Steam Not Coming To Linux

dkd903 writes "A rumor has been going around for about four months that Valve was working on a Linux version of Steam and this had a lot of people in the Linux community very excited. But, Valve has now officially killed the rumor. And it is not what people wants to hear – there is no Linux version of Steam in development. Doug Lombardi, the Marketing VP of Valve Corporation, in an interview, has put an end to all the rumors by saying that they are not working on Steam for Linux right now."

Comments

Not ready as a gaming platform

[odies]

It's not really a surprise. To begin with 99% of commercial games don't even have a Linux version, so there's nothing to sell to Linux gamers. You can't really rely on emulation either, if you sell the game as a Linux version you really have to do a native build. Then there are hundreds of different Linux distros and configurations which all work a little bit different. Also, just imagine the outcry about DRM and Valve not open sourcing Steam or it's games. The whole open source and everything-must-be-free mentality goes against businesses. You can already read here on slashdot how some people refuse to use Steam because it might go down in 50 years. This thinking is 100x worse with Linux users.

I think the problem with Linux is that those who develop it push their philosophy too much and refuse to give room for other philosophies, along with way too much spread ecosystem (distros, configurations, all the problems). There's a reason why we still haven't seen the year of Linux on desktop and probably never will. As much as I dislike Apple, if you want an UNIX based desktop OS you get a Mac.

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[Anonymous Coward]

Most serious gamers have dual-boot or a console. There aren't many sales to be gained, honestly.

Linux would have more to gain by this than Valve, and it's not like it's a priority for the Linux community...

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[Spad]

I think the problem with Linux is that those who develop it push their philosophy too much and refuse to give room for other philosophies

I'm probably going to upset a lot of people here by comparing Linux to religion; specifically Christianity, but the others are just as guilty of it:

When Monty Python's Life of Brian was released the church was up in arms about it, protesting and demanding it was banned because *they* didn't like it and *they* felt it was unacceptable for people to watch, that it had a negative effect on the church because it went against what they believed in. It never occurred to them that *other* people might be quite happy to go and see it without any issues at all, they just saw it as their duty to protect all us witless heathens from ourselves.

A lot of Linux users are exactly the same with anything closed source; *they* don't want closed source software and drivers because *they* feel it's unacceptable for people to use them and that it will have a negative effect on Linux because it goes against what they believe in. It never occurs to them that *other* people might be quite happy to use closed source software & drivers without any issues at all and just see it as their duty to protect all us witless heathens from ourselves.

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[Ephemeriis]

To begin with 99% of commercial games don't even have a Linux version, so there's nothing to sell to Linux gamers.

The same could be said of Macs. Part of what made Steam viable on the Mac was Valve porting a number of their games over to the Mac. And they could do it again for Linux if they wanted to...

Also, just imagine the outcry about DRM and Valve not open sourcing Steam or it's games. The whole open source and everything-must-be-free mentality goes against businesses. You can already read here on slashdot how some people refuse to use Steam because it might go down in 50 years. This thinking is 100x worse with Linux users.

This, I think, is the real problem.

I like free stuff as much as the next guy... And I'm not a big fan of DRM in general... But I can at least accept that game developers need to eat, and that I'm not entitled to their games for free, and that Steam is a relatively reasonable platform.

A lot of folks here on Slashdot disagree with me. A lot of folks here on Slashdot think Steam is an absolutely horrible thing. They wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole. They sure as hell wouldn't install it on their Linux system and purchase games through it.

I think the Linux market is even smaller than the Mac market... Not because of the number of users out there, but because of the philosophy you see behind so many Linux users.

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[Macrat]

To begin with 99% of commercial games don't even have a Linux version, so there's nothing to sell to Linux gamers.

The same could be said of Macs. Part of what made Steam viable on the Mac was Valve porting a number of their games over to the Mac. And they could do it again for Linux if they wanted to...

Most Mac owners actually BUY software.

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[watermark]

I do dual boot, but I wouldn't have a need to dual boot if the games ran native in Linux. The only reason windows exists on my box is to run games, bringing the cost of games to $cost_of_games+$microsoft_tax. While I like free things as much as the next guy, I expect to pay for games (just not monthly, screw Blizzard.) Steam's DRM is unintrusive and very rarely causes me inconveniences.

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[Kryptonian Jor-El]

I think its less to do with some ideology about only using free software, but with the license under which ubuntu is packaged, where it can't automatically opt you into closed-source software

Re:Not ready as a gaming platform

[DrgnDancer]

But realistically I think people like you are probably less than 1% of the market. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, but the number of people who:

a) Use Linux as their primary OS.
b) Use a computer for games extensively.
c) Are not willing to dual boot or have a separate "game box".
d) Are willing to pay for the games they play (instead of just playing Tux Racer or Majong)

is pretty small. Most people who use Linux exclusively are willing to compromise on games (and many would not want to use "non-Free" games even if they were available). Most people who really want games are willing to compromise on OS (Either not using Linux as a primary system, dual booting, or having a "game box").

How much would it cost to port Steam and any reasonable number of the games on Steam, and would gaining you and the people who agree with you make them more money than that? Steam seems to think not.

Phoronix

[Anonymous Coward]

Your number one source on the web for wild speculation and misinformation in the linux world.

Wine

[The MAZZTer]

Last I checked it ran pretty good in Wine (the Source engine too), so it's not a total loss.

Re:Wine

[Americano]

It would take just as long as testing on windows, and they'd sell a handful of additional copies as a result of that effort.

And that, in a nutshell, is why they won't bother.

Confirmation

[Anonymous Coward]

they are not working on Steam for Linux right now.

This confirms they will be working on it later! I bet it'll be out in time to make 2011 the year of Linux on the desktop!

Re:Valve != iD I suppose

[CFBMoo1]

I like iD, they've historically given back to the public domain after a limited period of time. As their new tech comes out they've released the older tech to the general public. My game purchases may be pittance but I like rewarding them as best I can for their actions even in this crappy economy. Still have the metal box Quake 3 Linux package and CD. >_>

Re:Valve != iD I suppose

[segin]

Developing for Linux is a lot like developing for OS X - pthreads, POSIX, OpenGL, and all. Besides, if they need their games ported to Linux, all they would have to do is contract Ryan Gordon.

Re:I'm glad

[Nursie]

Umm, yes, because so many enterprises have adopted Mac OS...

Insightful my arse. Linux is much bigger than Mac in the enterprise.

I don't follow

[Jorl17]

I can't seem to follow this, nor get it straight in my mind.

It all started as rumors such as this one.

But, then, they announced that it was official and that Valve had announced that it would be launching a Linux version. I do not recall seeing any actual Valve announcement, but this news hit Slashdot like a "Microsoft-is-dead!"-news-issue: http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/its-official-steam-coming-linux
And they say:

We recently touched on one way of being a Linux gamer. Recent news that Valve Software will soon be releasing a Linux client promises to provide another option for Linux gamers. The news could not come at a better time as the world will shortly focus on gaming with the upcoming, industry-only E3 conference, the crown jewel of the gaming industry.

While there are still no details on the list of game titles that will be available, the announcement alone is reason for any Linux gamer to get excited. Steam is a content delivery system for gamers which allows you to buy and download game titles and related media, once you have the client installed.

So, how do we go from announced to "not happening". Was this "announcement" a fake? It seems like it was...otherwise someone is BS me...

Re:I don't follow

[Lunix Nutcase]

Protip: Those rumors had no basis in reality.. This is why you should not trust Phoronix as a source of reliable information in addition to their crappy benchmarks with questionable methodology.

Excuse me?

[voss]

Who is "They" and how many is a "lot"????

I use closed source nvidia drivers with no particular ethical issues.
Most linux users (more than 50%) would be perfectly happy if their favorite game
worked on linux whether it was closed source or open source, native linux or WINE.

As a linux user I will say his "holiness" Richard Stallman does not speak for me.

Re:Excuse me?

[nedlohs]

As a linux user I will say his "holiness" Richard Stallman does not speak for me.

It's GNU/Linux you heathen scum!

Re:Excuse me?

[TheNumberless]

So he should stop using his browser of choice because if he doesn't, he may someday have to stop using his browser of choice.

Re:Serious gamers

[L4t3r4lu5]

A very accurate synopsis! Now, i wonder if you could help me with a definition of the word "pedant." An example of a "pedant" in action may help.

(I'll take that tongue out of my cheek, now.)