Happy official birthday to the Steam client for Linux, today marks six years since it released for everyone.
Who would have thought we would have everything we do now back in 2013? We've come a seriously long way! In that time we've seen the rise and fall of the Steam Machine and Steam Link (now available as an app), the Steam Controller, the HTC Vive headset and plenty more.
We now have well over five thousand games available on the Steam store that support Linux. That's a ridiculous amount, considering we're still a very small platform even in comparison to Mac when going by the current Steam Hardware Survey showing the market share.
Obviously the number doesn't mean much, quality games are more important and we do have some seriously good games available on Linux. The biggest gap is of course AAA games, which has become quite a bit easier thanks to Steam Play.
Here's to you Valve, thanks for all the fun. You're certainly not perfect and you make plenty of mistakes but you've given us a lot and I for one am especially thankful for the effort.
What are you hoping to see out of Valve in the next few years?
Personally, I hope they continue to push through and get SteamOS 3.0 out the door, a fresh Steam Machine push would be sweet when Steam Play has matured and some good new games would go down well.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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stretch611 Feb 14, 2019
Odd... This must be some type of coincidence because it can't possibly be related to the story. :P
But according to the badge on my profile page, my years of service on Steam will hit 6 years within the next two months. How odd is that being so close to 6 years of Steam on linux?
But according to the badge on my profile page, my years of service on Steam will hit 6 years within the next two months. How odd is that being so close to 6 years of Steam on linux?
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i am hoping for ubisoft to remove uplay, at least for steams linux client, so we can finally try all ubisoft games
1 Likes, Who?
I started working with Linux around 1996/1997, and although I was a PC gamer at the time, the dedication to a "serious" OS made me lose contact with the gaming world, since I also removed windows from my own PC. I even bought some original Linux titles in 2001 or 2002 (who remembers Loki? I still have my Descent 3 Linux CD!), but that was more of a curiosity than real hope I'd have gaming on Linux. That's why at the time of Steam for Linux launch I was very skeptic and I took some time to be convinced by it, but oh boy, convinced I am, and nowadays I consider gaming to be the most important aspect of Linux to rise to mass public success. Since I have a gap of little less than 20 years of gaming, I routinely buy older games to enjoy and I marvel at some 2004 graphics like a little child. Thanks, Valve! You deeply transformed my life for the better.
This pretty much mirrors my experience. Although I was too busy with university around 2001 and my purchases were a little later from LGP instead of Loki.
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An updated Steam machine would indeed be nice, ideally something you can already buy when the next generation of consoles hits the market, so that they show up in all articles about the new Playstation/XBox as a reference point.
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who remembers LokiI do! Man, did I have sad when they closed up shop. I'm pretty sure I have a CD binder around here with Heroes 3, Quake 3, Myth 2, Heretic 2 and Unreal Tournament.
Oh lord, their website is still up.
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This still feels like it happened yesterday, amazing progress had been made in that time!
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What a ride! Love it.Love it as well.. My wallet on the other hand..
Edit: ..CK2 has sales in paradoxplaza until the 16th..Here we go again..
Last edited by SadL on 14 February 2019 at 4:58 pm UTC
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Congratulation and thanks to all for the hard work, especially @ Valve.
Linux improved on all fronts (graphics drivers, the Desktop, gaming) in the last years.
I hope the improvement goes on and more people switch to Linux. With more people we will get more games.
Also I hope Valve gives us another game or two in the next years. And plz no VR or cardgame or battle royal. :P
Linux improved on all fronts (graphics drivers, the Desktop, gaming) in the last years.
I hope the improvement goes on and more people switch to Linux. With more people we will get more games.
Also I hope Valve gives us another game or two in the next years. And plz no VR or cardgame or battle royal. :P
0 Likes
That's... terrifying. I could have sworn it was only two or three. :O
Seriously though, kudos to Valve for sticking with us. To (kind of) mirror Patola's story, I stuck with my Amiga until 2005, meaning that I was out of touch with mainstream gaming for around a decade or so. Probably a little longer since, obviously, I switched to Linux rather than Windows. A friend convinced me to buy an XBox 360 in 2008 (hard to believe that's over a decade ago too, now I come to think of it), but money's a bit tighter these days, and I had more or less resigned myself to losing touch again as that console generation came to the end of its life. Steam came to Linux at exactly the right time for me. I can't thank Valve enough.
Last edited by Dunc on 14 February 2019 at 2:53 pm UTC
Seriously though, kudos to Valve for sticking with us. To (kind of) mirror Patola's story, I stuck with my Amiga until 2005, meaning that I was out of touch with mainstream gaming for around a decade or so. Probably a little longer since, obviously, I switched to Linux rather than Windows. A friend convinced me to buy an XBox 360 in 2008 (hard to believe that's over a decade ago too, now I come to think of it), but money's a bit tighter these days, and I had more or less resigned myself to losing touch again as that console generation came to the end of its life. Steam came to Linux at exactly the right time for me. I can't thank Valve enough.
I did get a steam account when they offered some half life 2 based demo if you had a nvidia card. Then i did not bother.Heh, I'd forgotten that. I actually bought the Orange Box in the hope of running Portal under Wine. (For some reason. I had it on the 360 already. I must have had more money than sense back then. Not any more...) Never managed it. So yeah, I had a Steam account lying dormant for years too, and if it weren't for Linux Steam, it still would be.
Last edited by Dunc on 14 February 2019 at 2:53 pm UTC
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Arehandoro Feb 14, 2019
Woohoo! Happy San Valentine Steam, give us some discounts and we'll give you some love back... like every other day of the year really haha.
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orochi_kyo Feb 14, 2019
A love letter from Valve to the Linux community. Thanks Valve and Happy Birthday Steam Linux.
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Oooh ! (C64 until 1996, i thought i was the only one):) I'm not sure which would have required more computing “survival skills”. At least I had a web browser (of sorts).
Honestly, if parts hadn't become so expensive, I'd probably have carried on with it for even longer. A further CPU upgrade would have cost me about the same as I spent on my first PC - which was still faster - and that's using the original onboard AGA graphics; 24-bit VGA-capable cards were crazy money.
I still have three or four Amigas lying around in various states of repair, though. Mainly A1200s, one A500+. I should probably get round to fixing them up.
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I started working with Linux around 1996/1997, and although I was a PC gamer at the time, the dedication to a "serious" OS made me lose contact with the gaming world, since I also removed windows from my own PC. I even bought some original Linux titles in 2001 or 2002 (who remembers Loki? I still have my Descent 3 Linux CD!), but that was more of a curiosity than real hope I'd have gaming on Linux. That's why at the time of Steam for Linux launch I was very skeptic and I took some time to be convinced by it, but oh boy, convinced I am, and nowadays I consider gaming to be the most important aspect of Linux to rise to mass public success. Since I have a gap of little less than 20 years of gaming, I routinely buy older games to enjoy and I marvel at some 2004 graphics like a little child. Thanks, Valve! You deeply transformed my life for the better.
Think I started around '98. Loki, yeah, still have Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns (which really wasn't bad) and above all, Alpha Centauri, which every few years I tinker around with and get working again because there's still nothing quite like it.
But Steam really changed everything; I basically hadn't been playing computer games for years except Starcraft on Wine. Now I have a whole new time waster, hurrah!
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 14 February 2019 at 5:36 pm UTC
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Mohandevir Feb 14, 2019
Personnally, back in 2012, prior to Steam for Linux release, the only game I was playing was Lord of the Rings online through wine. When came Steam beta, in november(?) 2012, I began building my Steam library. 6 years later I stand on top of a 250+ games library with a huge backlog of games I never played. I many cases I bought these games just because I wanted to support studios that decided to go Linux. I made great discoveries of jewels I wouldn't even have looked at, in other circumstances.
Happy birthday Steam Linux and thank you Valve!
Last edited by Mohandevir on 14 February 2019 at 8:20 pm UTC
Happy birthday Steam Linux and thank you Valve!
Last edited by Mohandevir on 14 February 2019 at 8:20 pm UTC
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