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Meh, useless purity check. Gaming on Linux is hard because there's not one Linux, there's tons of Linuses. What version of the glibc/libstdc++/mesa/xorg/waylan

Meh, useless purity check. Gaming on Linux is hard because there's not one Linux, there's tons of Linuses. What version of the glibc/libstdc++/mesa/xorg/wayland/kernel/drivers are you running? The Linux ecosystem is fragmented in such a way that only open-source and an army of volunteers can really work around. It is really not binary-friendly at a fundamental, philosophical level. (You're not going to get game companies to open-source their games, except as an exception, and after their economic life is finished) The Steam Deck provides one well-known hardware and software platform that a vendor can reasonably target. Don't expect much more except by the most dedicated developer.

hurricanepootis 1y ago
Valve provides a common runtime/build environment for Linux devs in the form of the Steam Linux Runtime. There is version 1 (Scout), which uses an LD_PRELOAD system. There is version 2 (Soldier), which uses cgroups (podman) and is deprecated. Then, there is version 3 (Sniper), which is the current target. As of right now, proton and proton-ge both build in and require Steam Runtime Version 3 to run in. The steam client itself is running in a runtime, and I think it is the scout runtime, so LD_PRELOAD based. This means that steam has its own common platform to "deploy" against, and all Linux native games have a common platform to deploy against. It used to be that games had to be compiled in a chroot for Steam runtime 1.0, but now with Steam runtime 3.0, developers are heavily recommended to build their game in a "OCI-based container framework"—so podman basically—and enable the Steam Runtime 3.0 on steam. I know that TF2 and Dota 2 use steam runtime 3.0, and apparently so does Retroarch. Of course, since there is a podman/docker image, you can also test existing games to see if they run in the runtime too. You can find a lot of more information about the steam runtime 3.0 here: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/sniper/sdk https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/sniper/sdk Valve has a gitlab with lots of great docs for developers who want to publish a linux native game. I think all native linux games will run in the Scout 1.0 runtime by default Edit: I will say that as an end-user, running an up-to-date Linux kernel and Mesa stack is important for gaming. I know some people who run Mint and are surprised that their Radeon RX 9060 runs like ass. As long as you aren't using a Debian based LTS distro, like mint or ubuntu lts, or you are running those distro but get a newer kernel, you should be fine. This matters less for older hardware, but having a newer kernel and especially a newer mesa version is important.
- appleaday1 1y ago
  use CachyOS if you are gaming.
  - hurricanepootis 1y ago
    I use Arch since I enjoy having control over what packages I have and how I configure some stuff.
    - appleaday1 1y ago
      use cachyos repos, they are doing some good work if you are on one of the new amd cpus, it turned my TOASTER into a RACECAR.
      - hurricanepootis 1y ago
        I'm not going to use cachyOS repos. I am an AUR developer and my target is the Arch repos.
        koolala 1y ago
        Would they work fine though? Is there any reason other than preference?
        hurricanepootis 1y ago
        The AUR targets Arch Linux only and I don't wanna run into the chance of there being a mismatch of packages I'm using and what other people r using. It makes it easier for me to ensure that, for example, the versions of the libraries I'm compiling against actually work. Like, if there is a library update in the arch repos that doesn't hit the cachyos repos by the time I do a build, it could have issues. There is an arch x86-64-v3 repo, but I found it to be very far behind in terms of the most current packages, and I've experienced bugs with it.
- MindSpunk 1y ago
appleaday1 1y ago
AHHAHAHA https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1nok6qg/baldurs_gate_3_now_has_an_official_steam_deck/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1nok6qg/baldurs_...
saghm 1y ago
That's a pretty uncharitable take, given that they already had it working via Proton for years. Sure, there's always more a company could do short of literally providing unlimited support and open sourcing everything, but they could have very easily stopped without taking the time to make a Linux native build at all. Most game developers don't even put in this amount of effort, and they did it over two years after the game originally came out without making any additional money beyond the initial purchase from DLC or subscriptions. Linux ecosystems aren't the only place where treating everything as a binary is problematic.
- AceJohnny2 1y ago
  > given that they already had it working via Proton for years That's irrelevant, because Proton is literally a Windows emulation layer, (the product of decades of cumulative work). "they" (Larian) didn't have to do anything for that. Certainly Larian's effort for making a Steam Deck native version is commendable (I hear it was the result of one single employee's effort). Larian is a rare beacon in the video games industry biz for the amount of post-launch support and content they provide. But my point remains: supporting Linux broadly is a far larger, and ultimately unreasonable, ask, than just supporting the Steam Deck.
  - saghm 1y ago
    Looking back, I think I misinterpreted your original comment; I had thought you were saying that the point of doing a Steam Deck build was the useless purity check, but reading the thread back now, I'm realizing you probably were referring to the parent comment you responded to rather than the Steam Deck native version itself. Understanding that now, I think I actually agree with pretty much everything you've said

hurricanepootis 1y ago

Valve provides a common runtime/build environment for Linux devs in the form of the Steam Linux Runtime. There is version 1 (Scout), which uses an LD_PRELOAD system. There is version 2 (Soldier), which uses cgroups (podman) and is deprecated. Then, there is version 3 (Sniper), which is the current target. As of right now, proton and proton-ge both build in and require Steam Runtime Version 3 to run in. The steam client itself is running in a runtime, and I think it is the scout runtime, so LD_PRELOAD based. This means that steam has its own common platform to "deploy" against, and all Linux native games have a common platform to deploy against. It used to be that games had to be compiled in a chroot for Steam runtime 1.0, but now with Steam runtime 3.0, developers are heavily recommended to build their game in a "OCI-based container framework"—so podman basically—and enable the Steam Runtime 3.0 on steam. I know that TF2 and Dota 2 use steam runtime 3.0, and apparently so does Retroarch. Of course, since there is a podman/docker image, you can also test existing games to see if they run in the runtime too. You can find a lot of more information about the steam runtime 3.0 here: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/sniper/sdk https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/steamrt/sniper/sdk Valve has a gitlab with lots of great docs for developers who want to publish a linux native game. I think all native linux games will run in the Scout 1.0 runtime by default Edit: I will say that as an end-user, running an up-to-date Linux kernel and Mesa stack is important for gaming. I know some people who run Mint and are surprised that their Radeon RX 9060 runs like ass. As long as you aren't using a Debian based LTS distro, like mint or ubuntu lts, or you are running those distro but get a newer kernel, you should be fine. This matters less for older hardware, but having a newer kernel and especially a newer mesa version is important.

appleaday1 1y ago
use CachyOS if you are gaming.
- hurricanepootis 1y ago
  I use Arch since I enjoy having control over what packages I have and how I configure some stuff.
  - appleaday1 1y ago
    use cachyos repos, they are doing some good work if you are on one of the new amd cpus, it turned my TOASTER into a RACECAR.
    - hurricanepootis 1y ago
      I'm not going to use cachyOS repos. I am an AUR developer and my target is the Arch repos.
      - koolala 1y ago
        Would they work fine though? Is there any reason other than preference?
        hurricanepootis 1y ago
        The AUR targets Arch Linux only and I don't wanna run into the chance of there being a mismatch of packages I'm using and what other people r using. It makes it easier for me to ensure that, for example, the versions of the libraries I'm compiling against actually work. Like, if there is a library update in the arch repos that doesn't hit the cachyos repos by the time I do a build, it could have issues. There is an arch x86-64-v3 repo, but I found it to be very far behind in terms of the most current packages, and I've experienced bugs with it.
MindSpunk 1y ago

appleaday1 1y ago

AHHAHAHA https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1nok6qg/baldurs_gate_3_now_has_an_official_steam_deck/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/1nok6qg/baldurs_...

saghm 1y ago

That's a pretty uncharitable take, given that they already had it working via Proton for years. Sure, there's always more a company could do short of literally providing unlimited support and open sourcing everything, but they could have very easily stopped without taking the time to make a Linux native build at all. Most game developers don't even put in this amount of effort, and they did it over two years after the game originally came out without making any additional money beyond the initial purchase from DLC or subscriptions. Linux ecosystems aren't the only place where treating everything as a binary is problematic.

AceJohnny2 1y ago
> given that they already had it working via Proton for years That's irrelevant, because Proton is literally a Windows emulation layer, (the product of decades of cumulative work). "they" (Larian) didn't have to do anything for that. Certainly Larian's effort for making a Steam Deck native version is commendable (I hear it was the result of one single employee's effort). Larian is a rare beacon in the video games industry biz for the amount of post-launch support and content they provide. But my point remains: supporting Linux broadly is a far larger, and ultimately unreasonable, ask, than just supporting the Steam Deck.
- saghm 1y ago
  Looking back, I think I misinterpreted your original comment; I had thought you were saying that the point of doing a Steam Deck build was the useless purity check, but reading the thread back now, I'm realizing you probably were referring to the parent comment you responded to rather than the Steam Deck native version itself. Understanding that now, I think I actually agree with pretty much everything you've said