Steam Client, Source engine port for Linux in the works

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nOrVow

Gawd
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Just a heads up for Linux users, a Steam/Source engine port is currently under development... finally. This should pave the way for gaming on Linux.

For those that have doubted the exclusive Phoronix claims for quite a while now that the Steam client and Source Engine are in fact being ported to Linux, the doubts can be nearly laid to rest.
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Indeed. Also alternative link http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/127475-valve-confirms-steam-and-source-for-linux-signals-low-confidence-for-windows-8

I've had a feeling that MS wanted gaming dead on the PC, no word on a DX 12 at all, they are so focused on the XBOX being the gaming platform to the detriment to PC gamers everywhere, all of which to me is the dumbest thing ever. I would have used Linux long ago if I could have played games on it like I could Windows. Other than games, there is zero reason for me to use Windows. Spreadsheets and word processing? lol, Libre is the only thing I use. I can't think of one single Windows-based software I use that I couldn't find a Linux alternative.

Gabe sees the writing on the wall pretty well I think. Microsoft is so focusing on mobile and trying to compete with Apple with the iPad and the XBOX, that they are completely missing the ball on Windows. I am looking at the newer Windows and I just don't see a reason to go with the new one. Windows 7 is such a fine OS I fail to see why I should go with the new one. To me Windows 7 is the new XP, and maybe the last.

Microsoft I think is making the biggest mistake it ever did by abandoning gaming on Windows. It's the only reason half the people I know even use it, and other software on Windows. If gaming was easier on Linux, or Apple, they wouldn't even bother with Windows.

Hmm, now to find a proper Linux distro. And here's hoping Gabe is on the phone trying to convince a lot of game devs to switch to the latest OpenGL or for current games to get a work around for running on Linux. Hell, I would gladly pay a fee for each game to run on Linux so I can forget Windows forever and finally make the switch to Linux and Apple.
 
Buxaroo said:
I've had a feeling that MS wanted gaming dead on the PC, no word on a DX 12 at all, they are so focused on the XBOX being the gaming platform to the detriment to PC gamers everywhere, all of which to me is the dumbest thing ever.
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This is not a real recent or new phenomenon. I don't know how anyone could successfully argue otherwise with concrete facts and data against the idea I've held to for a long time: MS is one of THE biggest enemies to PC gaming that there is. The actual track record and history speaks for itself on both hardware and software fronts.

It's all about the crapbox. They're idiots. No wonder their stock has stagnated for 10 years. They could have have TWO awesome fronts working for them but they continue to insist on having one suffer at the expense of the other.

There's no hope for that company as long as that loud mouth buffoon Balmer is in charge. None.


Before some MS apologist jumps down my throat: I'm not saying they haven't done good things, either. I'm very happy with Windows 7 and all that but lets get real here.
 
Q-BZ said:
This is not a real recent or new phenomenon. I don't know how anyone could successfully argue otherwise with concrete facts and data against the idea I've held to for a long time: MS is one of THE biggest enemies to PC gaming that there is. The actual track record and history speaks for itself on both hardware and software fronts.

It's all about the crapbox. They're idiots. No wonder their stock has stagnated for 10 years. They could have have TWO awesome fronts working for them but they continue to insist on having one suffer at the expense of the other.

There's no hope for that company as long as that loud mouth buffoon Balmer is in charge. None.


Before some MS apologist jumps down my throat: I'm not saying they haven't done good things, either. I'm very happy with Windows 7 and all that but lets get real here.
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Oh I agree 100%. But the problem has always been "where am I gonna go with gaming if not Windows?". I was thinking of going with Apple now that Steam is on it and that they have the ability to have graphics cards like the PC has. But they are generally too expensive for my tastes and I would prefer to use Linux and I like building my own computer and generally hate out of the box computers. And yeah, I think MS is losing their perspective and they are not working with their strengths which is the desktop (at least from the consumer perspective). Focusing on consoles was good then, but in the future, consoles are dead after the next generation. It's either going to be PC or mobile, consoles are just irrelevant 5 years from now with digital distribution and mobility. I think if most console players see that they cannot sell their used games, they would just rather go with the PC or with mobile platform instead. Most of them are casuals anyways, so going mobile would be their alternative.
 
Don't get too excited guys. Remember that if Weyland actually does supplant XOrg, like Ubuntu and Shuttleworth want, then the whole gaming on Linux is dead, as Nvidia has openly stated that their proprietary driver will not support it...and FOSS gpu driver development is best described as glacial.
 
Skripka said:
Don't get too excited guys. Remember that if Weyland actually does supplant XOrg, like Ubuntu and Shuttleworth want, then the whole gaming on Linux is dead, as Nvidia has openly stated that their proprietary driver will not support it...and FOSS gpu driver development is best described as glacial.
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But if Steam makes a big move onto Linux and lobbies the game companies to support Linux and some of them do, then the GPU makers will most likely do the same thing. After all, gaming is what GPU's are for, and if there is a sizeable portion going to Linux, then they would have no choice. Also, I heard Ubuntu was not as favored anymore as the other distros, so maybe they won't be as influential?

ps, I haven't used Linux since Mandrake 12 lol. Long time ago.
 
Buxaroo said:
But if Steam makes a big move onto Linux and lobbies the game companies to support Linux and some of them do, then the GPU makers will most likely do the same thing. After all, gaming is what GPU's are for, and if there is a sizeable portion going to Linux, then they would have no choice. Also, I heard Ubuntu was not as favored anymore as the other distros, so maybe they won't be as influential?

ps, I haven't used Linux since Mandrake 12 lol. Long time ago.
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Ubuntu has the corporate backing, both internally and with other companies, to strong arm the other distros. Most of the big distros last I knew was giving in to Weyland in the near future, which in and of itself is not a bad thing as XOrg needs replaced and not just yet another patch....but when doing so will cost proprietary driver support, as Nvidia has stated it would then it is not wise.

It is an impossible situation for Valve as there is no winning in the near term. Everyone knows Weyland is coming, but there is no advanced driver support for it yet, there may never be for intents and purposes. So rewriting Source for XOrg when you know Weyland will render that code worthless and will need re-re-written, presuming for argument that capable drivers come into exist. seems very foolish especially for a platform with at best a wildcard ROI.

'Sides are from a profit perspective, anyone running Linux probably already owns all the Source games anyway so it isn't like there's much revenue at stake even in the best case. It could well happen, but I wouldn't plan on it.
 
Skripka said:
Don't get too excited guys. Remember that if Weyland actually does supplant XOrg, like Ubuntu and Shuttleworth want, then the whole gaming on Linux is dead, as Nvidia has openly stated that their proprietary driver will not support it...and FOSS gpu driver development is best described as glacial.
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I don't think it will take that. I'm pretty sure no AAA dev is interested in hitting <1% of the marketshare, there is no money to be made in Linux ports.
 
I think it's more likely that the rumored 'Steam Console' will be a locked down Linux PC in a console form. No need to worry about nVidia drivers if it has an ATi card. No need to worry about all the variations of distros and hardware and other driver issues.

Not to say they're not working on a standalone Linux PC Steam client... but this makes more sense to me. Especially if they focus on the Source platform - you can run that on VERY cheap hardware.
 
KatalDT said:
I think it's more likely that the rumored 'Steam Console' will be a locked down Linux PC in a console form. No need to worry about nVidia drivers if it has an ATi card. No need to worry about all the variations of distros and hardware and other driver issues.

Not to say they're not working on a standalone Linux PC Steam client... but this makes more sense to me. Especially if they focus on the Source platform - you can run that on VERY cheap hardware.
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Really?

If AMD's Windows Catalyst gets a, perhaps deserved, bad rap...AMDCCCLE deserves much more ranting about it. It took AMD 6+ months from the in-store 6000 series Radeon release to have an XOrg Linux driver that even supported the cards. XOrg wouldn't even start with a 6000 card for several months. Who releases hardware without driver support? That is right, AMD.

I haven't even bothered to see if AMDCCCLE supports the 7000-series Radeon yet, my guess is not.
 
Steam has been out on Mac for what, a year? There's only a handful of "real" and good games on it (rest are the casual Bejeweled type games, you know what I mean) and I bet you they're mostly cider-type ports. The market share of Macs is <5% I think, Linux is well under 1%. No one is going to be making games for it, especially with the shitty drivers that are available (and also lack thereof).

One more point: Mac users have a lot of money as is apparent. Or little money but willing to spend a lot of it on computers. Linux users.... they prefer to run on Pentium II's and toasters if you know what I mean. Can't see Linux users splurging $60 on video games when they're all for open source
 
Skripka said:
Really?

If AMD's Windows Catalyst gets a, perhaps deserved, bad rap...AMDCCCLE deserves much more ranting about it. It took AMD 6+ months from the in-store 6000 series Radeon release to have an XOrg Linux driver that even supported the cards. XOrg wouldn't even start with a 6000 card for several months. Who releases hardware without driver support? That is right, AMD.

I haven't even bothered to see if AMDCCCLE supports the 7000-series Radeon yet, my guess is not.
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The fact is that the Source engine *is* running on one of their ATi cards natively - check the article.

If they release a 'console' with Steam running on Linux, then as long as THE ONE ATi card that they're using works with their games, then it doesn't matter how driver support is elsewhere. And honestly, if Valve wanted fine-tuned, proprietary Linux drivers for a specific chipset from ATi, ATi would likely oblige - since they'd be buying quite a few of those chips from ATi. :)

This is a completely separate discussion from desktop driver support.
 
thecrafter said:
Steam has been out on Mac for what, a year? There's only a handful of "real" and good games on it (rest are the casual Bejeweled type games, you know what I mean) and I bet you they're mostly cider-type ports. The market share of Macs is <5% I think, Linux is well under 1%. No one is going to be making games for it, especially with the shitty drivers that are available (and also lack thereof).

One more point: Mac users have a lot of money as is apparent. Or little money but willing to spend a lot of it on computers. Linux users.... they prefer to run on Pentium II's and toasters if you know what I mean. Can't see Linux users splurging $60 on video games when they're all for open source
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I have very, very limited experience as a developer and selling a game. However I will say that Linux users appear to be way more supportive to purchasing games than Mac users. I can only imagine that devs/publishers with more marketing power would be more successful. So while it's only 1% ish (I have not numbers) of the market of gamers that use Linux, it's a pretty strong 1%. Plus with every Humble Bundle, Linux users typically average out donating more than Windows or Mac users.
 
While it's good news for people on Linux I guess, I don't think it means anything in terms of gaming becoming more abundant on Linux, lets face it the move of steam into the Mac domain hasn't exactly flooded Mac with games has it.
 
PrincessFrosty said:
While it's good news for people on Linux I guess, I don't think it means anything in terms of gaming becoming more abundant on Linux, lets face it the move of steam into the Mac domain hasn't exactly flooded Mac with games has it.
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Entry Price for a Mac, especially one that's gaming capable, is incredibly high. Apple's user base are also less "core gamer" and more "social gamer". The entry cost of a Linux system is totally reliant on what hardware you choose.

I know plenty of people who have a Windows Laptop / MacBook that have built a machine for gaming, could they of gotten away without a Windows license they would have, and probably had some extra coin for better hardware.

If Valve's see's high adoption rates of Steam for Linux I'd almost guarantee we'd start seeing more and more games being released and eventually new AAA titles.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
If Valve's see's high adoption rates of Steam for Linux I'd almost guarantee we'd start seeing more and more games being released and eventually new AAA titles.
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If I was able to get a large amount of my games available through Steam & wrappers to work on Linux w/o the need for Windows, I'd definitely switch over. A secondary issue would be to find alternatives or linux builds of apps I use outside of games. For now, the forseeable future is Windows for me.
 
With the amount of console ports now days, and the PS3 and Wii being in the OpenGL family, I can see more developers porting games to PC OpenGL to run on Linux and MAC, as well as Windows.
 
Here's a video of the Source engine running natively on Linux via Left 4 Dead 2. It appears to be running on an AMD GPU with the proprietary binary for Ubuntu 11.10.

It's short with limited visibility due to unwanted leakage of too much information, but you can see active mobility of the characters at least. Faptastic

Check it out guys.
 
Buxaroo said:
I've had a feeling that MS wanted gaming dead on the PC, no word on a DX 12 at all.
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DirectX 11.1 is coming with Windows 8. The version number itself is not particularly meaningful, so don't get hung up on it.
 
This is amazing news. I've been planning on dual booting my server so that one of my friends could use it for Dota 2 when they come over to LAN (only have 2 setups atm, 3 would be nice). If Dota 2 ends up running in linux that would be very convenient. Now if I could just figure out how to get a dedicated gpu to power off completely until needed without windows and lucid virtue...
 
KatalDT said:
I think it's more likely that the rumored 'Steam Console' will be a locked down Linux PC in a console form. No need to worry about nVidia drivers if it has an ATi card. No need to worry about all the variations of distros and hardware and other driver issues.

Not to say they're not working on a standalone Linux PC Steam client... but this makes more sense to me. Especially if they focus on the Source platform - you can run that on VERY cheap hardware.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be pretty terrible, as 100% of steam games are windows based? You could use compatibility layers, but that wouldn't work with lots of them. Having a "console" and marketing it as "play some of your games!!!" doesn't seem as appealing as a windows based 100% one would.

Even if it was just source games it wouldn't be very apealing. Theres about 2 a year released, and they all look dated or are not so great indie games. There really is little reason to pick the old source engine over the UE3 or similar unless you work for valve...
 
DeathPrincess said:
Wouldn't that be pretty terrible, as 100% of steam games are windows based? You could use compatibility layers, but that wouldn't work with lots of them. Having a "console" and marketing it as "play some of your games!!!" doesn't seem as appealing as a windows based 100% one would.

Even if it was just source games it wouldn't be very apealing. Theres about 2 a year released, and they all look dated or are not so great indie games. There really is little reason to pick the old source engine over the UE3 or similar unless you work for valve...
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I'd say the latest builds of Source for CS:GO and DOTA2 are pretty damn good. If someone would release a a proper UE3 game with Steamworks support and all the nice stuff available I'd agree but I'd take a Source based game over a UE3 + Gamespy or whatever other garbage 3rd party software they are using any day of the week.

I'd had a lot of fun battling with Hamachi trying to get Multiplayer to work in Borderlands, or having to run Gamespy to play UT3 online. Source just WORKS, period.
 
TheBlueChanell said:
I'd say the latest builds of Source for CS:GO and DOTA2 are pretty damn good. If someone would release a a proper UE3 game with Steamworks support and all the nice stuff available I'd agree but I'd take a Source based game over a UE3 + Gamespy or whatever other garbage 3rd party software they are using any day of the week.

I'd had a lot of fun battling with Hamachi trying to get Multiplayer to work in Borderlands, or having to run Gamespy to play UT3 online. Source just WORKS, period.
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Borderlands 2 is going to be UE3 with Steamworks.

Also gamespy for Borderlands always worked fine for me. You should learn what ports are and how to open them.
 
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