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I don't think Proton has prevented anything. In fact, without it, and the back catalog of Windows games it makes available on SteamDeck, I doubt the handheld w

I don't think Proton has prevented anything. In fact, without it, and the back catalog of Windows games it makes available on SteamDeck, I doubt the handheld would have been as popular. SteamDeck was successful enough to get a re-release in the form of the OLED model, which is a big success for a Linux handheld. The longer Valve remains committed to the platform, and the more devices they get into the hands of consumers, the more attractive native Linux games will look to developers.

mariusor 2y ago
The people I mentioned in my comment clearly disagree with you, and frankly they have more of an incentive to be well informed about the situation. See the twitter link I posted to your comment's sibling for Ethan Lee's impressions from three years ago. Also, I never argued against Proton having been a boon for Linux gamers, but I tried to present an opposing point of view that usually does not get taken into account. Like I mentioned in the other comment my impression over the past 3-4 years is that the number of native linux ports has dwindled to nothing and that is most likely due to Proton making them unnecessary.
- Novosell 2y ago
  In my experience, the Linux ports never got any attention from the devs either way. They'll usually have worse performance, not be on the current patch and in at least one case, Binding of Isaac Rebirth, not be compatible with the DLC as the DLC works in some hacky way on the windows version. Without Proton the steam deck would not be popular enough to warrant any Linux ports either way. So Linux ports would be doomed regardless. The real travesty is steam, with the recent introduction of WoW64 in Wine, is now the only software that requires me to run 32bit binaries on my desktop. Real annoying.
- yazaddaruvala 2y ago
  In your opinion, why is the "trust in Proton" not considered "developing for Linux"? Is your argument specifically about the game developer's mental model for Linux's priority, or something core about the Proton abstraction layer? All software runs on some abstraction. So specifically, if the game developer prioritized a Linux port by explicitly testing Proton, would that be enough for you to consider the game "developed for Linux"?
  - mariusor 2y ago
    The consumer artifact for a game developed for a platform is a binary that can run natively on that platform. Regarding games, that is a binary that targets the ubuntu based Steam Linux Runtime. That's what I meant when I said that devs should be able to target it as a regular console SDK.

mariusor 2y ago

The people I mentioned in my comment clearly disagree with you, and frankly they have more of an incentive to be well informed about the situation. See the twitter link I posted to your comment's sibling for Ethan Lee's impressions from three years ago. Also, I never argued against Proton having been a boon for Linux gamers, but I tried to present an opposing point of view that usually does not get taken into account. Like I mentioned in the other comment my impression over the past 3-4 years is that the number of native linux ports has dwindled to nothing and that is most likely due to Proton making them unnecessary.

Novosell 2y ago
In my experience, the Linux ports never got any attention from the devs either way. They'll usually have worse performance, not be on the current patch and in at least one case, Binding of Isaac Rebirth, not be compatible with the DLC as the DLC works in some hacky way on the windows version. Without Proton the steam deck would not be popular enough to warrant any Linux ports either way. So Linux ports would be doomed regardless. The real travesty is steam, with the recent introduction of WoW64 in Wine, is now the only software that requires me to run 32bit binaries on my desktop. Real annoying.
yazaddaruvala 2y ago
In your opinion, why is the "trust in Proton" not considered "developing for Linux"? Is your argument specifically about the game developer's mental model for Linux's priority, or something core about the Proton abstraction layer? All software runs on some abstraction. So specifically, if the game developer prioritized a Linux port by explicitly testing Proton, would that be enough for you to consider the game "developed for Linux"?
- mariusor 2y ago
  The consumer artifact for a game developed for a platform is a binary that can run natively on that platform. Regarding games, that is a binary that targets the ubuntu based Steam Linux Runtime. That's what I meant when I said that devs should be able to target it as a regular console SDK.