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Valve has boosted their Linux ranks by hiring another developer to work on open source graphics

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Further evidence that Valve is here for the long-run, they've hired yet another developer to help improve open source graphics drivers on Linux.

Daniel Schürmann is the latest, confirmed by Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais on Twitter. So they have now hired Samuel "hakzsam" Pitoiset, Timothy Arceri (who previously crowdfunded his work to improve Linux drivers), Andres Rodriguez and more in addition to this latest. 

It's going to be interesting to see if Valve continue to bring in more Linux folk, and the fact that Valve is still hiring people to help Linux gaming through driver work, VR work and so on is quite telling on how they plan to continue pushing Linux gaming for some time. They might not be shouting from the rooftops about it, but the work they're doing is vitally important.

Something else that Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais shared recently, is that approximately 13% of Mesa contributions in 2017 were from Valve developers:

Fun fact: Valve contributions seem to make up about 13% of Mesa commits in 2017. (commit count isn't relevant to contribution significance, so this fact is not only fun, but also useless).

It's going to be interesting to see what kind of splash Valve make, when VR support is solid on Linux and what their plans are after then. Some form of Steam Machine with SteamOS and a VR headset bundle, along with some upgrades to SteamOS could be quite interesting.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial, Valve
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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Eike Feb 8, 2018
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That's a very good sign. Valve's here to stay.

... and it seems he's from the same university as me. <3
Zlopez Feb 8, 2018
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I'm glad to hear this.

Every larger company should support open source.
spayder26 Feb 8, 2018
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IMHO their linux efforts require quite lot more manpower they're willing to put in for.


Last edited by spayder26 on 8 February 2018 at 2:27 pm UTC
Geppeto35 Feb 8, 2018
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So here we are at Valve with two frenchies, one australian and one german in the fellowship of the linux Open source graphics. Let's wish them favorable winds for our better future!
Liam Dawe Feb 8, 2018
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Quoting: spayder26IMHO their linux efforts require quite lot more manpower they're willing to put in for.
Throwing more people at a problem, is not always the most effective solution - this is basic management knowledge :). It can often cause more problems, on top of the time needed to get each new person up to speed and so on.
Mohandevir Feb 8, 2018
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In fact, I began to wonder about the discussion that Valve had with Microsoft, back in 2012, when the story "Faster Zombies" was of actuality... Was it a "gentlement agreement" in the form of: "Windows with UWP is coming no matter what you say, but you have 7-10 years to adapt. In the meanwhile we will let you be, but please stop your Windows bashing"?

I have absolutely no insight, it's just speculation from an outside view based on observation and assuredly biased by hope. :)


Last edited by Mohandevir on 8 February 2018 at 3:32 pm UTC
rafaelcgs10 Feb 8, 2018
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If Valve officially supported Wine by contributing with development and allowing to launch Windows games directly from Steam client, that would help to bring Windows gamers to Linux. I will never officially get all Windows games, so Wine is worth it.
STiAT Feb 8, 2018
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Very good for us, and a lil' "thanks" to Valve that is. And you can really see the increased efforts of AMD and Valve in performance and compatibility.

I have no idea why people keep linking mailing list archives, I find patchwork.freedesktop.org a lot more readable/browsable :D.
Warpig Feb 8, 2018
Yes! I'm an early adopter of steamos and it's been a struggle at times. Right now things are going relatively well. Some games are unplayable at the moment but for the most part it's running fairly smooth. The recent updates are also a good sign! When companies begin forcing your hand it creates blow-back and that's what I believe steamos is. But this also applies to valve and they know this. Competition is good.
natewardawg Feb 8, 2018
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I still believe Valve is playing the long game with quite a bit of patience. Linux is the best hedge Valve seems to have and I don't see them abandoning it unless it falls off a cliff... which is highly unlikely at this point.


Last edited by natewardawg on 8 February 2018 at 3:53 pm UTC
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