Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Valve have today put out a stable Steam Client update pulling in lots of changes from the previous beta version, it's a good one too.

In terms of what's changed for Linux specifically:

  • Added a 2X-scaling mode with high-res text and graphics when running the Steam client in desktop mode on 4k-resolution monitors. You can also force 2X scaling with the "GDK_SCALE=2" environment variable, or disable it with "GDK_SCALE=1".
  • Improved window-resizing interactions with the window manager
  • Fixed an issue where the Steam client could prevent some desktop sessions from shutting down

Some seriously welcome stuff there from Valve—good work. The bug about preventing shut downs was a particular nuisance I'm really glad to see the back of.

They also worked to reduce CPU use when the mouse is moved back and forth over part of the Library view, fixed a problem with corrupted Workshop items endlessly re-downloading and they fixed a strange issue where some games wouldn't launch in offline mode if Steam had previously started or scheduled an update.

On top of that, there's numerous fixes and improvements to Steam Input, for interacting with the Steam Controller and various other gamepads.

See the full update notes here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam
26 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check 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.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
26 comments
Page: 1/3»
  Go to:

Jahimself Mar 21, 2018
very nice addition indeed, especially for the shutdown issue ;)
poke86 Mar 21, 2018
View PC info
  • Supporter
Oh good, that shutdown bug was really annoying!
legluondunet Mar 21, 2018
but this bug still occurs:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/5030
Steam regularly looses credentials and settings, very annoying.
ThePierrasse Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: legluondunetbut this bug still occurs:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/5030
Steam regularly looses credentials and settings, very annoying.

Yup, that is so annoying...
Leopard Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: legluondunetbut this bug still occurs:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/5030
Steam regularly looses credentials and settings, very annoying.

For the last few weeks , this issue did not occur for me. I hope it keeps it that way.
linuxjacques Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: Leopard
Quoting: legluondunetbut this bug still occurs:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/5030
Steam regularly looses credentials and settings, very annoying.

For the last few weeks , this issue did not occur for me. I hope it keeps it that way.

Same here. I was assuming they fixed it. :|
bolokanar Mar 21, 2018
Wonder when will we see a x64 client. Valve time at work!
Redneck Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: legluondunetbut this bug still occurs:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/5030
Steam regularly looses credentials and settings, very annoying.

Geeeee! I thought i was the only one! It also resets the skin to the default one... Hope they get it sorted out
fryk Mar 21, 2018
Thank you Valve, this is awesome! I was hoping for this quite some time. Finally the client is usable in UHD on Linux.
fryk Mar 21, 2018
Quoting: GuestNice! I'm happy that they did this scaling thing for users with HighDPI screens! That is a huge improvement. In next update would love to see fractional scaling (non-interger values) like 1.5 and so on :) that would be perfect! As now I'm using 28" 4K UHD Screen and I scale everything to 150% (1.5 ratio).

That would be even better. The scaled fonts and images took me some time getting used to. But finally I can USE the shop via client. Before, that was almost impossible on my 27" 4K screen.

Edit: And Yes, the Steam client does act weird sometimes when resized / moved around on my Xubuntu machine, too.


Last edited by fryk on 21 March 2018 at 9:32 pm UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.
Buy Games
Buy games with our affiliate / partner links: