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.
Quoting: Vash63The 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.
Apply that to the client which performs software installation on your system, and you'll answer your own question.
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So basically ...
Last edited by razing32 on 3 July 2017 at 12:27 am UTC
Last edited by razing32 on 3 July 2017 at 12:27 am UTC
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GustyGhost Jul 3, 2017
Quoting: marcusYou do know that you can disable these, right?
Steam -> Settings -> Interface -> "Notify me about [...]"
Heh thanks. Though this still feels a lot like "tweaking privacy settings in windows"... that is, sure you've changed some settings, but you're still using windows.
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This open source vs closed source, drm on/off debate gets really old and annoying. If you don't like something, don't use it, if you do, do use it, just don't claim moral high ground because of your choice (one way or the other). I, though an open source fan, am grateful to Valve for what they've been doing past few years probably because i still remember the good, old times when we had something like 5 games on linux (hyperbole).
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Quoting: manus76This open source vs closed source, drm on/off debate gets really old and annoying.
Some people here had problems with those who said they prefer open clients. Ask them what problems they had, and why they are bothered by it. I agree it gets old, to explain the same thing multiple times.
Last edited by Shmerl on 3 July 2017 at 5:05 am UTC
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Quoting: TheinsanegamerNAs for using linux, I use linux not because it is open sourced, but because I simply do not like windows in general.The same for me. I would not abandon Linux if Windows suddenly goes open source.
Linux is about 2% on desktops but only 0.72% on gaming computers. Why so? Because Linux gamers refuse to buy games if they:
1. have worse performance than on Windows, no matter how much;
2. don't work on their weird Gentoo or Slackware distros;
3. don't work on open source Nvidia/Intel drivers;
4. are ports by Feral/Aspyr/VP, which are not "true" ports;
5. are not day-1 releases;
6. are on Steam (where would be Linux gaming without Steam, by the way?);
7. are not open source;
8. are not free.
No surprise there are so few AAA games on Linux. Look at recent years, when Gaben started to advertize Linux gaming, Linux got many games, but what now? 2k Games stopped paying attention to Linux, except for Civ6 (after continual blandishind Aspyr, and we don't know if they even got profit from porting Civ6). We got The Witcher 2, but no The Witcher 3. Shadow Warrior 1, but no Shadow Warrior 2. The only team who still do Linux port actively is Feral. I'm afraid, Linux gaming is going to die soon, except for indie games, if this trend continues. We need to support Linux games, there are not enough of them for us to be picky. If Linux market share gets, say, 10%, then Linux gamers can do the next step, but not today. Buy something of the summer sale to support Linux gaming. I even bought F1 2015 despite I suck at racing games and its negative reviews.
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For driver openness:
I do care for driver openness. The graphics drivers are part of my core system, Games are not.
If I have a choice to decide between a company opening up and supporting open source drivers over a company who does not, I'll prefer the one supporting open source development. In this case AMD.
What I like as well, AMD certainly isn't where NVidia is yet, but we do see game developers actually helping with issues they find, fixing issues they have with Mesa (Feral as example), making their games work improving the drivers. We've seen some games having issues with NVidia driver not getting a fix for a certain issue they encounter. They'd have the option to fix it themselves in Mesa, they don't for NVidia.
I still have a NVidia card, and ye, I have issues with quite some games on AMDGPU/Mesa still. Some run great, some have performance issues and some don't at all. I'm willing to take that and still use AMD. I will buy a AMD card next time as well, and just hope for Mesa to become better - and it does become better each release.
I do care for driver openness. The graphics drivers are part of my core system, Games are not.
If I have a choice to decide between a company opening up and supporting open source drivers over a company who does not, I'll prefer the one supporting open source development. In this case AMD.
What I like as well, AMD certainly isn't where NVidia is yet, but we do see game developers actually helping with issues they find, fixing issues they have with Mesa (Feral as example), making their games work improving the drivers. We've seen some games having issues with NVidia driver not getting a fix for a certain issue they encounter. They'd have the option to fix it themselves in Mesa, they don't for NVidia.
I still have a NVidia card, and ye, I have issues with quite some games on AMDGPU/Mesa still. Some run great, some have performance issues and some don't at all. I'm willing to take that and still use AMD. I will buy a AMD card next time as well, and just hope for Mesa to become better - and it does become better each release.
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pentarctagon Jul 3, 2017
So... what even are people are using? The three ones specifically named are Ubuntu(16.04.2, 17.04) and Mint 18.1 - all 64-bit. Then there's "Linux 64-bit". All of these come out to 0.47 out of 0.72, and in the previous month it was 0.49 out of 0.81. Are there really that many Steam linux users still on 32-bit OSes?
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Steam does not work well on Fedora and OpenSUSE. We need to apply a specific command to make the games working. The support just does not give a shit and tell us to switch to Ubuntu. That does not help
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Quoting: pentarctagonSo... what even are people are using? The three ones specifically named are Ubuntu(16.04.2, 17.04) and Mint 18.1 - all 64-bit. Then there's "Linux 64-bit". All of these come out to 0.47 out of 0.72, and in the previous month it was 0.49 out of 0.81. Are there really that many Steam linux users still on 32-bit OSes?You can get a good idea of what people use here: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/users/statistics
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Pompesdesky Jul 3, 2017
Yesterday I fired up my Windows 7 install for the first time in about 6 months to backup everything that's left there and reclaim the 512GB SSD for Linux and guess what ? As soon as I opened Steam I got the Steam Survey :D
Think that got triggered by the AMD RX480 I installed since I last booted it. Of course I declined to take it, hoping to get it for Linux when I make a fresh Mint install on it soon :P
As to the DRM thing, I had DRMs in Steam when I used it within Windows, I don't see why I would complain now that I switched to Linux. Going for an open source OS doesn't mean everything has to become open source, and I guess most of the users switching from Windows would be inclined in the same way. Only the long time Linux (or GNU as they would also quarrel this naming) believers would still ask for everything open source ^_^
Think that got triggered by the AMD RX480 I installed since I last booted it. Of course I declined to take it, hoping to get it for Linux when I make a fresh Mint install on it soon :P
As to the DRM thing, I had DRMs in Steam when I used it within Windows, I don't see why I would complain now that I switched to Linux. Going for an open source OS doesn't mean everything has to become open source, and I guess most of the users switching from Windows would be inclined in the same way. Only the long time Linux (or GNU as they would also quarrel this naming) believers would still ask for everything open source ^_^
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While 0.09% can be a fluke, it sends a wrong signal to developers. If it does not rebounce next month, we may see a wave of cancelled ports.
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Quoting: ertuquequenot to mention the absolutely unjustified "Capitalization Of Every Word In His News Titles".
That's how they format headlines in the US. It's common practise.
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About the FOSS discussion in Linux games and steam, in my opinion there are two free-software enthusiastic positions:
1) All have to be free software.
2) All the software that allows people to do things (operating system, office, accounting, drawing, painting...) has to be free because it allows people to do create and improve society without restrictions. In the other hand, games, films, music... don't need to be free because it's something consumed directly but not used for any other creation purposes.
I'm a free software developer and most of my computer life I've been in 1) and now I'm on the middle of 1) and 2). Being in 1) is not a problem, you could play Brogue a lot :)
1) All have to be free software.
2) All the software that allows people to do things (operating system, office, accounting, drawing, painting...) has to be free because it allows people to do create and improve society without restrictions. In the other hand, games, films, music... don't need to be free because it's something consumed directly but not used for any other creation purposes.
I'm a free software developer and most of my computer life I've been in 1) and now I'm on the middle of 1) and 2). Being in 1) is not a problem, you could play Brogue a lot :)
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To be honest I don't know what rubbish Steam is sharing in its OS statistics. I don't believe it gives a decent representation of the Linux user base.
This gives a better view of Linux users worldwide:
This information would be a lot more useful, if Steam could be bothered to share it:
Linux game purchase total sum on Steam, Windows game purchase total on Steam, Mac total.
i.e. $10 million Linux in June 2017, $200 million Windows, $20 million Mac.
Also, this info:
Total game keys installed by Linux Steam client, versus Windows and Mac per month.
i.e. 50 million keys added by Linux Steam client, 900 million Windows, 100 million Mac.
Also, this info:
Total Man-Hours of gaming registered by each OS's Steam client, e.g.
1 million man-hours Linux, 90 million man-hours Windows, 2 million man-hours Mac.
The Steam survey info for Linux usage is practically meaningless. It would be good if some developers could publish cross-platform statistics as well. If enough developers did it, then it would be a reasonable way to get a feel for the Linux gaming market (versus the rest).
e.g. Mad Max 200k Linux gamers, 5M Windows gamers, 100k Mac gamers
Dying Light 250k Linux gamers, 6M Windows gamers, 150k Mac gamers
Rocket League 300k Linux gamers, 10M Windows gamers, 400k Mac gamers
Civilization 6...
This gives a better view of Linux users worldwide:
Quoting: rkfgHOWEVER, if you look at the desktop market share numbers, you'll see Linux having the biggest share ever, 2.36%.
This information would be a lot more useful, if Steam could be bothered to share it:
Linux game purchase total sum on Steam, Windows game purchase total on Steam, Mac total.
i.e. $10 million Linux in June 2017, $200 million Windows, $20 million Mac.
Also, this info:
Total game keys installed by Linux Steam client, versus Windows and Mac per month.
i.e. 50 million keys added by Linux Steam client, 900 million Windows, 100 million Mac.
Also, this info:
Total Man-Hours of gaming registered by each OS's Steam client, e.g.
1 million man-hours Linux, 90 million man-hours Windows, 2 million man-hours Mac.
The Steam survey info for Linux usage is practically meaningless. It would be good if some developers could publish cross-platform statistics as well. If enough developers did it, then it would be a reasonable way to get a feel for the Linux gaming market (versus the rest).
e.g. Mad Max 200k Linux gamers, 5M Windows gamers, 100k Mac gamers
Dying Light 250k Linux gamers, 6M Windows gamers, 150k Mac gamers
Rocket League 300k Linux gamers, 10M Windows gamers, 400k Mac gamers
Civilization 6...
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Quoting: g000hTo be honest I don't know what rubbish Steam is sharing in its OS statistics. I don't believe it gives a decent representation of the Linux user base.I don't believe anyone think steam usage is representative for linux usage as a whole on desktop, but I think it is fairly accurate for linux gaming with nonfree games.
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Quoting: AimelaQuoting: NanobangAs luck would have it, I recently switched back to Ubuntu Gnome. The very first time I logged into Steam on the fresh install and --- BANG!! Steam Survey!!Meanwhile, after not getting the survey in a very long time, it pops up when I decide to install Steam in Wine. The hardware survey sure is a fickle thing.
Dreams really do come true! :D
This once happened to me, too. "Would you like to take part in a Steam Survey?" asked the pop-up. "No, piss-off," said I.
Too bad Steam lacks the magikal wherewithal to dig when we were using Wine.
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After not taking a Steam survey in a really long time, I got the pop-up yesterday I believe. I haven't changed hardware in a long time either. Sounds like maybe they issued a recount.
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The percentage of Linux users on Steam does not count at all. The only valid indicator is: does Feral, Aspyr, Firaxis, Virtual Programming,Techland and others manage to make profits from Linux? In addition, the percentage of linux users of these games may be higher than average simply because we have less AAA titles to choose from. The big porting wave might be over, but now we start seeing day 1 native support which is the only way for devs to properly mesure the Linux market share. How many of us already had Bioshock Infinite, Civilization 5, Borderlands 2, etc when the ports were made? Lots of "old" titles have been in many bundles, had huge discounts. But now, it would be very interesting to know the share of linux sales for titles with day-1 linux release.
PS: Who says 2K stoped considering Linux? Amoung their newest tiles there is Civ6 and XCOM2 that have been ported to Linux (i even think XCOM2 was a day-1).
PS: Who says 2K stoped considering Linux? Amoung their newest tiles there is Civ6 and XCOM2 that have been ported to Linux (i even think XCOM2 was a day-1).
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Quoting: PompesdeskyAs to the DRM thing, I had DRMs in Steam when I used it within Windows, I don't see why I would complain now that I switched to Linux. Going for an open source OS doesn't mean everything has to become open source,
Some people ditch Windows because they are fed up with DRM. Same people usually don't use Steam ;) You can see a lot of such folks among GOG users.
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