Should we be excited about the future of Linux gaming following the new hardware announcements from Valve's steam?
Posted by gnotaur@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 87 comments
For those who missed it Valve recently announced new gaming hardware.
The steam machine will be a "console" Powered by its Linux-based SteamOS operating system and Steam Frame virtual reality (VR) headset also running SteamOS.
Valve already has a handheld console running linux. The steam-deck.
I'm feeling that if these products do well on release, gaming companies will start paying more attention to Linux compatible gaming and it is a really great thing for Linux gaming enthusiasts when the biggest PC gaming platform is running it's own hardware on said OS.
It could force some notorious companies to re-evaluate their relationship with Linux moving forward or risk lower sales numbers.
Personally I am just looking forward to not having to dual boot and be able to do everything on one centralized OS of my choice (and control).
What do you think? Could this change things moving forward for us the gamers that like Linux?
livinin82@reddit
More linux users is a net positive in my opinion. I want anything that gets people away from locked down ecosystems.
Make PCs personal again!
AlarmedTowel4514@reddit
Clippy did not like that
Folieadeuxjaunt@reddit
How is egpu support
Ok_Instruction_3789@reddit
If steam was smart they would work on having a steam kernel that would integrate kernel level anti cheat then games might start working on Linux. You know gaming distros would implement it as well. Might take some outside efforts but I think they could build something in a years time especially if AI can do some the heavy lifting
CameramanNick@reddit
No.
The reason this new device works easily is because a lot of highly-qualified people have spent a lot of time making sure it does, picking and choosing hardware and software, making configuration changes and commissioning people to write custom code.
This does not make everyday Linux installs any easier to use.
sCeege@reddit
Do you not foresee any contribution back to the kernel? Like better ARM-x86 translation sounds pretty attractive for all of us waiting for more affordable ARM Linux laptops to come to the market.
CameramanNick@reddit
I don't think it'll make any meaningful difference.
That sort of stuff is not the reason Linux is so hard for normals to use.
Proud_Raspberry_7997@reddit
Sounds to me like you tried an OS not meant for... "Normals" in the first place.
"Gee, this Toyota Stick Shift sure was hard to drive. Welp, guess that means every Toyota sucks."
CameramanNick@reddit
I'm not sure who you're quoting, there.
But to your first point, I agree entirely. Define normals however you want, but you probably get the idea. No, Linux and distributions thereof are not really made for them. It's a science project, a hobby, a diversion. And that's fine, because people can do what they like.
The problem is when people start to promote Linux, for mostly ideological reasons, for things it can't really do. This very post is an example of that. Yes, you can make what's essentially a games console around Linux because then you control the hardware and you control the software and you can get a bunch of very qualified people to spend a lot of time and effort tweaking everything so it works right. You can absolutely do that with Linux. In fact you can probably do that with more or less anything, because that's what consoles are, but okay.
But if you then start talking about "the future of Linux gaming" or "the year of Linux on the desktop," which has been every year since the late nineties in my experience, then you are treading on thin ice. That's not the point of the project. That's not what Linux is for. And it should be no great surprise that it doesn't do that very well.
Proud_Raspberry_7997@reddit
Well, sure. If you want to pull at straws, I agree that I doubt every single Linux distro is going to feel the push this gives.
I don't think hard-core administrators really CARE if this happens. They're simply unaffected.
"That's not what Linux is for" says who? Linux is for whatever YOU want it to be. I mean, you said it yourself.
Companies can use Linux to make ANY environment or device they want to, because Linux gives them that freedom. Most people consider Linux bad because it's too hard... Yet consider Chrome OS bad because it's a PC with training wheels... Both are Linux at their core. 🙃
CameramanNick@reddit
My point is that there's quite a wide variation between what people want this thing to be, and what they'd have to do in order to actually achieve that.Â
I've said this elsewhere, but the problem is fragmentation. Linux in the form of a million sightly different distros is an absolute nightmare of fragmentation and incompatibility. People are often told that it's possible to do something on Linux, where it would probably be better to say that it was once possible to do it on some distro, on some hardware, at some point, with certain patches and hacks and adjustments... You can't defeat Linux as a learning exercise because no two variants are ever the same.
And this is fundamentally caused by the drive for flexibility, configurability and freedom of choice. And that's fine. You can do that. Have a blast, do.
But it will never be a general purpose workstation OS for non computer people. The year of Linux on the desktop will be never, because it just isn't sufficiently consistent or well standardised to be usable for most people. The solution would have to be to pick one distro and stick with it, fix it up and call it the one true Linux. That's all it would take. But that's never going to happen, so it will always be an esoteric curio, a hobby project. I think that's a shame but that's the price you pay for the fragmentation.
Proud_Raspberry_7997@reddit
I don't think the solution to Linux would EVER benefit from the stagnation of distros and prevention of innovation by gatekeeping who's allowed to make an OS. That has GOT to be the dumbest notion I've ever been offered.
What Linux needs (and this is already being worked on) is standards and protocols. I've said this elsewhere, but computers at their core have ALWAYS been fragmented. It's simply physics.
Your CPU clock isn't set to the exact same frequency my CPU clock is... Yet we can handle P2P communication. How could this be!?!?!? Because there are standards and protocols that are capable of subverting this fragmentation (such as CDC).
A more modern example would be Proton and the Wine layer. The problem isn't that options are bad... It's that there's no standard backup to rely on for many circumstances and situations. This is the actual issue.
Chrome OS has already proven that it works perfectly fine for non-computer people at home. Libraries, schools and even retirement homes in my community have employed them. Is Chrome OS not Linux?
This view of "it can never be a regular OS" seems quite foolish. You as the creator of the distro have the freedom to fully prevent the user from even accessing the filesystem. (See "Wow!" Computers for Seniors).
SEI_JAKU@reddit
What in the actual fuck. You really are just incapable of reading what you type.
The only problem to solve around here is letting weird doomposters spread their misinformation like this.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
This is not what Linux is. You are a liar.
Yet it is a great surprise, because the actual reality is that Linux does do these things well.
What it does not do is have flawless support for software made for someone else's paradigm. That is not and should never be an indicator of any OS's quality. This is despite Wine/Proton/CrossOver being all about trying as hard as it possibly can to do that anyway.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
Linux isn't hard for "normals" to use. This is another blatant lie. Not that anything can be expected from someone who throws around such specific phrasing as "normals" like it's one of those racist sci-fi terms.
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
sure, thats why proton doesnt work on anything outside the steamdeck, oh wait it totally does.
CameramanNick@reddit
Or perhaps more to the point can be made to work if you're skilled and lucky and have a lot of time to mess with it.
The problem isn't what can theoretically be done. The problem is how easy it may be to achieve things.
FattyDrake@reddit
I agree with your general points and much of what you say, but referencing a 4 year old video does not help nor reflect the current state of Steam or Proton on the Linux desktop.
Ever since Valve enabled Proton by default, it literally is just a matter of installing Steam (which has easy to install instructions for the major distros), downloading a game and playing it.
Why not reference a video from the same channel but from the current year?
somethingrelevant@reddit
that video is four entire years old dude, there are tons of options if you want to run proton games now. hop on faugus if you want the most basic thing you can get, or lutris, or heroic, or any of the other launchers created specifically for this purpose
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
i literally installed Steam , installed a game that needed proton, which installed automatically, clicked play like on windows and the game Launched.
CameramanNick@reddit
That, sadly, is sort of the attitude which has got Linux into the state it's in. Works for me - ship it!
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
i still dont know what you did, its literally install steam install game click play. if you cant do that you couldnt do it on windows either.
CameramanNick@reddit
Well, it isn't.
But to even get to that point you have to install the OS, and that's another layer of nightmare in itself.
I get that it's hard to support modern PCs with such a variety of hardware, but that doesn't mean we can ignore the problems.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
You're literally using this specific bit of this specific comedy video as a QED, over and over again! Please stop pretending that anyone else is "sticking their head in the sand".
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
of all the videos you picked linus, someone with the weirdest ass setup imaginable which leads to issues that most people that have a normal PC dont have. sorry but thats bs.
Nereithp@reddit
It had nothing to do with the setup of Linus, the employee abuser. It was a simultaneous issue with shitty Pop-OS packaging as well as Pop-Store's unhelpful error message. These issues would occur on any setup. They have since rectified both, so IDK why the poster you are responding to hasn't picked a fresher example.
Proud_Raspberry_7997@reddit
Because it sounds to me like the poster has this bizzare idea in their head that "Oh well, Kali Linux is a PITA. EVERY Linux must be this way."
SEI_JAKU@reddit
I like how you literally have that awful video bookmarked as some QED. It's a shitty QED. You're a liar, and Linus is also a liar.
Fortunately, his fanbase seems to get that this is totally a comedy bit, and basically all the comments are about how fundamentally he screwed it and how funny the video is.
Best of all, this video has nothing to do with actually running Proton. You aren't even replying to the post you're supposedly looking at!
SEI_JAKU@reddit
This is such a funny post because this is exactly how Windows got as big as it did.
It already actively does. You are blatantly wrong about this.
CameramanNick@reddit
Well, possibly, but even if so... yes? And? That's why it works.
I'm no bigger a fan of OneDrive popups than you are, but this is not about points for effort or ideological purity. It's about what does the job for the least effort.
You seem to suggest that people should knowingly use something that's less useful because... because... you... er... I don't know. You're not being very clear. Your position seems to be that it's not fair that Windows has had a ton of work done on it to keep it working smoothly, is that it?
SEI_JAKU@reddit
Do you just... not read what you say before you post it?
I'm getting very tired of people saying that basic things like user freedom and not having weird megacorp breathing down your neck are about "ideological purity" or whatever.
No, it isn't, at all. Please learn to read, including your own posts.
krumpfwylg@reddit
Yes and no.
Yes, because it ensures Wine/Proton, mesa, and some other open source gaming stuff will keep getting improvements from Valve.
No, because most game producing companies still won't offer Linux native games, and will let Valve/Wine devs to deal with issues preventing their games to run in a linux environment.
Plus, there's still the anti cheat conundrum for online games. Valve recently improved their VAC, but apparently not enough to convince other companies to rely on it instead of a kernel level anti cheat. And there are probably still games with a lot of DRM incompatible with Wine/Proton.
spreetin@reddit
What it might do is make even more developers test their stuff against wine/proton and make sure it plays well with them. This is already well underway.
And honestly, I think developing games meant to be played on Linux for the Win32 platform is probably better, even for us, than if they target Linux directly. Linux has never presented a stable ABI (or even API) environment in userland, which makes games often stop working after a few years.
This is mostly not an issue for FOSS since they can just be patched and recompiled, but it doesn't play well with proprietary software. Translating the stable Win32 API to the ever changing one on Linux is a more realistic approach.
krumpfwylg@reddit
True indeed, I forgot Linux ecosystem tends to be more diverse while windows system libraries are more "stable" through the years.
Actually, that's a question I asked myself quite some time ago, would a linux native game - who probably assume glibc as C library - run on a system using musl. But as u/mina86ng commented below, there's the possibility of packaging a game with its required dependencies. Steam kinda does that with Steam Runtime.
But I reckon for game editors, it might be easier to test if their games run using wine/proton than creating a native linux version. And certainly more viable economically.
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
I personally avoid native linux games that aren't open source, because who knows what vulnerabilities the games will ship with and never get updated.
Proud_Raspberry_7997@reddit
Agreed, as much as I hate to say it... Linux is simply too fragmented to be able to do proprietary very well.
Proton/Wine offer an interesting solution, by providing devs with a Windows base, and handling the individual flavours of Linux through the installation of Proton/Wine rather than the program itself.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
The "fragmentation" you speak of does not exist.
CameramanNick@reddit
How many distros are there?
How compatible are they?
If they're entirely the same, there's no point in them existing.
If they're not, they're not compatible.
The reality is that they're sort of partly compatible with a huge amounts of situationally-specific engineering work. It's horrifically fragmented. The problem on Linux is not availability of applications or drivers - at least not the whole problem. The problem is the fragmentation.
The benefit of a commercial OS like MacOS or Windows is not really the engineering. God knows, there's nothing that wonderful about the engineering of Windows. The benefit is that it's a single target. Sometimes it is more important that there is a standard, than that the standard is perfect.
I think all Linux-world would have to do is pick one distro and stick with it. Put all the effort into that, glitch fix it properly, have a proper management group, and it would blow everyone else out of the water in a few years.
Linux world doesn't want to do that, and it's free to not do that, but the result is fragmentation and an inability to compete for the general OS market. That's a choice which has been made at some point and the world has to live with it.
oxez@reddit
It's funny how wrong someone can be and still be upvoted
We're on /r/linux afterall, where clueless people can yap and get upvoted for just repeating random bullshit
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
except they aren't completely wrong
MediumAd7537@reddit
A lot of Linux distributions have ended up forgotten over the years, and some entire families basically disappeared from the modern scene.
If you look at the ones that still matter today, you end up with just a few:
the RHEL family; the Debian family (these days you mostly hear about Debian); The Ubuntu family;
and Arch Linux...
But since Debian and Ubuntu still share so much under the hood, you can realistically shrink everything down to two big families.
Generaly:
RHEL family: enterprise servers and workstations; Debian: servers, desktops, workstations with a strong open-source approach; Ubuntu: desktops, servers, workstations with commercial support; Arch: mainly a desktop system for power users and tinkerers.
If you take Arch out (used by a smaller group) and also RHEL (huge on servers but not really on desktops), you’re basically left with Debian and Ubuntu — and those two are almost the same family anyway.
Debian is one of the most stable and consistently maintained systems out there. If I remember correctly, SteamOS is based on Debian too.
The problem isn’t fragmentation — the real issue is that Linux just isn’t very user-friendly. People are used to Windows at work, and at home PCs are used less and less. And when people do use a computer, it usually comes with Windows preinstalled.
Windows works better out of the box because it’s more standardized and handles most things automatically. Linux often requires you to tweak things manually, and everything is split mainly between two major families.
You can install the hundred of Debian or Ubuntu fork, but at the end of the day you’re still running Debian or Ubuntu: same ABI, same kernel, same core packages just with different configurations or desktop enviroment.
SteamOS and the Steam Machine can’t really make Linux better, but they could make it more popular. although I’m not convinced.
mina86ng@reddit
I disagree with this observation because the solution is the same as on Windows. Ship all the dynamic libraries with your applications. Windows userland APIs aren’t any more stable, it’s just that all games come packages with half a dozen redistributables which are installed alongside them. Or compile the executable statically and the whole problem goes away.
spreetin@reddit
The thing is that for the most part those shipped libraries on Windows can depend on a slew of stable libraries backing them, like VC/VC++, win32api, DirectX and more. That isn't the same on Linux, where even rather fundamental parts of the system can change drastically over time. And there is no central power to force every single piece to keep backwards compatibility over years and decades.
Ironically Microsoft has relaxed their stance on backwards compatibility, leaving Linux/Wine as the often most stable and compatible implementation of those very Windows APIs. And since the implementation backend can continue to be updated, the implementation on Linux can keep taking advantage of new tech that those same applications can't on Windows.
mina86ng@reddit
Games on Windows come with VC++ Redistributable and DirectX. Any Windows system ends up with dozen of VC++ Redestributables installed. Even if there are some low-level userland APIs that are more stable on Windows than on Linux, that’s just a quantitative discussion. The solution is still the same: ship those dependencies with your game. It doesn’t significantly complicate the development or distribution of the game since this already is done for high-level libraries.
Mozeliak@reddit
I was digging around before I switched over. It's was crazy to see just how many
Business_Reindeer910@reddit
Can you name a game from the past 10 years in which this is a problem?
stormdelta@reddit
To be honest, I think there's actually some unintentional value in it being mediated through proton/wine, because Linux is so diverse and changes enough over time that even if game devs did release native Linux, backward compat would be a total nightmare.
Even now, it's not uncommon for me to run into games that I have to deliberately disable the native Linux even if present because the proton/wine version actually runs better or works better.
kopsis@reddit
The anti-cheat stuff is the real deal-breaker for AAA game studios. As horrible as the kernel-level solutions are, there really isn't a userspace alternative that offers the same level of effectiveness.
Valve's efforts will certainly help, but I think it will be a long time (if ever) before Linux users can expect that most AAA titles will run on SteamOS.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
"Most AAA titles" do not use anti-Linux anticheat.
Kernel-level anticheat is malware and should not be shipped with games. It does not do its job and makes everything worse.
Cedar_Wood_State@reddit
Most AAA games do not, but the handful of games that people spend thousands of hours on do.
Spectre-4@reddit
True. Still, we're slowly but surely getting there. Both Baldur's Gate 3 and Cronos: The New Dawn got Linux builds directly because of the Deck.
vkevlar@reddit
it IS interesting seeing Valve make their own version of Rosetta 2. translating x86_64 instructions to ARM64? it's worked before, so why not?
CammKelly@reddit
A home console might be the strongest chance of seeing anticheat ported to Linux. $10 it will only "work" on Steam Deck/Frame/Box/et al tho.
FattyDrake@reddit
Signed kernels are a thing admittedly. It's how Secure Boot is made to work on Linux. My guess if if Valve wishes to accommodate this, a signed kernel with attestation from boot to userspace with signed anti-cheat modules only working with said signed kernel is the way it would probably work.
And hoo.. I would stock up on popcorn to watch the result of that decision.
master_prizefighter@reddit
I plan on using Ubuntu Studio, Bazzite, and CatchyOS on MicroSD cards to test out how they work with this.
zlice0@reddit
consoles are already just PCs. steam is releasing hardware to add to its software distribution monopoly (dont achktually) which doesnt seem to help legal bs.
i dont see how it helps linux. users need to submit bugs with quality reports but average gamers i can see spam "game broke" and bad reviews. i guess steam could gather user data but not sure how much that helps and its another thing theyd have to spend resources on...to fix... WINE.
and wine has been kinda shitting the since version 10.
like others pointed out, linux will still be linux when it comes to anti-cheat crap.
the hardware is going to be 'last gen' (about ps5 equiv from what i saw) and around last gen prices i guess.
i know im not the target audience but im not sure who is. or where the profit fits in for steam. the steam deck made more sense because it was a portable handheld and no one really had that on offer besides nintendo with nintendo's games.
i dont get it.
Nereithp@reddit
No. Maybe. It depends.
If, like the Steam Deck, this is just another pair of vanity projects that sell a couple of million units among enthusiasts and cause copious amounts of Reddit circlejerking but little else, then there is nothing to get excited about.
If Valve presses on and actually starts mass-producing them, advertising them in the same ways regular consoles are advertised and consequently starts moving tens of millions of units, then there is something to get excited about. Though I suspect if they do go this route, their systems aren't going to stay open for long.
FattyDrake@reddit
Apparently the Steam Machine is going to be priced like a comparable PC for this reason. If it was subsidized on the expectation that people would buy Steam games, too many people (or even businesses) would buy them without buying a single Steam game.
I definitely think if it was priced like a console, it would be more locked down or at least much harder to run something other than SteamOS on it. I suspect that this is just going to be marketed as a pro-style console.
On the flip side, for over a decade now I've had some sort of small tower next to the TV for gaming purposes instead of a console (currently a Fractal Design Define 7 case) and the Steam Machine is definitely much more appealing simply from a "fits in the living room" perspective. So if it costs the same but is a much nicer package, I'd be all for it.
I do realize that even in gaming, what I do is niche compared to the mass market admittedly.
Ok_Addition_356@reddit
Absolutely. One of the biggest reasons people don't use linux is because it's "not great for gaming".
Valve seems determined to change that.
2cats2hats@reddit
This looks like a rosy marriage now. Hopefully the corps don't roll in a few years from now and somehow, someway manage to ruin the linux ecosystem.
I expect some laugh emoji level replies but the future is uncertain.
Teutooni@reddit
I think steam deck already pushed many devs over the threshold where it's financially optimal to at least look into making their game run on proton. Sure it's not a massive market but if they need to spend a few man months ironing out any issues they have, it may be worth it. Steam machine can only make the situation better.
marshinghost@reddit
I switched over to Linux full time after seeing the announcement.
I went back to windows because of gaming, but seeing steam confidently create a Linux machine gave me the confidence to go back. Hell, I have better fps on arc raiders now
Dist__@reddit
no, unless valve gets market share and prices and availability compared to nvidia and amd.
INITMalcanis@reddit
It's not going to double Steam's Linux gaming percentage overnight. Valve simply cannot provide enough of them to do that. It is much more likely that it will do what the Steam Deck did: provide a solid, sustained bump in the numbers.
We should keep in mind that the largest market for Steam Machines is likely to be people who already have a Steam Deck, at least initially.
However, speaking as a Level III Uncle, it is exactly the kind of device that one would give as a gift to non-Linux-caring-about relatives. I'll be the one buying the Steam Machine, sure - but the nephews will be the ones buying the games from Steam...
tooclosetocall82@reddit
Sounds great for people who like me who couch gaming but don’t want to build a PC. If it’s priced right I think it’ll make so inroads with people who aren’t interested in portable gaming.
INITMalcanis@reddit
Agreed. Gaming at a desk is kinda weird, when you think about it.
wjoe@reddit
It can only be a good thing, though I'm not sure it's going to change things significantly at this point. The Steam Deck has certainly made some impact, but it's still small compared to the likes of the Switch. Similarly I don't see the Steam Machine selling at a scale that it becomes a real competitor to the PS5, enough for developers to make significantly differently decisions based on it. But time will tell.
Proton/Wine and other tooling will continue to improve, as it has done. It's a bit of a catch 22 that now that Proton is so good, there's less of an incentive for developers to release native Linux games, if it works fine under Proton. Interestingly we did see a native Linux release of BG3 due to the Steam Deck recently, when it had run reasonably well under Proton already, so maybe there's a chance. But Valve seem to be tackling hardware from an angle that they make the hardware and software to be as compatible as possible, rather than expecting developers to want to support it.
Anti-cheat remains the biggest hurdle to gaming on Linux, and I don't know if that's likely to change. We can hope that Steam hardware sells millions and forces developers to think again about making an effort to support/allow Linux. It's possible for some that just haven't bothered to implement regular anti-cheat for Linux/Proton, or just haven't enabled it, and more Linux users may encourage that. But many of them are too committed to kernel level anti-cheat, and I don't see that changing. As much as kernel level anti-cheat is an awful thing that I don't want anything to do with, the evidence does seem to exist that it is more effective at preventing cheating, and many consider that a higher priority than supporting more platforms for more players.
The only likely route for improvement with hardline anti-cheat games is that they release kernel level anti-cheat for SteamOS. It could happen if they became popular enough, but in that case it would likely only happen for validated Steam specific kernels on Steam specific hardware. Even if it was possible for regular Linux users to run it, I imagine most just wouldn't want such a thing on their system anyway.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
It would be way easier and way more fruitful to campaign against kernel-level anticheat outright. It needs to be removed from all games, and it may just anyway with Microsoft allegedly cracking down on it soon.
Alaknar@reddit
They don't need to, we have Proton. Haven't had an issue running any new games.
DottoDev@reddit
The List of incompatible games is still long, especially with AAA games.
SEI_JAKU@reddit
It's extremely short and consists almost entirely of awful anti-Linux anticheat games. That is not something any Linux dev can actually fix.
Alaknar@reddit
Huh, that's very much not my experience. Which new AAA games don't work via Proton?
Worth-Wrangler4920@reddit
Con Proton Experimental de Steam correo Starcraft, del launcher Battle Net
DoubleOwl7777@reddit
its already great, problem is kernel level anticheat (which devs should move away from as its malware).
ansibleloop@reddit
It's funny because it's really just that
Most Steam games play on Linux with Proton without issue really
I've even got Sunshine and Moonlight streaming working so I can stream games to my phone and play on the sofa
Jojos_BA@reddit
This. When I heard that the Riot and the Battlefield 6 anti-cheat cause issues when they are installed on the same system I nearly laughed out loud. Wtf? How is this allowed?
gnotaur@reddit (OP)
What? I missed these news.. yeah kernel lvl anticheat is not okay and unfortunately it is implemented in all of the games I play with my friends (apex, league, rematch).
Condog5@reddit
It's the freakin anti cheat atm man
boomerangchampion@reddit
I'm cautiously optimistic. Proton already makes compatibility really good, but a dedicated Linux machine from a large company might just be enough to convince publishers to change the anti-cheat business which is the big problem now. It's only a handful of games but they're huge ones.
The Deck was a bit too niche to make a dent but this might be different. Fingers crossed.
OliM9696@reddit
i dont see this doing stuff the steam deck has not already done, that said more linux is better linux. But again..... its not the hardware im existed about its he software that steam will release to support their products.
Mast3r_waf1z@reddit
I just really like the idea of being supported and indirectly encouraged to install my own OS to my VR headset
Encouraged wrt. Valve saying you can install any OS on their devices
redonculous@reddit
Yes
_angh_@reddit
It was exciting before valve and it just continues to be awesome. I already don't have Windows for years, and after decades of using only windows that was really exciting.
And lets remember Linux excitement is not gaming only. This is so much more, and just a small area getting bit more code is nice to have, but not dealbreaking. Give me AutoCAD / Adobe and the impact might be much larger.
rresende@reddit
Don’t be This doesn’t change to much Ofc it will improve with time but, Linux is more than gaming everyone here is focus on gaming or in hyperland with anime girls
vancha113@reddit
Gaming on linux has been really good for a while now, and the announcement probably only means good things. I've been using the steam deck since launch, and the thing has been great so far. Even my gaming desktop has been able to run more and more titles since valve started working on linux, and right now I can comfortably play thousands and thousands of games without any hassle. Linux is a perfectly viable gaming platform now, it just has less titles than windows. If you want to play a specific bunch of games, you'll need windows. If you are a casual gamer and stick to what's available to you, linux has a lot to offer right now.
JohnSane@reddit
Yes.
dgm9704@reddit
You should already have been excited about the future and present of Linux gaming. It’s been great for some time and constantly getting even better.