Valve Announces Linux-Based SteamOS

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Valve Announces Linux-Based SteamOS

Posted by Soulskill on Monday September 23, 2013 @05:10AM from the inexorable-linux dept.

Today Valve Software announced SteamOS, a Linux-based gaming operating system designed for, as Valve puts it, "living room machines." They say, "In SteamOS, we have achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we're now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level. Game developers are already taking advantage of these gains as they target SteamOS for their new releases." One major feature they're touting is the ability to use the SteamOS machine to stream video games from other Windows and Mac computers in the house to your TV. They mention media streaming as well, but without much detail. "With SteamOS, 'openness' means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they've been able to. Content creators can connect directly to their customers. Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want. Gamers are empowered to join in the creation of the games they love. SteamOS will continue to evolve, but will remain an environment designed to foster these kinds of innovation."

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Obligatory by vivaoporto · 2013-09-23 05:13 · Score: 3, Funny

But does it run Windows?
The circle is complete by Dunbal · 2013-09-23 05:16 · Score: 4, Funny

Users can alter or replace any part of the software or hardware they want.
Thus turning the console into - dun dun dunnnnnn - a desktop?

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Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Amazing by MightyMartian · 2013-09-23 05:16 · Score: 4, Interesting

You know, when I think back on my first Linux install way back in 1993 or so with Slackware, who would have thought that Linus's project would end up on hundreds of millions of servers, smartphones, tablets, game systems, embedded hardware and the like. I find the whole thing rather breathtaking. Linux really is one of the great successes of the computer age.

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The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
1. Re:Amazing by meta-monkey · 2013-09-23 05:26 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You think it's breathtaking that the new Steam box runs linux? Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of them!
  
  --
  We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
2. Re:Amazing by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-23 05:36 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And yet it could be so much more.
  Linux games that run well across multiple distributions have been out since when, the original Unreal Tournament? Perhaps even earlier? I'm talking about commercial games of course, if you go to the free software offerings the list gets larger.
  Now all of a sudden in 2013, it seems impossible to produce a binary of ANY of the games on Steam that run well across any other distribution than Ubuntu...in fact I tried it -on- Ubuntu and had problems with Amnesia starting, whereas it worked in:
  - Linux Mint (64 bit MATE edition)
  - Fedora 19 (GNOME and KDE)
  Steam on Linux was never consistent enough to be taken seriously, and the intended goal was always obvious -- pick a distribution that the community has made popular, then build their own, proprietary platform based on it and...hope that developers decide to release their titles for it. At least they do have a decent launch title library going for them, but it's obvious that Steam on Linux is just a stepping stone, one that may or may not exist in the future depending on Valve's success in the cnnsole world. Even if the "Steam Box" or whatever it will be called is released, there won't be much incentive for Valve to continue to try and offer a multi-platform version of Steam for the "other" Linux distro's out there. They want developers to target their own, for obvious reasons.
  If I wanted a closed platform and vendor lock-in I'd just install Steam for Windows and dual boot, isn't that what everyone else does?
3. Re:Amazing by jellomizer · 2013-09-23 06:10 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Actually Linux is not Ready for the Desktop. It made it in other areas.
  The desktop problem is a problem of too much hardware, in a Windows world. When Microsoft started to push the OS which required drivers, hardware manufactures dropped the idea of following standards and did whatever they felt like, just as long as they made a Windows driver they are OK. Linux, on the other hand, needs to back track and get those drivers made, with or without the hardware vendors support.
  Now some vendors are wary of making Linux Drivers, either because of Rabid GNU Fanatics, who will cause all sorts of problem if it is open source. Or they just cannot make their driver open source due to licencing concerns in their own development.
  Now with the other stuff where Linux has a strong hold, is where the Hardware Maker, also makes the full environment. A Linux based devices and control all the hardware and software.
  The irony is Linux works best on Closed systems.
  
  --
  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
4. Re:Amazing by CanHasDIY · 2013-09-23 06:22 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Actually Linux is not Ready for the Desktop.
  Hey now! I'm a regular Linux desktop user and... and... and you're completely right.
  No operating system will enjoy mainstream adoption these days if mucking about in a CLI is ever a necessity. Sad but true.
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
5. Re:Amazing by 0123456 · 2013-09-23 06:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  But Windows 8 has brought the CLI back.
  "How the fsck do I start notepad on this crappy excuse for a GUI?"
  "Easy. You just press Windows + R to get to the command line and type 'notepad'. It's such a great advance over using a menu."
6. Re:Amazing by LateArthurDent · 2013-09-23 06:39 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  No operating system will enjoy mainstream adoption these days if mucking about in a CLI is ever a necessity. Sad but true.
  Agreed. But since this isn't 2005, and no modern Linux distro ever requires you to see a CLI, much less use one, that's not really an issue.
  It's still there, it's still useful as hell to do things quickly and efficiently, but you don't HAVE to use it. It's like popping the windows powershell open. If you're a power user, you want to have that option. My parents have been running Linux (Ubuntu) for years, without problems. They only stumbled when gnome 2 got replaced by Unity and they had to learn something new. But as much as I hate the damn thing, they were fine with it after 2 weeks or so.
7. Re:Amazing by MightyMartian · 2013-09-23 07:06 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It certainly supports older hardware a lot better. Scanners are my biggest beef in Windows. You buy a scanner, and almost guaranteed they won't work at all due to a lack of a new driver, or if you do manage to get an older version of the driver working it's an iffy affair. I can plug in a ten year old UMAX SCSI scanner into my Linux box and she still runs.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
8. Re:Amazing by h4rr4r · 2013-09-23 07:15 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Actually it is a great advance over hunting through some damn menu.
9. Re:Amazing by timeOday · 2013-09-23 07:33 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Linux really is one of the great successes of the computer age.
  
  But there sure is an astonishing contrast between how much it has enriched Linus' personal fortunes vs., say, Steve Ballmer (never mind Bill Gates), or for that matter Stephen Elop or Carly Fiorina.
  Let us never confuse creating value with capturing value; somehow we have to get them better aligned.
10. Re:Amazing by bmk67 · 2013-09-23 09:57 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Let us never confuse creating value with capturing value; somehow we have to get them better aligned.
  Do we?
  Because you know, I was under the impression that not everybody measured value and success by the fatness of one's wallet.
Re:Compatibility by Thorizdin · 2013-09-23 05:17 · Score: 4, Informative

Odds are they don't make your games... so no.
Actually, they are already compatible or at least playable via the home streaming feature. "In-home Streaming
You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!"
How good that experience will be remains to be seen :)
Re:Compatibility by Chameleon+Man · 2013-09-23 05:18 · Score: 5, Informative

Read TFA:

"Hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014. Access the full Steam catalog of over nearly 3000 games and desktop software titles via in-home streaming."

"You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!"
Microsoft had better make a move quick. by Dega704 · 2013-09-23 05:18 · Score: 5, Interesting

This has the potential to end Windows as the dominant gaming platform; maybe even as a gaming platform in general. Once that happens, one of the biggest obstacles to mass desktop Linux adoption will be gone. Excellent.......
1. Re:Microsoft had better make a move quick. by lordofthechia · 2013-09-23 05:41 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The main purpose of the Steam OS currently will be to stream you games from your Windows or Mac desktop. The entire Steam game library doesn't suddenly work on Linux.
  Must have missed this part:
  
  Hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS. Watch for announcements in the coming weeks about all the AAA titles coming natively to SteamOS in 2014.
  
  It's a *great* start! Sure it's not the *entire* Steam catalog, but as an install base of Steam Boxes builds up, more and more developers will be encouraged to include Linux on their ports.
  The other point of the Steam OS (instead of using and established distro) is Valve can streamline the user experience and optimize the kernel for gaming (which most default kernels are optimized for servers).
  
  --
  Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
2. Re:Microsoft had better make a move quick. by Dega704 · 2013-09-23 06:01 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It was also a wise move on Valve's part to call it SteamOS; following the rule that Linux is only successful with consumers when you don't call it Linux.
3. Re:Microsoft had better make a move quick. by Burz · 2013-09-23 07:42 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  It was also a wise move on Valve's part to call it SteamOS; following the rule that Linux is only successful with consumers when you don't call it Linux.
  People laugh but this literally seems to be true: If you call it Linux, consumers will try to draw on "Linux" resources (packages, howtos, etc.) whereupon they discover everything having to do with the user interface is fragmented. Most of the times when they have to resolve problems, they'll have to hit the CLI.
  Linux is what's underneath. But the intellectually dishonest shortcut of lumping toolchain and userspace stuff under the kernel's moniker (as if Torvalds et al deserved direct credit for them) has garnered bad karma-- a social dynamic that prevents the formation of a readily identifiable, feature-stable OS design.
4. Re:Microsoft had better make a move quick. by geek · 2013-09-23 09:15 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Linux is only successful when X11 isn't involved. Like Android. Like servers. Like embedded. Pretty much everywhere Linux is a big deal, X11 isn't. Hope Wayland changes this.
SteamOS and XBMC? by keyz182 · 2013-09-23 05:20 · Score: 4, Interesting

Now comes the question, How well will XBMC integrate with this? If they both behave well together it's going to make for a damn good HTPC setup. Any word on if this is a completely own-rolled Linux Distro, or is it, as I suspect, an Ubuntu/Debian derivative due to their previous interactions?
Re:Compatibility by alexgieg · 2013-09-23 05:26 · Score: 5, Interesting

2014: The Year of Linux on the Living Room!

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This is straight from Microsoft's playbook by SirGarlon · 2013-09-23 05:30 · Score: 4, Interesting

You can't enforce DRM effectively until you lock down the device completely. So, of course Steam wants to control the OS. SteamOS sounds exactly like Microsoft's strategy of embracing, extending, and then extinguishing open standards.
So, yes, SteamOS will bring the Linux kernel to the masses, but as to the actual *benefits* of Linux -- transparency and freedom -- Valve is going to kill those.

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[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
1. Re:This is straight from Microsoft's playbook by devman · 2013-09-23 05:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  DRM will work fine, just as it does on Windows, and it won't be unbreakable, just like its not unbreakable on Windows. It just needs to work well enough to be more of a hassle than simply buying the legal copy on Steam.
  There will be cracks and patches for Steam games on Linux just as there are for Windows, and you'll get them from the same seedy corners of the internet with the same risks of getting pwned ("yes this crack absolutely needs root to work, trust us").
  So basically, no difference.
2. Re:This is straight from Microsoft's playbook by IanCal · 2013-09-23 05:41 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  It just needs to work well enough to be more of a hassle than simply buying the legal copy on Steam.
  And given the ease of paying on steam, as well as the low cost, you don't need to have much of a barrier for it to be effective.
3. Re:This is straight from Microsoft's playbook by devman · 2013-09-23 06:04 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You can see this same phenomenon at work on Android. There are lots of GPL apps that are sold on the Play store and earn the maintainer a couple of bucks an install for the work they did in the port. However, being GPL software you can download the source and build the .apk for free and sideload it.
  People still buy the Play store version even though there is a free and (unlike in the Steam case) legal alternative. Make it easy and they will come, and likely pay you.
4. Re:This is straight from Microsoft's playbook by blackiner · 2013-09-23 08:37 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  Personally, I don't see the problem with that. Stallman's main argument for libre software was that it allows you to know and control functional processes on your computer (software). Making the engine itself but not the art assets available in source form accomplishes that. You can study it, modify it, and fix bugs that crop up. Furthermore, I seem to recall him regarding games as art, and he does not consider artistic software as functional processes required to get things done on your computer, thus there is no worries about them not being libre software.
  
  Certainly it would be nice if more games were open source; there are numerous consumer benefits to it, but it is not that big of a deal.
Re:Compatibility by MouseAT · 2013-09-23 05:33 · Score: 4, Insightful

What's to stop them integrating Wine into the appropriate game packages and certifying them to run on Linux? That way, not everything would need a re-write. They'd be able to port a significant library right from the start, Valve would be able to verify compatibility and it'd all be pre-configured out of the box.
If you notice... by wbr1 · 2013-09-23 05:33 · Score: 4, Informative

The original page on steam has two more icons to light up and a new countdown ending 2 days hence. Apparently there are two more announcements to go.

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Silence is a state of mime.
1. Re:If you notice... by mypalmike · 2013-09-23 05:47 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  The icons appear to be...
  "O" - A gaming OS "[O ]" - A box running the gaming OS? "O + O" - A gaming network?
  
  --
  There are 0x40000000 types of people: those who understand 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point, and those who don't.
Re:Compatibility by Kenja · 2013-09-23 05:39 · Score: 3, Insightful

That's not playing your games on the Linux based SteamOS, that's running the equivalent of VNC server and client between Windows and Linux. I can do that to my phone as well, but I wont claim to be playing GTA on my phone.

--

"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
Re:Android for consoles? by tom229 · 2013-09-23 05:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

I don't know. If i can install SteamOS on my gaming hardware (that currently runs windows), stream that to my TV, and sit on the couch with a wireless controller.. I think I'd be pretty happy. Steam is by far the largest repository for games in the world so they would potentially have the developer backing to move a lot of future titles to linux.

What's more, if they release this OS in conjunction with a hardware release, that makes the entire process I described above easy for someone with little to no technical knowledge. Developing their own hardware also should alleviate a lot of the notorious driver issues with any *nix distribution.

I think this could work. And more importantly I want this to work. The less money I'm forced to give Microsoft, the better.

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Re:Compatibility by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-23 05:54 · Score: 3, Informative

There is no semantic difference. You will be able to play your games using whatever inputs and outputs are plugged into your SteamOS system.
I might. Begrudgingly by sl4shd0rk · 2013-09-23 05:55 · Score: 3, Interesting

I've been wanting to stop dual booting for nearly two decades. The purists complain that locking you out of the OS (DRM) components is vehemently prohibited in the spirit of Open Source and basically creates the very problem OSS was designed to get away from.
On the other hand, software companies complain they need to lock you out in order to combat piracy and protect their digital assets. Without doing so, they have no way to protect their revenue stream.
I have never found a good solution to this problem. It's been a good 20 years, and nobody else has either so those of us who straddle the fence between purity and utility still dual boot.
I do not like the idea of SteamOS. I would really like the entire computer industry to be based on open formats, source and standards but that is a crack dream that will never happen. Something needs to give. Maybe this is it. I prefer to believe I trust Valve more than anyone else with something like this.

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Re:And the huddled masses sayeth to Lord Gaben... by discord5 · 2013-09-23 06:04 · Score: 3, Funny

You guys *really* need something with with a "3" in it for a launch.
Holy shit! Left3Dead! Hat Fortress 3! DOTA3! Portal 3! CounterStr... Nevermind, nobody wants yet another counterstrike.
Secondary effects. by Jartan · 2013-09-23 06:07 · Score: 4, Insightful

This could have a lot of ripple effects.
1) Improved Wine support.
2) Better cross platform libraries/tools.
3) Linux distro optimized for gaming.
The interesting thing to consider is that Valve doesn't need to turn a profit right away. It's a private company and Gabe is looking at the long game here. He sees his reliance on Windows as a weakness and he intends to change that.
Re:Compatibility by zarr · 2013-09-23 06:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

Nah, that was 2011 or so. Right now i count 6 linux installations in my living room: two android phones, one tablet, this laptop, the tv and the pvr. Only one of those installations exist because i personally am a geek.
Re:Compatibility by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-23 06:25 · Score: 5, Funny

More like 2014: The year of Linux on everything but the desktop!
poetry by PopeRatzo · 2013-09-23 06:32 · Score: 4, Funny

"With SteamOS, 'openness' means that the hardware industry can iterate in the living room at a much faster pace than they've been able to."
"Iterate in the living room"... I love marketing-speak.
Come to think of it, if I remember correctly, "iterate in the living room" is something my wife and I used to do before our daughter was born.

--
You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:What will this mean for Steam on other distros? by steveha · 2013-09-23 07:02 · Score: 5, Interesting

Here's what this will mean: game developers will test their games on SteamOS and nothing else, making SteamOS the gold standard for Linux gaming. (In fact there will probably be a single "reference" SteamBox used for the development and testing.)
The distros will need to include compatible versions of all the libraries used in SteamOS, to get the games to run. Users will be able to file bugs that say "$GAME runs perfectly on SteamOS but does not run correctly on $DISTRO."
Since SteamOS is just Linux with a particular set of libraries installed, this is feasible. All the distros will have a clear target for which to aim.
Overall I think this is a win for gaming on Linux. The current situation is far too fragmented for Linux ports to be profitable for the game developers. SteamOS will defragment "Linux gaming" to a single platform.

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Re:Compatibility by lgw · 2013-09-23 07:56 · Score: 4, Interesting

IMO Origin is the best thing that ever happened to Steam: now I won't accidentally buy a game to discover I had been fooled by the ads and it was EA shovelware. Now if only the other "pile our own DRM on top of Steam's DRM" jerks would also leave!

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Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.