More Evidence For Steam Games On Linux

SheeEttin writes "Back in November 2008, Phoronix reported that Linux libraries appeared in the Left 4 Dead demo, and then in March, Valve announced that Steam and the Source engine were coming to Mac OS X. Now, Phoronix reports that launcher scripts included with the (closed beta) Mac version of Steam include explicit support for launching a Linux version."

Comments

They're working on it. That's all.

[onion2k]

Someone is obviously working on the idea, which is grand, but that's all we can tell at this point. The number of projects that are started and eventually canned because they're either to hard to finish, too costly, or just too expensive to bother marketing that they won't turn a profit is pretty vast.

The fact code exists does not necessarily mean we'll ever get to play the games.

But let's be optimistic. A native version of Steam would be pretty awesome. Here's hoping whoever is behind the project is successful. :)

Re:They're working on it. That's all.

[Pharmboy]

The fact code exists does not necessarily mean we'll ever get to play the games.

Additionally, even if they fully port Source to Linux, most of the games on Steam don't use the Source engine. It would still be A Good Thing® as it would make the platform (Linux/x86) more viable if Steam supported it, which would serve to encourage other companies to release for Linux as well. It will be slow, but it has to start somewhere, and Steam/Valve has a very good reputation for being friendly to both content providers and gamers, providing the least offensive DRM out there.

Great

[goose-incarnated]

Between APPL market cap catching up to MSFT, people moving off to apple products in droves, google's dominance, and non-MS phones, plus the increasing user-friendlyness of Linux distros, microsoft hasn't been in the news lately. Now I can *finally* move off of windows totally, if games on linux take off.

Seems that the "Microsoft is dying" meme might well happen, but not due to a single MS-killer, but emergence of new monopolies?

This could be awesome!

[glenkim]

As an aspiring game developer, I look at Valve's actions with a lot of excitement lately. Steam and Source are coming to Mac for sure now, and so that means Source SDK should be updated to support deployment to Macs. If Linux is included in this package, it only sweetens the deal. For developers just getting started, Source would have a unique advantage over the other engines available currently (e.g. Unreal, Crytek) in that it would allow developers to reach as wide an audience as possible. I really hope this happens.

I will buy

[Haiyadragon]

If they do this I will buy a few games the moment they are released. I hate DRM but this kind of development needs to be encouraged. Now if only ATI and/or Nvidia would open up their specs, or some open protocol/source solution would come into existence.

Re:Steam on Linux

[sznupi]

OTOH what Steam could provide is keeping known versions of Linux libs (hey, that includes Winelib ;) ), making things much simpler. With the amount of control Valve perhaps has...who knows, perhaps many games ("simpler" ones at the beginning) could be semi-automatically adapted to included version of Wine, too.

Using what video drivers?

[Nikker]

Never used steam myself so maybe someone can enlighten me. The video drivers for Linux are crap compared to Windows, does this mean they have some way access the hardware properly? Or does it mean you need twice the hardware to run at the Windows equivalent performance?

Re:Steam on Linux

[TheKidWho]

No, you're all wrong.

This is an indication of Steam for Android.

Leaked HL2 Source Code told us this years back

[IchigoKyger]

If anyone here can remember back in the day when Half-Life 2 was coming out you should remember at one point the source code was leaked. I think I found it on a IRC and downloaded it. In that alone was build scripts and conditional syntax for Mac OS X and Linux Version. Granted they most likely have to overhaul that code because Mac OS X and Linux has changed greatly over the years. It just comes to show that Valve never forgot about poor Linux and Mac, they were just waiting for the right time.

Re:Steam on Linux

[h00manist]

Everyone knows malware won't run on Linux.

Oh, it'll run, but you've got to give it permission.

No, it's because the malware programmers have little motivation to create software for the 1% of computers that have more qualified admins. If linux reaches 99% of users, suddenly it will have all kinds of software for it which run very well, hordes of people looking for exploits, etc - malware. MacOS is getting more popular, soon it will start having trouble, I'm sure. Market shares are at http://marketshare.hitslink.com/os-market-share.aspx?qprid=9