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Valve Seems To Be Working On Tools To Get Windows Games Running On Linux (arstechnica.com)
"Valve appears to be working on a set of 'compatibility tools,' called Steam Play, that would allow at least some Windows-based titles to run on Linux-based SteamOS systems," writes Kyle Orland from Ars Technica. From the report: Yesterday, Reddit users noticed that Steam's GUI files (as captured by SteamDB's Steam Tracker) include a hidden section with unused text related to the unannounced Steam Play system. According to that text, "Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems." Other unused text in the that GUI file suggests Steam Play will offer official compatibility with "supported tiles" while also letting users test compatibility for "games in your library that have not been verified with a supported compatibility tool." That latter use comes with a warning that "this may not work as expected, and can cause issues with your games, including crashes and breaking save games."
I have ran and finished on Linux several WIndows only games, using Wine. Wine can be very useful, but in my experience, you lose a big amount of time just testing different wine versions and playing with configuration (Windows version, DLL overrides, runtimes, etc.).
So, even if it is only something like PlayOnLinux on steroids, managing different Wine versions and with scripts automating its usage, it could be good if Valve uses a decent amount of its resources to testing. This could avoid the end users to waste lots of time.
BUT, after writing this, I do now think this will be the case. Something like DOSBox, SCUMMVM and that kind of wrappers seem more feasible.
You will notice that while SteamOS claims to be open source, actually the critical parts of it like the client, are closed source.
SteamOS is Debian 7 or 8 for x86 and x64. The OS is completely open source.
100% of the OS source code is available here: https://sources.debian.org/
You are confusing the steam client application as being part of the OS, but it is just an application program.
Having a closed source program running on an open source OS does not ultimately make the OS anything else but open source.
There are lots of other closed source applications that run on Debian, steam client isn't the only one.
None of those being installed make Debian any less open source.
Hell, my wifi and nvidia drivers installed on my Debian system aren't open source, but that doesn't change the license of Debian what so ever.
If you don't like the steam client license, don't install their debian repo and apt-get it, and don't purchase a computer with that setup preloaded. It's that simple.
Does anyone still care?
I cared in 1998 when windows was unstable and unreliable. Windows 10 runs rock solid for steam gaming, what problem are we solving here? I guess freeing people from the evil of Microsoft is an admirable goal, but it all seems so early 2000s
I don't want to have to boot to windows to play games.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Windows under KVM with GPU passthrough is a thing
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Windows under KVM with GPU passthrough is a thing
Some Microsoftie with mod points doesn't like that post.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
and I really don't think it should matter that I have a 7870 LE.
Interesting fantasy land you live in, where hardware details don't matter. Also interesting how you come in throwing around insults without having done a bit of research yourself.
The 7870 LE s an oddball using the Tahiti chipset instead of the more popular and well supported Pitcairn chipset. Bugzilla: Tahiti LE: GFX block is not functional, CP is okay
It seems, some people got it working, but if it were mine I would just junk that 2012 card. If you want something really minimal, HD 6450 is perfectly servicable, and fanless. If you want something powerful but cheap, RX 400 series or RX 500. That particular card is, unfortunately, a bit of an orphan. It happens.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.