Flathub [Official Site], a 'central hub' for Flatpak [Official Site] applications have now made a Flatpak of Steam available for Linux users.
Note: I've not used Flatpak at all myself, nor have I tried out this Steam Flatpak as I don't want any issues with my existing install.
Found on the github for Flathub is com.valvesoftware.Steam, where you can find out more about what it's doing. While it is unofficial, Valve could request access if they wished to take control of it, according to this comment on github.
The actual Steam download itself is little more than another downloader anyway, which then downloads the full Steam application. The Flatpak for Steam doesn't actually contain the Steam downloader, looking at the JSON file, it actually links to the official downloadable tar.gz from Valve. Steam also updates itself, so it's possibly one of the less important applications for Flatpak. While Flatpak is claimed to be more secure than .deb and .rpm, there's a lot of conflicting information and opinions on that.
Having a proper cross-distribution package management tool will benefit Linux quite a lot in the long run, at least that's what I think anyway. Being able to download and update any application I want and be up to date no matter the distribution is very appealing.
If you want to read more about Flatpak itself, check the official FAQ.
Thanks to AsciiWolf for the email tip! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Note: I've not used Flatpak at all myself, nor have I tried out this Steam Flatpak as I don't want any issues with my existing install.
Found on the github for Flathub is com.valvesoftware.Steam, where you can find out more about what it's doing. While it is unofficial, Valve could request access if they wished to take control of it, according to this comment on github.
The actual Steam download itself is little more than another downloader anyway, which then downloads the full Steam application. The Flatpak for Steam doesn't actually contain the Steam downloader, looking at the JSON file, it actually links to the official downloadable tar.gz from Valve. Steam also updates itself, so it's possibly one of the less important applications for Flatpak. While Flatpak is claimed to be more secure than .deb and .rpm, there's a lot of conflicting information and opinions on that.
Having a proper cross-distribution package management tool will benefit Linux quite a lot in the long run, at least that's what I think anyway. Being able to download and update any application I want and be up to date no matter the distribution is very appealing.
If you want to read more about Flatpak itself, check the official FAQ.
Thanks to AsciiWolf for the email tip! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
slaapliedje Jun 20, 2017
I kind of view flatpak as being a far more useful version of docker. Or more appropriately more useful for certain things. Like "Oh, I want a newer python, let's use docker." That would be better served by a flatpak. Docker is better for something that has a bit more dependencies to it, like an apache server with a web application.
Steam is a perfect example of a flatpak. I installed a newer version of gnome-builder on Debian via flatpak as well.
The funny thing is flatpak and snappy came out around the same time... but since snappy is Ubuntu based, I bet you no one outside of Ubuntu adopts it's usage (though I think in typical Debian fashion, they packaged up both just in case).
I just installed a newer 'gnome-games' in Debian, since it currently has only 3.22 in the repositories, and it's a fast moving target as far as what platforms it supports. Really gnome-games is pretty genius itself and will read the steam games, plus a ton of emulators. Now if they could integrate it with the GoG library...
Steam is a perfect example of a flatpak. I installed a newer version of gnome-builder on Debian via flatpak as well.
The funny thing is flatpak and snappy came out around the same time... but since snappy is Ubuntu based, I bet you no one outside of Ubuntu adopts it's usage (though I think in typical Debian fashion, they packaged up both just in case).
I just installed a newer 'gnome-games' in Debian, since it currently has only 3.22 in the repositories, and it's a fast moving target as far as what platforms it supports. Really gnome-games is pretty genius itself and will read the steam games, plus a ton of emulators. Now if they could integrate it with the GoG library...
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lucifertdark Jun 20, 2017
Flatpack & Snappy seem a little surplus to requirements to me, don't get me wrong if Ubuntu goes full on Flatpack or Snap I'll use it but as long as the current install/uninstall system works I want to stick with that & not have to uninstall the others every 5 minutes because they chose to reinstall it again for the fifth time without asking.
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my tests, errors do not happen in steam installed via dnf (Fedora repo rpmfusion)
Borderlands 2 closes when downloading savegame
Bound by flame fonts problem
DeusEx does not open
Dirt rally error 127 and does not open
2015 f1 does not open
Grid autosport does not open
Mad Max did not open
Shadow of mordor is with texture bug already fixed by nvidia
Shadow warrior fonts problems
Fedora25 gnome(xorg) nvidia 780 driver 381.22
Borderlands 2 closes when downloading savegame
Bound by flame fonts problem
DeusEx does not open
Dirt rally error 127 and does not open
2015 f1 does not open
Grid autosport does not open
Mad Max did not open
Shadow of mordor is with texture bug already fixed by nvidia
Shadow warrior fonts problems
Fedora25 gnome(xorg) nvidia 780 driver 381.22
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slaapliedje Jun 20, 2017
Weird, so does the flatpak use its own nvidia driver? That sounds pretty terrible.
Steam seems to be in most distribution's repository. Fedora seems to be one of the few that still really need a separate repo added to be a nice desktop. I mean sure you can live without the rpmfusion repo if you have certain hardware, but if you have nvidia and want to game, rpmfusion is the way to go. Thank god they finally fused... the mess before with dag and the other one... finally made Fedora good.
Steam seems to be in most distribution's repository. Fedora seems to be one of the few that still really need a separate repo added to be a nice desktop. I mean sure you can live without the rpmfusion repo if you have certain hardware, but if you have nvidia and want to game, rpmfusion is the way to go. Thank god they finally fused... the mess before with dag and the other one... finally made Fedora good.
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what make flatpack more that snap for me is
suported by fedora so its suported by redhat
like we know past war (mir vs wayland) redhat and fedora win and in the end ubuntu give up
so flatpack get more chance in future that snap
and for flatpack vs deb or rpm is
its sandbox and pack with dep its can use for game client with need old/not support anymore/3rd party lib so its not the steam client need flatpack package but game from steam need pack in flatpack CMIW
suported by fedora so its suported by redhat
like we know past war (mir vs wayland) redhat and fedora win and in the end ubuntu give up
so flatpack get more chance in future that snap
and for flatpack vs deb or rpm is
its sandbox and pack with dep its can use for game client with need old/not support anymore/3rd party lib so its not the steam client need flatpack package but game from steam need pack in flatpack CMIW
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Assuming that this thing works correctly eventually, do you think it will be possible in future to run two sandboxed instances of the same game at the same time? Borderlands 2 in my library still cries for some splitscreen (also because it's so damn boring to play alone).
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natewardawg Jun 21, 2017
Quoting: MalAssuming that this thing works correctly eventually, do you think it will be possible in future to run two sandboxed instances of the same game at the same time? Borderlands 2 in my library still cries for some splitscreen (also because it's so damn boring to play alone).
I doubt it since Valve only allows one login per IP address. If somehow contained applications allow for virtual networking in the future it might work then. I don't believe that's available now. Even still, Valve only allows one game to be played per account, so you'd need two IPs, two accounts, and therefore two copies of the game to get this desired setup to work.
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Quoting: natewardawgI doubt it since Valve only allows one login per IP address. If somehow contained applications allow for virtual networking in the future it might work then. I don't believe that's available now.Virtual networking? Why? Shouldn't a sandbox just have some configurable ports to open or re direct? It's all that is needed.
Quoting: natewardawgEven still, Valve only allows one game to be played per account, so you'd need two IPs, two accounts, and therefore two copies of the game to get this desired setup to work.
There is a misunderstanding. What you say only holds for the on-line status: on a cloud service you are supposed to have one account per user which imho is totally reasonable (and also much more technically manageable). But here I'm talking about splitting screen among local users. No cloud involved. On my windows partition for instance I used to run 3 instances of borderlands off line and play splitscreen using the LAN multiplayer. But my windows partition is long gone, it's not going to be necromanced back but I'm still looking to finish that game one day or another.
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natewardawg Jun 21, 2017
Quoting: MalVirtual networking? Why? Shouldn't a sandbox just have some configurable ports to open or re direct? It's all that is needed.
I'm not sure, but you may be right. If you can get Steam to somehow not know it's already running on the same machine it would probably work.
Quoting: MalThere is a misunderstanding. What you say only holds for the on-line status: on a cloud service you are supposed to have one account per user which imho is totally reasonable (and also much more technically manageable). But here I'm talking about splitting screen among local users. No cloud involved. On my windows partition for instance I used to run 3 instances of borderlands off line and play splitscreen using the LAN multiplayer. But my windows partition is long gone, it's not going to be necromanced back but I'm still looking to finish that game one day or another.
Ahhh, okay, that makes sense. I've never even looked at LAN options withing Borderlands. I didn't even know they existed.
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slaapliedje Jun 26, 2017
Quoting: natewardawgQuoting: MalVirtual networking? Why? Shouldn't a sandbox just have some configurable ports to open or re direct? It's all that is needed.
I'm not sure, but you may be right. If you can get Steam to somehow not know it's already running on the same machine it would probably work.
Quoting: MalThere is a misunderstanding. What you say only holds for the on-line status: on a cloud service you are supposed to have one account per user which imho is totally reasonable (and also much more technically manageable). But here I'm talking about splitting screen among local users. No cloud involved. On my windows partition for instance I used to run 3 instances of borderlands off line and play splitscreen using the LAN multiplayer. But my windows partition is long gone, it's not going to be necromanced back but I'm still looking to finish that game one day or another.
Ahhh, okay, that makes sense. I've never even looked at LAN options withing Borderlands. I didn't even know they existed.
Ugh, this right here pisses me off.... remember the days when we all had the option to play on-line or in a LAN configuration? Broderlands is one of the few that still have it. Or we're also cheated out of things like split screen local play (consoles have it). Personally I love playing LAN more than over the Internet. I mean you can't do the "I just used the ax in Quake to frag you 8 times in a row" dance when they can't see you.
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GloriousEggroll Dec 7, 2017
tested between this and the solus snap, the solus snap runs MUCH better across games. I was able to get Dying Light and Day of Infamy running flawlessly on Arch with amdgpu/mesa with no problems. Also, snap also has support for mounted partitions via linking the /run/media folder as well as joystick support. I've made a blog post about it here:
https://www.gloriouseggroll.tv/having-steam-game-problems-on-your-distro-try-the-snap-pak-of-steam/
https://www.gloriouseggroll.tv/having-steam-game-problems-on-your-distro-try-the-snap-pak-of-steam/
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