It seems my recent article about Valve removing the link to the Steam Machines page caused quite a stir, so Valve have now confirmed their continued support for Linux gaming.
Truthfully, I wasn't expecting my article to do anything, however I seem to have vastly underestimated just how many eyes there are on us now. Many larger tech and gaming sites picked it up from us like PC Gamer, Ars Technica (who amusingly called us a "fan site"), VG247 and so on. Many more sites then picked up the news from them (some claiming it was originally reported by others—oh well, can't win them all) and so it ended up as a much bigger story.
We've had quite a lot of emails and notifications about this, including a Valve rep emailing us directly to link us to this post by Pierre-Loup Griffais, where they state that the removal of the Steam Machines link was part of a "routine cleanup" where it was removed based on "user traffic".
They go on to state rather clearly, that their plans haven't really changed. They're still committed to making Linux a great place for games and applications, including those not using Steam. The most important part of their post, to me at least, is this:
At the same time, we're continuing to invest significant resources in supporting the Vulkan ecosystem, tooling and driver efforts. We also have other Linux initiatives in the pipe that we're not quite ready to talk about yet; SteamOS will continue to be our medium to deliver these improvements to our customers, and we think they will ultimately benefit the Linux ecosystem at large.
It's going to be very interesting to find out what these initiatives are that they're not currently ready to talk about, quite exciting.
It's really good to see a public comment from Valve on this, as I said constantly in the past that SteamOS and Steam Machines would never be an overnight success. Valve is clearly in it for the long game and so are we.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
slaapliedje Apr 4, 2018
I am hoping with the words by GabeN that they are going to start building their own console.
Nevertheless Apr 4, 2018
Jokes aside, good job Liam & co.!
stretch611 Apr 4, 2018
But I am also shocked that Soylent News picked up the article... it means I'm not the only one that reads both that site and this one. :)
Edit: I am a little shocked about the needed clarification... The original article never said they were dropping linux support, or even alluding to that fact. I thought it was quite clear that only hardware was being dropped.
Last edited by stretch611 on 4 April 2018 at 6:51 am UTC
Quoting: stretch611Ars picked up that story from here? Wow, call me shocked. Ars pretty much ignores linux... except for a few small server related articles once every six months or so. (but damn, Ars loves their shiny macs.) I've seem game reviews of titles that have a native linux version but they never mention linux anywhere. But again... they never fail to mention mac when appropriate.
But I am also shocked that Soylent News picked up the article... it means I'm not the only one that reads both that site and this one. :)
Edit: I am a little shocked about the needed clarification... The original article never said they were dropping support, or even alluding to that fact.
Reason of why Ars picked that up ; they love drama and their user base loves drama.
So when a company kinda failed at a project ( or seemed like that ) they will jump on it. Otherwise , they will be ignorant to positive news about Linux or other not worthy user-based platforms.
That is why Liam's article got attention.
Quoting: stretch611Edit: I am a little shocked about the needed clarification... The original article never said they were dropping linux support, or even alluding to that fact. I thought it was quite clear that only hardware was being dropped.The issue is how other sites reported it. I saw one such site say it was the "final nail in the coffin" and other such things.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 4 April 2018 at 6:55 am UTC
stretch611 Apr 4, 2018
Quoting: liamdaweOk, not so shocked now... Linux Haters used it as a basis to hate more.Quoting: stretch611Edit: I am a little shocked about the needed clarification... The original article never said they were dropping linux support, or even alluding to that fact. I thought it was quite clear that only hardware was being dropped.The issue is how other sites reported it. I saw one such site say it was the "final nail in the coffin" and other such things.
Quoting: stretch611Ars picked up that story from here? Wow, call me shocked. Ars pretty much ignores linux... except for a few small server related articles once every six months or so.
They don't usually write about Linux, but they did report about Steam Machines in the past, so it's not unexpected to see a follow up. However amount of anti-Linux comments for that article is really weird, as well as some trying to justify exclusives and lock-in as a valid methodology.
Last edited by Shmerl on 4 April 2018 at 7:08 am UTC
BlackBloodRum Apr 4, 2018
I feel sorry for the windows users now, as they had a perfect weapon to say "See even valve says your dead" but now it is gone, it lasted oh such a short time for them, kinda makes you feel sad doesn't it? :(
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