Quoting: Liam DaweValve have now changed #TAV rating for Steam Deck to Unsupported.

What's the TAV rating?

I'm assuming it's something along the lines of ProtonDB's ratings... But where does one view a "TAV rating"?

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Quoting: d3Xt3rI've got four machines - a desktop, laptop, mini PC and a handheld - all AMD - and have none of the issues you've mentioned.

I know that reply was directed at someone else, but I'd just like to point out that with the exception of my Microsoft Surface GO, I haven't had any hardware issues "out of the box" in years and years that I can recall... Yes, I mostly stick with the Debian or Ubuntu-based distros, occasionally dabbling with others; but irrespective of what distro I'm playing with at the time, everything "just works" these days.

In my experience, the only exception to this has been when you have "special functionality" - such as biometric (fingerprint) readers and custom LED lighting, etc... But even then, one can usually find an easy solution pretty quickly.

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Quoting: CyrilBut in the end, Steam or GOG doesn't matter, it's just sad for us: the players.

This is the most obvious downside to going all-digital, and a big part of the reason console manufactures are pushing this for the future... All-digital means you don't "own" anything and can have your purchase taken away at any time.

Quoting: CyrilNot GOG's fault either...

Rubbish.

When <insert title> is available as a Linux title from the same publisher with a competitor, GOG.com should be pushing back and demanding that the Linux version is also available on their store.

Yes, the publisher has the ultimate say; but the problem is so widespread (with Linux titles being available on Steam and not on GOG.com) that it suggests GOG.com is doing little - if anything - to combat this.

If it was isolated titles, I'd agree that GOG.com is not to blame... But we're talking dozens of titles here, which to me suggests that GOG.com is doing nothing to combat this choice.

GOG.com aren't solely to blame, of course (as you've pointed out, the developer and / or publisher are also to blame); but they are partially to blame.

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Remember when they first started selling games for Linux-based operating systems?

They made this BIG song and dance about how they were going to be these HUGE supporters of Linux going forwards... But it didn't last long and now, most of their Linux games are plain old "shovelware", with many of the games available for Linux elsewhere completely missing from GOG.com.

Heck, I've even got a number of games in my library that were released for Linux on GOG.com, only for GOG.com to remove the option to buy the Linux version later on (sometimes I don't even get the option to re-download the Linux version anymore - but thankfully, I have backup copies of all my GOG.com games on a storage drive).

I have plenty of gripes with Valve Software - but at least they have proactively continued to work towards advancing the cause for Linux gamers since they started offering Official Linux support... Which is not something that can be said of GOG.com, who seemingly became bored of Linux gaming after five minutes.

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Quoting: Liam DaweWhat people keep missing on this point though, is how Valve is still a relative newbie to the hardware game. When you think about all the other lot doing handhelds, laptops and so on, they already have *all* the contacts and stuff in place to ship near worldwide for various types of hardware. Stuff like this takes time

People say this whenever this topic comes up, but it's such a cop-out of a response.

I've seen everybody, from itty-bitty companies new to hardware all the way up to billion-dollar multinationals with years of experience, release hardware in Australia... Yet Valve Software, with all their assets, capital (money) and past experience (they've done hardware several times over the years) can't?

Give me a break.

This is laziness, nothing more.

Quoting: wytrabbitAnd shipping to Australia means official hardware support in Australia. So diagnostics, repairs, and replacements need a contact as well.

That doesn't need to be a local presence - there are a lot of consumer electronics companies that ship their products overseas for diagnostics and / or repairs... Some of them do it for select issues, some do it for everything but it's common practice.

And it's not hard to organize that through a courier company; heck, I'm a former project manager - give me an hour and I could organize something that would be logistically feasible on the scale that Valve Software would need.

Quoting: MalGaben lives in New Zealand now right? We could definitely use a commercial where he shows off his Steam Deck. These ones are starting to grow old and the Internet demands that we get a 2024 reboot.

That's pretty funny.

For those not in Australia or New Zealand, Māori People and Kiwis have a very, uh, "unique", way of pronouncing certain words, largely due to their accent... Which Australians love to pole fun at, in part because of the never-ending rivalry we have with our friends "across the bay".

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GOG.com aren't the same company they used to be... I used to buy all of my games through them, but there's so many games they just don't have these days; and it's not uncommon for them to delist games (hell, half my library has been delisted!).

There was a time they actively pushed for new Linux titles, too... But now, most of their Linux stuff is "shovelware" and there is a HUGE list of games that have a Linux version elsewhere, but not on GOG.com.

I've not seen it myself, but apparently some of their titles even have DRM these days - which is in stark contrast to one of the early goals of GOG.com (the other big one being "old" games, which they sort-of adhere to still).

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Yeah, Valve Software will be at PAX Australia to tell us that they're going to release the Steam Deck locally in 2048... Meanwhile, everybody else - from two-bit nobodies through to billion dollar multinationals - can release their wares in a tenth of the time that Valve Software can, and generate a profit in the process!

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Wait, Grand Theft Auto V had working multiplayer under Linux-based operating systems?

I certainly hope this is a mistake, but I would quickly buy the game on PC if this in fact works with multiplayer gaming.,. I only really play multiplayer games on my consoles; but I've been sort-of looking for multiplayer games to play on my new gaming laptop, and this would fit the bill nicely.

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Quoting: PyrateIf Nvidia gave 1.5 shits and make a not-embarrassing driver, I would say the experience across the board would infact be piss easy, plug and play.

What do you mean?

I have an entire house full of computers, one of which is fairly recent and the other which was bought only a few weeks ago, and NVIDIA drivers work flawlessly on every one of them that has an NVIDIA GPU... There's a reason I actually prefer to purchase laptops with NVIDIA hardware, these days.

My new laptop - which is what is mentioned on my profile - even runs everything in my Steam Library on the highest possible settings without missing a beat.

In the distant past I had problems with NVIDA drivers on an occasional basis, such as it screwing up the desktop environment if certain driver versions were selected... But I haven't seen that issue in, say, 10+ years.

Quoting: mr-victory

Quoting: LoudTechieSecure boot, trust zone, tpms

If a game demands a signed kernel/OS/whatever then what's the point of using Linux? The freedom is gone.

The same could be said of Google Android, as this exact scenario applies with many, many applications...

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Quoting: MalIhmo security incidents on windows will keep repeating and sooner or later it will become obvious to the masses as well the dangers of running stuff inside the kernel.

Nothing will change.

Microsoft Windows operating systems have been the inferior choice when it comes to security for as long as Windows operating systems have been around, yet people still use them... Then also consider that for the last few "Windows" operating systems, Microsoft has been tracking pretty much everything its users see or do on "their" computers, throwing privacy completely out the window (no pun intended); and again, people continue to use Windows operating systems en mass.

Irrespective of what Microsoft do from here, their operating system will continue to be a poster boy for being insecure and anti-privacy, with tens of millions of sheep continuing to use it, regardless of these flaws.

Quoting: JosephLinux is still too hard for the non-technical people to use; it’s better than it was, but not quite there yet.

Ugh. I hate it when people parrot this claim.

Many modern Linux-based operating systems are just as easy to use as a typical Microsoft Windows operating system these days (certain distros could probably even claim they're easier to use!), and one can get by without ever touching Terminal or doing anything unusually "technical"... The option is still there of course, and many Linux users (myself included) prefer to use Terminal and things like that; but in 99% of cases, you can get by just fine without ever going down that path.

What needs to happen is that the Linux Community needs to shakes this "It's so technical most everyday users can't use it" reputation, because it's a reputation that's simply not true anymore.

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