10 ms·
Beta Late Than Never (Steam Linux Beta)
- kript 14y agoThis is a great thing, next year will be the year of linux... definitely...
- biomechanica 14y agoWell, the year of linux has been around for a long time. The list of devices that use Linux is staggering. Now, Linux as a desktop... Maybe. We'll see.
- DrStalker 14y agoI was first told the Year Of Linux On The Sesktop would be 1997, when it would overtake Windows 95 by being better/prettier/more functional. Just as soon as they fixed the issues with sound support... I'm sure someone here heard it before then.
- MartinCron 14y agoI too remember 97 as the first year of Linux on the desktop, when people gleefully predicted that Microsoft would collapse under their own weight. Feels kind of cute, in retrospect.
- hollerith 14y ago>I was first told the Year Of Linux On The Desktop would be 1997 Yup.
- Tuna-Fish 14y agoWell, sound support was sort of finally properly fixed in 2010-2011. :)
- krzyk 14y agoYesterday I connected a webcam to Windows 7, I had to download drivers (about 100MB of it from Logitech) only after this it started working. Also the same day I wanted to install my old HP 4300C scanner, connecting it to Windows 7 and using some old driver for windows xp didn't make it work. There are no drivers for Windows 7. The ones for XP are also quite old and are some kind of a "remastered" Windows 95 version sometimes they don't work. When I did the same on linux (Debian Wheezy, default kernel 3.2.x) both devices just work I didn't have to do anything apart from running an application that uses them (Skype or scanimage).
- josephcooney 14y agoHow old was the webcam?
- krzyk 14y agoIt's Logitech C100 (http://www.logitech.com/en-my/support/webcams/6424 http://www.logitech.com/en-my/support/webcams/6424) not sure how old it is, I borrowed it from colleague.
- biomechanica 14y agoI also see the benefits of having a Linux distribution over Windows 7(or 8). The driver hurdle is annoying on Windows. I recently helped a family member install Ubuntu 12.04 (this family member is not technically inclined at all!), I sat back and watched her install Ubuntu. No driver installs, no "enter in your license key" crap, no activation crap. It all just worked out out of the box. Even her wireless. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't needed anymore. You and I may see the Linux desktop, but most people don't. Which is very sad, in my opinion. It'll come, I suppose. I just have to be skeptical.
- zainny 14y agoIn the time between when the "year of the desktop" meme was coined, honestly I think the goal posts have shifted. It shouldn't be the goal or focus of Linux to win on the desktop, because the desktop is increasingly being relegated to a niche player. Winning on the desktop today would be a rather pointless victory IMO. Linux is already right now, today, amazingly incredibly successful in all domains which I think are most relevant for the future: servers (a given) and mobile (Android, Firefox OS, Web OS, Ouya, etc, etc.)
- w1ntermute 14y agoMeh, the year of Linux for me was around 2007, when I started using Ubuntu. Stop worrying about whether other people are using Linux and just start using it (and contributing to the community). That's how you build up the userbase.
- mylittlepony 14y agoI knew Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was going to make a difference. I've been using it in my desktop and I love it, everything works out of the box (sound, video, etc), and you can find anything you want in the software center. Now I only use Windows for games.
- mbell 14y agoUnless you have an AMD graphics card, in which case you get to deal with all kinds of corruption in general desktop use.
- marshray 14y agoOr an Nvidia, or an Intel, or ... All accelerated cards have had their share of bugs.
- krzyk 14y agoOpensource radeon driver is pretty good if you don't need 3D. I would actually say that it is much better then the AMD one - there are no problems with suspend and the card initializes more quickly.
- lucian1900 14y agoYes, except for power usage. The blob is much, much better at keeping my laptop's battery alive.
- ekianjo 14y agoThe ''one game'' in the private beta is left 4dead 2, or is there any indication it might be something else?
- DigitalSea 14y agoIt's about time a major player got behind Linux, I'm glad it's Valve as they are arguably one of my favourite game developers not just because they make great games, but because of their overall attitude and work culture. Hopefully this gives Linux a little needed spotlight boost and perhaps gains Ubuntu a few new users.
- Arjuna 14y ago"It's about time a major player got behind Linux [...]" What about id Software? They have a long-standing history of support for the platform, including John Carmack's philosophy and advocation of OSS that has driven his contribution of id Software game engine source code to the community, up to and including id Tech 4. He even cares so deeply about the topic that he worked to keep id Tech 5 free from the shackles of proprietary code, because he wants to eventually release it as open source. He said (italic emphasis is mine): "'Do we want to integrate some other vendor's solution, some proprietary code into this?' And the answer's usually no, because eventually id Tech 5 is going to be open source also. This is still the law of the land at id, that the policy is that we're not going to integrate stuff that's going to make it impossible for us to do an eventual open source release. We can argue the exact pros and cons from a pure business standpoint on it, and I can at least make some, perhaps somewhat, contrived cases that I think it's good for the business, but as a personal conviction it's still pretty important to me and I'm standing by that." [1] I think the reality is that id Software has attempted to build the market-space, but the base just hasn't been there. For example, John had this to say recently at QuakeCon 2012: "Other interesting sort of PC-ish platforms, we have... the Mac still remains a viable platform for us. The Mac has never required any charity from id, all of those ports have carried their own weight there; they've been viable business platforms. [...] Linux is an issue that's taken a lot more currency with Valve announcing Steam for Linux, and that does change, factor, you know, changes things a bit, but we've made two forays into the Linux commercial market, most recently with Quake Live client, and, you know, that platform just hasn't carried its weight compared to the Mac on there. It's great that people are enthusiastic about it, but there's just not nearly as many people that are interested in paying for a game on the platform, and that just seems to be the reality. Valve will probably pull a bunch more people there. I know absolutely nothing about any Valve plans for console, Steam-box stuff on there; I can speculate without violating anything. [...] So, it's enticing, the thought there that you might have a well-supported, completely open platform that you could deliver content through the Steam ecosystem there. It's a tough sell on there, but Valve gets huge kudos for having the vision for what they did with Steam, sticking through all of it. It's funny talking about Doom 3, where we can remember back in the days when they're like, 'Well, should you ship Doom 3 on Steam, go out there, make a splash?' ... I'm like, 'You're kidding, right?' That made no sense at all at that time, but you know Valve stuck with it and they're in a really enviable position from all of that now. It still seems, probably crazy to me that they would be doing anything like that, you know, but, it's something that's not technically impossible, but would be really difficult from a market, sort of ecosystems standpoint." [2] [1] http://www.linuxgames.com/archives/9374 http://www.linuxgames.com/archives/9374 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-iVFxgFWk#t=44m28s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-iVFxgFWk#t=44m28s
- syaz1 14y agoIs the 3 at the end of the URL a subtle jab?
- pvsnp 14y agoNah, just means they can count to 3. Still holding out for HL3.
- lukeholder 14y agohalf life 3 confirmed!
- user-id 14y agoCoincidentally, I thought you meant here at HN.
- mappu 14y agoMy vote is for almost-certainly yes. At the very least, it's a conscious marketing move. Even after all this time (it's been longer now since HL2:E2 than the gap between HL1 and HL2 itself), the hype is so strong that if they released HL3 for Linux so much as a few hours earlier than the Windows version, it would cause a significant spike in Ubuntu downloads.
- randartie 14y agoThat would be amazing!
- jeffool 14y agoThat would also be genius marketing if they wanted to "flex nuts" and see just how strong of a following they could get if they ever did want to try to lure more users away from Windows, given Valve's Win8 complaints. Of course, if it failed, it'd look odd. Of course, also, if they gave out Ep3 for free with a Linux account like they sometimes do Portal... Well, half the gamers with PCs would be swarming boards to get help booting Linux partitions. Then Steam would just have to get other publishers on board the "offer Linux too" train, like they did with the "one purchase for PC and Mac" strategy.
- mrschwabe 14y agoCan't wait! Here's hoping Steam Linux - in combination with the Microsoft's terrible decisions on Windows 8 - can be the catalyst for a mass exodus of gamers from Windows to Ubuntu/Linux and end an era of Windows PC gaming dominance that has long been overdue.
- trotsky 14y agoSuch a small set of testers especially considering how many of them will go to friends/industry probably means they are expecting to get buried under a shit storm of bugs.
- bennysaurus 14y agoWith such a wide range of kernel versions, OS differences and various flavours of drivers from open, proprietary and closed sources, yep it's going to take some work.
- keeperofdakeys 14y agoFrom the post, it looks like they are only supporting Ubuntu. Not that that will stop it being repackaged for other distributions when it's released. From the collaboration with Intel, it will be interesting to see how much attention they pay to the other drivers.
- stusmall 14y agoEven just supporting 1 version of Ubuntu, you will have to support a wide range of kernels and configurations. I'd say that using a custom kernel isn't too far out of the norm.
- keeperofdakeys 14y agoThe kernel won't matter. The hardest part with compatibility is library versions (for matching API and ABI), and the opengl rendering of the graphics driver (which Valve is working with Intel on).
- batgaijin 14y agoHopefully they add basic RPM bundling as well; as much as I like Ubuntu I think if you are distributing binaries we should be able to expect support for the latest Fedora as well.
- zainny 14y agoPersonally, I'm hoping they don't. Or rather, that if they do, they find a way to do it while expending zero time and energy on it... Fragmentation in the Linux world is one of the major things that is stopping developers from jumping on board. Valve should focus on supporting one distro and supporting it well.
- batgaijin 14y agoI agree to a degree, but at the same time simply choosing one distro to succeed is also not beneficial in the end either.
- jebblue 14y ago>> We will be using a sign up page for the external beta. Information about the sign up will be announced in a future post. Now I need to bookmark that blog. :-)
- joshschreuder 14y agoOr RSS ;) http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/feed/?cat=7 http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/feed/?cat=7
- rogerbinns 14y agoI'm hoping they will provide access to the Humble Bundles as they do on Windows. It is a pain keeping up to date with them manually.
- devnill 14y agoI have Steam for windows installed through wine, and haven't had many issues getting my titles which I purchased from the humble bundle running. Since many of them have linux native versions already, I don't suspect we will have any issues.
- rogerbinns 14y agoI assume you mean you are running the Windows versions that Steam installs, via Wine? I want to run the native Linux packages.
- azernik 14y agoI just got the latest Humble Bundle (6) and I've been able to install all of the games through the Ubuntu Software Center (sweet!) with native Linux versions. Seems that game developers have an incentive to do this since, according to my latest glance at the Humble Bundle website, Linux purchasers give much more than average ($10.13, as compared to $5.48 for Windows and $7.27 for Mac).
- rogerbinns 14y agoDevelopers are going to care more about total revenue and support loads. Ubuntu SC only covers the most recent HB or two - I paid for 8 different ones all of which are available via Steam on Windows. Also I don't trust Canonical much these days.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- veeti 14y agoThat probably depends on the developers of the games. Some of the Humble Bundle games already list Linux as a "ValidOS" in the Steam database.
- shmerl 14y agoWould be better if they'd drop using DRM. Let's hope GOG will follow with shipping native Linux games. With their DRM free stance - they'll be very well received by Linux users. If you are interested, you can vote to show them that there is a demand for it: http://www.gog.com/en/wishlist/site/add_linux_versions_of_games http://www.gog.com/en/wishlist/site/add_linux_versions_of_ga...
- jamie_ca 14y agoEspecially given how many games on GOG are old dos games that just run in DoxBOX and would be trivial to make bundled linux packages for... I've had great success installing dos-based GOG games through WineBottler (http://wiki.winehq.org/WineBottler http://wiki.winehq.org/WineBottler), diving into the package, moving the relevant files out, and stuffing them in Boxer (http://boxerapp.com/ http://boxerapp.com/) and they run pretty awesome on my mac.
- shmerl 14y agoFor GOG installers you can simply use innoextract to unpack all the files, to avoid using installer through Wine: http://constexpr.org/innoextract/ http://constexpr.org/innoextract/ The proposal above is really more about giving an option of native Linux games when they are available. Often GOG offers a Windows version, while Linux or Mac OSX variants aren't offered even if they exist. Having a DosBox / ScummVM games packaged for Linux is good, but that's not the main point of that vote.
- lloeki 14y ago> would be trivial to make bundled linux packages for... Boxer makes this especially trivial on OSX, there's no reason similar (or even the same) game containers could not be created for Linux.
- sliverstorm 14y agoI love how Valve is going way more than the extra mile to bring a very successful game store to Linux, and here we're just complaining about the DRM.
- grkovalev 14y agooh, steam on linux? really? it's will possible if Valve will do create the distribution of Linux and will support and further developed its.
- zissou 14y agoI don't even play video games anymore, but I played a hell of a lot of CS back in the day. Many years have passed, and I jumped on the Linux bandwagon about 3 years ago, and am now supposedly a productive member of society. But dammit, all I can think about now is plowing over AK-47 slinging bastards running through the top tunnel on de_dust with my pump shotty, or mowing people down with the UMP or headshots with the scout. I don't know, I loved the obscure weapons. I would increase my consumption of video games from a non-zero amount if I could play CS on Linux. Make it happen Valve. You got me, I'm now nostalgic.
- jiggy2011 14y agoAccording to WineHQ that's already possible. http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=3731 http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&... YMMV of course.
- dguaraglia 14y agoHah! CS was the shit until 1.6, when they completely crapped the physics and finally fixed the bug that'd allow you to switch instantly between your Desert Eagle and your AWP... Oh... how I miss those nights wasted playing CS!
- chuppo 14y agoCounter-Strike is such a game that will never go out of style, generations to come will look back on it as we now look to chess.
- fsniper 14y agoI wasted many hours of productive work time on running and playing CS on Linux via wine.
- bmcorser 14y agoscoutzknivez
- zissou 14y agoLike a boss.
- rms 14y agoHurray! This is my year of Linux on the desktop.
- cookiecaper 14y agoAt first thought this seems like a major blow for CodeWeavers and the commercial WINE consultation crowd; Steam and Valve games are among their staples, selling a large number of CrossOver licenses. However, on further consideration, if Valve wanted to make Steam/Linux a more seamless experience, one could see them becoming a major patron of CodeWeavers et al and/or becoming major WINE contributors themselves, in an attempt to ensure that most Steam games work perfectly on WINE. This makes even more sense if one supposes that Valve ultimately intends to release a "Steambox" console. In such a condition, the question emerges: at what point does Microsoft feel WINE is damaging its profits sufficiently to revoke the free pass its enjoyed for a long while and bring out the legal banhammer? I think a Steambox that relied heavily on WINE would be excellent provocation.
- gizmo686 14y agoWhat could MS complain about. Interfaces are explicitly protected by precedent. And reverse engineering software is explicitly protected in the DMCA for the purposes of interlopability.
- sandyarmstrong 14y agoJust because games will be distributed via Steam, does not mean that developers will stop depending on CodeWeavers and other WINE bundling techniques to actually create their ports. I'll bet CodeWeavers couldn't be happier right now.
- octotoad 14y agoI find this announcement kind of bitter-sweet. It's awesome, amazing and inspiring that a company like Valve has put this much effort in to supporting Linux, no matter what their underlying motives are. At the same time, it's really sad that this is the biggest thing to happen to mainstream Linux gaming since Loki and id/Epic since the early '00s. As somebody who was briefly caught up in the "convert-all-the-things-to-Linux" evangelism of the early 00's to the "fsck it, I don't care who uses it. I like it." attitude, I sincerely hope this makes an impact. Forget the FLOSS ideals and morals; if this means more 'power users' realize there's a viable Windows alternative for gaming (and more), everybody wins. I know a lot of 'purists' will inevitably complain about the influx of 'noobs', but, fsck it. No matter what beliefs/philosophies you follow, it's always a good thing to be able to show people that there are other options. As a long-time follower & sometimes contributer to the free/open Unix scene, this makes me proud.
- white_devil 14y agoIt's alright to say "fuck". We're all adults here.
- winter_blue 14y agoExpletives just aren't fun to hear every now and then. It's probably not because there's anything intrinsically bad about them (it's just a sound), but we've been trained since we are young that they are "bad" words. And to some extent this is true, many expletives do ave "bad" dictionary definitions, but in the context they're used the meaning is never (or rarely ) implied. I can see here that many people want to change this, and make expletives a common part of daily usage; but I don't see being a good thing overall. A lot of people hold to former way of thinking (that they're bad), and if you get into the habit of using such words it might affect you ability of form relationships with the majority of people who think they're bad. In addition I think, even internally, it's hard to get that idea from years-of-training (and one that's held by the majority of society) out of your head. I know I'm probably going to be criticized for this, but using myself expletives gives me a "dirty" or "uncivilized" feeling. Finally, I also don't think they really add to a conversation in any significant way. There are much better words ou there (and more eloquent sounding ones, too) to imply emphasis (I presume this is the primary use-case of expletives), and a conversation does sound more "intelligent" and "cultured" like so.
- ParadisoShlee 14y agoI really hope this breaks the horrible Linux feedback loop. We don't have games because we don't support games. We don't have hardware support becuase we don't have anything that requires hardware support.
- driverdan 14y agoWhile it's great they're putting support behind Linux I'm not getting my hopes up. Just look at the poor selection of Mac games available on Steam. There are plenty of great indy titles but very few big budget games. Linux support will be even worse.