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Valve released a new update to the Steam Client Beta for Steam Deck and Desktop, with some Steam Input changes and some improvements for Linux too. It's the same across Desktop / Deck since it's a Steam Client update.

The changes for Steam Input include:

  • Always show the controller tab in app properties for non-Steam shortcuts.
  • Added Invert X and Invert Y to Mouse Regions.
  • Scroll Wheel mode can now be chosen from the dropdown in SIAPI games (Inside of Edit Loadout, not Quick Settings).

More interesting for us are the Linux-specific changes:

  • Steam developers can now select which Steam for Linux runtime to use for native titles. Please consult the partner site for more details.
  • Native titles will execute in 'Steam for Linux runtime 1.0 (scout)' by default, instead of the legacy runtime environment.
    This behavior is consistent with Steam Deck and promotes better compatibility across all Linux desktop distributions.
    Note that this new feature can be turned off globally with "-compat-force-slr off" on the Steam client command line.

Taken from the changelog for the October 17th Beta.

What exactly is the Steam for Linux runtime? From the official guide (linked from Steamworks): "A collection of container environments which can be used to run Steam games on Linux in a relatively predictable container environment, instead of running directly on an unknown Linux distribution which might be old, new or unusually set up."

This way developers can ensure their Linux games run the same across different distributions. Now having Desktop Linux match Steam Deck by default, and letting developers pick, just seems like a thoroughly great change to me.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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22 comments
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razze Oct 18
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It's a cut down version of flatpak basically
Is there an UMU counterpart to Scout / Steam for Linux?
My experience with Steam Runtime is:

On Deck: Works
Same runtime on Desktop: Does not work - manually shovelling around *.so files sometimes helps o.o

I think I am doing it wrong please send help. 😅
Eike Oct 18
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Is there an UMU counterpart to Scout / Steam for Linux?

What is "UMU"?
Liam Dawe Oct 18
Is there an UMU counterpart to Scout / Steam for Linux?

What is "UMU"?
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/10/unified-linux-wine-game-launcher-umu-gets-a-first-official-release/
kokoko3k Oct 18
Steam developers can now select which Steam for Linux runtime to use for native titles. Please consult the partner site for more details.

What exactly is a "Steam developer", one that works for Steam or they intend "Game developers publishing on Steam"?
Lamdarer Oct 18
Steam developers can now select which Steam for Linux runtime to use for native titles. Please consult the partner site for more details.

What exactly is a "Steam developer", one that works for Steam or they intend "Game developers publishing on Steam"?
Well, probably "Game developers publishing on Steam" or one that works for Valve ;P
M@GOid Oct 18
I noticed a lot of older Linux native games stopped working on modern distros, both indies and Windows games ported by third parties. And not always the Linux runtime options helped. Unfortunately I had to retreat to Proton, which is not a good thing. Keep Linux native alive!!1!
Linux_Rocks Oct 18
Yes, but can you disable Steam Play yet? Is the button fixed? If you enable all titles for Steam Play and then disable that part, does Steam still list all games? My PC is in storage and I can't check. I doubt either are fixed despite these crumbs to native Linux games.
Liam Dawe Oct 18
Yes, but can you disable Steam Play yet? Is the button fixed? If you enable all titles for Steam Play and then disable that part, does Steam still list all games? My PC is in storage and I can't check. I doubt either are fixed despite these crumbs to native Linux games.
Why would you want to disable it? Can't see why that would make sense for Valve to even let you nowadays.
Is there an UMU counterpart to Scout / Steam for Linux?

What is "UMU"?
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2024/10/unified-linux-wine-game-launcher-umu-gets-a-first-official-release/

But, what is the offical meaning of the acronym UMU?
"U" is for "Universal"... And the "MU"?
whizse Oct 18
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But, what is the offical meaning of the acronym UMU?
"U" is for "Universal"... And the "MU"?
"Why is it called UMU?

An umu is an above-ground oven of hot volcanic stones originating from Polynesian culture. After the stones are heated, the top layer is removed and the food placed on top to heat/cook. We chose the name because Valve's containerization tool is named pressure-vessel. We're "preparing" the pressure vessel similar to how you would use a stove top pressure-cooker -- by placing it on our umu's "stovetop""

https://github.com/Open-Wine-Components/umu-launcher?tab=readme-ov-file#why-is-it-called-umu

It used to be the Unified Linux Wine Game Launcher. I guess the developers found the "MU" part in the acronym a bit forced and changed it.


Last edited by whizse on 18 October 2024 at 7:35 pm UTC
Linux_Rocks Oct 18
Yes, but can you disable Steam Play yet? Is the button fixed? If you enable all titles for Steam Play and then disable that part, does Steam still list all games? My PC is in storage and I can't check. I doubt either are fixed despite these crumbs to native Linux games.
Why would you want to disable it? Can't see why that would make sense for Valve to even let you nowadays.
Why should we be forced to use it? More choices and customization is always a good thing for the end user. If I decide to not use it, then I should be able to turn it off like the settings should (and used to) allow. I don't wanna use Proton. I wanna know what is and isn't Linux native in my Steam library.

It's great that Proton is a thing and that it works as well as it does. It's not something that interests me, cause I dual-boot. I only use Windows for gaming at this point, but I paid for a license. So I'm gonna use said license.
Liam Dawe Oct 18
You’re not forced to do anything. Just…don’t use it. I really don’t see the issue. But this feels like it’s going to descend into another silly Proton argument.
tuubi Oct 18
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Don't you need Steam Play to use the Steam Linux Runtime as well? Or any other "compatibility tool". It doesn't automatically mean Proton.
Phlebiac Oct 19
More choices and customization is always a good thing for the end user.

I was going to say: "just use the little penguin icon to filter" to "Show only games that run on Linux" as the tooltip says. But... it looks like they broke that? Perhaps related to what you are complaining about.
Liam Dawe Oct 19
Don't you need Steam Play to use the Steam Linux Runtime as well? Or any other "compatibility tool". It doesn't automatically mean Proton.
That is a very good point actually yes, Steam Play is more than Proton, it's also the containerized Linux Runtimes.
Linux_Rocks Oct 19
But this feels like it’s going to descend into another silly Proton argument.
Not from me at least. I'm glad that people enjoy playing games with Proton.

More choices and customization is always a good thing for the end user.

I was going to say: "just use the little penguin icon to filter" to "Show only games that run on Linux" as the tooltip says. But... it looks like they broke that? Perhaps related to what you are complaining about.
That's the main part of it, yes. Before when you switched Steam Play off in the settings, it only showed native Linux games with the filter.

Steam Play is more than Proton, it's also the containerized Linux Runtimes.
This is good to know, as I was only going off of the naming in the Steam client settings. My bad, I thought it was just a general term for their compatibility stuff.

If I came off as a jerk, then my bad again. I just wanna be able to know what's what in my Steam library. I've got a huge library on Steam. So being able to filter and sort things properly is important to me.

Basically I'd turn it off, then sort what needs to be sorted by OS, and then I'd turn it back on just for Boxtron. Linux native games going into my Linux category, other games going into my Windows category, and any 64-bit (now Apple Silicon too) macOS games also going into my Mac category. Along with a Software category for any regular software on Steam.
Marlock Oct 19
what Valve needed to do is fix the damn filter so it shows linux native games when we ask it to show only linux games, instead of all games, even when Steam Play is enabled

then they can remove the stupid "enable steam play support" option from steam settings without a single drawback


Last edited by Marlock on 19 October 2024 at 7:41 pm UTC
Egonaut Oct 20
I was going to say: "just use the little penguin icon to filter" to "Show only games that run on Linux" as the tooltip says. But... it looks like they broke that? Perhaps related to what you are complaining about.

It's not broken, if you know what it actually does. It does not filter native games, it filters games playable on Linux. And if you have Proton for all titles enabled, then it shows you all games. The tooltip also gives it away, which says "Show only games that run on Linux".

One could argue that the filter should only show native games, but that is a different topic. The functionality has not changed.
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