Valve's Steam Hardware Survey Shows Progress for Gaming on Linux, Breaking 1% Marketshare

[Space Lynx]

So does this mean that 2021 is *the* year of the Linux Desktop?

well 10,000 have viewed my thread of me switching and loving Linux gaming. that's how many of Sauron's army marched upon Helm's Deep, and failed to win. So no, I'd say probably not.

Though if they don't change their ways, M$ won't have Gandalf save the day this round... in which case...

LINUX TO THE MOON

I just switched to Linux Mint (latest beta release) I AM FREAKING IN LOVE!!! TAKE CARE WINDOWS 10 and 11 LMAO

So first impressions so far today... it's smooth!!! So smooth! It's very user friendly... I have already installed Steam with two clicks, updated all my drivers from the welcome window that pops up on first install, installed proprietary Nvidia driver, got gsync working. Steam has an awesome...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

Dont know if anyone seen this yet...

AMD + Valve Working On New Linux CPU Performance Scaling Design - Phoronix

www.phoronix.com

Along with other optimizations to benefit the Steam Deck, AMD and Valve have been jointly working on CPU frequency/power scaling improvements to enhance the Steam Play gaming experience on modern AMD platforms running Linux.

 

[Space Lynx]

Dont know if anyone seen this yet...

AMD + Valve Working On New Linux CPU Performance Scaling Design - Phoronix

www.phoronix.com

it's nice news, but at end of day its still just 30- 60 fps gaming with no freesync (you will get tearing and stuttering often since this chip won't play new titles smoothly, especially since it is up to the end user to calibrate settings unlike a console) I expect many will try to get away with high settings when they should be on medium or low for smoothness.

 

[AusWolf]

it's nice news, but at end of day its still just 30- 60 fps gaming with no freesync (you will get tearing and stuttering often since this chip won't play new titles smoothly, especially since it is up to the end user to calibrate settings unlike a console) I expect many will try to get away with high settings when they should be on medium or low for smoothness.

That's one thing. The other thing is, it still won't bring native DirectX support to Linux, as unfortunately only Microsoft can do that - and they won't.

 

[Space Lynx]

That's one thing. The other thing is, it still won't bring native DirectX support to Linux, as unfortunately only Microsoft can do that - and they won't.

Doesn't ProtonDB do this already though? I mean how else are these DX only titles running on Linux? Perhaps I simply don't understand (I don't... new to Linux)

 

[Ja.KooLit]

That's one thing. The other thing is, it still won't bring native DirectX support to Linux, as unfortunately only Microsoft can do that - and they won't.

proton wine lutris . it wont work same way as direct X but thats what compatibility layer is for. to trick the system that it is running under windows.

But game devs should support vulkan. its just way better than directX

 

[spnidel]

woah... they now have 1.01% market share?!
this is.... INSANE!
YEAR OF THE LINUX, BOYS

 

[Aquinus]

96% windows, i can't see that changing too much for the foreseeable. For me 1% is no where near enough to even look at Linux as main OS

Why not? The choice for OS should be what it's capable of doing, not its adoption by the masses. My tower has Ubuntu on it, Steam runs great and proton works 9/10 times. Performance is good and I don't have to reinstall the OS on a regular basis. The only valid reason I see for not considering Linux for your daily driver is because you use something that requires Windows, like games that require some form of DRM that's incompatible with Proton or some other application. Beyond that, the only reason not to is because it's unfamiliar and people don't like change, not to mention that it's work to install Linux when most PCs come with Windows.

Honestly, most people use Windows because that's what comes installed on their computer. That's the reality of it. If Linux were preinstalled on most PCs being sold, I think we'd see that be reflected in usage by the masses, but unless that happens, there will never be widespread adoption because your typical user isn't going to be installing an OS.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I love Linux, and right now personal favorite is Pop OS. SteamOS was my favorite, but hasn't been updated in sometime (Steam Deck will change this with Arch 3.0). The problem is feature sets are missing for high end pc gaming, and lack of overall support of many different software packages.

Some examples:

• No HDR support.
• FPS loss due to Vulkan / OpenGL versus DirectX, developers don't spend enough time optimizing.
• Lack of full feature GPU driver packages. AMD cards, WATTMAN no solution. Thanks for MESA, but we need more.
• Lack of peripheral software package, i.e., gaming headsets (many rely on driver packages for virtual surround and other features) and keyboard.
• Lack of great game support outside of Steam... PROTON THANK YOU VALVE. However, Lutris just isn't enough for some of the smaller subset of games not on Steam.

The benefits of free and open come with cons as the platform is still under polished development, but has made tremendous strides.

If you're using PopOS, then your poor framerates are likely tied to your MESA drivers, which are horribly out of date on anythign that is ubuntu derivative. Trivial to fix, updating to the latest makes a night and day difference on my RX 560. From ~34 FPS at medium settings on tropico 4 to 60 FPS at maximum settings with VSYNC.

A lot of people who compalin about framerate issues are usually using an oudates MESA driver, or worse, an nvidia card.

The lack of packages is a pain, but OTOH, if you dont have all the LEET GAMERZ stuff, it wont affect you. Regular headsets work fine without special software, and newer light up keyboards have open source software available to them.

Wow 1% after how many years? At rather optimistic, not even linear rate it'd be what? A century for 20%?

There's more nuance to that number.

Linux actually peaked at either 1.14 or 1.16% WAYYY back in 2013 when steaem for linux first appeared, then the percentage quickly dropped to the .7 range, and has been slowly climbing since. The key here is the total number of users hasnt gone down. At the previous high, steam had 65 million total users and roughly 5-6 million daily active users. Today steam has 120 million montly active users and 62.6 million DAILY users. Montly counts from 2013 are hard to find but the total monthly active was 67 million in 2017.

That would mean roughly 1.2 million monthly linux users, a not small number of people, and a dramatic increase from 2017, when linux would have had roughly 500-550k users by the same metric.

 

[AusWolf]

Doesn't ProtonDB do this already though? I mean how else are these DX only titles running on Linux? Perhaps I simply don't understand (I don't... new to Linux)

I'm not an expert on this, but as far as I know Proton is still just emulation, and as such, isn't perfect.

proton works 9/10 times

That. I like compatibility and simplicity, so I'm not taking any chances.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I'm not an expert on this, but as far as I know Proton is still just emulation, and as such, isn't perfect.


That. I like compatibility and simplicity, so I'm not taking any chances.

It's a translation layer, not an emulator. An emulator would be running either a full or cut down version of windows under the hood.

 

[AusWolf]

It's a translation layer, not an emulator. An emulator would be running either a full or cut down version of windows under the hood.

Thanks. As I said, I'm not an expert. It still can't be as good as the real thing itself.

 

[Ravenas]

If you're using PopOS, then your poor framerates are likely tied to your MESA drivers, which are horribly out of date on anythign that is ubuntu derivative. Trivial to fix, updating to the latest makes a night and day difference on my RX 560. From ~34 FPS at medium settings on tropico 4 to 60 FPS at maximum settings with VSYNC.

A lot of people who compalin about framerate issues are usually using an oudates MESA driver, or worse, an nvidia card.

The lack of packages is a pain, but OTOH, if you dont have all the LEET GAMERZ stuff, it wont affect you. Regular headsets work fine without special software, and newer light up keyboards have open source software available to them.

No. Obiaf ppa doesn't help either. It's not really a driver issue, it's lack of proper optimization for Vulkan or OpenGL.

Not having access to basic software for keyboards, headsets, music, and other software platforms has nothing to do with being a l33t gamer.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Maybe linux can break 1% again when win-10 support ends on 2025.

 

[Ravenas]

Hi,
Maybe linux can break 1% again when win-10 support ends on 2025.

Linux will break 1% on Steam Deck release.

 

[R-T-B]

Sauron's

Sauroman, noob

 

[Space Lynx]

Sauroman, noob

Incorrect, Sauron ordered Sauroman to create the army. So it is technically Sauron's army.

Rights of Property, 1776.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Incorrect, Sauron ordered Sauroman to create the army. So it is technically Sauron's army.

Rights of Property, 1776.

It's Saruman

 

[ManofGod]

A lot of folks here are giving opinions and sarcasm but, no one here has actually provided a good place to setup linux for gaming. Well, here it is: Chris Titus Tech Linux Gaming Guide