4 ms·

Yes, I pointed to that, the thing is, people won't switch to linux because of that. I know Linux guys always want to say 'X is going to be the reason Linux will

by BSousa 14y ago

Yes, I pointed to that, the thing is, people won't switch to linux because of that. I know Linux guys always want to say 'X is going to be the reason Linux will be adopted' but the thing is, it won't. Outside tech circles, and what I call technohipsters, Linux won't gain that much traction. Not at least to make Valve consider Linux only client. I have a Mac and PC at home. Steam on Mac has 76 games, Steam on PC 238. I don't know about Linux, but I'm guessing even less. And from those 76 Mac games, more than half are indie games. Few AAA games there were released on Mac Steam a good half year after the PC version. Do you really think the 50 million people that bought Call of Duty on the first weekend will move to Linux where they can't play those games?

gnarbarian 14y ago
A Linux based steam console will get more publishers on board if people buy it. There were rumors going around that the PS4 OS was going to be Linux based too. If that's the case Linux will get pretty much everything.
- BSousa 14y ago
  But people will only buy it if publishers publish for it. And while I don't know the details of a Steam box, assuming a x64 config, you won't be able to really undercut Dell or HP. So why buy a Steam box if you can get a WIndows PC which allows you to run Office? And about PS4, I have been out of the industry for a while, but if PS4 really is linux based, most games will target THAT specific linux distro with specific drivers. While I doubt Sony would make PS4 just another Linux distro, even if they do, they will add Sony Middleware to it that won't be available on other distros. I would like to see Linux succeed. I periodically switch to Linux and back to Mac everyonce in a while, but I just don't see it. And back to the original topic, when you are a marketplace on another's man ecosystem, you will always be at their mercy. Now if Steam moved to the browser, maybe I could see something there, but Linux, no, sorry, not gonna happen (as much as I would love it to.)
- hdra 14y ago
  Linux has been widely adopted for a long time, just not on desktop PC. Android is based on Linux, and we don't see Linux 'get pretty much everything'. I believe console gamers and PC gamers are a largely different demographics. Among PC gamers, People don't switch to a platform because the game is there, instead, people play a game because the game is here on their platform.

by BSousa 14y ago

gnarbarian 14y ago

A Linux based steam console will get more publishers on board if people buy it. There were rumors going around that the PS4 OS was going to be Linux based too. If that's the case Linux will get pretty much everything.

BSousa 14y ago
But people will only buy it if publishers publish for it. And while I don't know the details of a Steam box, assuming a x64 config, you won't be able to really undercut Dell or HP. So why buy a Steam box if you can get a WIndows PC which allows you to run Office? And about PS4, I have been out of the industry for a while, but if PS4 really is linux based, most games will target THAT specific linux distro with specific drivers. While I doubt Sony would make PS4 just another Linux distro, even if they do, they will add Sony Middleware to it that won't be available on other distros. I would like to see Linux succeed. I periodically switch to Linux and back to Mac everyonce in a while, but I just don't see it. And back to the original topic, when you are a marketplace on another's man ecosystem, you will always be at their mercy. Now if Steam moved to the browser, maybe I could see something there, but Linux, no, sorry, not gonna happen (as much as I would love it to.)
hdra 14y ago
Linux has been widely adopted for a long time, just not on desktop PC. Android is based on Linux, and we don't see Linux 'get pretty much everything'. I believe console gamers and PC gamers are a largely different demographics. Among PC gamers, People don't switch to a platform because the game is there, instead, people play a game because the game is here on their platform.