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Valve rep mentions they will eventually survey Big Picture & SteamOS

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Currently Steam Big Picture mode and SteamOS don't get a hardware survey, so even if millions of people pick up a Steam Machine we won't currently see any changes in the Steam Hardware Survey, but that could change in future.

Not exactly big news, as we already knew they didn't survey them, but we didn't know why. It turns out the code to do it just isn't there at the moment.

In the comments of a bug report I commented on, Drew Bliss said this about my feature request comment:
QuoteI meant "not intended to work" in the sense that the work hasn't been done to hook it up so this isn't a bug where code isn't working as intended. Having survey information would be valuable and eventually that'll get added.

Source

Good to see it's a feature just not being in there currently, rather than them just not doing it.

I still think it would be better if they just did it all automatically, then we would have a much clearer picture. As long as there was an opt-out, it wouldn't be too big a security concern for people, at least not for me anyway. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Sabun Feb 6, 2016
Maybe it's just me, but you'd think they'd have this working before SteamOS's debut. I'd figure it would have been a boon to say "Hey, look! We've made the Linux numbers go up!" on media sites.

It worries me a little, maybe their anticipation was that it wasn't going to improve the Linux adoption rate or that the numbers wouldn't look as good as hoped.
martinoj2009 Feb 6, 2016
Just asked why they haven't been doing this on their SteamOS forms a week ago. Maybe they got tired of us asking lol. But it will be good to see how the Steam Machines impact the market share now. I hate when I see people speculating about this.
Liam Dawe Feb 6, 2016
Quoting: SabunMaybe it's just me, but you'd think they'd have this working before SteamOS's debut. I'd figure it would have been a boon to say "Hey, look! We've made the Linux numbers go up!" on media sites.

It worries me a little, maybe their anticipation was that it wasn't going to improve the Linux adoption rate or that the numbers wouldn't look as good as hoped.

There's so many things Valve could do/should do, but it takes them a long time. Look at how long it took them to fix the upcoming filter for SteamOS/Linux...
adolson Feb 6, 2016
I submitted that bug report because I didn't see one already and while it's not exactly Linux-specific, it affects Linux more than anyone else due to SteamOS and developers using the hardware survey as an excuse to not release games on the platform. Example link for those who didn't go to the bug report: https://twitter.com/TheRevillsGames/status/694422282333065216

This really, really bothers me. It is a HARDWARE survey, but developers see it more as an OS survey, and are seemingly ignorant as to its shortcomings.
neowiz73 Feb 6, 2016
Quoting: TheBoss
Quoting: SabunMaybe it's just me, but you'd think they'd have this working before SteamOS's debut. I'd figure it would have been a boon to say "Hey, look! We've made the Linux numbers go up!" on media sites.

It worries me a little, maybe their anticipation was that it wasn't going to improve the Linux adoption rate or that the numbers wouldn't look as good as hoped.

There's so many things Valve could do/should do, but it takes them a long time. Look at how long it took them to fix the upcoming filter for SteamOS/Linux...

Valve seems to understand that there's not going to be a major shift overnight. it's going to take them time to work out the kinks because this is probably fairly new territory for them. as far as the whole idea of a gaming OS tailored by them. And i'm pretty sure a lot of their marketing plan has to do with Vulkan and it's overall development. because it's going to take a bit of time before more companies are using it as the "new standard". once that is all in place then they can go full steam... ahead. (pun intended) :P
amonobeax Feb 6, 2016
I never thought SteamOs or Steam box would make any difference in the short run.

Quite the opposite: I think that it's a long shot, which is why I don't get why do we bring those numbers monthly.


It's not only for games... everything grows only if there's infrastructure for it.
PPL don't start using an area cause there will be a park there in the future, you don't just begin using a bike case some day you'll have a "bike friendly" environment in your city.

Ohh and let's make 1 thing clear: "I can make it work", won't do.

By the time ANYBODY can make it work with decent performance and a good amount of games we can expect this numbers to go up. Until then nothing will change IMO.


Don't get me wrong we're making huge progress, but it isn't enough yet! That only shows how bad linux was (and still is) as a gaming platform for the average user.


Last edited by amonobeax on 6 February 2016 at 6:33 pm UTC
lucifertdark Feb 6, 2016
On a happier note I finally got the Steam survey the other day in Linux & it didn't show up in Windows. Yes I'm still dual booting.
adolson Feb 6, 2016
Quoting: amonobeaxwhich is why I don't get why do we bring those numbers monthly.

It's not me who is bringing the numbers. I am simply registering my interest in specific games with their developers... The developers are the ones pointing at the numbers. This is the problem.
amonobeax Feb 7, 2016
Quoting: adolsonIt's not me who is bringing the numbers. I am simply registering my interest in specific games with their developers... The developers are the ones pointing at the numbers. This is the problem.

Chill bro, I was talking about the Linux survey stuff.
Beamboom Feb 7, 2016
I read this as just a clear indication that those numbers are very, very low. Else they'd be all over that task for obvious marketing reasons.
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