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Why Valve Wants To Port Games To Linux: Because Windows 8 Is a Catastrophe

Posted by timothy on from the goodness-of-their-hearts dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Gabe Newell wants to support Linux because he think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in PC space. He wants to move away from a closed ecosystem of Microsoft Windows 8. He recently made a rare appearance at Casual Connect, an annual videogame conference in Seattle. From the allthingsd article: 'The big problem that is holding back Linux is games. People don't realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior. We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.' Some Linux users think that this is a win-win situation for Linux users as it will brings good game titles on the Linux system that haven't been there and it will protect steam business model from both Apple and Microsoft."

10 of 880 comments (clear)

  1. Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by jkrise · · Score: 5, Funny

    Windows 8 is a catastrophe only for those who use it with a keyboard and mouse. For the rest of us, it is the greatest desktop operating system.

    --
    If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    1. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by Astatine · · Score: 4, Funny

      What exactly does this desktop of yours look like, and is it situated underneath a bridge?

    2. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by Ynot_82 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Windows 8 is a catastrophe only for those who use Windows. For the rest of us, it is the greatest Microsoft operating system ever

      FTFY

    3. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by jkrise · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sorry, I had put 'sarcasm' and '/sarcasm' tags in my original post; they didn't appear though. Been a few years since I posted regularly on Slashdot.

      --
      If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
    4. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by hackula · · Score: 3, Funny

      I am still hoping that Windows 8 will drop mouse and touch support entirely. Trackballs only please.

    5. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by CanHasDIY · · Score: 5, Funny

      Valve helped establish the closed system model with Steam. And now they're bringing that shit to Linux. Thanks for nothing, Valve.

      A haiku:

      your big vagina
      it is filled with lots of sand
      please go rinse it out

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    6. Re:Windows 8 is not a catastrophe.... by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 4, Funny

      Unfortunately Slashdot doesn't support <sarcasm> properly. It's just as well, since if you try using <sarcasm> on any other site, no one will notice.

      To that end I propose the following Userstyle:

      @namespace url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml);
      sarcasm {
      text-decoration: blink !important;
      }

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
  2. Re:wow by Svippy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Better than the /, summaries that have nothing to do with TFA.

    Slashcomma.org, I love that site!

    --
    Clicked pie.
  3. Re:He's Right by CanHasDIY · · Score: 4, Funny

    For 1-2$ tops, sure. Without a keyboard and mouse, who's going to pay dozens of dollars for a game?

    Console owners.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  4. Re:Good luck... by tobiasly · · Score: 4, Funny

    With Nvidia cards you can pretty much call any old combination of GL functions, and something will appear on screen. They never fail! This is a problem because you never find out errors in your GL code until after you've shipped the product. This sadly leads to a situation where a developer uses an NVidia card for development, ships, and then it won't run on ATI or Intel cards. The upshot is that people incorrectly assume that ATI drivers suck. They don't. Nvidia drivers are the ones that suck!

    So you're saying Nvidia is the IE6 of video cards?