
Their own VR device is not yet Linux compatible. I don’t know what the issues are and I don’t care. I think it’s utterly ridiculous that Valve made a Linux push with SteamOS and Steam Machines but their flagship VR device doesn’t even support it. I’m not a fan of VR—yet—mainly because I haven’t used a proper one before to change my mind. I would have personally purchased a Vive, but Valve and HTC seem to be reminding me again how Linux is still a low priority for them.
Having Linux/SteamOS locked out of a major new platform for playing games has already hurt us and the longer it doesn’t support us the more people will switch over to their Windows installs (or re-install Windows) because “VR is not on Linux”.
The only communication I can see from Valve on this was a one liner:
That was back in March and no official update since then.
The Vive also listed SteamOS right up until launch, then suddenly, Windows only. What happened to communication?
Windows games showing up everywhere on the Steam store if you’re on Linux. This is again an issue that shouldn’t be there. Originally if you browsed through the store on Linux all the featured sections and recommended sections would only list Linux games - now it’s full of Windows games. Many SteamOS users are likely also Linux users, so it would make sense to fix this. It seems it’s part of a wider issue on the Steam store, as they seem to repeatedly break the filters that control what games to show.
Today for example, I click through the featured banner. Windows only, Windows only, Windo...you get the idea. I don’t care about them, I care about what I can actually play myself.
Personally, I think that the overall store should default to only showing what games your detected operating system supports. It’s easy to detect and it’s a very simple solution, and if you do want to see other platforms games, the filters are already there to do it.
Also, Steam Big Picture mode and SteamOS are still to this day not even included in their own Hardware Survey. Plenty of websites use those statistics to claim Linux/SteamOS is going nowhere without even considering that. How can anyone can claim that SteamOS and Steam Machines haven’t helped Linux gaming popularity (and bigger websites do claim this) while they aren’t even included in that yet? It certainly doesn’t help when a Linux website uses the Hardware Survey to claim Linux gaming has fallen to one of the lowest levels ever (it hasn’t).
Web Apps
Steam Machines could be useful for more than just gaming. Netflix and Spotify are two such easy examples that Valve could possibly do without too much fuss. I hope they are reaching out to such companies to get them to support it. They only really need some sort of fullscreen browser window that goes directly to the websites for them, it could be that simple. A Youtube application would also be pretty easy to do in a similar way.
They are at least trying to get more movies directly onto Steam, the recent deal with Lionsgate is proof of that. Baby steps, but it’s something.
Now let’s talk about that little SteamOS icon.
Still, to this day, I get people telling me “game X supports Linux, see, it has SteamPlay”. Yes, the SteamOS logo is the Steam logo and it sits right next to the SteamPlay text and it does confuse people. Having a Linux tux icon and a SteamOS icon would solve this instantly. I don’t think there can then be any confusion.
There are still games on Steam right now that work fine on Linux but, due to Valve doing a moment of store curating a while back, they had their SteamOS icon removed. I’m okay with Valve doing that (and I think they need to do it more for SteamOS), as it’s up to developers to make their games properly work on SteamOS itself, but when it looks like the game doesn’t support Linux at all it’s a bit frustrating as a customer and as someone who writes about the games themselves.
The other issue with this, is that people are wary about buying a game if it doesn’t have the SteamOS icon (even if it has a downloadable and playable Linux version) as they don’t know if it will count as a Linux sale. Hint: It will. Just don’t buy a game if it isn’t confirmed to be downloadable and playable.
How can Valve help with more games?
To give credit to Valve here they have helped push Vulkan, so it’s not all gloomy. Having such a massive and influential company push an API that is open will help us in years to come. They could be doing a fair bit more though.
We all know exclusives are a bad thing. I don’t want to see a SteamOS/Linux exclusive as I think somewhere along the way that will hurt us more than it will do us good. Linux games aren’t yet big sellers, a few exclusives that don’t sell like hot cakes will end up with headlines like “SteamOS doesn’t pay” and you get the general idea. The platform just isn’t good enough for it right now.
What would be interesting to see, is for Valve to offer some sort of incentive for bringing a Linux & SteamOS version to the Steam store. It wouldn’t lock out any other platform like an exclusive and it may end up helping us. It could be increased store visibility, a small reduction on Valve’s own take of the sales or something else entirely. I think doing something would be a smart move.
I don’t think giving games that get a SteamOS version increased visibility would be wrong either, since they already do this for major Windows game releases.
Not exactly to do with SteamOS, but would be nice
It would also be nice if Valve were more open about their store statistics, like the amount of active user accounts overall. It would make working out the amount of Linux users on Steam a little easier. I’m sure there’s business reasons someone will come up with on why they don’t do this, but they do announce it now and then, so I don’t see why having a more public counter would be an issue. They could even publish this number monthly along with their survey. They have a stats page to show peak and current online, so why not active accounts overall?
Going further than that, I don’t really get why Steam don’t just automatically query machines to be more accurate. They already have vast amounts of data from you that you probably don’t realise. Privacy issues maybe, but you probably shouldn’t be using a closed source store application like Steam if you genuinely care about privacy and stuff like that anyway. Heck, even Unity 3D games phone home with details about you.
Valve also never seem to bring over any of their modding tools to Linux, so if you want to make anything with their games, you are again forced onto another platform. They already have almost all of their games on Linux (Hi Alien Swarm, where are you?) so why not the modding tools to enable Linux users to also help Valve earn money? It’s another one of those things that doesn’t make sense. You could argue that the tools use x library that’s only on Windows, but that was the case for everything Valve/Steam not so long ago.
Communication, communication, communication
This is probably the single most important thing.
Finally, Valve’s silence on SteamOS. This is what I am most surprised by. Valve were talking big about SteamOS and Steam Machines a while ago before the release. Now they seem to be very quiet about it. Heck, SteamOS itself has seen no major updates since the initial release that came along with Steam Machines. Sure, they have updated drivers, done security updates and other general fixes, but nothing big or interesting from themselves. It concerns me how quiet they are being about it. I would have thought by now at the very least Steam Broadcasting would finally be supported on Linux but, instead, silence.
Like everything Valve: They seem to be a jack of all trades, and a master of none. I don’t want SteamOS/Steam Machines to end up as a failure. I just want Valve to step their game up, they need to.
What are your thoughts? Do you think I am talking a load of old rubbish, or am I making sense? Stay a while and tell me. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Hey Valve, what’s the point of SteamOS? I joke, of course, but that was a very real headline on a website. There’s a number of hit-pieces like this aimed at SteamOS, the problem is a lot of people haven’t used it for longer periods, don’t understand what they are actually doing, or just parrot what they read from others.
Valve have a lot of work to do to bring SteamOS up to full speed and actually show that they regard it as an important platform. And it has to be not just important to them, but be truly useful to us.
I need to state for the record that I am actually feeling positive about it all. I’ve said time and time again SteamOS and Steam Machines would never be an overnight success, but Valve certainly aren’t helping matters. This is more of a “what I hope to see” and not a “we are all doomed” piece. If someone at Valve is reading, please take some notes. I want it to succeed, but Valve need to actually help it.
Valve have pushed Linux gaming to incredible levels. That is clear, but I want more. We will probably never have an issue with getting enough indie games thanks to their push, but we need something bigger.
I think SteamOS is actually quite good at what it does. I really didn’t like using a normal OS from across the room on my sofa, so it did solve that issue for me. The interface is actually pretty good and easy to navigate around, with some niggles here and there. I actually prefer it to the PS4 interface which I’ve used for years. I completely understand that the Steam Link offers a good compromise if you don’t want a full machine, but not everyone will want to use a Steam Link due to networking issues, or just not having a good enough PC for streaming. Many people will be sharing a PC too, so the Link is not really an option for them either.
A lot of what is wrong with SteamOS boils down to issues within Steam itself, as I will highlight. I could probably go on all day about the issues with Steam that affect SteamOS, but here’s a drop in the ocean of my thoughts for you.
Some issues I have
New games arriving on Linux & SteamOS that previously had a Windows/Mac version don’t appear in the new releases list. This is stupid considering it has been an issue since Steam came to Linux over three years ago now. Valve used to update that manually for certain titles, but they appear to have stopped even doing that. Visibility for newer Linux & SteamOS games is a problem, so people end up relying on us and other websites to know that they exist. This should not be a problem, but it certainly is. This sort of issue can’t be hard to fix if they are able to manually populate it like they once did. It could only be a matter of detecting games that previously did not have a Linux version that now do. As a programmer myself I know how easily such a comparison can be done.
Leading into new games, let’s talk about advertising. Very few Linux games get big announcements on Steam. Some actually do, but they’re few and far between. Many Windows games get massive front-page banners to announce their availability. Why on earth don’t they want to advertise some of the bigger games gaining support for their own SteamOS operating system?
Their own VR device is not yet Linux compatible. I don’t know what the issues are and I don’t care. I think it’s utterly ridiculous that Valve made a Linux push with SteamOS and Steam Machines but their flagship VR device doesn’t even support it. I’m not a fan of VR—yet—mainly because I haven’t used a proper one before to change my mind. I would have personally purchased a Vive, but Valve and HTC seem to be reminding me again how Linux is still a low priority for them.
Having Linux/SteamOS locked out of a major new platform for playing games has already hurt us and the longer it doesn’t support us the more people will switch over to their Windows installs (or re-install Windows) because “VR is not on Linux”.
The only communication I can see from Valve on this was a one liner:
QuoteWe are working on it but it's not ready yet.
That was back in March and no official update since then.
The Vive also listed SteamOS right up until launch, then suddenly, Windows only. What happened to communication?
Windows games showing up everywhere on the Steam store if you’re on Linux. This is again an issue that shouldn’t be there. Originally if you browsed through the store on Linux all the featured sections and recommended sections would only list Linux games - now it’s full of Windows games. Many SteamOS users are likely also Linux users, so it would make sense to fix this. It seems it’s part of a wider issue on the Steam store, as they seem to repeatedly break the filters that control what games to show.
Today for example, I click through the featured banner. Windows only, Windows only, Windo...you get the idea. I don’t care about them, I care about what I can actually play myself.
Personally, I think that the overall store should default to only showing what games your detected operating system supports. It’s easy to detect and it’s a very simple solution, and if you do want to see other platforms games, the filters are already there to do it.
Also, Steam Big Picture mode and SteamOS are still to this day not even included in their own Hardware Survey. Plenty of websites use those statistics to claim Linux/SteamOS is going nowhere without even considering that. How can anyone can claim that SteamOS and Steam Machines haven’t helped Linux gaming popularity (and bigger websites do claim this) while they aren’t even included in that yet? It certainly doesn’t help when a Linux website uses the Hardware Survey to claim Linux gaming has fallen to one of the lowest levels ever (it hasn’t).
Web Apps
Steam Machines could be useful for more than just gaming. Netflix and Spotify are two such easy examples that Valve could possibly do without too much fuss. I hope they are reaching out to such companies to get them to support it. They only really need some sort of fullscreen browser window that goes directly to the websites for them, it could be that simple. A Youtube application would also be pretty easy to do in a similar way.
They are at least trying to get more movies directly onto Steam, the recent deal with Lionsgate is proof of that. Baby steps, but it’s something.
Now let’s talk about that little SteamOS icon.
Still, to this day, I get people telling me “game X supports Linux, see, it has SteamPlay”. Yes, the SteamOS logo is the Steam logo and it sits right next to the SteamPlay text and it does confuse people. Having a Linux tux icon and a SteamOS icon would solve this instantly. I don’t think there can then be any confusion.
There are still games on Steam right now that work fine on Linux but, due to Valve doing a moment of store curating a while back, they had their SteamOS icon removed. I’m okay with Valve doing that (and I think they need to do it more for SteamOS), as it’s up to developers to make their games properly work on SteamOS itself, but when it looks like the game doesn’t support Linux at all it’s a bit frustrating as a customer and as someone who writes about the games themselves.
The other issue with this, is that people are wary about buying a game if it doesn’t have the SteamOS icon (even if it has a downloadable and playable Linux version) as they don’t know if it will count as a Linux sale. Hint: It will. Just don’t buy a game if it isn’t confirmed to be downloadable and playable.
How can Valve help with more games?
To give credit to Valve here they have helped push Vulkan, so it’s not all gloomy. Having such a massive and influential company push an API that is open will help us in years to come. They could be doing a fair bit more though.
We all know exclusives are a bad thing. I don’t want to see a SteamOS/Linux exclusive as I think somewhere along the way that will hurt us more than it will do us good. Linux games aren’t yet big sellers, a few exclusives that don’t sell like hot cakes will end up with headlines like “SteamOS doesn’t pay” and you get the general idea. The platform just isn’t good enough for it right now.
What would be interesting to see, is for Valve to offer some sort of incentive for bringing a Linux & SteamOS version to the Steam store. It wouldn’t lock out any other platform like an exclusive and it may end up helping us. It could be increased store visibility, a small reduction on Valve’s own take of the sales or something else entirely. I think doing something would be a smart move.
I don’t think giving games that get a SteamOS version increased visibility would be wrong either, since they already do this for major Windows game releases.
Not exactly to do with SteamOS, but would be nice
It would also be nice if Valve were more open about their store statistics, like the amount of active user accounts overall. It would make working out the amount of Linux users on Steam a little easier. I’m sure there’s business reasons someone will come up with on why they don’t do this, but they do announce it now and then, so I don’t see why having a more public counter would be an issue. They could even publish this number monthly along with their survey. They have a stats page to show peak and current online, so why not active accounts overall?
Going further than that, I don’t really get why Steam don’t just automatically query machines to be more accurate. They already have vast amounts of data from you that you probably don’t realise. Privacy issues maybe, but you probably shouldn’t be using a closed source store application like Steam if you genuinely care about privacy and stuff like that anyway. Heck, even Unity 3D games phone home with details about you.
Valve also never seem to bring over any of their modding tools to Linux, so if you want to make anything with their games, you are again forced onto another platform. They already have almost all of their games on Linux (Hi Alien Swarm, where are you?) so why not the modding tools to enable Linux users to also help Valve earn money? It’s another one of those things that doesn’t make sense. You could argue that the tools use x library that’s only on Windows, but that was the case for everything Valve/Steam not so long ago.
Communication, communication, communication
This is probably the single most important thing.
Finally, Valve’s silence on SteamOS. This is what I am most surprised by. Valve were talking big about SteamOS and Steam Machines a while ago before the release. Now they seem to be very quiet about it. Heck, SteamOS itself has seen no major updates since the initial release that came along with Steam Machines. Sure, they have updated drivers, done security updates and other general fixes, but nothing big or interesting from themselves. It concerns me how quiet they are being about it. I would have thought by now at the very least Steam Broadcasting would finally be supported on Linux but, instead, silence.
Like everything Valve: They seem to be a jack of all trades, and a master of none. I don’t want SteamOS/Steam Machines to end up as a failure. I just want Valve to step their game up, they need to.
What are your thoughts? Do you think I am talking a load of old rubbish, or am I making sense? Stay a while and tell me. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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TheRiddick 11 Jun 2016
Yeah allot of MAINSTREAM games are still not on Linux, even some older ones which have HUGE followings like Skyrim etc are holding people back from steam.
It doesn't help that driver vendors don't flesh out their drivers fast enough under Linux, sure progress gets made but it needs to be made ALLOT faster IMO.
It doesn't help that driver vendors don't flesh out their drivers fast enough under Linux, sure progress gets made but it needs to be made ALLOT faster IMO.
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autonomouse 11 Jun 2016
We need to understand that SteamOS is not about making us happy or Linux a strong platform. There is a business goal behind it, and the question we should ask is: What is valve cooking up? Not necessarily negative for us, but they're not doing this out of charity, that's for sure.
In the not too distant future, when the Vive (or whatever will replace it) becomes a self contained unit, without the need for an external PC connected by loads of easily-trip-over-able wires, it will need an operating system.
SteamOS is that operating system.
They are playing the long game, and we're just along for the ride. That's fine by me
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Valve going with Linux to produce a new gaming system has been a big risk for them. Good for us but going against a giant like Microsoft, you need to have a lot of courage; just for that, they get all my respect.
Rather I assume that Valve felt having a gun pointed at their head, when Windows 8 came out with a store of its own. UWP games probably don't reduce that pressure, despite their major issues.
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Nice article. For me, the major things SteamOS and Steam Machines hinge on for success are as follows (much od it mirroring what Liam wrote):
* Vulkan - SteamOS is extremely dependent on Vulkan to succeed. As we've seen with so many of the games ported from DX to OpenGL, they generally come with a performance hit. Now, I get the argument "the FPS is still good enough as to be smooth and playable even with the performance hit on my machine", sure that works for you, but what about those with lesser hardware, and, more importantly, what's the incentive to switch to SteamOS if the vast majority of the games will run worse than on Windows? Now, I understand that it's possible to have the OpenGL version of a game be optimized just as well as DX, or even better, we've seen a few (sadly very few) such examples, but very few developers or porters have the time, resources, and, quite frankly, know how, to actually do it. Let's face it, OpenGL is a mess. There are a dozen different ways to do everything and it's very difficult to know which way will result in the best performance for a given scenario without EXTENSIVE experience with the API because of how piss poor the documentation and guides are. For SteamOS to become a true competitor to Windows (in terms of gaming), games need to perform AT BARE MINIMUM just as well on it. This is never going to happen with OpenGL, but it hopefully does happen with Vulkan. This, unfortunately, will take time, though, as Vulkan only fully released a few months ago. DX12 has been out for just over a year and we're only just now starting to see games appearing that fully support it. We're at least half a year away from any real influx of Vulkan games. Ideally, if enough developers embrace it, Vulkan has a chance to make DX12 essentially obsolete. If enough major companies get behind it, Microsoft will have no choice but to implement it in XBOX One or whatever the successor is. This would be a major win for us.
* Apps - Steam Machines need to offer a much broader out of the box multimedia experience. Right now in Steam Big Picture Mode you can do far less than you can on a PS4 or a XBOX One. This can't continue. Steam Machines need to not only match, but exceed the experience of the consoles out of the box. I know that you can switch to a desktop session to do all this stuff (and more), but that's not good enough. The desktop environment is a fallback to tinkering and for power users, this stuff needs to be built into Steam Big Picture Mode itself. Music and movies (unfortunately mostly rentals only right now) are a nice start, but we need a lot more than that. Steam needs to integrate a full multimedia experience and, I can't stress this enough, easy, no jumping through rings of fire, recording of gameplay and one or two click streaming and uploading to YouTube and such. This needs to be so simple and seamless that anyone can do it with practically zero effort.
* Day 1 SteamOS supported AAA games - Sadly, these are few and far between. Getting 6 month old or year old games is nice for those of us that are already Linux users, but to get others to adopt SteamOS, these games need to launch alongside the Windows and console versions.
Of course, we're talking about Valve here, so patience is the key. We all know that Valve work on their own time. I'm willing to give them time, but these things have to happen eventually for SteamOS to become anything other than a very niche OS.
Last edited by Keyrock on 11 Jun 2016 at 2:02 pm UTC
* Vulkan - SteamOS is extremely dependent on Vulkan to succeed. As we've seen with so many of the games ported from DX to OpenGL, they generally come with a performance hit. Now, I get the argument "the FPS is still good enough as to be smooth and playable even with the performance hit on my machine", sure that works for you, but what about those with lesser hardware, and, more importantly, what's the incentive to switch to SteamOS if the vast majority of the games will run worse than on Windows? Now, I understand that it's possible to have the OpenGL version of a game be optimized just as well as DX, or even better, we've seen a few (sadly very few) such examples, but very few developers or porters have the time, resources, and, quite frankly, know how, to actually do it. Let's face it, OpenGL is a mess. There are a dozen different ways to do everything and it's very difficult to know which way will result in the best performance for a given scenario without EXTENSIVE experience with the API because of how piss poor the documentation and guides are. For SteamOS to become a true competitor to Windows (in terms of gaming), games need to perform AT BARE MINIMUM just as well on it. This is never going to happen with OpenGL, but it hopefully does happen with Vulkan. This, unfortunately, will take time, though, as Vulkan only fully released a few months ago. DX12 has been out for just over a year and we're only just now starting to see games appearing that fully support it. We're at least half a year away from any real influx of Vulkan games. Ideally, if enough developers embrace it, Vulkan has a chance to make DX12 essentially obsolete. If enough major companies get behind it, Microsoft will have no choice but to implement it in XBOX One or whatever the successor is. This would be a major win for us.
* Apps - Steam Machines need to offer a much broader out of the box multimedia experience. Right now in Steam Big Picture Mode you can do far less than you can on a PS4 or a XBOX One. This can't continue. Steam Machines need to not only match, but exceed the experience of the consoles out of the box. I know that you can switch to a desktop session to do all this stuff (and more), but that's not good enough. The desktop environment is a fallback to tinkering and for power users, this stuff needs to be built into Steam Big Picture Mode itself. Music and movies (unfortunately mostly rentals only right now) are a nice start, but we need a lot more than that. Steam needs to integrate a full multimedia experience and, I can't stress this enough, easy, no jumping through rings of fire, recording of gameplay and one or two click streaming and uploading to YouTube and such. This needs to be so simple and seamless that anyone can do it with practically zero effort.
* Day 1 SteamOS supported AAA games - Sadly, these are few and far between. Getting 6 month old or year old games is nice for those of us that are already Linux users, but to get others to adopt SteamOS, these games need to launch alongside the Windows and console versions.
Of course, we're talking about Valve here, so patience is the key. We all know that Valve work on their own time. I'm willing to give them time, but these things have to happen eventually for SteamOS to become anything other than a very niche OS.
Last edited by Keyrock on 11 Jun 2016 at 2:02 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
> Web Apps
ffs, i hear my head screaming "anything but this. web apps are fucking cpu/memory eating disgrace made by lazy people. and normal apps are just as easy portable as web apps if done correctly"
sadly, world seems to turn the wrong way and they are unavoidable
ffs, i hear my head screaming "anything but this. web apps are fucking cpu/memory eating disgrace made by lazy people. and normal apps are just as easy portable as web apps if done correctly"
sadly, world seems to turn the wrong way and they are unavoidable
1 Likes, Who?
Going further than that, I don’t really get why Steam don’t just automatically query machines to be more accurate. They already have vast amounts of data from you that you probably don’t realise.
Because taking a random sample is close enough for most purposes of the survey.
Also, Steam Big Picture mode and SteamOS are still to this day not even included in their own Hardware Survey.
I bet Valve knows exactly how many people are using Big Picture mode and have SteamOS installed. It would be idiotic to release those products without monitoring how many people actually use them. They need to track these things to see how much resources they should put to it. If we don't know how many people have SteamOS installed, then it is because Valve doesn't want us to know. If Valve doesn't want us to know, then we can figure out the rest.
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Hello,there.Is there a smell of valve fanboy here?But,whatever.I hate microsoft anyway.They are just bitches who tries to milk u at evry corner.But i dont see any company on earth to be a saint and fully dedicated to public service.lets first think what it is that makes valve or steam that is a giant
farm now?it definitly has to be Half-Life series.it has to be right?Portal,L4D,CS,TF,and Dota 2(although valve played little dirty trick with Dota 2(its not their own original product...had dispute with blizzard),Right?)are good games no doubt but havnt u ever thought to urself that,
hey im buying these coz not only they are good,but my money will help valve developing HL3,right?
so,what the fuck is all about with steam machine or other crap.And where the hell is HL3.
Now as for linux.Im honestly saying i really want linux to conquer windows hagemony.Still im not yet a fully linux user but im keeping track of it.Why?simple reason,compitibility issues.Most of my go to software is not supported on linux.Heck even the software my 3g modem uses does not run on linux(had to use wine,which is a drag).No matter what ppl say about linux ,its still a long way behind compared to the support windows get from developers.Its been a long time sicnce i thoguht that ,hey,convergence of ubuntu looks great.Im definitly on their boat if they release this.But 3-4 years later where it is now(in some beta form.not very fucntional with bq aquaris or meizu tabs,lets be honest its still needs a lot of work).Also no unity 8 for desktop.so.not much faith for this linux distro either...Does any1 wants to break
free of microft claws?I dont think any1 truly wants that or dedicate themselves to that except
maybe for google.I m not saying google is saint or whatever but only they managed to make some
impact on the os market with android and likes.Others are all promise little delivary.
I know gaming on linux might be a thing in a distant future.But it also is dependant on how
valve wants to push the platform,uncool(too much dependancy).The true factor is as many of u said vulkan is really the key rather than steam.If it can deliver better perfomence there will
be no need for windows only (DX12&LIKES)games.They will be multiplatfrom from day1.what i belive for vulkan and linux to be success is not only valve but also true contribution from all
of gaming industry and google really needs to make a step in here with their chrome OS or likes.
Linux will defintly be a succes in the future with iot and likes but that will take dedication.
In the meantime i will definitly be watching all this to make my switch to linux.
Last edited by Overlord on 11 Jun 2016 at 4:16 pm UTC
farm now?it definitly has to be Half-Life series.it has to be right?Portal,L4D,CS,TF,and Dota 2(although valve played little dirty trick with Dota 2(its not their own original product...had dispute with blizzard),Right?)are good games no doubt but havnt u ever thought to urself that,
hey im buying these coz not only they are good,but my money will help valve developing HL3,right?
so,what the fuck is all about with steam machine or other crap.And where the hell is HL3.
Now as for linux.Im honestly saying i really want linux to conquer windows hagemony.Still im not yet a fully linux user but im keeping track of it.Why?simple reason,compitibility issues.Most of my go to software is not supported on linux.Heck even the software my 3g modem uses does not run on linux(had to use wine,which is a drag).No matter what ppl say about linux ,its still a long way behind compared to the support windows get from developers.Its been a long time sicnce i thoguht that ,hey,convergence of ubuntu looks great.Im definitly on their boat if they release this.But 3-4 years later where it is now(in some beta form.not very fucntional with bq aquaris or meizu tabs,lets be honest its still needs a lot of work).Also no unity 8 for desktop.so.not much faith for this linux distro either...Does any1 wants to break
free of microft claws?I dont think any1 truly wants that or dedicate themselves to that except
maybe for google.I m not saying google is saint or whatever but only they managed to make some
impact on the os market with android and likes.Others are all promise little delivary.
I know gaming on linux might be a thing in a distant future.But it also is dependant on how
valve wants to push the platform,uncool(too much dependancy).The true factor is as many of u said vulkan is really the key rather than steam.If it can deliver better perfomence there will
be no need for windows only (DX12&LIKES)games.They will be multiplatfrom from day1.what i belive for vulkan and linux to be success is not only valve but also true contribution from all
of gaming industry and google really needs to make a step in here with their chrome OS or likes.
Linux will defintly be a succes in the future with iot and likes but that will take dedication.
In the meantime i will definitly be watching all this to make my switch to linux.
Last edited by Overlord on 11 Jun 2016 at 4:16 pm UTC
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Im honestly saying i really want linux to conquer windows hagemony.Still im not yet a fully linux user but im keeping track of it.Why?simple reason,compitibility issues.Most of my go to software is not supported on linux.Heck even the software my 3g modem uses does not run on linux(had to use wine,which is a drag).No matter what ppl say about linux ,its still a long way behind compared to the support windows get from developers.
Vote with your wallet, my friend. I am sure there are Linux compatible 3G modems. Seems you have bought first, then started to look at Linux compatibility. The developer/manufacturer already has your money, so there is no reason for him to change behaviour. You did vote Windows. Buying Linux compatible hardware and software is the only way you are going to make developers support Linux.
I know gaming on linux might be a thing in a distant future,
You are exagerating. Gaming on Linux is a thing now and it is great. It works, there are many games and if you wouldn't know about that other big operating system, there would be little to complain about.
Last edited by dmantione on 11 Jun 2016 at 4:47 pm UTC
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Did they bite off more than they could chew ? Getting some of the features ironed out is one thing but the whole company needs to be on board and you get the feeling that they aren't.
Perhaps its time to Hand over SteamOS officially to the Community and provide technical support + actual donations to core contributors. Paid mods for smaller contributors all maintained by the core contributors. It would be a lot cheaper, faster and get more people on board.
Let the community grow it into something worthwhile
Last edited by on 11 Jun 2016 at 5:54 pm UTC
Perhaps its time to Hand over SteamOS officially to the Community and provide technical support + actual donations to core contributors. Paid mods for smaller contributors all maintained by the core contributors. It would be a lot cheaper, faster and get more people on board.
Let the community grow it into something worthwhile
Last edited by on 11 Jun 2016 at 5:54 pm UTC
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Im honestly saying i really want linux to conquer windows hagemony.Still im not yet a fully linux user but im keeping track of it.Why?simple reason,compitibility issues.Most of my go to software is not supported on linux.Heck even the software my 3g modem uses does not run on linux(had to use wine,which is a drag).No matter what ppl say about linux ,its still a long way behind compared to the support windows get from developers.
Vote with your wallet, my friend. I am sure there are Linux compatible 3G modems. Seems you have bought first, then started to look at Linux compatibility. The developer/manufacturer already has your money, so there is no reason for him to change behaviour. You did vote Windows. Buying Linux compatible hardware and software is the only way you are going to make developers support Linux.
I know gaming on linux might be a thing in a distant future,
You are exagerating. Gaming on Linux is a thing now and it is great. It works, there are many games and if you wouldn't know about that other big operating system, there would be little to complain about.
(Dude,i really have no idea what u thought of when i said,gaming on linux might be a thing in a distant future.But i really meant,gaming on linux will be a thing when developer will give more priority to linux than windows for day 1 release of all their games.
Plus for the first point u noted,all i have to say im a tiny man.even if i become a super linux fanboy and avoid everything in the world exept for linux branding.it wont create an avalance on
market share.The devs needs to get their ass moving first.
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Kuduzkehpan 11 Jun 2016
well SM couldnt be famous or overwhelming in 1 day week month year. While there is almost no AAA games in linux.
But now we have many titles coming in Linux field. That is a success beyond that SM sold at very low numbers. (actually 500.000 device changed much more in linux gaming era so that is also success.)
we have way better GPU drivers by nvidia amd-ati. We have Vulkan in the name of greater purpose:Cross-platform gaming. Device independence. No one can offer this without Valve's Steam. And Steam is also proven itself as a indie gaming platform. That is also success.
and never forget best love is the hardest one. I love Linux its so fricking hard.
But now we have many titles coming in Linux field. That is a success beyond that SM sold at very low numbers. (actually 500.000 device changed much more in linux gaming era so that is also success.)
we have way better GPU drivers by nvidia amd-ati. We have Vulkan in the name of greater purpose:Cross-platform gaming. Device independence. No one can offer this without Valve's Steam. And Steam is also proven itself as a indie gaming platform. That is also success.
and never forget best love is the hardest one. I love Linux its so fricking hard.
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Plus for the first point u noted,all i have to say im a tiny man.even if i become a super linux fanboy and avoid everything in the world exept for linux branding.it wont create an avalance on
market share.The devs needs to get their ass moving first.
Avalanche not, but influence, oh yes. Why would developers move their ass if you give them your money unconditionally?
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I'm very much on the "what's the point of SteamOS" boat. It has all the shortcomings of a Linux distribution - crap drivers, bad performance and small game library. However, it has none of the advantages - flexibility, customizartion, additional software (not without tinkering). I've tried it and found it objectively terrible. Thanks, but no thanks.
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I'll have to agree here, Valve needs to do more if they want to push gaming onto SteamOS/Linux, something to get the ball rolling.
I think a big problem here is marketing. I was really wanting them to do this last year, but they just didn't outside of Steam itself. Fact is, SteamOS and Steam Machines aren't something to replace Windows, but something to fill the role of a console. So why not advertise in such a way that reaches console users? This makes no sense to me.
Last edited by Aimela on 11 Jun 2016 at 11:00 pm UTC
I think a big problem here is marketing. I was really wanting them to do this last year, but they just didn't outside of Steam itself. Fact is, SteamOS and Steam Machines aren't something to replace Windows, but something to fill the role of a console. So why not advertise in such a way that reaches console users? This makes no sense to me.
Last edited by Aimela on 11 Jun 2016 at 11:00 pm UTC
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I see many of you mention marketing of Linux releases in the Steam client, with front page banners and all that. I don't think that's up to Valve but the publishers, that it is paid advertisement and not just something Valve do for them for free more or less on random. Don't think it's cheap either.
Also I don't believe they should push steamos right now - it's not ready yet. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
So they are right in keeping it low for now. I just wish they put more resources into making it ready. That's my main gripe with the whole situation.
Last edited by Beamboom on 12 Jun 2016 at 7:34 am UTC
Also I don't believe they should push steamos right now - it's not ready yet. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression.
So they are right in keeping it low for now. I just wish they put more resources into making it ready. That's my main gripe with the whole situation.
Last edited by Beamboom on 12 Jun 2016 at 7:34 am UTC
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Now the situation for Linux Gamers is BAD before was Extremely very bad! :PYes because of even more proprietary nonsense and drivers, closed for the user which has to be opened as it is a free software platform.
If I was a fanatic gamer I wouldnt switched to Linux , who the heck would switch to Linux if all the new games are getting released to Windows?And you see that all of these are just sequels or prequels or whatever the industry uses to generate cash and show the customers the need to consume?!
Dark Souls 3?
NBA 2k17?
Watch Dogs 2?
MAFIA III?
Battlefield 1?
I can keep going on ...
All the broadcaster , TWITCH TV Gamers , youtubers etc there is no way that would ever switch to Linux if that is keep going NOT IN A MILLLION!!!Please don't confoundthe word gamer with this new self-promoters using games to generate money. If there would be really interest bringing the essence of game near to the people those platforms wouldn't exist. And even all the Minecraft-streamers or -players would stop immediately with all the content if there would be a new hot, cool game out there with more features and they would be payed from the company behind to promote this. The only reason for you is "streaming" and "self-promoting"? Okay: How about playing the game? No? Yes? :)
Have you ever saw a Windows Live streamer popular gamer?? they have like more than 8k people watching their shows is not that simple to switch to Linux for a gamer.
You remember the days when people were saying "Windows is for Gamers!" ?Ah, perfect: Let's do a mix. But you know? Doing this will only build up Linux as new open-sourced Windows. Have you ever thought about what everyone here is doing by promoting a close-source platform with only proprietary drivers? No? Yes? :)
Well that is what Valve is trying to do, turn the tables upside down which is not that simple and make people to say "Dude you still playing in Windows? lol? Linux is for Gamers!"
So in order for SteamOS to succeed the answer is very simple but yet very complicated to be implemented.And SteamOS is not a Linux as Android also is only the kernel with something more.
So in short :Exclusive games for Linux? As I have written above: This will change nothing. Staying that way and it could be balanced because there will be no further interest ruining the ideas behind a GNU/Linux. More people and users, more problems like this will occur and in fact it will ruin the complete idea. So what do you want? Just another Windows? Would be better to stay there as it is the "Original". Or another operating-system? Something you could modify at your will? Stop promoting this "Linux has to be like Windows!"-thing.
1. Make it easy for developer to elease all the games at day 1 for Steams OS
2. Outperform Windows FPS at gaming with Vulkan
3. Release exclusive games for Linux even for 3-6 months
4. Improve Linux OS , system, drivers , etc
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Go to http://store.steampowered.com and click on "install steam", you will end up here:
http://store.steampowered.com/about/
There is a big Ubuntu advertisement there, recommending every Windows user to try Ubuntu. Yes, the page appears the same to Windows users, checked that. As long as any Windows user that wants to install Steam has to view a Linux advertisement, I don't think there can be any question that Linux is still important to Valve.
Therefore I don't buy arguments that Linux wasn't the goal. It was and is the goal. It looks like it has more been turned into a long term plan though.
http://store.steampowered.com/about/
There is a big Ubuntu advertisement there, recommending every Windows user to try Ubuntu. Yes, the page appears the same to Windows users, checked that. As long as any Windows user that wants to install Steam has to view a Linux advertisement, I don't think there can be any question that Linux is still important to Valve.
Therefore I don't buy arguments that Linux wasn't the goal. It was and is the goal. It looks like it has more been turned into a long term plan though.
1 Likes, Who?
First I like to thank you for your good work. This site is great!
My thoughts on why Valve has become so quiet about SteamOS:
When they started in 2013 with it, they had serious concerns that Micosoft developed to a direct competitor through "Games for Windows Live". I think this was Microsoft's plan. But three years later we have to notice that Microsoft has failed. Instead the business with Windows games is booming on Steam. So I think Valve have downgraded SteamOS from "mission critical" to "nice to have". As long as Windows games sell so well they will not bite the hand that feeds them.
Nevertheless, Valve has created a market for Linux games, which did not exist before. This market now evolving continuously.
My thoughts on why Valve has become so quiet about SteamOS:
When they started in 2013 with it, they had serious concerns that Micosoft developed to a direct competitor through "Games for Windows Live". I think this was Microsoft's plan. But three years later we have to notice that Microsoft has failed. Instead the business with Windows games is booming on Steam. So I think Valve have downgraded SteamOS from "mission critical" to "nice to have". As long as Windows games sell so well they will not bite the hand that feeds them.
Nevertheless, Valve has created a market for Linux games, which did not exist before. This market now evolving continuously.
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Therefore I don't buy arguments that Linux wasn't the goal. It was and is the goal. It looks like it has more been turned into a long term plan though.
They now serve just the community itself. We are not so many but apparently solvent enough. Otherwise hardly as many games would appear for Linux as they do. Moreover, even from completely different publishers. Why would they do that if they earn no money?
I also observe that there are more and more games that are ported to Linux but not to MacOS. See PayDay2 for example. I think SteamOS as a reference platform makes porting much easier. And be it that people understand that a publisher may not test all possible Linux distributions and setups. Valve also advertises Ubuntu, because they know exactly that hardly anyone uses SteamOS itself.
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Nevertheless, Valve has created a market for Linux games, which did not exist before. This market now evolving continuously.
It existed. There was quite a demand for GNU/Linux gaming long before Valve had any interest. Valve helped grow the market very quickly, but they didn't create it. Even Unity3D was supporting GNU/Linux before Valve, as an example.
Of course. So it was meant. Sorry I've not observed. I've started to play normal Games again a year ago or so with Tropico5. Before that I did not play 15 years because of the lack of good games for Linux. In the 80s and 90s I would consider myself a pro gamer. At that time I was always up-to-date. :)
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