Support us on Patreon
PayPal
You know the drill by now, it's up and down all the time and I don't think we should really pay much attention to the Steam Hardware Survey any more, regardless of it going up or down. A better measure is likely to keep talking to developers, and see how their actual sales are doing on Linux.
Anyway, for those who are still interested:
Linux Total: 0.89% - 0.04%
Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.33% - 0.01%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% 0.00%
Linux Mint 18 Sarah 64 bit 0.09% + 0.01%
Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS 64 bit 0.05% - 0.01%
Even though Valve aren't currently counting anyone in Big Picture or SteamOS, I doubt it would change anything much. Our own survey suggests SteamOS use is pretty low (26 out of 1645 who answered it).
These results may change tomorrow or the day after, as it seems Valve sometimes adjust them a day or so after they put out the results, like we saw last month, and that's not the only time they have done that.
Make of it what you will. I'm not going to put the blame anywhere, as no one really knows apart from Valve, and apparently I'm always wrong according to a few people who think they know better.
What I will say, is don't get disheartened by figures like this, we can mostly ignore it until the change is much bigger. That goes for when it rises too. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Anyway, for those who are still interested:
Linux Total: 0.89% - 0.04%
Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.33% - 0.01%
Linux 64 bit 0.10% 0.00%
Linux Mint 18 Sarah 64 bit 0.09% + 0.01%
Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS 64 bit 0.05% - 0.01%
Even though Valve aren't currently counting anyone in Big Picture or SteamOS, I doubt it would change anything much. Our own survey suggests SteamOS use is pretty low (26 out of 1645 who answered it).
These results may change tomorrow or the day after, as it seems Valve sometimes adjust them a day or so after they put out the results, like we saw last month, and that's not the only time they have done that.
Make of it what you will. I'm not going to put the blame anywhere, as no one really knows apart from Valve, and apparently I'm always wrong according to a few people who think they know better.
What I will say, is don't get disheartened by figures like this, we can mostly ignore it until the change is much bigger. That goes for when it rises too. 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.
Quoting: dmantioneThis month we are showing good market share of 2.72% on W3Counter:
It can no longer be dismissed as noise, one thing that is sure, is that Linux market share has risen in 2016!
We are not talking about Linux users here. We are talking about Linux gamers (or gamers converted from Windows to Linux)! Feel the difference. :D
While Linux can get more attractive to general user, it is lacking for the gamer. No AAAAAA-titles everyone is speaking about. Only Windows walkthroughs on www.gamefaqs.com. All friends around are using Windows. Heck, even console emulators! Pick one. Anyone. It has Windows support and Windows builds ready on its site and no Linux builds (if you are lucky, you will find a recomendation to get it from your distribution maintainer; otherwise, search forums for unofficial community builds and hope they will work).
0 Likes
orochi_kyo Nov 2, 2016
"Make of it what you will. I'm not going to put the blame anywhere, as no one really knows apart from Valve, and apparently I'm always wrong according to a few people who think they know better."
Without access to Steam player database, your statements are just an opinion as those "who think they know better" are opinions too. You sound kinda butthurt at that moment, like you like to blame Valve and everyone should be agree with that, there are no one to blame but the same linux distros developers that makes things more complicated that it supposed to be.
The day you dont have to use the damn terminal to install stuff that it supposed to be installed by default, that day youll see Linux numbers to raise slowly instead of staying the same.
I do install Ubuntu, Lubuntu and Mint on my customer computers, saying them that I cant install Windows without a license, most of them are happy with the results, but I know without me installing the stuff they need, Linux are just a bothersome, knowing you have to introduce a complicated command on terminal that actually without internet help you will never know about it, only to make mesa drivers with intel cards on lubuntu or ubuntu, or damn Mint now showing resolutions for 1640x1050 or other resolutions.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with its lan options greyed out, then suddenly wifi icon dissapearing...
A regular Linux user will not install SteamOS, a windows user will not too, Steamboxes arent appealing for console players, etc.
So, while the terminal keeps being the most used tool to fix and download most of the stuff on any linux distro, linux will remain being a niche, there is a reason why M$ wanted to kill it with windows ME, a reason that actually any Mac OS doesnt have a terminal since 10 years ago.
Without access to Steam player database, your statements are just an opinion as those "who think they know better" are opinions too. You sound kinda butthurt at that moment, like you like to blame Valve and everyone should be agree with that, there are no one to blame but the same linux distros developers that makes things more complicated that it supposed to be.
The day you dont have to use the damn terminal to install stuff that it supposed to be installed by default, that day youll see Linux numbers to raise slowly instead of staying the same.
I do install Ubuntu, Lubuntu and Mint on my customer computers, saying them that I cant install Windows without a license, most of them are happy with the results, but I know without me installing the stuff they need, Linux are just a bothersome, knowing you have to introduce a complicated command on terminal that actually without internet help you will never know about it, only to make mesa drivers with intel cards on lubuntu or ubuntu, or damn Mint now showing resolutions for 1640x1050 or other resolutions.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with its lan options greyed out, then suddenly wifi icon dissapearing...
A regular Linux user will not install SteamOS, a windows user will not too, Steamboxes arent appealing for console players, etc.
So, while the terminal keeps being the most used tool to fix and download most of the stuff on any linux distro, linux will remain being a niche, there is a reason why M$ wanted to kill it with windows ME, a reason that actually any Mac OS doesnt have a terminal since 10 years ago.
0 Likes
Quoting: orochikyo...there is a reason ... that actually any Mac OS doesnt have a terminal since 10 years ago.
To be honest, it doesn't look like the absense of the Terminal helped MacOS become "Gamers' Heaven" in any way. The same old 3,5%...
0 Likes
TheYetiWakes Nov 2, 2016
I haven't been asked to complete one of these hardware surveys since about 2004. I know it was around then as I was on windows at time and that's when I dropped it completely for Linux.
Since then I've accessed steam on numerous machines and now regularly use a desktop and a HTPC without being asked. Have I somehow opted out somewhere along the line?
Since then I've accessed steam on numerous machines and now regularly use a desktop and a HTPC without being asked. Have I somehow opted out somewhere along the line?
0 Likes
Crystal Dagger Nov 2, 2016
A bit old, but worth reading: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3045249/linux/linux-gaming-is-much-healthier-than-steams-hardware-survey-implies.html
0 Likes
I play most in bic picture mode, because of controller configuration.
Last edited by 1xok on 2 November 2016 at 5:25 pm UTC
Last edited by 1xok on 2 November 2016 at 5:25 pm UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: orochikyo"Make of it what you will. I'm not going to put the blame anywhere, as no one really knows apart from Valve, and apparently I'm always wrong according to a few people who think they know better."
Without access to Steam player database, your statements are just an opinion as those "who think they know better" are opinions too. You sound kinda butthurt at that moment, like you like to blame Valve and everyone should be agree with that, there are no one to blame but the same linux distros developers that makes things more complicated that it supposed to be.
The day you dont have to use the damn terminal to install stuff that it supposed to be installed by default, that day youll see Linux numbers to raise slowly instead of staying the same.
I do install Ubuntu, Lubuntu and Mint on my customer computers, saying them that I cant install Windows without a license, most of them are happy with the results, but I know without me installing the stuff they need, Linux are just a bothersome, knowing you have to introduce a complicated command on terminal that actually without internet help you will never know about it, only to make mesa drivers with intel cards on lubuntu or ubuntu, or damn Mint now showing resolutions for 1640x1050 or other resolutions.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with its lan options greyed out, then suddenly wifi icon dissapearing...
A regular Linux user will not install SteamOS, a windows user will not too, Steamboxes arent appealing for console players, etc.
So, while the terminal keeps being the most used tool to fix and download most of the stuff on any linux distro, linux will remain being a niche, there is a reason why M$ wanted to kill it with windows ME, a reason that actually any Mac OS doesnt have a terminal since 10 years ago.
I agree distro developers could make a standardized packages that would be installed the same on all the distros, but trust me when I say that a lot of people who use Windows don't know how to do stuff as well but they are familiar with the way of searching for answers... they would need a help from the internet to tell them ok download this and this and run it as an administrator and install, watch out not to install any bloatware with that... Same is on ubuntu you practically gain a few commands that you literally copy from google into the terminal to add repos, install apps, uninstall them so basically the only thing "repelling" here is the terminal interface which people are so afraid of. It is not necessarily harder to do, in my opinion it's way faster and more efficient than in Windows... but the concept is better, you update all your software directly from repositories without having to manually update every app so if you set up a customer's machine you can literally just run update manager and update their complete system along with applications.
Up to this day it is bad that all the tutorials on google begin with Open terminal and type sudo gedit /etc... it would be better to just tell users navigate to etc folder find this and this and open in text editor for editing parameters. That would be much more user friendly and we who know the command line could still use a shortcut to open that with 1 simple command. But eventhough there is some learning curve I think that these days Linux is not that hard to use even for a newcomer. A lot of things are solved on google already.
0 Likes
Quoting: orochikyo"Make of it what you will. I'm not going to put the blame anywhere, as no one really knows apart from Valve, and apparently I'm always wrong according to a few people who think they know better."
Without access to Steam player database, your statements are just an opinion as those "who think they know better" are opinions too. You sound kinda butthurt at that moment, like you like to blame Valve and everyone should be agree with that, there are no one to blame but the same linux distros developers that makes things more complicated that it supposed to be.
The day you dont have to use the damn terminal to install stuff that it supposed to be installed by default, that day youll see Linux numbers to raise slowly instead of staying the same.
I do install Ubuntu, Lubuntu and Mint on my customer computers, saying them that I cant install Windows without a license, most of them are happy with the results, but I know without me installing the stuff they need, Linux are just a bothersome, knowing you have to introduce a complicated command on terminal that actually without internet help you will never know about it, only to make mesa drivers with intel cards on lubuntu or ubuntu, or damn Mint now showing resolutions for 1640x1050 or other resolutions.
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with its lan options greyed out, then suddenly wifi icon dissapearing...
A regular Linux user will not install SteamOS, a windows user will not too, Steamboxes arent appealing for console players, etc.
So, while the terminal keeps being the most used tool to fix and download most of the stuff on any linux distro, linux will remain being a niche, there is a reason why M$ wanted to kill it with windows ME, a reason that actually any Mac OS doesnt have a terminal since 10 years ago.
You are not authoritative for what is supposed to be installed by default.
By default most distro's come with way more software than Windows
You don't actually have to use a terminal to install or update things anymore (haven't for a long time)
Last time I checked (less than 10 years ago) MAC still had a terminal, so does Windows.
When you leave regular users to install all their software, the vast majority end up with all kinds of malware on their machines. They really shouldn't be installing their own software.
Most of the problems you listed come from the fact that hardware manufacturers don't make sure their products work well in Linux. I don't think that is going to change anytime soon. To assure that all hardware works right someone has to get behind a platform and verify everything, there has to be consistency. Valve may or may not do that in the future with Steam Machines. Their appeal was very limited at first because the game selection was not good, that is changing. I think Steam Machines could still take off, but Valve has to really get behind them. Unfortunately if Valve doesn't push I'm not optimistic about the future for us, I think we will be really lucky if we get the same (or near the same) level of attention as MAC from game publishers/devs.
0 Likes
Quoting: Alm888Quoting: dmantioneThis month we are showing good market share of 2.72% on W3Counter:
It can no longer be dismissed as noise, one thing that is sure, is that Linux market share has risen in 2016!
We are not talking about Linux users here. We are talking about Linux gamers (or gamers converted from Windows to Linux)! Feel the difference. :D
Of course, but more Linux users means more potential gamers. Further, the availability of games was an important missing component from the Linux desktop experience and the fact that there now are games, may well have been a factor in the rise of Linux market share. Things are linked together.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: dmantioneOf course, but more Linux users means more potential gamers. Further, the availability of games was an important missing component from the Linux desktop experience and the fact that there now are games, may well have been a factor in the rise of Linux market share. Things are linked together.
The main problem is the bundling of PCs with Windows. No user like to installing a operating system or changing a already running system. So it stays a uphill battle for Linux.
From Schenker/XMG you can buy PCs and Laptops without OS:
https://www.mysn.de/
And there is another German company which offers this devices with pre-installed Linux:
http://www.tuxedocomputers.com/index.php
For example, you can buy there a Linux-Gaming Laptop with a GTX 1060/1070 and a pre-installed Xubuntu with drivers and support for all components. But this is of course the exception to the rule.
Because the big PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, DELL or HP earn well in the sale of the Windows licenses, they have no interest in offering Linux. Just a few alibi devices like the DELL XPS apart (is not offered anymore).
Without changing the law you can wait a long time for the breakthrough of Linux, because Microsoft and the PC manufacturers have divided the market already. I see under these conditions no chance for Linux in the mass market. Even if it would be the better alternative for many users.
Last edited by 1xok on 2 November 2016 at 6:14 pm UTC
0 Likes
See more from me