13 ms·

SteamOS: It's here

343 points by xPaw 13y ago

huskyr 13y ago
A link explaining what SteamOS actually is might come in handy: http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/
cshimmin 13y ago
Is this some kind of leak? steamdb.info is evidently not affiliated with Valve in any way...
- nemof 13y ago
  nope this is entirely legit. Valve confirmed that when they shipped the 300 steam boxes today to beta testers they'd also push live Steam OS Beta. Check the github and steamstatic.com files.
  - evjan 13y ago
    This doesn't mean that downloads from steamdb.info or steamstatic.com are legit. Tread carefully, I'll wait until there's a link from an official site.
    - voltagex_ 13y ago
      steamstatic.com is where the deb packages for the Steam Linux client are hosted.
    - nemof 13y ago
      steamstatic.com is a valve domain, look at its nameservers whois.net/whois/steamstatic.com
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- cshimmin 13y ago
  Well, it's definitely not an official announcement. Though the github page looks legit and has only been added a few minutes ago.
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    Yeah, apparently steamdb.info is unrelated to Valve. That was a little confusing. Shouldn't Valve be the one to release SteamOS?
    - winslow 13y ago
      steamdb.info is just looking at the valve distribution repo and getting their info from there.
Xeoncross 13y ago
Running on Debian 7.1 Wheezy, nice. Now I don't have to change operating systems.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
sillysaurus2 13y ago
Does anyone know if this can be installed in VirtualBox? I'd like to try it, but I don't feel like setting up a new computer for it or dual booting.
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  I suspect so, it's based on Debian 7.1. The main problem is they seem to have put it on a single server instead of the Steam CDN and now no one's able to download it
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    If you use wget, the download'll resume automatically whenever it chokes: wget http://repo.steamstatic.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip But it's choking every percent for me, so I doubt it'll finish.
    - maxerickson 13y ago
      wget -c will look for a partial file (so when it bombs out you can just start it again). Sometimes it makes sense to force a file name, that one looks like it will work fine.
  - jkrems 13y ago
    They people to use the CDN link and not steamstatic: http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip
- tfgg 13y ago
  Along these lines, does anyone know the best way to boot from the downloaded zip file in VirtualBox? I'm currently trying to convert the contents to a bootable .iso, but I'm not sure if that'll work.
  - jdjb 13y ago
    Use mkisofs to create an iso from the unzipped contents and use the iso like any other install media.
bluekitten 13y ago
Do they allow us to install games outside of Steam or does everything have to go through the Steam store and their 30% cut?
- quarterto 13y ago
  God forbid a distribution platform be compensated! How dare they ask for money!
  - winslow 13y ago
    I don't believe that's the point she is making. Obviously the distributor should be compensated. I believe her point is will 3rd parties that are NOT green lit on steam still be downloadable similar to Android's install from unknown sources. My initial thought would be they allow 3rd party / not affiliated with steam. They seem pretty open with everything about SteamOS and I would think it would only hurt their chances of adoption if they were to lock it down. Even if they do lock that down I'm sure someone would easily find a work around as it is Linux after all.
    - bluekitten 13y ago
      It's a she, but I agree with the rest of what you said :)
      - winslow 13y ago
        Oops my apologies. Fixed :)
- JetSpiegel 13y ago
  The OS is based on Debian, according to [1] there is a GNOME desktop that you can use. [1] http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/ http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1...
- sleepydog 13y ago
  Steam for windows allows you to launch non-steam games (or applications) from Steam by creating a shortcut(iirc you even get the steam overlay when you press shift+tab). I would be surprised if they removed this functionality from SteamOS.
killercup 13y ago
Download seems to be awfully slow. A torrent for the installer would be nice.
- killercup 13y ago
  magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
  - mcgwiz 13y ago
    Whoa, this comment ruins the page layout. If you can still edit it, can you throw two spaces in front of it? (That'll render it in a fixed-width <code> block.)
newman314 13y ago
What I'm interested in is the streaming portion. Imagine a setup where a VMware server with a gaming VM streaming to a RaspberryPi in the family room or Mac.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  How much bandwidth would that require at 1080p with compression? Well, if we assume 16:1 compression ratio, that's 1920x1080x3/(16x1024) KB per frame, times 24 fps = 9.11MB per second. So a 73Mbit wifi connection would be required. Can the RPi push that? 30fps would require a 90MBit link.
  - tlarkworthy 13y ago
    very unlikely
  - sjwright 13y ago
    Or perhaps we could assume a 32:1 compression ratio on 720p content -- that's about 10 megabits per second. I don't know if the Pi could even do that with sufficiently low latency (the server's specs will probably be more important anyway) but if we're going to give a flea computer a task, at least make it vaguely feasible. And when did wifi suddenly become a requirement? And where did you get 24 fps for gaming?
    - sillysaurus2 13y ago
      24fps is movie framerates. It's the lowest fps which humans find tolerable. 16:1 compression ratio is based on DXT compression, which looks like ass, but is able to be done in realtime if the server is beefy enough. 8:1 would be better. 32:1 would look so terrible that I'm not sure anyone would be willing to sit through it. Wifi is a requirement to make it go mainstream. Most people aren't willing to run physical cable through their living spaces, either due to lack of patience or equipment.
      - sliverstorm 13y ago
Simucal 13y ago
Does anyone have a torrent link? The installer link is down for me. Edit: Here is an unnoficial torrent magnet link: http://mgnet.me/foUDd http://mgnet.me/foUDd
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip is the CDN link
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
- voltagex_ 13y ago
  Unverified sha1 - 1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32 but it seems to match chunks from the HTTP source (using the torrent & HTTP source together)
  - supergauntlet 13y ago
    this torrent seems to give me the same as the official hash: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
    - JeremyBanks 13y ago
      This post in breaking the page. Could you remove the trackers to improve that?
      - supergauntlet 13y ago
        Fixed, didn't realize. Thought I had the 2 spaces there but I guess not.
    - saraid216 13y ago
jamra 13y ago
I have a huge problem with Steam in general. It's nothing against Valve and nothing against the games on Steam store, but hear me out. Lets say you buy a game on the Steam store. Now lets say that game is so bug-ridden that you can't play it. It's so bad that you can't even run the game. You check online and it's such a big problem that the CTO has publicly apologized. You contact Steam support to ask for a refund. They tell you to forget it, so you contact the publisher. You explain that you have liked their games forever but this game is not playable. You want your money back. The publisher will tell you that you need to get a refund from the retailer you purchased the game from. It's out of their control because they don't have your money. You contact Steam again, they tell you that they will issue no refund. You threaten to file a charge back from your credit card company. Steam says that they will disable further purchases from the Steam Store if you do so. They actually state that they will not let you purchase any more games from them if you protect yourself as any consumer should be allowed to. Somehow, I just can't imagine doing business with them anymore.
- smtddr 13y ago
  >>Lets say you buy a game on the Steam store .... >>Somehow, I just can't imagine doing business with them anymore. "Let's say"? Is this a hypothetical? If this didn't actually happen then what's the issue?
  - CJefferson 13y ago
    This kind of thing has happened to several people. Steam used to disable your access to all your games if you did a charge back, so things have got a little better.
  - res0nat0r 13y ago
    I've heard of this actually happening. I think it is to prevent people from buying games, playing them, then trying to file a chargeback so they play the game for free. I guess the fine line from Valve is, there isn't really any way to differentiate people legitimately having problems vs. people trying to scam the system, so their default policy is if you file a chargeback your account is going to be suspended.
deleted 13y ago
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deleted 13y ago
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- deleted 13y ago
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leoedin 13y ago
Is this going to result in better video drivers for Linux feeding back into the open source community? That would be nice!
- mey 13y ago
  http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/ http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/ They have been working with various GPU vendors on better Linux drivers for at least a year if not more. Valve also recently joined the Linux Foundation. It appears they are working towards making the software in the ecosystem better.
  - clarry 13y ago
    What isn't clear to me from that post is whether they're giving something for the open source community, or for a part of the Linux community that runs proprietary drivers, distribution platforms, games, etcetra on top of some open source?
  - drill_sarge 13y ago
    It does not state on what drivers/other stuff they are contributing. It sounds they work together with the vendors to improve the proprietary drivers, I think. That would be zero benefit for GNU/Linux environment. Also current state of Steam OS is just a standard Debian with proprietary components added. And those components are what really matters in this field. I do not expect that Valve make their Steam Client open source, but at least not relying solely on closed stuff for the relevant parts. In the current state this doesn't improve anything or makes somehow the "ecosystem" better.
    - clarry 13y ago
      There was some recent quote about Gabe saying something along the lines of "open source is the future of gaming". I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that were bull though. In fact a less literal but more likely interpretation of that is "in the future we'll exploit (more) open source for our own benefit."
- 13y ago
stusmall 13y ago
I'm pretty excited to see, at least from the steam FAQ, this is going to be a pretty straight forward layer on top of Debian with some back ported changes. I've seen so many crazy rumors about completely custom audio stacks, replacements for X and who knows what else. This is assuming the vague mention of an "updated graphics stack" doesn't mean anything crazy...
bliker 13y ago
Can somebody post screenshots if they got it running? I am mostly interested in design. Their release announcements were amazing so I am curious what they pulled off.
- keypusher 13y ago
  It basically looks like BigPicture.
if_by_whisky 13y ago
Any word on controllers yet?
lelf 13y ago
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/ http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1...
tiglionabbit 13y ago
It's based on Linux? What about all the games that require DirectX?
- Raticide 13y ago
  If it was based on Windows there'd be no point in having it.
- moocowduckquack 13y ago
  presumably for many of them you can have a software wrapper that translates directx to opengl calls
  - anon4 13y ago
    You'd have to be literally drunk to think that's a good idea.
    - LeonidasXIV 13y ago
      Yet there are DirectX state trackers in Gallium3D. I doubt that Gallium developers are drunk all the time.
    - fmap 13y ago
      That's actually what the people at Valve did (GDC 2013): https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/gamedev/docs/Porting%20Source%20to%20Linux.pdf https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/game... Performance improved as a result. The number they give is ~20%. The other nice thing was that you could use D3D10+ on Windows XP...
    - kalleboo 13y ago
      Drunk on WINE?
    - eropple 13y ago
      They're not optimal, but they do work. (The reverse exists too; this is how the D3D build of my game engine works for targeting Metro.)
cabbeer 13y ago
SteamOS FAQ Please use http://repo.steampowered.com[2] for downloading repo.steampowered.com goes through the CDN and will spread the load. The steamstatic link people are passing around is not behind a CDN. http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395787298909/[3] For those using the unofficial torrent to download, can verify it with official MD5 or SHA512.
cabbeer 13y ago
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
- cespare 13y ago
  This single comment really messes up the whole HN comments page by making it really wide. Someone should fix the CSS. (By the way, you can fix your comment to not do that by putting it in a literal block by prefixing with 2+ spaces.)
fzltrp 13y ago
Is there a jigdo link? If they plan to do point releases they should go with that system, it saves quite a lot of bandwidth.
kylemaxwell 13y ago
I'd rather just go to the official site, myself. http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown
- Anonymous329 13y ago
  Agreed, although jump up one level. http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/ http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/ Not sure why we're voting up an unofficial site that's just copying the info from the official page.
  - xPaw 13y ago
    Our post was made BEFORE that page was live and any announcements by Valve were published.
- deleted 13y ago
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- deleted 13y ago
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- STRiDEX 13y ago
  Anyone know why the hard drive requirements are so large? Also they say 500gb and 1TB in different locations "The image provided here requires at least a 1TB disk."
  - 747facts 13y ago
    The 1TB one is due to the way Clonezilla images work, it expects a drive with at least 1TB capacity to mirror the image back.
  - binaryatrocity 13y ago
    The 1TB requirement is for the default install, if you use the custom Debian-based installer that isn't an issue.
WalterSear 13y ago
So now I need to set up bootcamp >four< different OSs? /sigh
- lotu 13y ago
  If you have linux installed already you can just install Steam an it will work.
SmileyKeith 13y ago
After install it didn't boot correctly on my Macbook Pro 7,1. Booted to grub but then black screen. Also note (as now stated in the official documentation) it wipes your hard drive for the initial install.
codygman 13y ago
Hopefully they make the backported eglibc .deb packages available. I'm betting they'll have an updated version of the graphics driver and possibly mesa too. On Debian this has been a headache for me, so I'm hoping they'll make these things available :)
xur17 13y ago
Mirrors: http://instockalerts.net/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://instockalerts.net/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://firefly.epicconstructions.com/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://firefly.epicconstructions.com/files/SteamOSInstaller....
qwerty_asdf 13y ago
They should include optical disk instructions (ISO-to-bootable-DVD), given that USB sticks are such an obvious security hazard. (...I realize it's trivial to create an ISO image for DVD burning, but gee it'd be nice if that was a readility available option)
- e12e 13y ago
  > given that USB sticks are such an obvious security hazard What? What's less secure about booting some random code you've downloaded from the internet from an usb stick vs booting it from a cd you've burned at home?
  - qwerty_asdf 13y ago
    If you burn a disk, it stays put. The disk will never be changed. Every time you use that burnt DVD, you get the same results, unless it gets scratched. On the other hand, let's say you have a USB stick. 1. Download installer package. 2. Create bootable USB stick. ... maybe leave the stick plugged in, and surf the internet. 3. You boot, successfully install a clean system, then: ...leave the stick plugged in, and surf the internet. or ...leave the stick unattended, and in the physical presence of an enemy. 4. Fall victim to malware which goes undetected: ...specially crafted malware corrupts the USB stick, and includes a malicious payload as part of the *NEXT* install. or ...someone builds an evil corrupted debian package and slips it into the installer, so that it piggybacks into the *NEXT* install. 5. Now, you have a corrupted installer spreading its hazards to every installation thereafter. You have no idea whether the installer's integrity has been compromised, because the USB stick remains writable. With a DVD ISO, there is only one chance to attack, and it's during the download. This is easily mitigated if Valve tells us the exact size in bytes and what SHA-256 hash of the downloaded file is (over an SSL connection), so that we can verify the integrity of the download by matching hashes. If that matches, and we burn the disk, we know the disk remains secure and tamper resistant (more so than a USB stick), so long as it is not damaged or scratched or anything.
jebblue 13y ago
>> There is a desktop environment. Gnome. I'm in! I'll give it a try in a VM for a while. That's how I ended up moving home machines from Windows to Ubuntu years ago. Thanks Debian, Gnome and Valve! EDIT: DISREGARD. "Keep in mind that we are not affiliated with Valve!" I guess I skipped past that at the top.
lists 13y ago
Did GNOME just make it onto a lot of desktops all of a sudden?
- venomsnake 13y ago
  300 to be precise.
tadfisher 13y ago
I am drunk and this is good
Arelius 13y ago
> Custom graphics compositor designed to provide a seamless transition between Steam, its games and the SteamOS system overlay That is the exciting part to me. Anyone have any details? I'm about to go digging.
mike-cardwell 13y ago
I was hoping that it would have a "streaming only" mode, with much lower hardware requirements. I have a decent spec gaming machine in the study, and a low spec HTPC in the living room that I was hoping I could just stick Steam OS on and stream from the study machine.
VexXtreme 13y ago
Can anyone please explain to me how this is supposed to work with the majority of games out there that happen to be only for Windows? Short of a handful of indie games, what exactly are you supposed to play with this? Many major AAA titles have performance issues on Windows these days, and that's with nVidia and AMD doing their best to optimize their drivers, so please don't try to convince me that you can run the latest Assassin's Creed through Wine or something.
- iagooar 13y ago
  It's a project that aims for the future, not the past. Or can you play PS3 games on a PS4?
  - VexXtreme 13y ago
    Ok, so it's a concept for a gaming OS that might become viable in the future, provided that developers decide to build for it. I still feel like there's a ton of misadvertising and misleading in their ads, making it look like it's a full blown OS. Hence my question.
    - secretguy 13y ago
      Can you point out any misleading information in their advertisements? By the way, it is a full blown OS.
    - Skinney 13y ago
      It technically is a full blown OS, just centered around gaming. There are currently 100 or so games available for Steam on Linux. The OS as far as I can tell, is currently in Beta. It's released now so Valve can get feedback and tune it so it works better when the actual steam machines is released.
    - jccalhoun 13y ago
      it is a full os. it is just a gaming-focused linux distro. So presumably anything that works on linux can work on steamos.
drill_sarge 13y ago
Debian with EULA? Hell no...
gionn 13y ago
2014, the year of Linux on desktop! (meh)
- lucb1e 13y ago
  > (meh) I don't get what you mean by that last part. Is it supposed to make your "2014 year of the gnu/linux desktop" remark sarcastic? Sorry English is not my first language.
em3rgent0rdr 13y ago
installed SteamOS on my labtop. Essentially just Debian 7 Gnome (with special steam repository) plus Steam client and all necessary drivers (ie Nvidia) automatically installed. Easy automatic install...just extract SteamOS.zip to usb, boot usb with UEFI enabled, and will install to first disk (just make sure your first disk is unused, as the auto install will not prompt the user for anything). Went ahead and enabled all the debian repos (so can install any debian program, so can function as a desktop workstation or server). So now it is basically like I've had in the past with Debian 7 plus steam client. And of course only the steam linux games work, although you're one "sudo apt-get install wine" instruction away from running most windows programs...

343 points by xPaw 13y ago

A link explaining what SteamOS actually is might come in handy: http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/ http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/

cshimmin 13y ago

Is this some kind of leak? steamdb.info is evidently not affiliated with Valve in any way...

nemof 13y ago
nope this is entirely legit. Valve confirmed that when they shipped the 300 steam boxes today to beta testers they'd also push live Steam OS Beta. Check the github and steamstatic.com files.
- evjan 13y ago
  This doesn't mean that downloads from steamdb.info or steamstatic.com are legit. Tread carefully, I'll wait until there's a link from an official site.
  - voltagex_ 13y ago
    steamstatic.com is where the deb packages for the Steam Linux client are hosted.
  - nemof 13y ago
    steamstatic.com is a valve domain, look at its nameservers whois.net/whois/steamstatic.com

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

cshimmin 13y ago
Well, it's definitely not an official announcement. Though the github page looks legit and has only been added a few minutes ago.
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  Yeah, apparently steamdb.info is unrelated to Valve. That was a little confusing. Shouldn't Valve be the one to release SteamOS?
  - winslow 13y ago
    steamdb.info is just looking at the valve distribution repo and getting their info from there.

Xeoncross 13y ago

Running on Debian 7.1 Wheezy, nice. Now I don't have to change operating systems.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

sillysaurus2 13y ago

Does anyone know if this can be installed in VirtualBox? I'd like to try it, but I don't feel like setting up a new computer for it or dual booting.

voltagex_ 13y ago
I suspect so, it's based on Debian 7.1. The main problem is they seem to have put it on a single server instead of the Steam CDN and now no one's able to download it
- sillysaurus2 13y ago
  If you use wget, the download'll resume automatically whenever it chokes: wget http://repo.steamstatic.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip But it's choking every percent for me, so I doubt it'll finish.
  - maxerickson 13y ago
    wget -c will look for a partial file (so when it bombs out you can just start it again). Sometimes it makes sense to force a file name, that one looks like it will work fine.
- jkrems 13y ago
  They people to use the CDN link and not steamstatic: http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip
tfgg 13y ago
Along these lines, does anyone know the best way to boot from the downloaded zip file in VirtualBox? I'm currently trying to convert the contents to a bootable .iso, but I'm not sure if that'll work.
- jdjb 13y ago
  Use mkisofs to create an iso from the unzipped contents and use the iso like any other install media.

bluekitten 13y ago

Do they allow us to install games outside of Steam or does everything have to go through the Steam store and their 30% cut?

quarterto 13y ago
God forbid a distribution platform be compensated! How dare they ask for money!
- winslow 13y ago
  I don't believe that's the point she is making. Obviously the distributor should be compensated. I believe her point is will 3rd parties that are NOT green lit on steam still be downloadable similar to Android's install from unknown sources. My initial thought would be they allow 3rd party / not affiliated with steam. They seem pretty open with everything about SteamOS and I would think it would only hurt their chances of adoption if they were to lock it down. Even if they do lock that down I'm sure someone would easily find a work around as it is Linux after all.
  - bluekitten 13y ago
    It's a she, but I agree with the rest of what you said :)
    - winslow 13y ago
      Oops my apologies. Fixed :)
JetSpiegel 13y ago
The OS is based on Debian, according to [1] there is a GNOME desktop that you can use. [1] http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/ http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1...
sleepydog 13y ago
Steam for windows allows you to launch non-steam games (or applications) from Steam by creating a shortcut(iirc you even get the steam overlay when you press shift+tab). I would be surprised if they removed this functionality from SteamOS.

killercup 13y ago

Download seems to be awfully slow. A torrent for the installer would be nice.

killercup 13y ago
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
- mcgwiz 13y ago
  Whoa, this comment ruins the page layout. If you can still edit it, can you throw two spaces in front of it? (That'll render it in a fixed-width <code> block.)

newman314 13y ago

What I'm interested in is the streaming portion. Imagine a setup where a VMware server with a gaming VM streaming to a RaspberryPi in the family room or Mac.

sillysaurus2 13y ago
How much bandwidth would that require at 1080p with compression? Well, if we assume 16:1 compression ratio, that's 1920x1080x3/(16x1024) KB per frame, times 24 fps = 9.11MB per second. So a 73Mbit wifi connection would be required. Can the RPi push that? 30fps would require a 90MBit link.
- tlarkworthy 13y ago
  very unlikely
- sjwright 13y ago
  Or perhaps we could assume a 32:1 compression ratio on 720p content -- that's about 10 megabits per second. I don't know if the Pi could even do that with sufficiently low latency (the server's specs will probably be more important anyway) but if we're going to give a flea computer a task, at least make it vaguely feasible. And when did wifi suddenly become a requirement? And where did you get 24 fps for gaming?
  - sillysaurus2 13y ago
    24fps is movie framerates. It's the lowest fps which humans find tolerable. 16:1 compression ratio is based on DXT compression, which looks like ass, but is able to be done in realtime if the server is beefy enough. 8:1 would be better. 32:1 would look so terrible that I'm not sure anyone would be willing to sit through it. Wifi is a requirement to make it go mainstream. Most people aren't willing to run physical cable through their living spaces, either due to lack of patience or equipment.
    - sliverstorm 13y ago

Simucal 13y ago

Does anyone have a torrent link? The installer link is down for me. Edit: Here is an unnoficial torrent magnet link: http://mgnet.me/foUDd http://mgnet.me/foUDd

voltagex_ 13y ago
http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://repo.steampowered.com/download/SteamOSInstaller.zip is the CDN link
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
voltagex_ 13y ago
Unverified sha1 - 1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32 but it seems to match chunks from the HTTP source (using the torrent & HTTP source together)
- supergauntlet 13y ago
  this torrent seems to give me the same as the official hash: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce
  - JeremyBanks 13y ago
    This post in breaking the page. Could you remove the trackers to improve that?
    - supergauntlet 13y ago
      Fixed, didn't realize. Thought I had the 2 spaces there but I guess not.
  - saraid216 13y ago

jamra 13y ago

I have a huge problem with Steam in general. It's nothing against Valve and nothing against the games on Steam store, but hear me out. Lets say you buy a game on the Steam store. Now lets say that game is so bug-ridden that you can't play it. It's so bad that you can't even run the game. You check online and it's such a big problem that the CTO has publicly apologized. You contact Steam support to ask for a refund. They tell you to forget it, so you contact the publisher. You explain that you have liked their games forever but this game is not playable. You want your money back. The publisher will tell you that you need to get a refund from the retailer you purchased the game from. It's out of their control because they don't have your money. You contact Steam again, they tell you that they will issue no refund. You threaten to file a charge back from your credit card company. Steam says that they will disable further purchases from the Steam Store if you do so. They actually state that they will not let you purchase any more games from them if you protect yourself as any consumer should be allowed to. Somehow, I just can't imagine doing business with them anymore.

smtddr 13y ago
>>Lets say you buy a game on the Steam store .... >>Somehow, I just can't imagine doing business with them anymore. "Let's say"? Is this a hypothetical? If this didn't actually happen then what's the issue?
- CJefferson 13y ago
  This kind of thing has happened to several people. Steam used to disable your access to all your games if you did a charge back, so things have got a little better.
- res0nat0r 13y ago
  I've heard of this actually happening. I think it is to prevent people from buying games, playing them, then trying to file a chargeback so they play the game for free. I guess the fine line from Valve is, there isn't really any way to differentiate people legitimately having problems vs. people trying to scam the system, so their default policy is if you file a chargeback your account is going to be suspended.

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leoedin 13y ago

Is this going to result in better video drivers for Linux feeding back into the open source community? That would be nice!

mey 13y ago
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/ http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/ They have been working with various GPU vendors on better Linux drivers for at least a year if not more. Valve also recently joined the Linux Foundation. It appears they are working towards making the software in the ecosystem better.
- clarry 13y ago
  What isn't clear to me from that post is whether they're giving something for the open source community, or for a part of the Linux community that runs proprietary drivers, distribution platforms, games, etcetra on top of some open source?
- drill_sarge 13y ago
  It does not state on what drivers/other stuff they are contributing. It sounds they work together with the vendors to improve the proprietary drivers, I think. That would be zero benefit for GNU/Linux environment. Also current state of Steam OS is just a standard Debian with proprietary components added. And those components are what really matters in this field. I do not expect that Valve make their Steam Client open source, but at least not relying solely on closed stuff for the relevant parts. In the current state this doesn't improve anything or makes somehow the "ecosystem" better.
  - clarry 13y ago
    There was some recent quote about Gabe saying something along the lines of "open source is the future of gaming". I wouldn't be one bit surprised if that were bull though. In fact a less literal but more likely interpretation of that is "in the future we'll exploit (more) open source for our own benefit."
13y ago

stusmall 13y ago

I'm pretty excited to see, at least from the steam FAQ, this is going to be a pretty straight forward layer on top of Debian with some back ported changes. I've seen so many crazy rumors about completely custom audio stacks, replacements for X and who knows what else. This is assuming the vague mention of an "updated graphics stack" doesn't mean anything crazy...

bliker 13y ago

Can somebody post screenshots if they got it running? I am mostly interested in design. Their release announcements were amazing so I am curious what they pulled off.

keypusher 13y ago
It basically looks like BigPicture.

if_by_whisky 13y ago

Any word on controllers yet?

lelf 13y ago

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395741989999/ http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1...

tiglionabbit 13y ago

It's based on Linux? What about all the games that require DirectX?

Raticide 13y ago
If it was based on Windows there'd be no point in having it.
moocowduckquack 13y ago
presumably for many of them you can have a software wrapper that translates directx to opengl calls
- anon4 13y ago
  You'd have to be literally drunk to think that's a good idea.
  - LeonidasXIV 13y ago
    Yet there are DirectX state trackers in Gallium3D. I doubt that Gallium developers are drunk all the time.
  - fmap 13y ago
    That's actually what the people at Valve did (GDC 2013): https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/gamedev/docs/Porting%20Source%20to%20Linux.pdf https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/game... Performance improved as a result. The number they give is ~20%. The other nice thing was that you could use D3D10+ on Windows XP...
  - kalleboo 13y ago
    Drunk on WINE?
  - eropple 13y ago
    They're not optimal, but they do work. (The reverse exists too; this is how the D3D build of my game engine works for targeting Metro.)

cabbeer 13y ago

SteamOS FAQ Please use http://repo.steampowered.com[2] for downloading repo.steampowered.com goes through the CDN and will spread the load. The steamstatic link people are passing around is not behind a CDN. http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse/discussions/1/648814395787298909/[3] For those using the unofficial torrent to download, can verify it with official MD5 or SHA512.

cabbeer 13y ago

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce

cespare 13y ago
This single comment really messes up the whole HN comments page by making it really wide. Someone should fix the CSS. (By the way, you can fix your comment to not do that by putting it in a literal block by prefixing with 2+ spaces.)

fzltrp 13y ago

Is there a jigdo link? If they plan to do point releases they should go with that system, it saves quite a lot of bandwidth.

kylemaxwell 13y ago

I'd rather just go to the official site, myself. http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown

Anonymous329 13y ago
Agreed, although jump up one level. http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/ http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/ Not sure why we're voting up an unofficial site that's just copying the info from the official page.
- xPaw 13y ago
  Our post was made BEFORE that page was live and any announcements by Valve were published.
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STRiDEX 13y ago
Anyone know why the hard drive requirements are so large? Also they say 500gb and 1TB in different locations "The image provided here requires at least a 1TB disk."
- 747facts 13y ago
  The 1TB one is due to the way Clonezilla images work, it expects a drive with at least 1TB capacity to mirror the image back.
- binaryatrocity 13y ago
  The 1TB requirement is for the default install, if you use the custom Debian-based installer that isn't an issue.

WalterSear 13y ago

So now I need to set up bootcamp >four< different OSs? /sigh

lotu 13y ago
If you have linux installed already you can just install Steam an it will work.

SmileyKeith 13y ago

After install it didn't boot correctly on my Macbook Pro 7,1. Booted to grub but then black screen. Also note (as now stated in the official documentation) it wipes your hard drive for the initial install.

codygman 13y ago

Hopefully they make the backported eglibc .deb packages available. I'm betting they'll have an updated version of the graphics driver and possibly mesa too. On Debian this has been a headache for me, so I'm hoping they'll make these things available :)

xur17 13y ago

Mirrors: http://instockalerts.net/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://instockalerts.net/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://firefly.epicconstructions.com/files/SteamOSInstaller.zip http://firefly.epicconstructions.com/files/SteamOSInstaller....

qwerty_asdf 13y ago

They should include optical disk instructions (ISO-to-bootable-DVD), given that USB sticks are such an obvious security hazard. (...I realize it's trivial to create an ISO image for DVD burning, but gee it'd be nice if that was a readility available option)

e12e 13y ago
> given that USB sticks are such an obvious security hazard What? What's less secure about booting some random code you've downloaded from the internet from an usb stick vs booting it from a cd you've burned at home?
- qwerty_asdf 13y ago
  If you burn a disk, it stays put. The disk will never be changed. Every time you use that burnt DVD, you get the same results, unless it gets scratched. On the other hand, let's say you have a USB stick. 1. Download installer package. 2. Create bootable USB stick. ... maybe leave the stick plugged in, and surf the internet. 3. You boot, successfully install a clean system, then: ...leave the stick plugged in, and surf the internet. or ...leave the stick unattended, and in the physical presence of an enemy. 4. Fall victim to malware which goes undetected: ...specially crafted malware corrupts the USB stick, and includes a malicious payload as part of the *NEXT* install. or ...someone builds an evil corrupted debian package and slips it into the installer, so that it piggybacks into the *NEXT* install. 5. Now, you have a corrupted installer spreading its hazards to every installation thereafter. You have no idea whether the installer's integrity has been compromised, because the USB stick remains writable. With a DVD ISO, there is only one chance to attack, and it's during the download. This is easily mitigated if Valve tells us the exact size in bytes and what SHA-256 hash of the downloaded file is (over an SSL connection), so that we can verify the integrity of the download by matching hashes. If that matches, and we burn the disk, we know the disk remains secure and tamper resistant (more so than a USB stick), so long as it is not damaged or scratched or anything.

jebblue 13y ago

>> There is a desktop environment. Gnome. I'm in! I'll give it a try in a VM for a while. That's how I ended up moving home machines from Windows to Ubuntu years ago. Thanks Debian, Gnome and Valve! EDIT: DISREGARD. "Keep in mind that we are not affiliated with Valve!" I guess I skipped past that at the top.

lists 13y ago

Did GNOME just make it onto a lot of desktops all of a sudden?

venomsnake 13y ago
300 to be precise.

tadfisher 13y ago

I am drunk and this is good

Arelius 13y ago

> Custom graphics compositor designed to provide a seamless transition between Steam, its games and the SteamOS system overlay That is the exciting part to me. Anyone have any details? I'm about to go digging.

mike-cardwell 13y ago

I was hoping that it would have a "streaming only" mode, with much lower hardware requirements. I have a decent spec gaming machine in the study, and a low spec HTPC in the living room that I was hoping I could just stick Steam OS on and stream from the study machine.

VexXtreme 13y ago

Can anyone please explain to me how this is supposed to work with the majority of games out there that happen to be only for Windows? Short of a handful of indie games, what exactly are you supposed to play with this? Many major AAA titles have performance issues on Windows these days, and that's with nVidia and AMD doing their best to optimize their drivers, so please don't try to convince me that you can run the latest Assassin's Creed through Wine or something.

iagooar 13y ago
It's a project that aims for the future, not the past. Or can you play PS3 games on a PS4?
- VexXtreme 13y ago
  Ok, so it's a concept for a gaming OS that might become viable in the future, provided that developers decide to build for it. I still feel like there's a ton of misadvertising and misleading in their ads, making it look like it's a full blown OS. Hence my question.
  - secretguy 13y ago
    Can you point out any misleading information in their advertisements? By the way, it is a full blown OS.
  - Skinney 13y ago
    It technically is a full blown OS, just centered around gaming. There are currently 100 or so games available for Steam on Linux. The OS as far as I can tell, is currently in Beta. It's released now so Valve can get feedback and tune it so it works better when the actual steam machines is released.
  - jccalhoun 13y ago
    it is a full os. it is just a gaming-focused linux distro. So presumably anything that works on linux can work on steamos.

drill_sarge 13y ago

Debian with EULA? Hell no...

gionn 13y ago

2014, the year of Linux on desktop! (meh)

lucb1e 13y ago
> (meh) I don't get what you mean by that last part. Is it supposed to make your "2014 year of the gnu/linux desktop" remark sarcastic? Sorry English is not my first language.

em3rgent0rdr 13y ago

installed SteamOS on my labtop. Essentially just Debian 7 Gnome (with special steam repository) plus Steam client and all necessary drivers (ie Nvidia) automatically installed. Easy automatic install...just extract SteamOS.zip to usb, boot usb with UEFI enabled, and will install to first disk (just make sure your first disk is unused, as the auto install will not prompt the user for anything). Went ahead and enabled all the debian repos (so can install any debian program, so can function as a desktop workstation or server). So now it is basically like I've had in the past with Debian 7 plus steam client. And of course only the steam linux games work, although you're one "sudo apt-get install wine" instruction away from running most windows programs...