I am still struck by just how interested Valve is in Linux as a platform; it is certainly beyond my original expectations. This Linux work just is not some half-assed attempt by them to make it look like they are a Linux-friendly organization. Gabe's vision to support, embrace, and promote Linux are amazing, assuming they execute, which looks to be very high probability at this point.
Right now the game they have been working on the most for their Linux client is Left 4 Dead 2. Why L4D2? Basically because it is a stable code-base to do for their initial porting. They have plans to bring their other titles to Linux as well as lobby other game developers using Steam and the Source Engine to bring their games to Linux -- natively. They are not using the Wine library or anything in terms of their native Linux Steam/Source engine work.
Without mentioning their current planned target for having their first Linux release, it is not too far out. If you have been waiting since I first talked about Steam on Linux, the current wait is not bad at all. By the time that my "annual pilgrimage" rolls around for 2012, those not in the land of beer and wonderful Bayerischen Frauen and delicious food, will hopefully have something new to be entertained by instead on their Linux desktop... But again, this is Valve time. The initial release will likely be in the form of a "beta" so that they can release earlier and this initial public version may be limited to just Left 4 Dead 2, but their grand plans for Gabe/Valve's support on Linux are nothing short of greatness. The wait should be worth the wait. I often cite Unigine Corp and their Unigine Engine as being Linux-friendly, but Valve has the potential for much more.
Just having Steam and the Source Engine on Linux is not their end game. Gabe's / Valve's embracement of Linux is stunning, even if they only partially go after what was talked about. Valve easily has the potential of being the most Linux-friendly game company, especially with id Software still not having delivered any Rage Linux client, Epic Games not doing anything at the moment, and the other major studios not releasing their Linux clients.
Sauce (Coral Cache because the server is getting hammered by Slashdot)
Stormwatch wrote:>pic of L4D2 running on Linux
>I'll believe it when I see it.
I did see L4D2 running on Linux. Doesn't mean I'm expecting to see steam get an official linux client with most of the library and future blockbuster releases. I don't know anyone who wants this more than me, but anyone who has been using linux for years knows that hype about any announcements for things to come is usually short lived.
Kingbuzzo wrote: I don't know anyone who wants this more than me, but anyone who has been using linux for years knows that hype about any announcements for things to come is usually short lived.
Short-lived or at the very least several years from release. Like you i'd love to see Steam ported to Linux with pre-built configurations for wine or native versions of new releases, but the odds of that happening soon are next to none. What is possible within a reasonable amount of time is a linux Steam client with support for native linux games already in the steam library. There's a large selection of indie games that have native linux clients, as well as an equally large selection of older titles with either native clients or dosbox compatibility. It wouldn't be nearly as large a selection as the PC, but it would probably be close to the number of Mac releases and it's something I could see happening within the next 12 months.
Look at our friendly members:
MX7 wrote:I'm not a fan of a racist, gun nut brony puking his odious and uninformed arguments over every thread that comes up.
yeah that always bothered me when a linux compatible mod would go retail on steam and lose out on linux support. Basically, every game using an Unreal Engine.
Effectively, nothing has been said about Steam or Valve coming to linux. There is clearly some money being spent looking into linux as a viable option in some way. Put this together with the recent mumblings over steam looking to find a way into the livingroom with some kind of hardware, we can speculate something entirely different.
I don't think it's worth their efforts to build a steambox that's only going to run windows. It's also not worth it to port games for all the linux desktop users out there. But I can certainly see them looking very hard at using linux as a platform which could run on some specific hardware of their choosing. And it would have to, given the state of linux drivers.
Evilmaxwar wrote:I hate Steam, viscerally, but then i love Linux. Only thing preventing me from ditching windows for good is games and audio apps.
Pretty much those reasons and video editing. It hurts me to see various distros trying to stay "innovative" with endless ui tweaks that make no sense. It doesn't help their cause at all.
I hate to say it, but the best thing for Free Software is Commercial Software. Doesn't help that so many people involved in linux have been incredibly hostile towards these companies.
