Linux has now seen 4 months of being above 1% on the Steam Hardware Survey

So since February we've gone from the doldrums of 0.8% to the not-quite-so-doldrums of, looks like over 1.1%, which is, what, something like a 37% increase. Not too shabby.

OK, the total's still tiny. I'll definitely be interested to see what happens when Steam Decks start to sell.

So since February we've gone from the doldrums of 0.8% to the not-quite-so-doldrums of, looks like over 1.1%, which is, what, something like a 37% increase. Not too shabby.

OK, the total's still tiny. I'll definitely be interested to see what happens when Steam Decks start to sell.

Definitely tiny in relative terms, but it still blows my mind to think that there are potentially well over a million active monthly users on Steam that run Linux. It's pretty incredible given the choke hold MS has on the vast majority of the population.

So since February we've gone from the doldrums of 0.8% to the not-quite-so-doldrums of, looks like over 1.1%, which is, what, something like a 37% increase. Not too shabby.

OK, the total's still tiny. I'll definitely be interested to see what happens when Steam Decks start to sell.

Me too.The future is full of promise. We can expect Steam Deck, sea level rise, global warming and universal starvation! Aaah That's bad. Maybe I should think positively. Anyways Steam Deck is worth waiting for in my opinion.

Incidentally in theory, if we continued that rate of % increase, like a 37% increase every 8 months, we'd reach 90% in 9 years and 4 months!

For the record, I said that the Steam Deck and SteamOS 3.0 could help Linux gain a foothold, not overthrow MS Windows.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 2 November 2021 at 5:40 pm UTC

I would guess a big part of the flatpak is fedora, if I am not mistaken they push it more than other distros.

If you take Steam from RPM Fusion, Fedora is not correctly identified by the Steam client. You have to install the 'redhat-lsb-core' package if you want to see Fedora well identified by the Steam Client. If you don't do that, Fedora Workstation is identified as a generic Linux system by the Steam Client.

Definitely tiny in relative terms, but it still blows my mind to think that there are potentially well over a million active monthly users on Steam that run Linux. It's pretty incredible given the choke hold MS has on the vast majority of the population.

Here's a thing. When Valve first made their Linux gaming push, Gabe Newell said, "we want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well." The entire Steam catalogue then, which no one would have said was small, was 2,500 games. Today there are 8,000 Linux-native games on Steam. The Linux gaming market is big, only looking small compared to PC gaming as a whole, and the over a million monthly active Linux gaming user base is already big enough for the developers of 15% of the games on Steam to say, "yes, I'd like a piece of that." We need growth, sure, but we don't really need to get that much bigger for more developers to take note, and for us to get onto the virtuous cycle side of the chicken and the egg. Bigger than Mac (historically maybe ~5%, now only ~3%, with nearly 14,000 games) yes, but maybe 10% could get us to the point that more games are released on Linux than not? 15%? It's clearly not too expensive a venture, or the developers of those 15% of games wouldn't have been doing it already.

Incidentally in theory, if we continued that rate of % increase, like a 37% increase every 8 months, we'd reach 90% in 9 years and 4 months!

And here's me, who would be over the moon happy with reaching 5%. Because 5% would mean there are about 6m Linux gamers out there. Which would be more than sufficient marketshare to ensure the PC gaming industry (hardware makers, game developers, middleware developers, etc) give us at least some degree of meaningful support.

Incidentally in theory, if we continued that rate of % increase, like a 37% increase every 8 months, we'd reach 90% in 9 years and 4 months!

And here's me, who would be over the moon happy with reaching 5%. Because 5% would mean there are about 6m Linux gamers out there. Which would be more than sufficient marketshare to ensure the PC gaming industry (hardware makers, game developers, middleware developers, etc) give us at least some degree of meaningful support.

It's true. But in a sense the first few percentage points are the hard part. If we get to that level where vendors, hardware and software, give Linux support . . . then the big chicken/egg problems blocking growth are gone. That doesn't mean automatic further growth, but certainly some doors we've been experiencing as wedged shut would suddenly be ajar.

I would say at heart of this push is Proton. Consider this, without Proton both gaming on Deck (using SteamOS) and Linux desktop PCs would fail to meet people's expectations, even those who are willing to make a small to moderate compromise. Deck existing has made more people aware of Proton and Linux. With new hardware alot news are thrown around, people read and watch these news.

It keeps people talking about Linux, Deck and Proton. Content creators, who aren't familiar faces in Linux space, are making content about Linux and Proton. Marketing something helps but if what you are marketing isn't good then people will not bother. Linux gaming is marketable to a degree it has not been before. Lots games play fine and the platform isn't missing as much features as before. DLSS, FSR, RT and more is available.

LTT's video "Install Linux instead of Windows 11" has been viewed 1.7M times. Other videos about Linux they have made has also gotten million views or more. How can more people use Linux if they haven't heard of it? With Deck so many people know of it, and Proton is making Linux viable for gaming.

I would say at heart of this push is Proton. Consider this, without Proton both gaming on Deck (using SteamOS) and Linux desktop PCs would fail to meet people's expectations, even those who are willing to make a small to moderate compromise. Deck existing has made more people aware of Proton and Linux. With new hardware alot news are thrown around, people read and watch these news.

It keeps people talking about Linux, Deck and Proton. Content creators, who aren't familiar faces in Linux space, are making content about Linux and Proton. Marketing something helps but if what you are marketing isn't good then people will not bother. Linux gaming is marketable to a degree it has not been before. Lots games play fine and the platform isn't missing as much features as before. DLSS, FSR, RT and more is available.

LTT's video "Install Linux instead of Windows 11" has been viewed 1.7M times. Other videos about Linux they have made has also gotten million views or more. How can more people use Linux if they haven't heard of it? With Deck so many people know of it, and Proton is making Linux viable for gaming.

I don't think you're going to enjoy the new Linux miniseries from LTT.
And I don't think it's going to draw too many users to Linux. The first thing Linus did was break the DE in Pop_os! And he just installed Steam from the repositories.

LTT...hmm... Although it is interesting to see someone who is completely new to Linux trying Linux, I already saw some haters' comments gladly picking up on the bad experiences of Linus. They couldn't wait to mention how bad their experience had been.

I just don't know how to gauge this series.

Maybe those hateful comments are an indication that the Windows fan boys are actually seeing Linux becoming a threat to them? Who knows.

Change is always difficult I guess...

I don't think you're going to enjoy the new Linux miniseries from LTT.
And I don't think it's going to draw too many users to Linux. The first thing Linus did was break the DE in Pop_os! And he just installed Steam from the repositories.

Actually I have liked it. I saw clips from their WAN show. I enjoy hearing new users perspective, as long as they are sincere. Linus is sincere. There are issues with their Linux challenge but it's still a good thing. The two issues I have paid attention to is Linus's home setup is not a setup most people would have, and the fact they are taking the Linux challenge before Deck launch. I imagine Linux gaming mid to end of 2022 will be much better than in 2021. But they can make a updated video six months after. They have followed up with prior videos.

I also saw a clip from Hardware Unboxed, where Tim and Steve laughed about Linux lacking. Not in a bad way though. And I couldn't help smile along, as I know they are two awesome Youtubers, and just because they say Linux isn't for them doesn't mean I lose respect for them.

Who will Linux be for after Deck's launch (i.e when more anti cheat lands)? I think it will be good enough for couple percent of Window users. So let's say one to three percent of Window users. So imagine Linux having three percent market share by itself on desktop PCs. Add in Deck's market share, and you get five percent or more market share. With that high market share the platform will have made it and there is little that can ruin the momentum it has in such way regressions to lower market share will happen. As was said, at five percent there will be meaningful game and app supports coming in. Keep in mind also that Linux market share growth rate at five percent will be much better than growth rate when market share was 0.7%. Because at 5% the platform has likely improved so much that it will appeal to more people, where as 0.7% it would mostly appeal to Window users who have FOSS mindset and also like Linux.

With ARM on rise, It seems Linux gaming rising is guaranteed. Whether we want to or not, Linux is always in shadow of Microsoft. It is they who keep stifling the momentum that has kept Linux dwindling at low market share, their latest tech are among others DirectStorage, DXR and Android app support. Those attempts are becoming increasing less effective, as Valve keeps working around them. It very difficult to convince Window users that part of why Linux has not moved forward is because of Microsoft, it's as if you're a crazy person. But controlling game development standards allows you to exclude other OS platforms, which isn't any different from game exclusivity. Yet people seem oblivious to these tactics and is fine with, but as soon as Sony engages in exclusivity they react more fiercely. You exclude other OS platforms with D3D12 being key tech for game development, you cut off tons games from being playable.

Coming back to ARM, it seems Vulkan will play a big role in powering ARM PCs that aren't MACs. Perhaps that's why Microsoft contracted Collabora dev who worked on Zink (OpenGL to Vulkan) and has also made D3D_insert# on DX12? Perhaps they are making a Proton/Rosetta like compatibility layer for ARM transition of their PCs? If I am right it goes to show you how good they are at controlling or chasing control of standards. Because if they dont have a solution for ARM transition, people may use Vulkan no? And more Vulkan is used the sooner D3D12 falls as the standard, they lose power where they can stifle gaming on Linux through exclusivity. Basically I think Microsoft's tactics has affected market share growth rate of Linux, so it's not just because Linux has failed to meet gamers expectation.

Change is always difficult I guess...

This reminds me a quote:
It is harder to crack prejudice than an atom. -- Albert Einstein

I would guess a big part of the flatpak is fedora, if I am not mistaken they push it more than other distros.

Also there is a snap that Ubuntu pushes, right? Is that showing up on this? Or are the Ubuntu ones installed via apt?

Also wondering if Debian is just classified as Ubuntu, as I don't see it on this list at all.

Also wondering if Debian is just classified as Ubuntu, as I don't see it on this list at all.

I suppose you can check your Steam's system information, see what's listed there.