Steam Client for Linux

So Microsoft is going to try and bump Steam out of the market with Windows 8.
Valve is trying to make sure they have a lifeline should Microsoft be successful.

That and haven't you noticed that the average donation for the Humble Indie Bundles have been highest from Linux users? I believe Linux users are more savvy technically and probably have better jobs and maybe more disposable income as a result...

With Valve making a push, the major graphic OEM's will be forced to write better video drivers. I, for one, wouldn't have anything keeping me on Windows if I was able to game on Linux full time...
 
Ludic said:
I believe Linux users are more savvy technically and probably have better jobs and maybe more disposable income as a result...
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:rolleyes:

Anyway, I've searched google a little but couldn't find any info on
1) Is steam available yet? (Or is it still in beta?)
2) If it is, which games are currently available?
 
BladeVenom said:
I don't know anyone who abandoned Linux for Apple. Why would anyone who uses Linux switch to Apple?

Linux has skyrocketed in popularity due to Android. Smartphones and tablets are going to keep getting more popular. Linux is now as popular as Windows, and it's gaining ground. So is Apple. Windows is going to be number 3 in a few years.
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A phone OS is not the same as a desktop OS. Yes you can port it to a PC, but its largely useless...
 
shoota said:
Anyway, I've searched google a little but couldn't find any info on
1) Is steam available yet? (Or is it still in beta?)
2) If it is, which games are currently available?
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1) No. There will be an invitation-only "public" beta sometime in October. A public release isn't likely until Q1 2013.

2) There will be a single game for the public beta (likely L4D2 or maybe Portal). Other games with Linux support (e.g., the indie stuff) are likely to integrate w/ Steam out of the box. L4D2 is the only game that Valve has officially (publicly) committed to bringing to Linux.
 
I just want to see Linux nerds bitch about this thing since it won't be open source.
 
Staples said:
I just want to see Linux nerds bitch about this thing since it won't be open source.
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That is only going to be slightly funnier than the people who switch to Linux because of Windows' "problems" only to discover that Linux comes with a whole host of its own.

In particular I'm going to be amused by all the people that cannot solve simple tech problems and that don't understand that Linux expects a higher level of tech competence from users.

It continually amazes me how un-tech savvy many gamers are. Setting up voice chat seems to be an epic struggle for many (I have spent many an hour helping people with it in the various MMOs I've played). Yet some of these same people will talk about how much they'd like to use Linux becaues it is better. All I can think is "No you wouldn't, because tasks in Linux make voice chat look simple." They've bought in to the hype of "Windows is broken, Linux is awesome," they don't realize that Linux is demanding of its userbase.

I'll give Valve props for trying but I don't think this'll see much success. It isn't going to convince many Windows users to switch, the OSS types won't like it, and so on.
 
Sycraft said:
The other is mentality. More than a few Linux users feel all software should be free. Sometimes they mean open source only (which games aren't going to do) but often they mean no cost. They have just decided that they don't want to pay for things or that "Information wants to be free man!"
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The above is absolute crap, considering that Linux users tend to be the highest paying group when it comes to any of the bundles like Humble Bundle, IndieRoyale, and Indievania. When Linux users get game support, they're more than willing to pay for it.

If a company spends $250,000 in porting, testing, and supporting a Linux release and then gets only $100,000 in Linux sales, they aren't going to be very interested in doing it again.
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The next above, not so much crap, though it's a giant hypothetical. I could just easily say, "When game company spends $250,000 porting, testing and supporting and make $1,000,000 off of it, they'd be pretty interested in doing it again."

It's not a very tested market, because (and this is as far as I know, if there exist modern examples that prove me wrong, I'll totally shut up) no one has really tried bringing big budget games to Linux.

It is a niche, but it's a niche that has shown they're willing to pay double (going by Humblebundle stats) of what PC gamers are willing to pay.
 
If you try to use the Humble bundle to prove your point, you fail. All it shows is that out of a crowd of cheapskates, Linux users are slightly less cheapskate to try and prove a point. I've never bought a Humble Bundle because I've already owned the games I want. I end up paying more PER GAME getting them from Impulse or Steam than Linux users are paying on average for an entire bundle.

Trying to say "Oh Linux users will pay $2 per game!" is not impressive. The Humble Bundle tends to be cheapskate heaven. The people willing to pay a real price already bought the game.
 
Sycraft said:
If you try to use the Humble bundle to prove your point, you fail. All it shows is that out of a crowd of cheapskates, Linux users are slightly less cheapskate to try and prove a point.

Trying to say "Oh Linux users will pay $2 per game!" is not impressive. The Humble Bundle tends to be cheapskate heaven. The people willing to pay a real price already bought the game.
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Ignoring the part where you said more than a few want free stuff when there's clear examples of them paying... Those bundles are where these games are currently available for sale on the platform. Steam on Linux would fix this so that there is a unified place to get regularly priced games at any time. That's the take away of the entire endeavor. These people have money, they're willing to spend it, whether they've got enough to be viable or not has really yet to be tested.


(Deleted the part about you from the quote because I doubt that either you or I represent the average gamer.)
 
Linux distributions do come with their own problems, however, most of them have kick ass forums. 99% of of the time I can just google "Arch Linux PROBLEM HERE", and boom, I get a solution as the first result. Copy paste the problem and you have a solution. It's easier than calling another human being over a phone.

There are plenty of Linux users that use forums that are not Linux gurus, too. Look at any Linux form - they all have a subforum dedicated to newbies. It's often the most active subforum of them all.

Steam Linux will be a success. It might not be a *huge* success, as in, the market is limited, but it will be a success, nonetheless.
 
Sycraft said:
It continually amazes me how un-tech savvy many gamers are. Setting up voice chat seems to be an epic struggle for many (I have spent many an hour helping people with it in the various MMOs I've played). Yet some of these same people will talk about how much they'd like to use Linux becaues it is better. All I can think is "No you wouldn't, because tasks in Linux make voice chat look simple." They've bought in to the hype of "Windows is broken, Linux is awesome," they don't realize that Linux is demanding of its userbase.
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I'm a bit suspicious of the people you hang out with. Where is this hype about Linux being awesome? Usually hype generates better results than any other form of marketing (see: Apple) but I'm not seeing it.

Granted there was the Quake 3 situation, but that was such a long time ago that I can't imagine people's opinions still being influenced by that.

I know a lot of average folk who are consistently frustrated with Windows, but I don't know too many who think Linux is the answer.

I'll give Valve props for trying but I don't think this'll see much success. It isn't going to convince many Windows users to switch, the OSS types won't like it, and so on.
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I don't think Valve is intending to get people to move from Windows to Linux or expecting any kind of dramatic revenue increase from desktop Linux. It's so obvious that they want to get into the console business and that means getting their feet wet with an OS they can use as a base, since clearly Windows and OS X won't be it.

A significant percentage of Valve's staff -- and Gabe himself -- are actively working on this project. They have taken on a handful of new hires and have employees of the three GPU companies on site working with them specifically for this. I don't think that reflects a mentality of "ahhh, we'll finally throw the 0.01% of desktop users a bone".

I could be wrong of course... it happens now and then. ;)
 
tech hype cannot compete with hundred million dollar advertising budgets of companies like apple. Hype adds to that but does not overtake it. There is huge hype in tech and gaming circles about lots of products the mass market has no freaking clue even exists.

However if valve wants to make this easy hopefully steam will be installed through the apt-get or whatever they call the software distribution built into various flavors of linux. That would actually be a big advantage, and shoot if I was valve I would be calling up big shots in ubuntu, and any other major flavor and trying to get them to have steam installed by default.
 
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