lets see if it drops after this initial thrill ends. 😀

I bet most installed just to get that damn penguin for TF2 😜

"and the results are absolutely mind blowing. Linux is now standing strong as a legitimate gaming platform." 😁 What a bunch of crap. Given it's Linux whose users generally sit there bemoaning the lack of native game support, it will obviously have been installed. It's free to install so why not. It doesn't mean they're going to use it at all/often - especially as the game titles as more than a bit "meh" at present.

... and the way the author's BIO is presented just adds to the amusement

leileilol wrote:

I bet most installed just to get that damn penguin for TF2 😜

Linux users can now wear silly hats. Whoop Dee Doo.

I think it's neat. i'm to used to to windows so i made tripple boot machine with 7,OSX and Lubuntu. now if i could just get a replacement motherboard so i could actually play games across all 3 operating systems.

Given my disdain for Vista78, I've developed a renewed interest in dual booting a linux desktop. I had some success with it several years ago, but on my next PC I shifted back to Windows.
Linux definitely has some problems as a desktop OS, and in the past I wasn't entirely happy with the GUIs I tried on it. But there's a lot of variety to pick from, and at this point I like them better than what Microsoft is pushing nowadays.

It would be nice to see mainstream games playable on linux or BSD, so this is at least a step in that direction. I dislike the internet based DRM that Steam is based upon, and have always avoided it in the past. But the addition of linux support creates an unexpected reason I may have to try it out.
Realistically, I'll be surprised if the linux version goes beyond a few % share in any foreseeable timeframe, or it even stays supported.
The one nice thing about Windows 8 is at least it's cheap. If it ever gets to the point where I only use modern-Windows as a game-loader, I guess I won't care as much what edition I have and the price of Win8 will be easy to swallow.

Linux still has some glaring omissions in its desktop experience, and that carries over to Steam. In Win7, I can see the version # of my display driver with a few clicks. I can download the latest file through a website and guide myself through a simple installation. That's as it should be. Linux distros are quite content leaving me in the dark through that whole process - unless you're VERY familiar with the CLI. And if (when) something goes wrong, there are the mind-numbing Google searches which inevitably end with me waiting days for a message board response while my Ubuntu PC collects dust.

I'm tripple booting with WinXP x86, Win7 x64, and Linux Mint x64.

Linux may not have the fame and glamour of the Windows and Mac OS counterparts, but for a completely free OS, Linux still rocks. And it comes in MANY flavours.

Coming back to topic, only pure Linux users interested in the games catalogue offered by Steam, will be involved with Steam for Linux (tm). The rest, like me, will just continue Steam in Windows in spite of having the option to boot into Linux.

If the Steam games in Windows are in danger of being "corrupted" due to the changes made to make them "linux friendly", I think it's best to copy the Steam games folders before they are modified and play them (completely) offline with a "modified" .exe files (haven't tried this though). 😁

that is the first distain for 7 i have heard. for it's like windows xp and then some more.

Also keep in mind if this steam box CONSOLE gains ground to even just touch the big three AND runs linux you will start to see a few triple AAA titles popup on linux.

EDIT:
I of course mainly use windows, i see steam for linux as something fun that also had little bit of potential.

would also ben ice to see steam for linux allow you to install windows title through wine but, still use steam OR use wine skins.

maybe you all have seen that OpenMW is rolling along nicely. would be cool if it allowed user to implement community driven engine replacements/ports and wine skins.

Indeed. Vista is the bloody stump of NT6 and Win8 has the awful Metro/smartphone experience duct-taped onto it. Win7, though, is rock solid. You lose only a few milliseconds of performance to WinXP but you get so much more.

actually i find 7 runs fast than xp especially when left un-re-booted for weeks and months. I can t 7's ram usage down to the 300s at idle (at the lowest)

Malik wrote:

Linux may not have the fame and glamour of the Windows and Mac OS counterparts, but for a completely free OS, Linux still rocks. And it comes in MANY flavours.

I don't want many flavors. I want exactly one flavor that everyone targets and everyone supports, even if it doesn't precisely meet whatever very particular needs I have.

I run Linux as my primary OS on 2 boxes and as a secondary (dual-boot) on another, so I don't think I'm negatively biased when I say that:
1. Linux is not quite there as a mass-market OS.
2. Linux is nowhere close to being a serious gaming OS.

For example: I can't even use my damn keyboard/laptop volume controls in most full-screen games, for example, because Canonical, X.Org and SDL teams each point their fingers at the other parties for stupidly letting games take control of those buttons away from the window manager when the games have no intention of handling them. I've filed bug reports with more than one of the teams, but they all just shrug and point their fingers at the other guys.

Another example: nVidia recently decided to completely break compatibility with XRandr to the point that apps like Wine can no longer properly change to non-native resolutions. Even nVidia's own control utility no longer shows a list of common non-native resolutions. I complained about this on nVidia's forums, and they stood by the change by saying it was a better approach (to pissing off end-users?). Meanwhile, the Wine team kludged in a partial fix, along with some awesomely snarky/cheeky anti-nVidia comments in the Wine source code 😀

Jorpho wrote:

Malik wrote:

Linux may not have the fame and glamour of the Windows and Mac OS counterparts, but for a completely free OS, Linux still rocks. And it comes in MANY flavours.

I don't want many flavors. I want exactly one flavor that everyone targets and everyone supports, even if it doesn't precisely meet whatever very particular needs I have.

that would be debian. most linux distros are based on debian. so a lot of stuff is cross compatible though you may have to install a few things like for lubuntu to get steam working you have to install font pack.

good installers do that for you though.

cdoublejj wrote:

Jorpho wrote:

Malik wrote:

Linux may not have the fame and glamour of the Windows and Mac OS counterparts, but for a completely free OS, Linux still rocks. And it comes in MANY flavours.

I don't want many flavors. I want exactly one flavor that everyone targets and everyone supports, even if it doesn't precisely meet whatever very particular needs I have.

that would be debian. most linux distros are based on debian. so a lot of stuff is cross compatible though you may have to install a few things like for lubuntu to get steam working you have to install font pack.

good installers do that for you though.

It's really Ubuntu that has become the focus of desktop Linux, but Debian is effectively included by extension due to the fact that Ubuntu is a derivative of it.

Unfortunately, Canonical seems hellbent on fragmenting the user base it has attracted, by flailing about with arbitrary changes to support its vision of the Linux desktop (Unity versus Gnome, Mir versus X11, etc.).

X11 is ancient, I'm glad somebody with some clout is at least trying something different.

Many people who know more about it than I do are scoffing at Canonical's disinterest in Wayland, which is seen as the most serious contender for evolving/replacing X11.

cdoublejj wrote:

most linux distros are based on debian.

o rly?

SquallStrife wrote:

X11 is ancient, I'm glad somebody with some clout is at least trying something different.

It is my understanding that nVidia's drivers already effectively override vast swaths of X11.

Jorpho wrote:

cdoublejj wrote:

most linux distros are based on debian.

o rly?

ya rly: