Another month goes by and Valve have released their Steam Hardware Survey. It shows a drop in Linux marketshare, but it's not as bad as people claim.
I actually stopped talking about this for a while until recently as not much changes. When I see people linking to articles with a title like this:
"Steam Linux Usage Saw A Notable Decline For June 2017"
I can't help but attempt to clear it up.
To be clear, there is no feud between GOL and Phoronix, but I do take issue with, to be blunt, clickbait headlines like that. A large amount of his reporting is generally quite accurate. However, headlines like that and the text of the article too saying it's a "relatively large decline" just aren't right.
Linux marketshare on Steam dropped by 0.09% for last month. That is not a notable decline, it's so low it could be within the margin of error. We don't know what their sample size is though, so the error margin is not clear. It might look like more than it is because our overall share is obviously a lot lower than where Windows is currently. This could also be from variations in the sampling each month.
The main thing: We're talking sub-1% changes here. If there was a notable decrease in Linux gamers on Steam, the decrease in the overall percentage would be a lot sharper.
It can be a simple case of Windows growth in certain markets outpacing Linux growth. That doesn't suddenly mean Linux has any kind of notable decline in use. Linux is likely growing too, just not as fast.
You can claim the Linux survey doesn't come up often enough, but that's just how sampling works.
You can argue booting into your Windows dual-boot partition suddenly makes it appear and claim it's wrong. Of course it would pop up then though, that's it seeing a change in your system. So you are likely to see a survey.
The numbers in the Valve survey are very close to what I constantly see from developers when talking in public (and more often in private) about their sales numbers.
We're strong enough for hundreds of indie titles each month, Feral Interactive, Aspyr Media & Virtual Programming all still port some of the bigger titles to Linux. It's going well all things considered.
Everything's fine. Keep calm and carry on, basically. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I actually stopped talking about this for a while until recently as not much changes. When I see people linking to articles with a title like this:
"Steam Linux Usage Saw A Notable Decline For June 2017"
I can't help but attempt to clear it up.
To be clear, there is no feud between GOL and Phoronix, but I do take issue with, to be blunt, clickbait headlines like that. A large amount of his reporting is generally quite accurate. However, headlines like that and the text of the article too saying it's a "relatively large decline" just aren't right.
Linux marketshare on Steam dropped by 0.09% for last month. That is not a notable decline, it's so low it could be within the margin of error. We don't know what their sample size is though, so the error margin is not clear. It might look like more than it is because our overall share is obviously a lot lower than where Windows is currently. This could also be from variations in the sampling each month.
The main thing: We're talking sub-1% changes here. If there was a notable decrease in Linux gamers on Steam, the decrease in the overall percentage would be a lot sharper.
It can be a simple case of Windows growth in certain markets outpacing Linux growth. That doesn't suddenly mean Linux has any kind of notable decline in use. Linux is likely growing too, just not as fast.
You can claim the Linux survey doesn't come up often enough, but that's just how sampling works.
You can argue booting into your Windows dual-boot partition suddenly makes it appear and claim it's wrong. Of course it would pop up then though, that's it seeing a change in your system. So you are likely to see a survey.
The numbers in the Valve survey are very close to what I constantly see from developers when talking in public (and more often in private) about their sales numbers.
We're strong enough for hundreds of indie titles each month, Feral Interactive, Aspyr Media & Virtual Programming all still port some of the bigger titles to Linux. It's going well all things considered.
Everything's fine. Keep calm and carry on, basically. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
I got the survey this month and upon clicking finish steam crashed. :(
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SystemShock Jul 2, 2017
I got the survey a few Days ago as i was playing Doom2016 under wine....
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Quoting: AnxiousInfusionUnless the Steam client goes open source and they start offering DRM-free options, I will be ditching Steam ASAP.
Isn't that a kind of extreme view? If you buy a car and you want to drive to the next town, you do accept and drive according to the laws right? (no offence intended ;))
Open source or not is imho a business decision and I'm fine with both if it works. I'm happy to contribute if needed but I'm also happy to pay if it is asked. I know that Steam for Linux is also mostly a Business Decision to have some arguments against Microsoft in hands, but I'm very grateful that we have it, otherwise the state of gaming on Linux would be now like 10 years in the past.
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Quoting: ertuquequeIt is indeed quite annoying the clickbait tendency of Phoronix title articles... not to mention the absolutely unjustified "Capitalization Of Every Word In His News Titles". People don't seem to understand that this stupid habit just creates confusion when reading it!
Anyway, I agree with @rkfg's comment that according to Netmarketshare's update, Linux has reached an "all time high" market share... I check every month their updates and I take this increase as very likely due to last months WannaCry and Petya's attacks to the Windows ecosystem. I think it's realistic to think that some Windows users and/or institutions would dip their toes in Linux over the past few weeks to see if they do the switch... Maybe some of them actually did.
Interesting. I must confess I thought all the words in a title were supposed to be capitalised until I further researched your post. One learns something everyday.
Last edited by Duckeenie on 2 July 2017 at 6:39 pm UTC
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Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: ageresPopups can be turned off.
Why are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers, so what would be different if Steam goes open-source? Linux market share is too small for gamers to be capricious and picky. Why are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers
We are using Linux after all, not Windows, so you can answer your own question. There is no reason to make such clients closed, except for DRM. DRM can't be open by definition.
I appreciate open source software for important core components of my operating system and the applications I have to work with. I couldn't care less whether such utterly unimportant things as games are open source or not. And the Steam client? Well, it would be nice if it was open source, but far from a necessity. After all we are still talking about this rather unimportant stuff. OTOH DRM can be open source - checking a serial number against some registered serial numbers is hardly anything which requires security by obscurity. Plus there have been initiatives for open source DRM solutions - they probably never caught on.
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Quoting: TuxeeOTOH DRM can be open source - checking a serial number against some registered serial numbers is hardly anything which requires security by obscurity.
As far as I know, no, DRM can't be open source. Authentication mechanisms of course can be (and DRM can use that), but actual attempts to restrict the user from accessing some information in their computer (copying it, and so on), can't be open source, since if it's open, you can bypass it. That's why DRM garbage is by definition always closed.
And don't mix DRM with security. Security through obscurity is of course bad. But DRM isn't about security by any means. On the contrary, DRM always means security is compromised in some way.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 7:17 pm UTC
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Going to throw some money into Steam again... money talks :)
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Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: ageresWhy are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers
We are using Linux after all, not Windows, so you can answer your own question. There is no reason to make such clients closed, except for DRM. DRM can't be open by definition.
Regarding drivers, you can switch to AMD, and use open ones.
The thing that holds his argument together is the bit about games. In other words how do you keep your Open Source morals intact while maintaining an interesting in commercial Linux gaming? If you are playing closed source games, true believers would say: you already sold your sold to the devil and may as well make peace with that.
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Quoting: DuckeenieThe thing that holds his argument together is the bit about games.
No, it doesn't hold it together. He is talking about the client, not about games. Games are actually sold, so if they are open, developers need to find a way to profit (in best cases they open engines, and not art, or something of that sort). Something like store / updater client isn't sold. I.e. there is clearly no reason to keep it closed. Except, as I said for DRM, which mandates it.
Case in point. Itch.io also sell games, and their client is open (and they don't have DRM).
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 7:36 pm UTC
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Mountain Man Jul 2, 2017
Quoting: TuxeeQuoting: ShmerlQuoting: ageresPopups can be turned off.
Why are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers, so what would be different if Steam goes open-source? Linux market share is too small for gamers to be capricious and picky. Why are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers
We are using Linux after all, not Windows, so you can answer your own question. There is no reason to make such clients closed, except for DRM. DRM can't be open by definition.
I appreciate open source software for important core components of my operating system and the applications I have to work with. I couldn't care less whether such utterly unimportant things as games are open source or not. And the Steam client? Well, it would be nice if it was open source, but far from a necessity. After all we are still talking about this rather unimportant stuff. OTOH DRM can be open source - checking a serial number against some registered serial numbers is hardly anything which requires security by obscurity. Plus there have been initiatives for open source DRM solutions - they probably never caught on.
This has always been my view. Games are fun but not essential. And not that I advocate piracy, but it's prevalent enough that games will always be preserved in some fashion. I find it ironic that the Commodore 64 software library still exists today thanks almost exclusively to "warez" groups, so I'm really not worried about DRM except in cases where it actively hinders my ability to use software that I have legally acquired. Whatever DRM Steam uses is transparent to the end user.
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Quoting: Mountain ManWhatever DRM Steam uses is transparent to the end user.
It's actually ironic, but transparent DRM is worse security wise. It's like a hidden camera which is "transparent" as long as you don't pay attention to what it does. At least when it hinders you all the time, you pay attention and can be annoyed enough to do something about it.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 7:48 pm UTC
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Mountain Man Jul 2, 2017
Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: Mountain ManWhatever DRM Steam uses is transparent to the end user.
It's actually ironic, but transparent DRM is worse security wise. It's like a hidden camera which is "transparent" as long as you don't pay attention to what it does. At least when it hinders you all the time, you pay attention and can be annoyed enough to do something about it.
I'm not sure how it's worse for security. You mean just because you don't know it's there? I'll be honest, I haven't audited every piece of software on my Kubuntu box, so there is a certain level of trust, even when it's open source.
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Quoting: Mountain ManI'm not sure how it's worse for security. You mean just because you don't know it's there? I'll be honest, I haven't audited every piece of software on my Kubuntu box, so there is a certain level of trust, even when it's open source.
It's worse human factor wise. When you are hindered, you pay attention, and more likely do something to remove the hindrance (and in result improve the security by removing DRM). And when you don't often feel discomfort (i.e. usability is hindered only in some cases, not always), you are more likely to be complacent, and go along with it.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 8:12 pm UTC
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Quoting: ShmerlThe whole purpose of steam is to sell games, which are almost entirely closed source. (seriously, are there any open source steam games? AFAIK, there are none).Quoting: ageresWhy are people so open-source obsessed? Games are not open-source anyway, as well as Nvidia drivers
We are using Linux after all, not Windows, so you can answer your own question. There is no reason to make such clients closed, except for DRM. DRM can't be open by definition.
Regarding drivers, you can switch to AMD, and use open ones.
So why would any linux user obsessed with open source complain about steam when such user would never spend a dime on anything in the storefront when nothing is open sourced? If you want steam games, you cant complain about steam being closed source, as every game there is closed source. If you dont want closed source steam games, why complain about steam then? The only people who seriously complain about steam being closed source are hypocrites when it comes to open source.
AMD isnt an option because they still have not pulled their head from their hind quarters and released something that can compete with the 1080ti yet.
As for using linux, I use linux not because it is open sourced, but because I simply do not like windows in general. If linux was closed source, I would still use it. OSX is not an option because you can only use it with apple hardware. if OSX would run on any hardware configuration ala linux, I probably would have bought a copy of snow leopard when it came out just to get away from windows.
Last edited by TheinsanegamerN on 2 July 2017 at 8:20 pm UTC
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Quoting: TheinsanegamerNThe whole purpose of steam is to sell games, which are almost entirely closed source.How exactly does the nature of games affect the need for client to be closed? I already brought you itch.io example above which counters this idea.
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 8:18 pm UTC
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Quoting: ShmerlWhy do you care if the client is closed source when the products you are buying are closed source? You end up spending the same amount of money on closed source software.Quoting: TheinsanegamerNThe whole purpose of steam is to sell games, which are almost entirely closed source.How exactly does the nature of games affect the need for client to be closed? I already brought you itch.io example above which counters this idea.
What benefit do you get from having an open sourced client? Any DRM in the game is up to the dev, not the client, so there is no benefit DRM wise.
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Why does this stuff always end up in a DRM and open vs closed source argument :P
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Quoting: TheinsanegamerNWhy do you care if the client is closed source when the products you are buying are closed source?
You didn't answer my question really. Above you sounded like the client has to be closed, because it sells closed games. What gives?
The benefit of open client is same benefit you get from FOSS in general.
Quoting: liamdaweWhy does this stuff always end up in a DRM and open vs closed source argument :P
I guess because it's about Steam which is both closed and DRMed? :P
Last edited by Shmerl on 2 July 2017 at 8:32 pm UTC
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Quoting: ShmerlQuoting: TheinsanegamerNWhy do you care if the client is closed source when the products you are buying are closed source?
You didn't answer my question really. Above you sounded like the client has to be closed, because it sells closed games. What gives?
The benefit of open client is same benefit you get from FOSS in general.
Way to not answer the question at all. The benefits I get from an OSS like Linux are added security with my private data and the ability to submit my own patches if there's a bug that impacts me. I don't think I care as much if a gaming application is recording how I use it versus say, an ethernet driver, and if I did I would also not want to run the closed-source game it's distributing. There are a ton of other reasons I use Linux as I find it superior in usability to most closed source OS's, but that isn't a 'benefit from FOSS in general'. I'd still use it if it was closed source before I would use Windows.
Again, what benefit do you get from an open client for distributing closed source games?
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