Steam on Linux, not just on Mac!

[dusty_fox]

If only M$ were that nice...

M$ does not control whether the windows versions of the source engine can use OpenGL. Valve does.

[dusty_fox]

Facepalm.jpg


Oh yeah? All of the OpenGL windows games I've played using wine beg to disagree with you.

Now if you were referring to my comment about the overlay - well, I'll be the first to admit that I do not know how it works, only that in its current form it is totally incompatible with wine.

[Fuzz Bucket]

M$ does not control whether the windows versions of the source engine can use OpenGL. Valve does.
I believe he was referring to how Microsoft owns Direct X

[MF_Kitten]

linux would be a great arena to open steam onto. what people forget is that lack of support and use is because of a lack of support. if developers push games for linux, more people will be okay with linux (the "last drop" effect), and when sales pick up, more developers will follow in that path.

more games being made for linux means more support will be made for GPUs and stuff like that, and more support for linux gaming will follow.

so if companies just go ahead, it´ll develop, and more will follow. it´s the same with the mac thing now. steam will open a huge window to the mac community, and Apple has no choise but to listen, and keep their offerings more gamer-friendly, with more frequent updates to the GPU´s offered etc. the reason they´re slow in that department is because there is close to no motivation to make an effort in that department. if there are no games, then why would you need a big fat SLI setup? the computers they offer that DOES have this, are the mac pro computers, and that´s more for 3d rendering and stuff like that, than it is for gaming.

so yeah, if companies start doing it, people will start doing it, and more companies will start doing it, and it´ll grow.

[manstie]

Just get Windows XP. If you have a MAC then you should be doing things that MAC does best, and that isn't playing games. XP is by far the best gaming computer. I have no idea what linux is special for.

[Techrayder11]

Just get Windows XP. If you have a MAC then you should be doing things that MAC does best, and that isn't playing games. XP is by far the best gaming computer. I have no idea what linux is special for.

Linux is much more stable and customizable. With linux, you are in complete control of your operating system.

[Mangr0v3]

Just get Windows XP. If you have a MAC then you should be doing things that MAC does best, and that isn't playing games. XP is by far the best gaming computer. I have no idea what linux is special for.
XP is crash-prone in my experience, and watered-down weak sauce when it comes to computer security.

[srvrsyde]

XP is crash-prone in my experience, and watered-down weak sauce when it comes to computer security.


Macs crash just as much. I have to use them at school and those suckers crash more than any windows version i've ever had.

and computer security is only as good as the user. if you download from shady places, you'll probably get a virus. just get a decent AV and firewall and use common sense. no need to spend 3k on a computer that brags to never get viruses, when in a few years it'll have just as many as windows does.

[Fuzz Bucket]

Macs crash just as much. I have to use them at school and those suckers crash more than any windows version i've ever had.
Your school did something horribly wrong, then.
None of my University's Macs have and kind of crashing problem.
I've experience one kernel panic in my entire time using the system. I induced it myself.

[dusty_fox]

Well, someone on the appdb page for team fortress 2 and wine said that they emailed valve about OpenGL support for source running on windows, and got this response:

..each OS's opengl implementation is significantly divergent that it isn't reasonable for us to offer a windows OGL option at this time.
Damn. So much for the Wine solution then.

[DarkIce]

I doubt out of the millions of steam users, a justifiable amount use Linux. Wine, as has been stated before, can achieve, while not perfect, decent frame rates.

A dual boot would not be impossible for most either.

[dusty_fox]

I doubt out of the millions of steam users, a justifiable amount use Linux. Wine, as has been stated before, can achieve, while not perfect, decent frame rates.

A dual boot would not be impossible for most either.
It looks like that's what I'll have to keep on doing. I was hoping to finally get rid of windows on my laptop, but it looks like I won't be doing that for a while.

edit: Although, I bet Valve has the stats on what percentage of people actually use Wine, because the graphics card or driver shows up as "Direct3D HAL" or something like that in the steam hardware survey. I wonder if they'll ever release the figures for that?

[FineWolf]

The problem with supporting Linux is that the distribution, packages installed, and system configuration are so varied that supporting it would be a nightmare.

Don't get me wrong, I would to see Steam support Linux one day. Unfortunately, right now the Linux ecosystem is so partitioned that it would make supporting it simply impossible.

[d10sfan]

Just get Windows XP. If you have a MAC then you should be doing things that MAC does best, and that isn't playing games. XP is by far the best gaming computer. I have no idea what linux is special for.

How do macs dont do playing games? That makes no sense. All a mac is these days is a intel computer with os x on it, in an incredibly dumbed down reasoning though. Point is, gaming on macs is definitely possible and is being done. Dualbooting should be a thing of the past.

Linux is good for many things. It is one of the most stable operating system out there. OS X is also very stable and have had almost no crashes. Windows on the other hand, I get crashes quite often.

[d10sfan]

The problem with supporting Linux is that the distribution, packages installed, and system configuration are so varied that supporting it would be a nightmare.

Don't get me wrong, I would to see Steam support Linux one day. Unfortunately, right now the Linux ecosystem is so partitioned that it would make supporting it simply impossible.

Valve could package the correct dependencies so I dont see how that is an issue. They could go with a really popular distro, such as Ubuntu and go from there.

They are able to support the numerous system configurations that Windows systems have. Macs will be easier in this ascept as there are only a few models of macs.

[Bhamid]

M$ does not control whether the windows versions of the source engine can use OpenGL. Valve does.

When Microsoft changed all those things with Vista, one of them was the OpenGL implementation so that it ran much slower than it did in Xp.

[dusty_fox]

When Microsoft changed all those things with Vista, one of them was the OpenGL implementation so that it ran much slower than it did in Xp.
You know, now that you've mentioned it I have noticed this. I installed Half Life 1 on a friend's laptop (with intel graphics), and noticed some performance problems, especially with lighting. I tried it in Wine under Debian on the same computer and whaddya know - no performance problem :)

According to this guy (http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Microsoft-Cripple-Opengl-3d-Graphics_t7377.html), OpenGL performance is reduced by roughly half, because OpenGL games don't get direct access to the graphics card (who the hell thought this was a good idea??? :confused:)

So, I guess that's another reason for not porting the windows version to OpenGL.

So the question remains - when will we get Linux native versions of TF2, L4D, etc? We know the source engine is coming to linux because of Postal 3 (if it is ever released..), so if the hard work has already been done, what's stopping them?

[ultio]

Well, just because it hasn't been announced yet it doesn't mean it will never come for Linux. I bet Valve is well aware of the demand for a Linux port.

[Mangr0v3]

According to this guy (http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Microsoft-Cripple-Opengl-3d-Graphics_t7377.html), OpenGL performance is reduced by roughly half, because OpenGL games don't get direct access to the graphics card (who the hell thought this was a good idea??? :confused:)
Microsoft FUD campaign, that never happened.

[MF_Kitten]

According to this guy (http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Microsoft-Cripple-Opengl-3d-Graphics_t7377.html), OpenGL performance is reduced by roughly half, because OpenGL games don't get direct access to the graphics card (who the hell thought this was a good idea??? :confused:)

that's actually typical of Microsoft. the other week i was trying to move a bunch of files over to my external hard drive. it was formatted to HFS+, which is the Mac file system for hard drives. Windows just would not recognize it even being there. it just ignored it, unless i went to the hard drive configurations. it said "yep, there's a hard drive here, but i'm not gunna start looking aroudn in there, it's not my kinda file system". meanwhile, Mac OSX reads whatever the hell you put into it. external hard drives with HFS+, NTFS or fat32 file systems? cheesecake! it's as if there was no difference at all.

I WONDER WHY LOL

also, to the guy who said "just use windows xp", you're missing the entire point, and sweeping the issue under the rug. the point here is that lots of people can't stand windows in any way shape or form, and with good reason. the reason windows is good for gaming, and mac/linux isn't, is because more people have windows, and so the game distributors look at the market shares and go "screw the other guys, we'll just take the largest market because they're larger, and disregard the quality of that platform altogether!".

and i've learned that if your experience of mac computers are from a school or any other public area, then you haven't experienced a mac at all. you've experienced the traumatized and chewed up remnants of a mac. it's amazing how often this is true. a mac in a school always has a high probability of being messed up in the "head". people mistreat computers alot in schools, because they have no clue WTF they're up to at all.

[godofgrunts]

Oh yeah? All of the OpenGL windows games I've played using wine beg to disagree with you.

Now if you were referring to my comment about the overlay - well, I'll be the first to admit that I do not know how it works, only that in its current form it is totally incompatible with wine.
I misread your post. I thought you meant running the OS X binaries in Wine.

My apologies.
The problem with supporting Linux is that the distribution, packages installed, and system configuration are so varied that supporting it would be a nightmare.
Static libraries... You know all those DLLs that get copied when you install windows crap? Same thing.

When Microsoft changed all those things with Vista, one of them was the OpenGL implementation so that it ran much slower than it did in Xp.
That's just FUD. They originally said that they were going to force OpenGL to emulate on top of directx, but they never did that.
that's actually typical of Microsoft. the other week i was trying to move a bunch of files over to my external hard drive. it was formatted to HFS+, which is the Mac file system for hard drives. Windows just would not recognize it even being there. it just ignored it, unless i went to the hard drive configurations. it said "yep, there's a hard drive here, but i'm not gunna start looking aroudn in there, it's not my kinda file system". meanwhile, Mac OSX reads whatever the hell you put into it. external hard drives with HFS+, NTFS or fat32 file systems? cheesecake! it's as if there was no difference at all.
Windows doesn't have anyway of reading HFS+, it's like a different language. You might want to check out http://hem.bredband.net/catacombae/hfsx.html

Likewise, Windows can't read any Linux partitions either, but there are projects like http://www.fs-driver.org/ that are trying to fix that.

I WONDER WHY LOL

also, to the guy who said "just use windows xp", you're missing the entire point, and sweeping the issue under the rug. the point here is that lots of people can't stand windows in any way shape or form, and with good reason. the reason windows is good for gaming, and mac/linux isn't, is because more people have windows, and so the game distributors look at the market shares and go "screw the other guys, we'll just take the largest market because they're larger, and disregard the quality of that platform altogether!".

For Windows XP Professional, the maximum number of other computers that are permitted to simultaneously connect over the network is ten. This limit includes all transports and resource sharing protocols combined. For Windows XP Home Edition, the maximum number of other computers that are permitted to simultaneously connect over the network is five. This limit is the number of simultaneous sessions from other computers the system is permitted to host. This limit does not apply to the use of administrative tools that attach from a remote computer.
Source (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314882)

Officially, this limitation is to reduce the time that viruses can spread, really, this is to prevent Windows XP from being a server. Which is why you should never use Windows to host games.

[Scared]

meanwhile, Mac OSX reads whatever the hell you put into it. external hard drives with HFS+, NTFS or fat32 file systems? cheesecake! it's as if there was no difference at all.

OSX only had read access to NTFS though right?

[Bhamid]

Mac OSX reads whatever the hell you put into it. external hard drives with HFS+, NTFS or fat32 file systems? cheesecake! it's as if there was no difference at all.


It kinda has to, if it only let it proprietary filesystems read then people would get extremely pissed off at it.

[MF_Kitten]

OSX only had read access to NTFS though right?

not sure, but that might be the case for all i know. the point here is that why doesn´t windows (NTFS) want to understand HFS+, when mac (HFS+) clearly understands NTSF? and NTFS can understand HFS+ if you just get a piece of software that does it for you. it´s not because it´s alien and unreadable, because it can "see" the hard drive perfectly. it´s because microsoft limits a bunch of things so the market stays in their favour

It kinda has to, if it only let it proprietary filesystems read then people would get extremely jarateed off at it.

not sure what you mean here. why would people be annoyed by windows reading hard drives of any file system?

[Fuzz Bucket]

OSX only had read access to NTFS though right?

FUSE. NTFS3G.

[manstie]

How do macs dont do playing games? That makes no sense. All a mac is these days is a intel computer with os x on it, in an incredibly dumbed down reasoning though. Point is, gaming on macs is definitely possible and is being done. Dualbooting should be a thing of the past.

Linux is good for many things. It is one of the most stable operating system out there. OS X is also very stable and have had almost no crashes. Windows on the other hand, I get crashes quite often.

I said what MACs do BEST, and they arent BEST at playing games with them.

[Fuzz Bucket]

I said what MACs do BEST, and they arent BEST at playing games with them.

MAC is an acronym.
Mac is an abbreviation for Macintosh.

Who's to say what is better at "playing games with them"?

[Techrayder11]

Please join this group to support this request : http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamnux.

Joined. Cool Idea :)

[Bhamid]

not sure what you mean here. why would people be annoyed by windows reading hard drives of any file system?

I meant that because Windows has such a large market share, it doesn't have to support other filesystems which used by competitors - it can afford to. Apple can't do that because it would be a barrier between Windows people switching to Mac.

[MF_Kitten]

I meant that because Windows has such a large market share, it doesn't have to support other filesystems which used by competitors - it can afford to. Apple can't do that because it would be a barrier between Windows people switching to Mac.

ah, i see. the issue is really about the OS being open and compatible. if you are in a hurry, and you have important files on a hard drive that needs to go on your pc RIGHT AWAY, and you hook it up, only to find that windows doesn´t want to look inside it, simply because it was used with a mac before. do you think "oh well, i guess they´re entitled to that!"?

imagine the reverse scenarion: you have a hard drive with files that you need to get onto your mac right away. you hook it up, and it doesn´t care what the file system is, it just gives you the files regardless. it´s about compatibility and letting you do what you need or want to. people say steve jobs is a control freak, but they somehow miss this with microsoft. they intentionally limit your abilities as to what you can do with your computer, for the SOLE PURPOSE of keeping their market share. they believe that they can fool people into thinking that computers are super-limited devices, and there are things that can´t be done, and they tell people their OS is really really open and stuff, and people buy into it. Apple, on the other hand, says "yes, we like to control certain things, because we are concerned with quality, but everything is possible, so do whatever you like." Microsoft could learn alot from that train of thought, and that way of marketing themselves.

[Mr.Kar]

so instead of using wine with linux and play most games and fix some game glitches you could use with wine

[Pilotclan9404]

Huh? I can't understand you.

[Newbazoid]

The problem with supporting Linux is that the distribution, packages installed, and system configuration are so varied that supporting it would be a nightmare.

Don't get me wrong, I would to see Steam support Linux one day. Unfortunately, right now the Linux ecosystem is so partitioned that it would make supporting it simply impossible.

That's the fear of most developers and that's also untrue because they can easily create a cross-platform installation package, like a shell script (.run/.bin) instead of .deb and .rpm packages for each platform. Or, to keep it even more simple, why not just create a zip package that users can extract into their home folder. This would also allow automatic updating.

This is a good read regarding this:

http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?p=247665#247665

[sv3nx]

I would donate (buy the Valve game I don't have yet), if they would release Linux Client.

[omega552003]

The PC needs to dump DirectX and go with OpenGL, AL & CL.
Opengl has always been a superior API, hence why the big boys and girls use it, like for real things like Movies, CAD, and video games. The only reason why DX caught on is the fact that its graphics rendering code for people that need to have their hand held.

Its like Microsoft made fisher price toys, easy to play with and doesn't require much effort to put the plastic pieces together. OpenGL is like legos, not just regular legos but all the different series, like mindstorm, technics. You have to work harder , but damn that's going to be a sweet automated bulldozer when you get done.

[Pilotclan9404]

Jeez, let them finish the Mac versions before you start demanding more, this stuff takes a lot of time and effort.

Besides, Valve have other things to do and I'm sure accommodating an operating system with a 1% market share isn't top of their list.

its more they that dude - its more of a 6 -8 present really - i use linux and windows

[Pilotclan9404]

I would donate (buy the Valve game I don't have yet), if they would release Linux Client.

agreed i would rebut my games topo

[ryniek]

I would donate (buy the Valve game I don't have yet), if they would release Linux Client.


Me too.
And my question: even if Valve would port Steam client on Linux, will it ever be (linux client only) open source?

[Pilotclan9404]

Me too.
And my question: even if Valve would port Steam client on Linux, will it ever be (linux client only) open source?

No - think about why

[Bhamid]

I don't think people will mind that the client won't be open source - if people won't pay for proprietary content through steam because of those objections then they won't download steam in the first place.

[dusty_fox]

I think only Stallman types would care about it not being open-source.

[gmlou]

It shouldn't matter if it's Open Source... Quake 4 isn't open source and it's not free. I bought it and it's a great game that runs native on Linux. That's the important thing here. Native Linux games.

[Deimos-Megadeth]

Eventually. Thank god we no longer need a bloated windows OS to run games!! Thank you STEAM!

[the unloved]

steam isnt open source because then its anti piracyness will become pos

[NeoRazorX]

Proof In Steam's Mac Client Of Linux Support:

We have our hands on the bash launcher used by Valve's Steam client for Mac OS X that was recently announced -- along with the Source Engine for OS X -- and is currently in closed beta. While such scripts are usually insignificant, there is something interesting within it and that is explicit support for Linux.

... http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=14823

[immerohnegott]

As an update to the launcher thang, there are currently files available (and some download scripts to ease acquisition, thanks to some kindly users elsewhere), which include said launcher, as well as a steam binary, support libraries, craploads of UI graphics for the client, and more. At the very least, SOMEONE has been working on a linux port of the client, whether it's going to be officially released or not (according to Phoronix (http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23328)' "sources", this is going to happen).

taintsauce@the-♥♥♥♥ing-fury:~/Downloads/steam/linux32$ ldd vgui2_s.so
linux-gate.so.1 => (0x00512000)
libtier0_s.so => not found
libvstdlib_s.so => not found
libX11.so.6 => /usr/lib/libX11.so.6 (0x00110000)
libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/mesa/libGL.so.1 (0x0022d000)
libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0x00b06000)
libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0x0085a000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libm.so.6 (0x0071a000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libdl.so.2 (0x006e4000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libpthread.so.0 (0x00b87000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0x00522000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/libc.so.6 (0x008e6000)
libxcb.so.1 => /usr/lib/libxcb.so.1 (0x00aa2000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXext.so.6 (0x00292000)
libXxf86vm.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXxf86vm.so.1 (0x006ce000)
libXdamage.so.1 => /usr/lib/libXdamage.so.1 (0x00bee000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/lib/libXfixes.so.3 (0x00cad000)
libdrm.so.2 => /lib/libdrm.so.2 (0x002a2000)
libz.so.1 => /lib/libz.so.1 (0x002ad000)
libexpat.so.1 => /lib/libexpat.so.1 (0x005f5000)
libXau.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXau.so.6 (0x00be6000)
libXdmcp.so.6 => /usr/lib/libXdmcp.so.6 (0x004d5000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/tls/i686/cmov/librt.so.1 (0x002c2000)

here we have a list of shared libraries needed by one of the graphics libs included in this package. This wouldn't be of any concern, except there are explicit mentions of Linux, as well as X11 and Mesa's OpenGL stack.

It lives, kids. We just have to hope it'll make it out of Valve's back room.

[Hit in the Head]

Yay, here's to hoping!

[ryniek]

No - think about why

Of course it won't ;)
I couldn't resist so i asked.

[Mr.Kar]

linux is great since its free and how user friendly and i have win 7 on a laptop and linux is waaaay more user friendly, but alas i am a hardcore gamer who likes to play a ton of games that only work on windows so i 2 would like a total native version of steam to linux

[immerohnegott]

As a friendly update to this whole spiel, Valve has yanked the Linux client files from the public server, or at least yanked the index file such that finding files would be more difficult (they are filenamed with individual checksums). Some more mentions of Linux have been found in the Windows client files for the new Steam UI, though it is entirely possible these are in relation to Linux-based dedicated servers.

Regardless, it would seem that some work has been done on getting a Linux client working, if only for ♥♥♥-covering purposes, should Valve decide to port the platform (easier to do when most of the work is done, eh?).

The files that were up were clearly for a GUI client, as the Valve-created support libs linked to libraries for X11, as well as Mesa's Open GL library. These, of course, would not be required at all for the CLI-based dedicated server platform, and would only make sense in the context of an actual Steam client.

Valve have remained (as far as I'm aware) tight-lipped regarding this possibility, so all we can do for now is ask very nicely for a port and wait for our generous benefactors to supply it.

[Zoidberg]

Youy all know that Steam on Mac doesn't mean that all the games sold on the Steam store will be available to Mac owners, right?

[leveller]

Youy all know that Steam on Mac doesn't mean that all the games sold on the Steam store will be available to Mac owners, right?

Yes we do, you're a bit late to the party Zoidberg ;)

[dusty_fox]

Youy all know that Steam on Mac doesn't mean that all the games sold on the Steam store will be available to Mac owners, right?

All I care about is the source engine games - if they ported steam to linux we'd at least get those.

[srvrsyde]

All I care about is the source engine games - if they ported steam to linux we'd at least get those.

agreed, aside from the hl2 mods and some non-steam games i've added to my list, all my games were made by valve (have only bought valve complete pack) so if they port steam to linux, i'm assuming the games they've made go too.

[Jeff91]

I run only Linux on my own personal systems and I currently run source games through CXGames/Cedega/Wine would love to have native ports :)

+1 for Steam Linux

~Jeff

[dusty_fox]

Hey, perhaps we should migrate over to this thread:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683

[Mcgyber0o0]

It all comes down to money. Microsoft and ,lets face it, Apple don't want Linux to prosper. With the user friendliness of Ubuntu and other Linux OS's getting exponentially better, and not to mention EXTREMELY faster, many people would completely ditch Windows. Microsoft and Apple have 99% of game and software developers in their pocket. Money decides everything, unfortunately. Now I have no doubt that this will probably happen in the future, in fact I'm looking forward to it. I love Ubuntu and Linux in general. However Microsoft and Apple will be destroyed if you could play any game on Linux. They will do whatever they can to thwart Linux. They are EVIL money grubbers. This is truth.

[Newbazoid]

Even if Linux prospers that doesn't mean the end Of Mac and windows, for the same reason why thousands of companies still use IE 6 instead of an open source browser such as Firefox.

[Pilotclan9404]

All I care about is the source engine games - if they ported steam to linux we'd at least get those.

And it might start a trend !

And if i dont have to pay for windows( or to get it fixed ect..)... more $ for games! I love linux and i dual boot for my windows games

[ILoveSky]

Hey Valve, could you release versions of Steam for Solaris, OpenSolaris, and Linux?

[Slyke]

And RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu, Backtrack? Knoppix would be great too.

[ILoveSky]

And RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu, Backtrack? Knoppix would be great too.


Indeed, sorry I didn't list all the Linux platforms, I would have, atleast the major ones that you listed. Hell, a DOS version would be kick-♥♥♥, like play old DOS games on it.

[Slyke]

Indeed, sorry I didn't list all the Linux platforms, I would have, atleast the major ones that you listed. Hell, a DOS version would be kick-♥♥♥, like play old DOS games on it.

Wow, lol. He got bant. Couldn't findout why though.

Guess this thread can be closed...

[godofgrunts]

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_steam_announcement&num=1

[Ironlenny]

Just cause I can, I'd like to point out that Solaris and OpenSolaris are both Unix operating systems, therefore there will not be a Steam client for them. All major Linux distros and anything derived from them are binary compatible, so it doesn't really matter what version of Linux you run, a Linux Steam client will run on it.

[Nisseman]

I demand Steam for my Amiga 500!

[Slyke]

Just cause I can, I'd like to point out that Solaris and OpenSolaris are both Unix operating systems, therefore there will not be a Steam client for them. All major Linux distros and anything derived from them are binary compatible, so it doesn't really matter what version of Linux you run, a Linux Steam client will run on it.

Yah, I know, I was just you know, stating the obvious.

[Amander]

There are quite a large threads on this forum about Linux already.

[Ironlenny]

Yah, I know, I was just you know, stating the obvious.

But you were not obviously stating the obvious.

[mercury_zero]

Hi! I'm interested in seeing a Linux native Steam client.

From what I understand, the effort of porting Steam to MacOS has made the code much easier to port to Linux, because the two platforms are very similar. Can someone confirm this?

[D.Cent]

Nobody can - as Valve keeps being silent about this topic, there *might* be plans about it.

There are already a couple of threads about this topic - there you can get more information.

[KazooieBanjo]

I want a penguin pin for my TF2.

[Swixel]

Nobody can - as Valve keeps being silent about this topic, there *might* be plans about it.

Eh? Couple of things can be said:

Mac uses OpenGL, Linux uses OpenGL. Windows games were using DirectX. It makes it easier to release the games on Linux in that regard. There are a handful of other library related things that would be simplified by the move if done right (I'd expect they would be).

Past that, it's down to Valve. "Easier", yes, but details on how, past "they might be using the same libraries as are available on Linux", nobody but Valve can say.

[Mangr0v3]

Eh? Couple of things can be said:

Mac uses OpenGL, Linux uses OpenGL. Windows games were using DirectX. It makes it easier to release the games on Linux in that regard. There are a handful of other library related things that would be simplified by the move if done right (I'd expect they would be).

Past that, it's down to Valve. "Easier", yes, but details on how, past "they might be using the same libraries as are available on Linux", nobody but Valve can say.

Usually I would say that Valve would need to port the interface from Cocoa+Carbon hybrid to X11, but considering how screwed up their implementation is, X11 would probably be easier.

[Amander]

Why don't you guys post in the existing Steam for Linux thread?

[nake90]

You, steam devs, remade your steam client code to make it usable on mac, why not for Linux?
The steam client itself is not that hard to recode, just find and rewrite those OS-dependent lines of code. And it is even easier if you have already done most of the hard-work for mac.

The same for Source. As soon as I know it works using DirectX instead of OpenGL, but mac can't run DirectX too so you have already done the painful work there too. (A parser or something similar?)

I'd really love playing Source games in Linux and get rid of my Win partition, and I'm sure other would like too.

Also, I know you can play on Linux using Wine, however its really inefficient, a bit buggy, and some stuff does not work pretty good, and I think software should be platform-independent as much as programmers can, so that we are not forced to use an specific OS.


Just a suggestion thought :)

[Fuzz Bucket]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683

[nake90]

Oh, sorry.
I looked for linux topics in Suggestions/Ideas only... Should have done a bit more research. :(

[kunguz]

Dear Steam developers,

As a linux user I am so happy to see that there is no linux version of steam. Having such a support will immediately force game developers to give a support to Linux.

After all I and so many people do not want to pay money to Microsoft Windows. Instead I would be very glad to spend same money to games on Steam. Please do not forget the linux users.

Hey everyone I need some backup, so if you think the same I kindly ask you to support :)

Best regards,
Kaan

[aewallace81]

Dear Steam developers,

As a linux user I am so happy to see that there is no linux version of steam. Having such a support will immediately force game developers to give a support to Linux.

After all I and so many people do not want to pay money to Microsoft Windows. Instead I would be very glad to spend same money to games on Steam. Please do not forget the linux users.

Hey everyone I need some backup, so if you think the same I kindly ask you to support :)

Best regards,
Kaan


Be careful what you wish for, why you would want this rubbish? Surely some Linux wiz could come up with something better, the lack of thought or effort that goes into steam makes Microsoft look like a charitable organization.

[vbgunz]

Steam loses up to a half a billion dollars a year due to support of the Windows eco-system alone. I mean, I can understand some may say Windows is on more machines but that would be like saying "It's OK to make 10 bucks on 100 games Vs 20 bucks on 50."

Technically speaking, you make more money in the end (20 for 50) because you save on half the bandwidth necessary to get the game to the people and your support cost at the same profit was just cut in half which of course means more money. But amazingly the price of the game didn't change...

Ahh but life is never so simple. It's always easier said than done. The variables are countless but here is a simple truth. When I dual boot between Windows and my GNU/Linux distro, I don't have little trolls that swap out the hardware between reboots. In other words, it's the same capable hardware.

It's too big a subject to get into wisely with most people. Some will really start crying and fighting tooth and nail to protect something that isn't there to protect them. Some people will immediately go brain dead after reading my post thinking I am out to flame-bait or something. I respect Windows where it's due for it's respect. Case closed on that.

It's long over due for some official announcements that Steam is working on a Linux client. If you did it for Mac you must already be 90% of the way there, no?

Yeah, I hope for a Linux client soon.

[Jagged Tooth]

This is thread you want to post in.
OSX, but what about Linux? (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683)

[DHA91]

Just want to state that I would appreciate this also. Lots.

[incogneato]

I do not want to log in to Windows just to play some games. This is also making you lose out on sales because I am missing all the deals and I play games with stores like TF2 much less.

You already brought it to OS X and are bringing it to PS3, so I don't see how it can be much harder to bring it over to Linux. Ubuntu 10.10 has a paid store now so lots of people will begin buying apps for Linux soon enough. Ubuntu 10.10 also has up to date video drivers, nVidia themselves create a Linux version for their cards.

So please bring Steam to Linux. Thank you. :)

[AncientDonut]

I do not want to log in to Windows just to play some games. This is also making you lose out on sales because I am missing all the deals and I play games with stores like TF2 much less.

You already brought it to OS X and are bringing it to PS3, so I don't see how it can be much harder to bring it over to Linux. Ubuntu 10.10 has a paid store now so lots of people will begin buying apps for Linux soon enough. Ubuntu 10.10 also has up to date video drivers, nVidia themselves create a Linux version for their cards.

So please bring Steam to Linux. Thank you. :)
They're not bringing it to the PS3, They're adding Steamworks to the PS3 which is a entirely different thing than Steam itself

[unserene]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683

[psYkojoe]

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683
^ this ^

there is already a thread with many posts and it's still active... so we shouldn't spam other forums

[Toast2120]

They're not bringing it to the PS3, They're adding Steamworks to the PS3 which is a entirely different thing than Steam itself

Yes Steamworks is not Steam but the PS3 uses a modified Linux kernel, just so you know. So believe it or not, Valve does in fact, think of Linux support in some way. Join us in the thread.

/endthread

[dalponis]

Looks like I broke your "/endthread".

[bejayel]

Yes Steamworks is not Steam but the PS3 uses a modified Linux kernel, just so you know. So believe it or not, Valve does in fact, think of Linux support in some way. Join us in the thread.

/endthread

Or how about the fact that there is mac support and MAC is build on BSD which is a Unix operating system.

[vbgunz]

I wish I had juice and could boycott all Valve servers that abuse GNU/Linux. Such a move would crash and halt millions of games on a global scale, this forum, this message, the store and Valve would be smashed in an instant. GNU/Linux servers make up most of the backbone here and they just outright abuse the client base. I am really sick and tired of it. They keep treating us like we're worthless and have no voice or opinion and this is exactly why I refuse to buy any games from Steam. I don't even bother as I know every dollar goes towards a company that is completely against me.

Like the Op, I dual boot and only do so because of the games I already purchased. Steam is the last thing keeping me having to keep Windows around. It's been like this for years now and I swear I feel like just giving up. Imagine having a girl that don't even tease you. She won't even talk to you but you gotta serve this girl when she need serving and only you can do it the best. It just frigging sucks having to put up with a girl that don't put out. Talk to me baby, talk to me... *sigh*

Really. This is getting low. I am sure a lot of us are tired of it and have grown to look at these threads in disgust. Steam and Valve is quickly becoming the neighbor you hate seeing. The guy that always comes around and ask for stuff and even has the gall to demand some stuff but when you try to ask them for anything they get quiet and rude and always have better things to do. Windows is my apartment and Valve is my landlord and I am really thinking of moving out. It's not a threat. That'll be like a fly against an F-22 Raptor. It's no threat.

I am just sick and tired; that's all and that's what happens when I and users like me play the nice guy. Sorry but I had to rant. Thanks Op for bringing it out. I feel better.

[Toast2120]

Seriously... vent here, we have a thread for this

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683

/clsthrd

[neurokirurgi]

Yes Steamworks is not Steam but the PS3 uses a modified Linux kernel, just so you know.
Sauce on this

[incogneato]

I wish I had juice and could boycott all Valve servers that abuse GNU/Linux. Such a move would crash and halt millions of games on a global scale, this forum, this message, the store and Valve would be smashed in an instant. GNU/Linux servers make up most of the backbone here and they just outright abuse the client base. I am really sick and tired of it. They keep treating us like we're worthless and have no voice or opinion and this is exactly why I refuse to buy any games from Steam. I don't even bother as I know every dollar goes towards a company that is completely against me.

Like the Op, I dual boot and only do so because of the games I already purchased. Steam is the last thing keeping me having to keep Windows around. It's been like this for years now and I swear I feel like just giving up. Imagine having a girl that don't even tease you. She won't even talk to you but you gotta serve this girl when she need serving and only you can do it the best. It just frigging sucks having to put up with a girl that don't put out. Talk to me baby, talk to me... *sigh*

Really. This is getting low. I am sure a lot of us are tired of it and have grown to look at these threads in disgust. Steam and Valve is quickly becoming the neighbor you hate seeing. The guy that always comes around and ask for stuff and even has the gall to demand some stuff but when you try to ask them for anything they get quiet and rude and always have better things to do. Windows is my apartment and Valve is my landlord and I am really thinking of moving out. It's not a threat. That'll be like a fly against an F-22 Raptor. It's no threat.

I am just sick and tired; that's all and that's what happens when I and users like me play the nice guy. Sorry but I had to rant. Thanks Op for bringing it out. I feel better.

I feel this way too. There are lots of games I want to buy, such as Portal 2, but I probably won't because I am on Linux and that stops me from playing PC games. I won't to play a game while I am taking a break or just bored and then go back to using my computer. Having to restart, boot Windows play game, then come back is the biggest mission ever. I rarely ever play Steam games anymore because of this, but I get the feeling of wanting to play them often. *sigh*

[ester25]

Third time's a charm:

OSX, but what about Linux? (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683)

[unserene]

At least Windows users can take a hint :D

[robxu9]

Nowadays, free is really more popular than ever.

Many of us are switching to our favorite Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu/Debian, openSUSE, Fedora, and Mandriva/Mageia. But there are things that discourage us from this; namely, no Steam client. ;)

Most of the games that are ported to Mac OSX use Wine to run. Wine is developed for Linux and ported to Mac OSX. See where I'm going?

That being said, running Steam on Wine can be very bulky. But if you had a native client for Steam on Linux, the games, well, they can sort out themselves. And, it'll take a great bite out of the epidemic that is the BSOD.

What do you guys think?

[ester25]

Any rumours of development of a Linux Steam client were disspelled recently.

Feel free to participate in the thread on the subject (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683)

P.S. i don't know what BSOD epidemic you are talking about, i certainly haven't seen one in over a year, and before then they were rather rare.

[Daakun]

If more games supported Linux, I wouldn't even bother having a Windows partition.

[JamesMichael]

First the games themselves need to support linux first before valve even thinks about steam being on linux.

Second the BSOD has been getting more and more rare in windows, after XP it was considerable pushed into the back. Only to pop up when truly needing to stop the system from hardware damaging errors. To get a BSOD issues today, with windows 7 it would be a decent sized issue to warrant it.

Third, let me again reiterate the fact that games on linux are more rare than games on mac, I am a BSD user and before then a linux user. I know there are some good free games on linux but that doesn't provide enough.

Also, 'free' doesn't mean its on linux. There are a bunch of things that are open source on windows and there are a bunch of things that are closed source on linux. It works both ways. look at java or AVG. Two examples of closed source and annoying licenses on BSD/Linux. If you love linux so much but love games as well try oracles virtualbox to emulate linux on top of windows, or cygwin if you just like pain.

[NICK-THE-CAJUN]

We all know this topic comes around so much, but Valve needs to make a client. With the rising amount of Linux users, They need a client for Linux. We need everyone who supports the creation of a Linux client to send an e-mail to Gabe Newell voicing our opinion of the creation of one. I myself run both Windows 7 and Linux (Arch and Ubuntu). It wouldn't be bad to port the goldsrc games first because you have to option to run OpenGL rendering. This could also cause rising sales of goldsrc games. It is best if Valve realizes the growing amount of Linux users and takes advantage of it. They don't have to make a Steam client for every distro anyway, they just would have to stick to Arch, Debian, which would mean Mint and Ubuntu in the mix and OpenSUSE.

[giselher]

Oh, yet another thread.

I am also for a client but there is already a thread for discussing about Linux and Steam. You even posted there.

[Mangr0v3]

Oh, yet another thread.

I am also for a client but there is already a thread for discussing about Linux and Steam. You even posted there.

Pretty much this. You don't need to start yet another thread, we have almost as many Steam on Linux threads as we've had Facebook Press Events.

[TheBogStandardU]

WWith the rising amount of Linux users

linux has 1% of OS market (i believe), thats ALL distros combined.

Most downloads would be from steamplay games, wouldn't be worth the effort for valve.

i would like it but probs not gonna happen soon.

[undeadbobop]

There has been rummors for years of steam for linux spreading across all

sources I can find of steam coming to linux, long before the mac update.

Alot of linux users where angry when the mac update happen because they

were wondering where is our update. Yes of course it can be emulated but

with emulation it is very broken in many ways. I have tried every thing to

get my games working for it wasted many hours with wine. Its a pain just

getting steam to work past login screen. The only games I can get working

is hl1 and sometimes a source game may or may not work (depends on which 1).

So valve please make a linux client version of steam. Maybe even just one distribution version just anything.

[code93]

+++1 Go valve

[code93]

look here http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683&page=297

[Χάρης]

look here http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683&page=297

Nah,this thread has ended up with a lot of trolls talking about random things.

[Jagged Tooth]

look here http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683&page=297
^This

[code93]

ok , i have ubuntu and, I wait for 3 years, a Linux version of steam, I stop buying games. For I have no windows. And wine is rotten. (poor), impossible to make accurate matches, a lot of lag.

With the release of MAC, I hope recovery ... but still no new STEAM-Linux


the link client Linux is always forbidden : http://store.steampowered.com/public/client/steam_client_linux

[aplles]

Please valve! We love ubuntu!

[undeadbobop]

ok , i have ubuntu and, I wait for 3 years, a Linux version of steam, I stop buying games. For I have no windows. And wine is rotten. (poor), impossible to make accurate matches, a lot of lag.

With the release of MAC, I hope recovery ... but still no new STEAM-Linux


the link client Linux is always forbidden : http://store.steampowered.com/public/client/steam_client_linux

hl1 works just with some bugs(like randomly crashing) with whine but anything source it always gives me issues. Buying anything can be iffy you need more then just whine to get it to work but most of the time even then it still does not work. But really it takes way to much work to find fixes that actually do anything with wine.

Yeah I find that a bit odd that that link is 3 years old and they still have not even released a beta at least for it, the mac one they worked on less time then for it. I mean a programing user if they had the source code for the steam application probably could have gotten a barely functional one up in a year(possibly) and a fully functional one done in probably a equal to how wine is in 2 years. wine is broken with all applications and linux users should not have to depend on broken linux applications inorder to play games that could easly be ported to the linux distributions seeing how some users can get it to work somewhat with a broken emulator. Most steam users are here for the valve games anyways but seeing how we have troubles with our broken ways of work around its nearly impossible to play the games. Without countless hours of work that could have all been avoided if the developers only understood we are just asking for a steam application for us at this point our games we will probably still have to use a broken method of getting them to work. But at least that may open the opportunity to port a game or two and possibly opening yet another massive target audience for valve.

[undeadbobop]

look here http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683&page=297

link is full of osx fb getting mad that someone was suggesting something they have no comprehension of.

[undeadbobop]

Please valve! We love ubuntu!

agreed and the update should not take any longer then it has with nothing done to it in years. If that is the case release a some what finished verson that is better then wines dammit. if you want people to test it let us know too damit.

[5.45MM]

I can't see why they would bother. Ubuntu and Linux in general are still not popular for a day - to - day working OS. When Windows begins to drop in market share, maybe, but until then, fiddling with X and drivers will be a nightmare for publishers. I bet even Mac will not have the full catalog of games for a long, long while. That being said, OpenGL looks to be as capable as DirectX so the API isn't really a big problem.

[code93]

go valve

[Matthew94]

look here http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683&page=297

this^^

[undeadbobop]

I can't see why they would bother. Ubuntu and Linux in general are still not popular for a day - to - day working OS. When Windows begins to drop in market share, maybe, but until then, fiddling with X and drivers will be a nightmare for publishers. I bet even Mac will not have the full catalog of games for a long, long while. That being said, OpenGL looks to be as capable as DirectX so the API isn't really a big problem.

it is popular. Just in countried you probably would never think, here is a example:

Nagem store in Recife:
Windows 7 Home Premium R$400
Windows 7 Ultimate R$669

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (OEM) 32bit & 64bit Software Price in Pakistan.....Rs.10190
about $200 for home premium in pakistan.
$ 100 = ₨ 4510.0000

Windows 7 Pricing In Singapore
# dows 7 Home Premium – SGD$359
# Windows 7 Professional – SGD$529
# Windows 7 Ultimate – SGD$549

cost of ubuntu world wide just 1 cd's cost and finding a public place with a internet connection.

[code93]

Please Valve we buy games valve if steam-linux release

[realchamp]

Microsoft pays VALVe for the Windows, Apple pays VALVe for the Mac and linux pays valve for a linux client, oh wait they don't...

[5.45MM]

it is popular. Just in countried you probably would never think, here is a example:

Nagem store in Recife:
Windows 7 Home Premium R$400
Windows 7 Ultimate R$669

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (OEM) 32bit & 64bit Software Price in Pakistan.....Rs.10190
about $200 for home premium in pakistan.
$ 100 = ₨ 4510.0000

Windows 7 Pricing In Singapore
# dows 7 Home Premium – SGD$359
# Windows 7 Professional – SGD$529
# Windows 7 Ultimate – SGD$549

cost of ubuntu world wide just 1 cd's cost and finding a public place with a internet connection.

I bet people would rather pay to play games properly on 7 then struggle with Ubuntu.

[Toto pectore]

I bet people would rather pay to play games properly on 7 then struggle with Ubuntu.

I had to play Amnesia on Ubuntu because Win version crashed constantly - so much to your trolling.

[undeadbobop]

Microsoft pays VALVe for the Windows, Apple pays VALVe for the Mac and linux pays valve for a linux client, oh wait they don't...

No they don't that is not how pc developing market works on the personal computer platforms this is not the console market where Microsoft pays activision from xbl fee's. If you develop anything for computers unless it has microsoft's name on it and apples name on it and they both gain a massive percentage income from every purchase(85% or more) and there are no sales ever. then maybe they do. But we all know that is not how it works with steam. majority of the profit goes to the developer and publisher none goes to apple or microsoft.

[undeadbobop]

I bet people would rather pay to play games properly on 7 then struggle with Ubuntu.

um windows 7 has alot of compatablity issues all across the board aswell the difference is though you can't really do anything about those issues while with linux you can just takes a long time. You can modify wine to play most of the games (possibly all) but it takes countless hours to weeks to months to get a fix for some problems depends on the issues. Most need indivual fixes because of directx to opengl errors and directory errors. A few games will depend on windows files (mostly windows live games) those ones make it impossible to play. But opening a open opertunity platform to more open opertunities is actshually better. Especailly seeing how it has no contracts that allow a company to steal your personal possetions within the user terms meaning you free yourself of opression that should be illigal. (it is in some countries)

[5.45MM]

I had to play Amnesia on Ubuntu because Win version crashed constantly - so much to your trolling.

An indie game? I'm not surprised. He probably built it for Ubuntu.

[5.45MM]

um windows 7 has alot of compatablity issues all across the board aswell the difference is though you can't really do anything about those issues while with linux you can just takes a long time. You can modify wine to play most of the games (possibly all) but it takes countless hours to weeks to months to get a fix for some problems depends on the issues. Most need indivual fixes because of directx to opengl errors and directory errors. A few games will depend on windows files (mostly windows live games) those ones make it impossible to play. But opening a open opertunity platform to more open opertunities is actshually better. Especailly seeing how it has no contracts that allow a company to steal your personal possetions within the user terms meaning you free yourself of opression that should be illigal. (it is in some countries)

What compatibility issues? Steam downloads the game. You press play. It WORKS! GASP!!!. I'd play drivers, not 7.

[Toto pectore]

An indie game? I'm not surprised. He probably built it for Ubuntu.

Or maybe you just know ♥♥♥♥ about it, troll.

[5.45MM]

Or maybe you just know ♥♥♥♥ about it, troll.

Troll? What are you? His lover or something?

[undeadbobop]

What compatibility issues? Steam downloads the game. You press play. It WORKS! GASP!!!. I'd play drivers, not 7.

nope tried on multiple win 7 pc with penty of games that are "old" they have have same incompatablity issues. But they are to new for dosbox meaning 98 - xp sp1 games mostly. My guess anything bellow directx 9 gamess are ♥♥♥♥ed over by windows 7.

[viehrea_siili]

Porting steam to only for ubuntu doesn't make it any easier. Its every linux or nothing.

[code93]

I do not buy games
if steam-Linux is available, I buy games

[5.45MM]

nope tried on multiple win 7 pc with penty of games that are "old" they have have same incompatablity issues. But they are to new for dosbox meaning 98 - xp sp1 games mostly. My guess anything bellow directx 9 gamess are ♥♥♥♥ed over by windows 7.

Maybe, but I haven't had any problems. Soldier of Fortune 1 to Baldur's Gate work fine. You might have to adjust the compatibility settings but that is it.

[BulletMagnet]

1) I have noticed that some functionality was taken out (superceeded?) of DirectX after DirectX6. So any games written for DX6 and earlier will have issues running on DX7 and after. This normally shows up during install: Game wants to install DX6, but DX6 doesn't install due to a later version installed. Running a virtual machine is your friend here (or perhaps DOS Box).

2) The user base of Linux is quite small, dispite a large number of installations. This is due to the large number of servers running Linux as it is lighter and easier to maintain. So, its a lot of effort for little gain to get Steam working on Linux.

3) The fundamental reason why people use Linux as a desktop OS is because they refuse to pay for software. Even software that they use every day, like the OS. The likelyhood of them reaching into their wallets for game software is slim. Making a tiny market microscopic.

[giselher]

1) I have noticed that some functionality was taken out (superceeded?) of DirectX after DirectX6. So any games written for DX6 and earlier will have issues running on DX7 and after. This normally shows up during install: Game wants to install DX6, but DX6 doesn't install due to a later version installed. Running a virtual machine is your friend here (or perhaps DOS Box).

2) The user base of Linux is quite small, dispite a large number of installations. This is due to the large number of servers running Linux as it is lighter and easier to maintain. So, its a lot of effort for little gain to get Steam working on Linux.

3) The fundamental reason why people use Linux as a desktop OS is because they refuse to pay for software. Even software that they use every day, like the OS. The likelyhood of them reaching into their wallets for game software is slim. Making a tiny market microscopic.

http://somethingmild.blogspot.com/2010/04/linux-users-do-buy-things-after-all.html
http://www.wolfire.com/humble
http://www.humblebundle.com

[undeadbobop]

http://somethingmild.blogspot.com/2010/04/linux-users-do-buy-things-after-all.html
http://www.wolfire.com/humble
http://www.humblebundle.com
steam has problems even with wine which is why it would be a better idea for them to do a steam linux client release because of all those games that are cross platform and those companies. Inorder to make more money because linux is free and is the most use os in some countries because mac and windows costs to much and their cheap versions are equal to smart phones os's which means its full of bugs and very limited to basically nothing.

[code93]

please Valve

[Ace42]

If there was Steam for Ubuntu, and contingent on the games (Valve pack would prolly be sufficient on its own), I'd switch to ubuntu as my main OS; with a duel-boot to windows only for the odd repeat offender that absolutely refuses to work under Linux.

[ChronoLynx]

I most defiantly support this idea. My spare computer is a Ubuntu system. I currently use it as a game server but without the proper steam support it has major issues with doing what it is meant to do. If steam went linux I would ditch the Micro-Squishy OS and go with a more functional Unix box.

[99Reaper99]

I don't care since I use Windows and always will. But Linux Support I can't see not happening one day. I know more people own Mac's vs Linux, so obviously since more people own that, that goes first. Since they will gain more money for offering Linux support, I know it will definitely happen (a year perhaps? 20 years? Sometime, dunno when). But it's a sure-shot.

I would simply support it so I can play with more people and probably learn a few things about Linux from them, like with Mac.

[code93]

In my opinion Steam will be available soon for Ubuntu and Fedora

[undeadbobop]

In my opinion Steam will be available soon for Ubuntu and Fedora

next question is when? Are they going to announce a release date or just release it?

[3djake]

I also love linux and ubuntu, I run steam via WINE on linux but it would be great if steam worked native on linux

[masterawr]

Steam and the Source engine running natively on Linux sounds like a good idea to me :)

[davide103]

Sounds good to me too.

[hahahehe]

Theres one slight problem that i can see.

OpenGL vs DirectX

OpenGL is great, for basic 3D rendering, without it we would not be where we are at today, but it has significant shortcomings. I read somewhere that OpenGL can be compared to DirectX 8, theres some stuff in DX9 that it can't do but in most cases its fine with DX9 stuff however, if you were to show it the advanced lighting of DX10, or the tesselation of DX11 it would run away screaming.

Essentially, a Linux based Steam client will only be possible when someone does a fully functioning APi which can fully emulate the effects of the latest versions of DX, otherwise its useless.

Of course, this was a while ago and i really have no idea myself, that was based purely on an article i read some time ago.

[Roxor]

Just because Linux users don't pay for their operating system, doesn't mean they won't pay for games.

Case in point: the Humble Indie Bundle, which was sold on a "pay what you want" basis. The Linux users actually had the highest average payment for it, while the Windows users were the cheapest.

What follows is only my speculations, but I think the reason why the Windows users were so cheap, is that Microsoft's absurd prices for essential software (namely Windows) have left most Windows users with an unconscious resentment for paying for software. The retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate was priced at AUD$460 at launch. For that much, I can buy a decent graphics card for the main graphics rendering and a cheap one for PhysX processing.

[Zdaltorio]

I see that to have steam support for Linux it would have to be kernel based, which means it may break in the next revision of the kernel. if it is written for the kernel, it can be put in different packages thus spread to a lot more distros of Linux. I would love to be able to one day "sudo apt-get install steam" or "su yum install steam" or whatever the install command is for another distro :P. hell just release binary version and I'll package for which every system I'm using atm.

[99Reaper99]

There is no doubt in my mind that Steam will support Linux. It'll add revenue for Steam. Remember it took about 10 years for Mac Support though, so patience is key.

Even though I use Windows, the more people I can play with, the better.

[RavienCoromana]

I see no problem with this, and I'm not going to go with the typical "Linux users don't pay" argument. However, the problem with all the "Linux users pay more" argument is based on a per-user base. Out of the millions of Windows users, how many are gamers? Out of the millions of Windows users, how many of them run a -fully customized system-? Out of those Windows users, how many of them -trust the internet-? Also - how many of them are kids? (Good idea of comparison here - OEM/Clean installed copies vs. Factory installs)

With Linux - nearly everyone is running a completely custom box - or a barebones PC beside their primary box. Or a netbook. There's no real idea of kids using Linux - most of them can't wrap their mind around it, and don't want to. They want to go online and play all those pretty little flash games. Or anything that's FREE. Most Windows users actually likely fall into this category, and even in the group of gamers, many of them fall into the Windows category because they just don't care enough about computers to learn about them. They just want to play - get their quick thrills.

Linux users are 95% of the time very/quite/extremely computer literate. They build their own computers, fuss around with minute settings, and other fun stuff. They understand the importance of the industry and that it needs to be supported (minus people who only use a linux box for piracy)

Think about this - World of Goo - which has now been ported to the iPad - people pay just a few bucks to play a very good game for a large amount of hours - and those people who are buying it on the iPad probably think it's too expensive (remember, these are the typical human iPad/iPhone/Facebook users, not the gadget lovers that we're used to) or that it's just some quick thrill to move on from once they get bored.

The problem is not in the expenditure of the user (which between REAL GAMERS is probably a 1:1 ratio from Linux:Mac:Windows (hell, I know I've purchased some games on the steam store for Mac compatibility and I don't even own a mac)) but in the size of the market, as stated earlier. You can moan that "the linux users will buy more" but really, they won't. They'll buy just as much as the comparative Windows/Mac user - which is however much they want. As has been previously stated - Linux is a small market share, and 90% of that share is in servers and server farms. Steam is useless on those platforms minus dedicated hosting software (and actually, making a special buy for only the dedicated hosting software might not be a bad idea - so you can have a separate steam client to worry about hosting games with.) and is only useful on a handful of machines (by the way, your Ubuntu box - it's "I wanna be linux but I'm not good enough so I'm a UNIX windows clone" - Use Debian if you're any good)

There's also a handful of other issues. Drivers, for one. I mean, graphics card drivers are one thing, being broken as hell often, but steam also has to learn how to interface with handwritten drivers.

Again, which distro's should they support? Valve isn't going to put together a development team to spend weeks on each client.

Also, I know GNU = GNU's Not Unix - but I know its closely related. Wouldn't emulating the Mac version of Steam be more successful, and even possible natively? Or are none of you "linux users" good enough to figure out how to code on your own, so you scriptkitty and use WinE?

Another thought, Couldn't you use a CLI based Server version of Linux - like Ubuntu server (which isn't a linux clone, it's got the entire GUI ripped off) - and then run a VM of Windows that uses 95% of your resources when running, and when shutdown, exits to the Linux CLI, and make it so you run either your Linux GUI or your Windows VM, and you don't have to shut either down because you can just suspend them, no?

Anyways, that's just my 2c. I'm sorry if this comes off as attacking - I just assume with the average Linux user's intelligence level supposedly being higher than the average Windows user that you could find a way around this already.

In the end it doesn't even matter - Valve decides if they want a Linux version of Steam, and it seems right now they don't. And even then, it's up to third party developers to put their material up on the Linux store. Most big name developers wouldn't even think about it, I assume. Also - Steam would just be integrating all your games in one place, which I thought putting everything separate wherever you want it was what Linux users wanted to do?

[lars_martin4]

I like steam, but it is steam only for windows and Mac?

Why not make it possible to play doom3 and quake 4 on linux?
Please see: http://supergamer.org/

I think it is bad for "Steam" that deny guys to try linux.
If steam give linux a chance here, will also linux be better.

If it only a few users that try linux, it is because other company that deny linux to be more big.

It is possible to download doom3 and quake 4 on linux?

[freeloader105]

There have been rumors about this for a while now. It could happen, especially since Mac is Unix-based, anyway. That said, apparently, most games can be made to work via WINE reasonably well.

[DarkLite123]

There's a thread on this already (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683).

[RavienCoromana]

There's a thread on this already (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683).

^This.

That being said - most of the (logical) arguments rely on the lack of a Linux steam being based on market share.

[Jncocontrol]

I see no problem with this, and I'm not going to go with the typical "Linux users don't pay" argument. However, the problem with all the "Linux users pay more" argument is based on a per-user base. Out of the millions of Windows users, how many are gamers? Out of the millions of Windows users, how many of them run a -fully customized system-? Out of those Windows users, how many of them -trust the internet-? Also - how many of them are kids? (Good idea of comparison here - OEM/Clean installed copies vs. Factory installs)

With Linux - nearly everyone is running a completely custom box - or a barebones PC beside their primary box. Or a netbook. There's no real idea of kids using Linux - most of them can't wrap their mind around it, and don't want to. They want to go online and play all those pretty little flash games. Or anything that's FREE. Most Windows users actually likely fall into this category, and even in the group of gamers, many of them fall into the Windows category because they just don't care enough about computers to learn about them. They just want to play - get their quick thrills.

Linux users are 95% of the time very/quite/extremely computer literate. They build their own computers, fuss around with minute settings, and other fun stuff. They understand the importance of the industry and that it needs to be supported (minus people who only use a linux box for piracy)

Think about this - World of Goo - which has now been ported to the iPad - people pay just a few bucks to play a very good game for a large amount of hours - and those people who are buying it on the iPad probably think it's too expensive (remember, these are the typical human iPad/iPhone/Facebook users, not the gadget lovers that we're used to) or that it's just some quick thrill to move on from once they get bored.

The problem is not in the expenditure of the user (which between REAL GAMERS is probably a 1:1 ratio from Linux:Mac:Windows (hell, I know I've purchased some games on the steam store for Mac compatibility and I don't even own a mac)) but in the size of the market, as stated earlier. You can moan that "the linux users will buy more" but really, they won't. They'll buy just as much as the comparative Windows/Mac user - which is however much they want. As has been previously stated - Linux is a small market share, and 90% of that share is in servers and server farms. Steam is useless on those platforms minus dedicated hosting software (and actually, making a special buy for only the dedicated hosting software might not be a bad idea - so you can have a separate steam client to worry about hosting games with.) and is only useful on a handful of machines (by the way, your Ubuntu box - it's "I wanna be linux but I'm not good enough so I'm a UNIX windows clone" - Use Debian if you're any good)

There's also a handful of other issues. Drivers, for one. I mean, graphics card drivers are one thing, being broken as hell often, but steam also has to learn how to interface with handwritten drivers.

Again, which distro's should they support? Valve isn't going to put together a development team to spend weeks on each client.

Also, I know GNU = GNU's Not Unix - but I know its closely related. Wouldn't emulating the Mac version of Steam be more successful, and even possible natively? Or are none of you "linux users" good enough to figure out how to code on your own, so you scriptkitty and use WinE?

Another thought, Couldn't you use a CLI based Server version of Linux - like Ubuntu server (which isn't a linux clone, it's got the entire GUI ripped off) - and then run a VM of Windows that uses 95% of your resources when running, and when shutdown, exits to the Linux CLI, and make it so you run either your Linux GUI or your Windows VM, and you don't have to shut either down because you can just suspend them, no?

Anyways, that's just my 2c. I'm sorry if this comes off as attacking - I just assume with the average Linux user's intelligence level supposedly being higher than the average Windows user that you could find a way around this already.

In the end it doesn't even matter - Valve decides if they want a Linux version of Steam, and it seems right now they don't. And even then, it's up to third party developers to put their material up on the Linux store. Most big name developers wouldn't even think about it, I assume. Also - Steam would just be integrating all your games in one place, which I thought putting everything separate wherever you want it was what Linux users wanted to do?
I would imagine that Valve would go with the whole "Monopoly In the computer Video game world"

Incase anyone cares, I didn't read this post. Too damn long.

[RavienCoromana]

I would imagine that Valve would go with the whole "Monopoly In the computer Video game world"

Incase anyone cares, I didn't read this post. Too damn long.

Monopolies are illegal in Valve country :3
Also, no harm done. I was figuring most people would TL;DR.

[sleighboy]

I know, a Linux Steam client is not a new request so this is just to add two examples.

Many people only keep a Windows install going to play games. A Linux Steam client that would allow us to play the games native as the developer allows would be very well received. Two good examples of games that support native Linux follow. If you WASTED your money buying them on Steam you have to go buy them again to get a native Linux copy.

World of Goo
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (and all Frictional titles)

Please Valve, please.

[Amander]

Steam on Linux is being actively discussed in another thread (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683) already.

[grndzro]

Porting steam to only for ubuntu doesn't make it any easier. Its every linux or nothing.

It's this mentality that is crushing Linux. If most of the Linux distros got behind Ubuntu progress would be amazing.

There is a Flavor of Ubuntu that works for anyone. Any DE, Server, Netbook, add or remove apps as you like, compile a custom kernel, whatever. The devision of Linux distro's is a tragedy.

[Sagenth]

It's this mentality that is crushing Linux. If most of the Linux distros got behind Ubuntu progress would be amazing.

There is a Flavor of Ubuntu that works for anyone. Any DE, Server, Netbook, add or remove apps as you like, compile a custom kernel, whatever. The devision of Linux distro's is a tragedy.

How do you figure it is a tragedy? Would you rather have to choose between 4 different OS's? Windows, OSX, Unix and Ubuntu? That would be stupid, I frikking hate the hell out of uBuntu. I just hate to look at the damn thing! I'll take my OpenSUSE, FreeBSD, and Win7 thx

[Sagenth]

There's also a handful of other issues. Drivers, for one. I mean, graphics card drivers are one thing, being broken as hell often, but steam also has to learn how to interface with handwritten drivers.

For someone who seemed to have made such a well written post.. you made what seems to me a rather large mistake. An application generally doesn't interface directly with drivers, it has to interface with the kernel. The kernel has to worry about interface with "handwritten drivers" (as if there were any other kind; I do know what you mean, but I'm just sayin')

Nvidia usually has drivers available for linux; though I've never needed drivers after a Linux install. I imagine the drivers handwritten.. by Nvidia would not be all too broken.

[FMaz]

We all know that Steam have been ported for MAC OS. And when it come to a Linux port, I often hear that there's no market for that platform.

But is that really true ? Is there really no market potential, or just no proven market yet ?

I was looking at the humbleBundle site recently. At this very moment, out of 88000+ sales, the pie chart show that Linux sold more than 25% of the licences, Mac sold less ( 15 to 20% ), and Windows has the largest remaining part.

And for the prices average, Linux users where the one who spend the most for their purchases:
- Windows: 4.18$ / purchase
- Mac:6.14$ / purchase
- Linux: $11.76 / purchase

That may not be a representative survey of a global situation, but I find interesting to take a look at that pool of 88000 persons. Specialy since linux appear to represent alot more than the usual "2%" of the market share that many person seem to think of.

[uvazquez]

However, it would be great if they expanded their market. Some games are available for Linux (all ID Games are available for Linux) but we can't play them on Steam just because Steam doesn't have a native client.

I (just me, I don't know the one who started the thread) would love if they made a native client just to be able to play these games that have compatibility. I know it's up to the developers of every single game if they are compatible or not (not all games are available for Mac OS for example, but yet they do have a native client) so, they are all Unix-like, they should make a client. Compatibility is up to every single developer, but at least the posibility of a native client is necessary.

[ubuntu-gaming]

Hi, I'm happier Ubuntu Linux User. Via a native Linux Steam client for Linux would happy. It would be blazing. There are very many indie Games for Linux, including Penumbra, Amnesia - The Dark Descent, Braid, Trine, Osmos, World of Goo and many more, they've already bought me, and play hard. Currently running the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle, and there give the most money from Linux users, more than Windows and Mac users. Steam also runs on Mac, Linux and Mac uses OpenGL as well as likely as a Graphicinterface that is not hard to port it to Linux. In addition, a Steam client for Linux Alpha: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODIwNQ
And Portal 2 Linux References: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTM2MA

Through a positive message from a Valve developer I would be very happy.:D:D:D:D:D

[Sa'aga]

Windows is XP,Vista and 7!

Mac is...don't really know bout that thing, like 3 or 5 or so OS-versions.

Linux is Debian, Ubuntu, RedHat, Gentoo, Slackware, Suse, Yellow Dog, and so on and on and on....

I think the diversity of Linux is the real problem for an (working!) Steam client.

[Kulgur]

Windows is XP,Vista and 7!

Mac is...don't really know bout that thing, like 3 or 5 or so OS-versions.

Linux is Debian, Ubuntu, RedHat, Gentoo, Slackware, Suse, Yellow Dog, and so on and on and on....

I think the diversity of Linux is the real problem for an (working!) Steam client.

I suspect that if Valve were to put out a steam version for say, Ubuntu, within a week the community would have it working across the board with relevant packaging for each distribution. For what is allegedly such a big problem Nvidia seems to have very few issues.

[Moes]

They already have a Linux mega thread.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683

[Roxor]

Yeah, little problem there, Moes: 101 pages of posts is going to take forever to read, and most users don't have that sort of attention-span.

Kulgur makes a good point though: the Linux community is both very tech-savvy, and very devoted to their system of choice, probably more so than any other user base. You would be hard-pressed to find that sort of enthusiasm anywhere else.

[Moes]

Yeah, little problem there, Moes: 101 pages of posts is going to take forever to read, and most users don't have that sort of attention-span.

Not back seat moderating here, but they tend to lock these up and post a link to the mega thread anyways. so just was giving notice.

[Jagged Tooth]

Yeah use the main thread. We don't need a new thread started every week on the same topic.

[Catch_ME]

If a giant platform such as steam has a native linux client, all major distributions will make sure that they work.

I don't use linux as I used to. It is limited to virtual machines for me, but I do understand the need that others claim to want a native linux client.

But the question is, would valve open up a new avenue for their current support system to encompass linux?

Right now it seems no. But if more people create threads about linux and ask valve for a native linux client, then I'm sure valve would take it in consideration. As long as demand is high enough.


Not back seat moderating here, but they tend to lock these up and post a link to the mega thread anyways. so just was giving notice.

Yeah use the main thread. We don't need a new thread started every week on the same topic.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480248

You guys are not contributing to the conversation.

[Moes]

There's nothing to contribute too here, there is a mega thread for all discussions about *nix client for steam.

[ikarion]

Hello i love play l4d, l4d2 and I enjoy very well, but it isn't in ubuntu and always when I have to use it. I don't enjoy of l4d2, it is a pity, I have a lot of games of steam but I don't use they then if I leave a period. I dream with a day that the steam can run native on linux (ubuntu) and I can play my games, I can live the l4d. Thank you ubuntu exist too ;)

[themires]

why.. it is unsupported os that is hardly used in gamming..why would they support it..

why use ubuntu for gamming.. they dont really make drivers for it ether.

[lazy6pyro]

Keep dreaming, lol. There's a greater chance that HL2 Ep 3 will release tomorrow than Steam be a Linux native app.

[Toto pectore]

why.. it is unsupported os that is hardly used in gamming..why would they support it..

why use ubuntu for gamming.. they dont really make drivers for it ether.

Troll post? I guess so...

[ubuntu-gaming]

This is consistent with the diversity of Linux but there are many Linux games eg Trine an installer that is compatible with all Linux distributions, and adjust this man not for all Linux distributions. If the file could Steam hot steam-install.sh.

[Pandanapper]

I still don't understand why this doesn't exist. I can understand it would be more to create and update, but I believe the support is there. And I'm talking about it as a client for Linux, not emulated through Wine.

Since there isn't a survey option on the boards I created on on SurveyMonkey. Just 2 questions and I'll post updates of the results as they come in.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5FFGW9Y

[Jagged Tooth]

There is a thread on this, with close to 6000 posts. You might want to post it there instead.

OSX, but what about Linux? (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1173683)

[Pandanapper]

So far here are the results, 15 responses total:

1. If Steam was offered as a client on Linux, would you use it?
Yes: 80% (12)
No: 20% (3)

2. If Steam was offered as a client on Linux, would you switch to Linux from your current OS?
Yes: 73.3% (11)
No: 26.7% (4)

[Ace42]

So far here are the results, 15 responses total:

1. If Steam was offered as a client on Linux, would you use it?
Yes: 80% (12)
No: 20% (3)

2. If Steam was offered as a client on Linux, would you switch to Linux from your current OS?
Yes: 73.3% (11)
No: 26.7% (4)

Really you need to create your own thread for this, as it won't get as much attention nestled in one of the many many "why no Linux" threads. Also, general steam discussion rather than suggestions forum would get more press.

[freeloader105]

I still don't understand why this doesn't exist. I can understand it would be more to create and update, but I believe the support is there. And I'm talking about it as a client for Linux, not emulated through Wine.

It doesn't exist because most Mac users are too dumb/lazy to come up with an unofficial way to make Steam run on their OS, while Linux users are used to tinkering nonstop to get their apps to ultimately work (in greater or lesser fashion). I guess if Linux suddenly became a hipster OS and all the potential iSheep became Linux-sheep instead, then Valve would have a great incentive to make an official Linux client.

[Mangr0v3]

most Mac users are too dumb/lazy to come up with an unofficial way to make Steam run on their OS

> Wine
> Crossover
> Virtualisation
> Bootcamp (dual-boot)