[Update: We have new information see here.]
In a move that's not exactly surprising, Valve has quietly removed the Steam Machine section from Steam.
Previously on Steam, if you hovered over the Hardware category there was a Steam Machines link in the drop-down, which is now gone while the links to the Steam Controller, Steam Link and Vive remain. In fact, the entire Hardware page on Steam is now gone and anyone using the link (http://store.steampowered.com/hardware/) is redirected to a basic search page. Looking back on it and doing a bit of quick research, it seems the change came this month.
I'm not surprised they did this, since currently no one is announcing new machines and the whole Steam Machine idea from Valve never really gained any steam. While it didn't really do the big splash many were hoping, it has done quite a lot of good for Linux gaming overall. As a result of the initial push from Valve, many developers and game engines have moved into doing regular Linux support. This is important, because many of the barriers involved in getting games on Linux have been removed.
We know for a fact that porting companies like Aspyr Media (original interview) and Feral Interactive (original interview) started doing Linux versions thanks to SteamOS and Steam Machines, with them both still continuing the effort. It's also likely what pushed GOG to support Linux on their store too, since they didn't want to miss out on the possibility of more Linux gamers to buy games.
Realistically and looking back on it all, the time just wasn't right. There were long delays, not enough "big" games to make people truly interested in the platform (especially when the likes of The Witcher 3 was confirmed and then never happened—still hurts) and various other reasons.
We now have over four thousand Linux games on Steam, with more releasing every day. Of course, that's just a number and there's a fair amount of rubbish, but that's only natural to see. The good news, is that we get a lot of decent games arrive on Linux too and there's no signs of it slowing down.
It will be interesting to see if Valve do another SteamOS/Steam Machine push, with SteamOS still seeing updates this year it's entirely possible. Either way, Valve has done a lot of good and continues to do so. They're not a perfect company, not all their ideas work out and that's fine.
Linux gaming still faces an uphill battle—a large one at that. Thankfully, no one company "owns" Linux and so it can essentially go on forever, keep improving and gradually get better over a long time. We will still be here no matter what, we love Linux and we have so many good games already we don't know what to play half the time.
Thanks for the tip, kreativt. Article text was updated to be clearer after publishing.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeSteamOS is better than Ubuntu, for a game console. There are thongs they tune for the kernel.
And I have to ask.. do you have gorilla hands? I wouls say (with the exception of the Atari Jaguar controller) the Steam Controller has the largest hand grips out of any I have seen. The Nintendo Wireless Pro is a close second. This coming from someone who can't use the PS3 controller for very long because of how small they are.
Any distribution can have a tuned kernel, provided you know what hardware you are tuning for. Mine is rack-mounted; so not exactly what SteamOS is intended for.
As to gorilla hands, I am 2m in height, with all other bits of me in proportion. Meaning each of my hands is longer than the the steam controller is wide; I also require quite large thongs, although I have always known tham as flip-flops :D
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slaapliedje Apr 25, 2018
Quoting: etonbearsQuoting: slaapliedjeSteamOS is better than Ubuntu, for a game console. There are thongs they tune for the kernel.
And I have to ask.. do you have gorilla hands? I wouls say (with the exception of the Atari Jaguar controller) the Steam Controller has the largest hand grips out of any I have seen. The Nintendo Wireless Pro is a close second. This coming from someone who can't use the PS3 controller for very long because of how small they are.
Any distribution can have a tuned kernel, provided you know what hardware you are tuning for. Mine is rack-mounted; so not exactly what SteamOS is intended for.
As to gorilla hands, I am 2m in height, with all other bits of me in proportion. Meaning each of my hands is longer than the the steam controller is wide; I also require quite large thongs, although I have always known tham as flip-flops :D
Ha, using meters to represent your height reminds me of a ton of jokes that were in Super Troopers 2. Stupid USA needs to start using the Metric system like every other country on the planet.
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Quoting: slaapliedjeHa, using meters to represent your height reminds me of a ton of jokes that were in Super Troopers 2. Stupid USA needs to start using the Metric system like every other country on the planet.
They have been trying to go metric since 1793 apparently! It's not easy to change the frame of reference you acquire in childhood (which is why any given "society" tries to plant its ideas of religion/politics/patriotism as early as possible), so the USA has significant popular resistance to any metric change.
Even in the UK where we have long since decimalized our currency (the US currency was always decimal, of course), and officially adopted the metric system of weights and measures, we also still officially use miles for distance, and pints for beer. I grew up with both the Imperial and metric systems, and use them interchangeably, but generations older than mine still think and talk in Imperial.
In case we feel too superior about the logic/modernity of the metric system (which originates in the French revolution of 1789), consider that we all customarily use archaic measures of time (24 hrs of 60 mins of 60 seconds) and angular measure (one revolution/circle is 360 degrees of 60 minutes of 60 seconds) without a second thought. There are metric/decimal alternatives for both, but we continue to use the systems derived from the ancient Sumerian base 60 number system, some 4000 years later.:O
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qptain Nemo Apr 26, 2018
Quoting: etonbears(which is why any given "society" tries to plant its ideas of religion/politics/patriotism as early as possible)When done without leaving any room for context, doubt or argument, it's one of the most callous and irresponsible things people do, if you ask me.
Quoting: etonbearsIn case we feel too superior about the logic/modernity of the metric system (which originates in the French revolution of 1789), consider that we all customarily use archaic measures of time (24 hrs of 60 mins of 60 seconds) and angular measure (one revolution/circle is 360 degrees of 60 minutes of 60 seconds) without a second thought. There are metric/decimal alternatives for both, but we continue to use the systems derived from the ancient Sumerian base 60 number system, some 4000 years later.:OWell, there is some extra irony in what you're saying in that the entire metric system is built on that system of time measurement. The very meter itself is defined through the second — wiki.
I think ultimately consistency and good frames of reference are more important than the decimal base.
Also as someone doing graphics programming I use radians quite a lot. :V
Last edited by qptain Nemo on 26 April 2018 at 12:46 pm UTC
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Quoting: etonbearsI'm Canadian, and we went mostly metric when I was a kid. So it can be done. But one thing I notice is that while some metric measures "took" fairly easily, some imperial stuff hung on. I think it's because, while the metric system is very rational and easy to calculate in, the imperial system (having grown up through habitual practical use by people) tends to give you numbers that are easy to think in at the scales people use. So like, it's easier to think "2 teaspoons" than "howeverthefuckmany ml", and so to this day cooking is dominated by imperial measures.Quoting: slaapliedjeHa, using meters to represent your height reminds me of a ton of jokes that were in Super Troopers 2. Stupid USA needs to start using the Metric system like every other country on the planet.
They have been trying to go metric since 1793 apparently! It's not easy to change the frame of reference you acquire in childhood (which is why any given "society" tries to plant its ideas of religion/politics/patriotism as early as possible), so the USA has significant popular resistance to any metric change.
Even in the UK where we have long since decimalized our currency (the US currency was always decimal, of course), and officially adopted the metric system of weights and measures, we also still officially use miles for distance, and pints for beer. I grew up with both the Imperial and metric systems, and use them interchangeably, but generations older than mine still think and talk in Imperial.
In case we feel too superior about the logic/modernity of the metric system (which originates in the French revolution of 1789), consider that we all customarily use archaic measures of time (24 hrs of 60 mins of 60 seconds) and angular measure (one revolution/circle is 360 degrees of 60 minutes of 60 seconds) without a second thought. There are metric/decimal alternatives for both, but we continue to use the systems derived from the ancient Sumerian base 60 number system, some 4000 years later.:O
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Quoting: Purple Library GuySo like, it's easier to think "2 teaspoons" than "howeverthefuckmany ml", and so to this day cooking is dominated by imperial measures.
The teaspoon is equal to 1 fluid dram (or drachm) and thus 1⁄4 of a tablespoon or 1⁄8 of a fluid ounce.
Well, I didn't know this exists.
Our recipes go with "2 teaspoons" as well, but that's just "what approx. fits in two of your local teaspoons". :)
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slaapliedje Apr 26, 2018
Quoting: etonbearsQuoting: slaapliedjeHa, using meters to represent your height reminds me of a ton of jokes that were in Super Troopers 2. Stupid USA needs to start using the Metric system like every other country on the planet.
They have been trying to go metric since 1793 apparently! It's not easy to change the frame of reference you acquire in childhood (which is why any given "society" tries to plant its ideas of religion/politics/patriotism as early as possible), so the USA has significant popular resistance to any metric change.
Even in the UK where we have long since decimalized our currency (the US currency was always decimal, of course), and officially adopted the metric system of weights and measures, we also still officially use miles for distance, and pints for beer. I grew up with both the Imperial and metric systems, and use them interchangeably, but generations older than mine still think and talk in Imperial.
In case we feel too superior about the logic/modernity of the metric system (which originates in the French revolution of 1789), consider that we all customarily use archaic measures of time (24 hrs of 60 mins of 60 seconds) and angular measure (one revolution/circle is 360 degrees of 60 minutes of 60 seconds) without a second thought. There are metric/decimal alternatives for both, but we continue to use the systems derived from the ancient Sumerian base 60 number system, some 4000 years later.:O
It actually looks like the Metric system was 're-discovered' like so many other things later on. I mean it was formalized then, but it seems it was either based upon older measurement systems, or just lucked out that they landed on something that was used, and then lost. Measurements / time / earth rotation are all interconnected.
Hey if the Sumerians figured out all of that, and we're still using it, they can't be half bad, right?
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Quoting: Purple Library GuyQuoting: etonbearsI'm Canadian, and we went mostly metric when I was a kid. So it can be done. But one thing I notice is that while some metric measures "took" fairly easily, some imperial stuff hung on. I think it's because, while the metric system is very rational and easy to calculate in, the imperial system (having grown up through habitual practical use by people) tends to give you numbers that are easy to think in at the scales people use. So like, it's easier to think "2 teaspoons" than "howeverthefuckmany ml", and so to this day cooking is dominated by imperial measures.Quoting: slaapliedjeHa, using meters to represent your height reminds me of a ton of jokes that were in Super Troopers 2. Stupid USA needs to start using the Metric system like every other country on the planet.
They have been trying to go metric since 1793 apparently! It's not easy to change the frame of reference you acquire in childhood (which is why any given "society" tries to plant its ideas of religion/politics/patriotism as early as possible), so the USA has significant popular resistance to any metric change.
Even in the UK where we have long since decimalized our currency (the US currency was always decimal, of course), and officially adopted the metric system of weights and measures, we also still officially use miles for distance, and pints for beer. I grew up with both the Imperial and metric systems, and use them interchangeably, but generations older than mine still think and talk in Imperial.
In case we feel too superior about the logic/modernity of the metric system (which originates in the French revolution of 1789), consider that we all customarily use archaic measures of time (24 hrs of 60 mins of 60 seconds) and angular measure (one revolution/circle is 360 degrees of 60 minutes of 60 seconds) without a second thought. There are metric/decimal alternatives for both, but we continue to use the systems derived from the ancient Sumerian base 60 number system, some 4000 years later.:O
Exactly so. The driving forces behind early development of weights/measures/numbers was what made sense in everyday use. So, the inch/span/cubit were measures related to your hand and forearm, making them easy to understand, and easy to use approximately without any need for tools.
Similarly, numbers were mainly used to count and apportion commodities, for which 12 is a "magic" number, since it is evenly divisible by the small factors 2,3,4 and 6. Using multiples of 12 gives you extra factors - 24 is also divisible by 8, while 60 gives you 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 as factors.
Scientific and technical use of numbers and units needs agreement and accuracy, however. Just ask Lockheed-Martin about the Mars Climate Orbiter :D
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Quoting: qptain NemoWell, there is some extra irony in what you're saying in that the entire metric system is built on that system of time measurement. The very meter itself is defined through the second — wiki.
I think you might have misread that? It seems to say that the SI Unit was defined as a re-statement of the existing measure, in terms of the speed of light in a vacuum; defined using seconds because no-one adopted the decidays centidays and millidays proposed by the metric system :D
Quoting: qptain NemoI think ultimately consistency and good frames of reference are more important than the decimal base.
Also as someone doing graphics programming I use radians quite a lot. :V
Yep, nice simple multiples and fractions, so long as you don't think too hard about the value of PI :)
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slaapliedje Apr 27, 2018
I still think the sexigesimal system is brilliant. Unlike the decimal, which with your hands you can only count to ten, you can count to thirty easily.
But yeah, I have read a bunch of stuff about the 'theoretical' megalithic yard. Fascinating stuff.
But yeah, I have read a bunch of stuff about the 'theoretical' megalithic yard. Fascinating stuff.
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