[WLUG] Steam OS

[Paul]

Robert Seward <rseward at bluestone-consulting.com>, on Fri  2013.12.13 said:
> Hello,
>
> http://www.zdnet.com/let-the-linux-gaming-begin-beta-steam-machines-are-shippi
ng-and-steamos-is-ready-7000024198/
>
> Does this hype seem over the top to anyone?
>
> The hype seems to indicate that having a Steam OS Gaming system is going
> to open a flood gate of games for the Linux Desktop.
>
> This seems a little naive. The equivalency I can think of in the Windows
> 8 world would be, the release of XBox One will provide a flood of games
> for the Windows 8 platform.
>
> Admittedly the cost to port a Steam OS game to a distro like Ubuntu will
> be lower, but unless you are willing to do some hacking to what has
> already been delivered, good luck getting it to run on all the various
> Linux desktops at there!

        Hi;

        Valve ported Steam to linux about a year ago, I think, and
have been porting games from their large catalog ever since. I think
the have 2-300 now. So, there has already been a bit of an explosion
of games running on linux just thru the Steam client.
        SteamOS is basicly Valve's debian based linux desktop
distribution, which you could install on any pc that has suitable
specs. Or you can just install the Steam client on Ubuntu, or
possibly whatever distro you wish. SteamOS would also be installed
on SteamBoxes, which are not like a traditional gaming console,
in that they are also general purpose pcs running linux, and not
designed to be restrictive (other than the DRM built into the games/Steam).
        Valve (and others in the gaming space) has been vocally
unhappy about the direction of Windows 8, and has been looking to
use linux as a more open, unrestrained platform.  Already
familiar with it, as they have used it internally, recently they
have not just been porting games to the Steam platform, but also
working with developers of things like mesa (the linux core
opengl implementation) and the video chip drivers, and also
working on tools to aid in debuging and developing games for
linux.
        Currently, linux Steam users constitute just over 1% of Valve's
customer base, but Valve has been approaching this as a strategic path
in their future. Total Steam suscribers number around 50 million last
I heard.

Paul

Here is an adderess Gabe Newell, executive director at Valve, gave
at LinuxCon 2013.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzn6E2m3otg