Wednesday, April 25th 2012

Steam for Linux Arrives "in Months"

by
btarunr
 Discuss (54 Comments)
There is light in the end of the tunnel for proponents of a native-Linux version of Valve's Steam platform, as a Steam for Linux is just months away, according to a Phoronix report. Linux has been hiring developers with experience in Linux OpenGL applications for some time now, and the gearwheels at Valve have been able to drive out an early version of Left 4 Dead 2 that was seen running native on Linux (Ubuntu 11.10), without translation layers such as Wine, utilizing the OpenGL API, with the ICD provided by AMD Catalyst. Although first denied in 2010, Valve is back to the idea of Steam for Linux, thanks to its "flat" company structure that lacks a hierarchy. Following the footsteps of Steam for Mac, Valve could port some of its games to Linux, and give the client SteamPlay capability.
Sources: Phoronix, Engadget

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54 Comments on Steam for Linux Arrives "in Months"

#26
faramir
stupidoactually Linux and BSD (also many RTOSes like QNX, Integrity, VxWorks) are supporting POSIX API, so if an app is developed using this API, it should be matter of recompilation to be run on different (RT)OS...
Plus both OS X and Linux (and many other OSes such as Free/Net/OpenBSD) use OpenGL for 3D graphics stuff. Porting to one platform (from Direct3D of Windows) makes porting much easier to another OS. Therefore games which already exist for OS X should be easy to port to Linux too when/if this Steam client thingy is finally finished - it will give companies incentive to go for OpenGL as well as Direct3D.
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#27
scoutingwraith
Awesome....now I can setup my laptop with a dual boot option soni can use some Linux as well.
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#28
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
scoutingwraithAwesome....now I can setup my laptop with a dual boot option soni can use some Linux as well.
correction: now you can get rid of windows and single boot to linux
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#29
Morgoth
Fueled by Sapphire
Easy Rhinoi don't see why not. if they can make l4d2 play natively on linux then it should take minimal effort to get ALL of their titles out for linux over the coming years. after all they all use the same game engine and libraries. could this be a precursor to the steambox ???
this truly depends on the engine version of source
2009 version supports mac 2007 does not, so means if they writed a new engine version that suport linux means they need to update every game to that lates build wich is not a easy task
even at this date valve hast released sdk base 2009/2011 for mods to use so linux wont get mutch support as mac does from the modding community is what i find sad

so i say fuck this linux support give some propper moding support valve!
RELEASE SDK BASE 2012!!
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#30
KieX
Easy Rhinocorrection: now you can get rid of windows and single boot to linux
That's exactly how I read these news. Good times :)
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#31
Nordic
I would consider moving away from windows if linux had games. Steam on linux is a step in the right direction for sure.
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#32
Wrigleyvillain
PTFO or GTFO
No_AsylumWow ... Uneducated much?

There are MILLIONS of Linux Gamers dying for Steam on Linux.
Uh, well, yes this is awesome and certainly great and interesting news but it is still a fact that a Linux desktop cannot compare to a Windows box as a full-fledged, fully-featured gaming computer. Same as a Mac can't--less robust and/or limited driver support (especially for AMD), no D3D which means many fewer titles especially AAA, etc etc.

This 27" iMac at work has a sick display (as Catleap owners know) plus a 6970M 2GB and I launch Steam to chat but never to game cause, what, I can play TF2 or Counter-Strike? Who the F cares.

Again, cool news and a step in the right direction but anyone who now thinks they can suddenly ditch Windows now apparently isn't the same type of "PC gamer" as me.
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#33
librin.so.1
OH! GLORY!

I literally dropped a sandwich out of my hands when I read that. I was so happy, exited (and surprised) when I read the headline for the third time, I hardly managed not to start screaming out of excitement. (this was such awesome news, I stunned my mind and I only completely understood/realized what was written there when I read it for the third time) Man, I was hoping for this for quite a while now! Weee!!!
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#34
scoutingwraith
Now lets hope that some devs (at least Indie ones.....dont expect companies like EA to get on board) to actually code some games for Linux or at least modify the code to run on the system.
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#35
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
WrigleyvillainUh, well, yes this is awesome and certainly great and interesting news but it is still a fact that a Linux desktop cannot compare to a Windows box as a full-fledged, fully-featured gaming computer. Same as a Mac can't--less robust and/or limited driver support (especially for AMD), no D3D which means many fewer titles especially AAA, etc etc.
When was the last time you saw a fully featured OpenGL 4.0 game? It's a driver limitation, nothing more, nothing less.
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#36
Easy Rhino
Linux Advocate
when this happens i will no longer purchase games that arenot developed for linux. time to put my money where my mouth is.
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#37
SIGSEGV
AquinusThat is the largest load of crap I've ever heard. Linux is used on a lot of servers because it is stable, it is fast, and it is secure. The thing running against linux is since there are no (good) games written for it and AMD and nVidia feel that improving their 3d drives for linux is a waste of time. If more people use it, the more resources they will dedicate to improving drivers.

FreeBSD was designed for servers, but Apple used it to create Mac OS X.

At work we had a linux server with an uptime of 560 days between restarts. That is the power of linux, show me a Windows machine that will run well after being on that long. I had to restart our Windows servers once a week before we reformatted them with Ubuntu Server instead (we got rid of our only ASP app.)
it's all about the money/market and about this one (OpenGL vs Direct3D)
Easy Rhinowhen this happens i will no longer purchase games that arenot developed for linux. time to put my money where my mouth is.
+1
QFT :rockout:
Posted on Reply
#38
Prima.Vera
Not to be the black sheep here, but except Quake 3, UT2004, Rage and....and what good new games are supporting OpenGL ???
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#39
librin.so.1
Prima.VeraNot to be the black sheep here, but except Quake 3, UT2004, Rage and....and what good new games are supporting OpenGL ???
Serious Sam 3
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#41
librin.so.1
Prima.VeraCommon!!!!! :cry:
Huh? Sir, I don't follow.

EDIT: also: Spiral Knights. An MMO, maybe not that good, yet runs on OpenGL (has native linux client, though. Not when run through steam, yet [duh!])
Posted on Reply
#42
techtard
I heard about this back in 2008, nothing happened.
Then the guys at Phoronix were saying that Steam on Linux was just around the corner in 2010.
Now they're saying it again.

I'll believe it when I see it live.

It will be nice though. If there is a big enough market of Linux gamers, then hopefully they will standardize and modernize the Linux graphics core as well as put out stable OpenGL drivers.

RAGE by id software proved that modern games can look pretty nice on OpenGL.
Posted on Reply
#43
DannibusX
This definitely smells of Steambox. I don't think Valve would want to pay the licensing fees to Microsoft for Windows on their system, the logical answer would be a Valve distro of linux, or a standard for other distros to use to remain compliant with Steam. On top of that, I don't think Microsoft would license windows for a competing console, even if it's essentially just a PC.

I for one will be watching, I may not jump ship all that fast if this is true because I have a lot of games that require Windows, but I'll definitely play all my Valve games exclusively through Linux.

I'm excited at the prospect, but I'm also cautious because Phoeronix has made this announcement before, but Valve denies.
Posted on Reply
#44
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
Prima.Verawhat good new games are supporting OpenGL ???
Diablo 3 should support OpenGL.
Posted on Reply
#45
Prima.Vera
AquinusDiablo 3 should support OpenGL.
Yeah but Blizzard games are not sell on Steam...:(
Posted on Reply
#46
Aquinus
Resident Wat-man
Prima.VeraYeah but Blizzard games are not sell on Steam...:(
Blizzard is willing to support Mac OS X. If the audience exists in the Linux world, Blizzard will go there too.
Posted on Reply
#47
Peter1986C
Prima.VeraNot to be the black sheep here, but except Quake 3, UT2004, Rage and....and what good new games are supporting OpenGL ???
Minecraft.
Posted on Reply
#49
theubersmurf
SIGSEGVit's all about the money/market and about this one (OpenGL vs Direct3D)



+1
QFT :rockout:
The funny bit is I don't think they even want to support DirectX for windows anymore, I think they make more with the Xbox.
Posted on Reply
#50
Wrigleyvillain
PTFO or GTFO
Prima.VeraNot to be the black sheep here, but except Quake 3, UT2004, Rage and....and what good new games are supporting OpenGL ???
One of my main sentiments exactly. Baaaaa.

Though, Rhino, more power to you, man.
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