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Whether or not Steam Machines sold well or not is irrelevant. They were an intermediary step to them not being beholden to an OS vendor. In the last couple of y

Whether or not Steam Machines sold well or not is irrelevant. They were an intermediary step to them not being beholden to an OS vendor. In the last couple of years, they have arrived at their destination -- games run on Linux unless they have anticheat that prevents then from running on Linux. If they overcome the anticheat hurdle and reach 100% of top games running with decent performance, there are plenty of people who have a computer that they use exclusively for video games and web apps that will gladly forego paying for Windows.

pjmlp 5y ago
They are relevant as they were released with the same kind of party "we will take Windows down!", lets see how much the people actually learned from history.
- marcodiego 5y ago
  > They are relevant as they were released with the same kind of party "we will take Windows down!" I really don't think that was the case. This one, OTOH, was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icng5MHp7T4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icng5MHp7T4
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Here is a refresher, https://www.pcworld.com/article/423973/hands-on-with-alienwares-steam-machine-valves-vanguard-for-pc-gaming-in-the-living-room.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/423973/hands-on-with-alienwa...
    - marcodiego 5y ago
      Strongest part of the article seems to be "Call it Valve’s middle finger to Windows", which is author's comment. AFAIR, Gabe Newell didn't like MS policies with windows 8, but I never got the feeling of SteamOS release being anything close to "we will take Windows down!".
- seabird 5y ago
  That is a laughable characterization of the business decision Valve has made, and learning from history isn't worth much when the landscape has changed so much in the last five years. Have you actually tried to run games on Steam on Linux recently? Did you try it five years ago, and have an understanding of what it was like then? Proton and Steam on Linux _are a deterrent_, and within the last couple of years, it can be said with confidence that the strategy is viable and worth continuing. This was never about selling consoles -- Valve makes their money from their cut on sales and microtransactions.
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Proton is just the Windows compatibility layer for OS/2 story revisited, lets see how it will play out.
    - Zhyl 5y ago
      Could you expand on that? I don't see the situations as being directly comparable at all. Maybe in technology terms, but the situational context is completely different as far as I can see it, especially as it pertains to Linux share of the Gaming market.
      - pjmlp 5y ago
        Basically Proton allows game studios to focus on Windows and DirectX, just like what OS/2 got were ported Windows applications and only a tiny minority bothered to natively target OS/2. As the article itself mentions the Linux hardware on the survey is still at 1%.
        Zhyl 5y ago
        But Linux market share has increased consistently since Proton was released (0.7% -> 1.3%), and the Steam Deck hasn't even been released yet. If the stats showed stagnation or decline I would agree with you, but they seem to be suggesting the opposite.
    - 5y ago
Sohcahtoa82 5y ago
> If they overcome the anticheat hurdle and reach 100% of top games running with decent performance, there are plenty of people who have a computer that they use exclusively for video games and web apps that will gladly forego paying for Windows. Windows is essentially free these days. You might have to pay for it once (and I got my Windows key from a grey market site for $15), but each Windows version update has been free after Windows 8. Any gamer that buys a pre-built computer will end up with Windows by default and isn't likely to wipe it to install Linux. And even the ones that build themselves are still likely to use Windows just because that's what they're used to. The overlap between PC gaming and Linux enthusiasm isn't as big as you think it is.
- seabird 5y ago
  Everything you said is definitely true as of right now, but if Microsoft somehow finds a way to extract a cut from every transaction on Windows (fears of this around the release of Windows 8 is what initially spurred Valve's Linux investment), Valve actually would stand a chance in hell of convincing people who use their computer for video games and webapps nearly exclusively to switch over to Linux if games and microtransactions worked and were cheaper. We're not really talking about the group of people that are into both PC gaming and Linux. We're talking about the group of people that are into PC gaming that would be fine with a Chromebook if they weren't playing games, and would consider Linux if games were cheaper on it.
  - Zhyl 5y ago
    It's also worth noting that you said 'plenty' which is absolutely true. A rounding error for Windows install base would be a significant increase in Linux market share, and that is the sorts of levels I would anticipate with complete support and a successful launch of the Steam Deck (increase in market share by 1-2%)

pjmlp 5y ago

They are relevant as they were released with the same kind of party "we will take Windows down!", lets see how much the people actually learned from history.

marcodiego 5y ago
> They are relevant as they were released with the same kind of party "we will take Windows down!" I really don't think that was the case. This one, OTOH, was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icng5MHp7T4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icng5MHp7T4
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Here is a refresher, https://www.pcworld.com/article/423973/hands-on-with-alienwares-steam-machine-valves-vanguard-for-pc-gaming-in-the-living-room.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/423973/hands-on-with-alienwa...
  - marcodiego 5y ago
    Strongest part of the article seems to be "Call it Valve’s middle finger to Windows", which is author's comment. AFAIR, Gabe Newell didn't like MS policies with windows 8, but I never got the feeling of SteamOS release being anything close to "we will take Windows down!".
seabird 5y ago
That is a laughable characterization of the business decision Valve has made, and learning from history isn't worth much when the landscape has changed so much in the last five years. Have you actually tried to run games on Steam on Linux recently? Did you try it five years ago, and have an understanding of what it was like then? Proton and Steam on Linux _are a deterrent_, and within the last couple of years, it can be said with confidence that the strategy is viable and worth continuing. This was never about selling consoles -- Valve makes their money from their cut on sales and microtransactions.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  Proton is just the Windows compatibility layer for OS/2 story revisited, lets see how it will play out.
  - Zhyl 5y ago
    Could you expand on that? I don't see the situations as being directly comparable at all. Maybe in technology terms, but the situational context is completely different as far as I can see it, especially as it pertains to Linux share of the Gaming market.
    - pjmlp 5y ago
      Basically Proton allows game studios to focus on Windows and DirectX, just like what OS/2 got were ported Windows applications and only a tiny minority bothered to natively target OS/2. As the article itself mentions the Linux hardware on the survey is still at 1%.
      - Zhyl 5y ago
        But Linux market share has increased consistently since Proton was released (0.7% -> 1.3%), and the Steam Deck hasn't even been released yet. If the stats showed stagnation or decline I would agree with you, but they seem to be suggesting the opposite.
  - 5y ago

Sohcahtoa82 5y ago

> If they overcome the anticheat hurdle and reach 100% of top games running with decent performance, there are plenty of people who have a computer that they use exclusively for video games and web apps that will gladly forego paying for Windows. Windows is essentially free these days. You might have to pay for it once (and I got my Windows key from a grey market site for $15), but each Windows version update has been free after Windows 8. Any gamer that buys a pre-built computer will end up with Windows by default and isn't likely to wipe it to install Linux. And even the ones that build themselves are still likely to use Windows just because that's what they're used to. The overlap between PC gaming and Linux enthusiasm isn't as big as you think it is.

seabird 5y ago
Everything you said is definitely true as of right now, but if Microsoft somehow finds a way to extract a cut from every transaction on Windows (fears of this around the release of Windows 8 is what initially spurred Valve's Linux investment), Valve actually would stand a chance in hell of convincing people who use their computer for video games and webapps nearly exclusively to switch over to Linux if games and microtransactions worked and were cheaper. We're not really talking about the group of people that are into both PC gaming and Linux. We're talking about the group of people that are into PC gaming that would be fine with a Chromebook if they weren't playing games, and would consider Linux if games were cheaper on it.
- Zhyl 5y ago
  It's also worth noting that you said 'plenty' which is absolutely true. A rounding error for Windows install base would be a significant increase in Linux market share, and that is the sorts of levels I would anticipate with complete support and a successful launch of the Steam Deck (increase in market share by 1-2%)