As we’ve been working on bringing Steam to the living room, we’ve come to the conclusion that the
environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself.
SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen.
It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.
This is very interesting a true gaming orientated version of Linux for the living room, the OS is completely free and freely licensable for manufacturers enabling anyone to make a SteamBox (they already said they would do that previously).
What is interesting is that it notes it can stream games from your PC to your SteamOS box:
Note Linux isn't listed, the question is does Linux need this option? I don't think so since anything that works directly on the SteamOS should I hope work on desktop Linux.
The problem is though, this still doesn't give an incentive for bigger developers to publish for Linux/SteamOS since they will now say, "just stream it to a SteamBox", it just lines up another reason not to do a Linux version. Unless they really care about SteamOS+SteamBox itself, if it's popular and people start using it as an actual console, then they will need to start porting, so it remains to be seen how it will pan out for us all!
The next announcements will probably be:
I think for a SteamBox direct from them it would need to be partnered up with a big manufacturer to ensure it meets demand.
The big question for us is how well will they support the stand-alone Linux client after all this? They have put in a lot of work so far, will it continue? I really hope so they have done some great work so far, they do have different teams working on different things after-all so I hope it continues.
The next announcement is scheduled for two days time, so stay tuned on Wednesday to see if we're right on what they next two will be!
What are your thoughts? Could this be dangerous for the desktop Linux client?
UPDATE: So games targetting SteamOS will work on desktop Linux, looks like my fears for now can be laid to rest, AAA games here we come!
Source Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself.
SteamOS combines the rock-solid architecture of Linux with a gaming experience built for the big screen.
It will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.
This is very interesting a true gaming orientated version of Linux for the living room, the OS is completely free and freely licensable for manufacturers enabling anyone to make a SteamBox (they already said they would do that previously).
What is interesting is that it notes it can stream games from your PC to your SteamOS box:
QuoteYou can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!
Note Linux isn't listed, the question is does Linux need this option? I don't think so since anything that works directly on the SteamOS should I hope work on desktop Linux.
The problem is though, this still doesn't give an incentive for bigger developers to publish for Linux/SteamOS since they will now say, "just stream it to a SteamBox", it just lines up another reason not to do a Linux version. Unless they really care about SteamOS+SteamBox itself, if it's popular and people start using it as an actual console, then they will need to start porting, so it remains to be seen how it will pan out for us all!
The next announcements will probably be:
- 2) The first SteamBox from them directly
- 3) A controller for SteamOS, possibly even with dedicated buttons for things like friends lists
I think for a SteamBox direct from them it would need to be partnered up with a big manufacturer to ensure it meets demand.
The big question for us is how well will they support the stand-alone Linux client after all this? They have put in a lot of work so far, will it continue? I really hope so they have done some great work so far, they do have different teams working on different things after-all so I hope it continues.
The next announcement is scheduled for two days time, so stay tuned on Wednesday to see if we're right on what they next two will be!
What are your thoughts? Could this be dangerous for the desktop Linux client?
UPDATE: So games targetting SteamOS will work on desktop Linux, looks like my fears for now can be laid to rest, AAA games here we come!
QuoteGot a response from Valve about games and the normal Linux distros:
My question:
I was wondering about the SteamOS and if games that work on it will also work on normal Linux distros (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc)?
And the response:
Yes.
Source Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Steam OS the Ubuntu Slayer!!
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Personally i hate consoles, because it is NOT good for PC gaming to have consoles at all!
What we have now for some time is, that the lead development platform are consoles and if the PC gamers get a port (if!), the controls feel very spongy, because they were originally designed for game-pads.
Heck, even ego-shooters like call of duty are designed for consoles...game-pad rather than mouse and keyboard!
The controls of Skyrim are very unresponsive due to this.
That is really sad.
With this move, Valve pushed it in the wrong direction.
Big-Picture is designed for game-pads.
If the steam-box runs well and developers start to develop for SteamOS, it will be designed for.....game-pads!
Like windows said before, they want to kill mouse and keyboard in the future!
Windows 8 is all about touch.
Android is all about touch. (Many mobile games "for Linux" but not playable on Linux desktop.)
Windows 9 (probably), X-box one and Microsoft smartphones are gonna be (all about) voice.
Google glass...Virtual Reality (Oculus Rift)...Smartphone invasion...Tablets...mobile gaming...even Ubuntu is going for mobile devices and every company wants unified Surfaces...but this does mean, that the PC is going to get just an other "one touch primitive dumbass monkeysafe entertaining platform"
It started a few years ago...they started to hide the Menu bar, they proceeded to hide menus and now they go on and limit even the menus to as few choices possible so that even a grandma of your choice can use their devices.
I do not say it's bad if things are simple enough to be accessed by a good amount of people without computer knowledge, but they limit it to just that.
They assume you to be a stupid user and they don't give you the choice.
Do windows 8 let you choose (initially) to use the Desktop instead of metro? no!
And i assume, that SteamOS doesn't let you choose to use mouse and keyboard, it will most likely start in big picture mode and won't let you change to an desktop environment just like chromeOS.
I came to Linux to have the choice again...
And i want to use mouse and keyboard for gaming and working, no touch, no voice, no telekinesis (well that might be actually cool), just my mouse and my keyboard.
And i want my PC do what i want, not what Microsoft or any other company wants my PC to do.
And i don't want to see Google (and Valve maybe) take Linux, make it portable, shut it down and generate content (like the mobile games) that is not accessible with desktop Linux.
If that is to become true, Linux might become just the new "Mobile OS", totally incompatible with Desktop Linux and everyone hypes Linux for it's mobile capacities and development shifts into mobile market...and...so...on...
Just imagine Linux is running on "Xbox two" and "Playstation 5" incompatible with desktop Linux.
They just "use" "our" Linux and don't even give us back something in return.
We still can't play the games we want on Desktop Linux, because it is still not an option for the companies because only 1% gamers use Desktop Linux and 99% of all Linux users use a Linux console.
It's the same "no-control" environment, completely closed-source.
No Terminal, no choices, an imprisoned Linux.
Think about it.
NoYzE
What we have now for some time is, that the lead development platform are consoles and if the PC gamers get a port (if!), the controls feel very spongy, because they were originally designed for game-pads.
Heck, even ego-shooters like call of duty are designed for consoles...game-pad rather than mouse and keyboard!
The controls of Skyrim are very unresponsive due to this.
That is really sad.
With this move, Valve pushed it in the wrong direction.
Big-Picture is designed for game-pads.
If the steam-box runs well and developers start to develop for SteamOS, it will be designed for.....game-pads!
Like windows said before, they want to kill mouse and keyboard in the future!
Windows 8 is all about touch.
Android is all about touch. (Many mobile games "for Linux" but not playable on Linux desktop.)
Windows 9 (probably), X-box one and Microsoft smartphones are gonna be (all about) voice.
Google glass...Virtual Reality (Oculus Rift)...Smartphone invasion...Tablets...mobile gaming...even Ubuntu is going for mobile devices and every company wants unified Surfaces...but this does mean, that the PC is going to get just an other "one touch primitive dumbass monkeysafe entertaining platform"
It started a few years ago...they started to hide the Menu bar, they proceeded to hide menus and now they go on and limit even the menus to as few choices possible so that even a grandma of your choice can use their devices.
I do not say it's bad if things are simple enough to be accessed by a good amount of people without computer knowledge, but they limit it to just that.
They assume you to be a stupid user and they don't give you the choice.
Do windows 8 let you choose (initially) to use the Desktop instead of metro? no!
And i assume, that SteamOS doesn't let you choose to use mouse and keyboard, it will most likely start in big picture mode and won't let you change to an desktop environment just like chromeOS.
I came to Linux to have the choice again...
And i want to use mouse and keyboard for gaming and working, no touch, no voice, no telekinesis (well that might be actually cool), just my mouse and my keyboard.
And i want my PC do what i want, not what Microsoft or any other company wants my PC to do.
And i don't want to see Google (and Valve maybe) take Linux, make it portable, shut it down and generate content (like the mobile games) that is not accessible with desktop Linux.
If that is to become true, Linux might become just the new "Mobile OS", totally incompatible with Desktop Linux and everyone hypes Linux for it's mobile capacities and development shifts into mobile market...and...so...on...
Just imagine Linux is running on "Xbox two" and "Playstation 5" incompatible with desktop Linux.
They just "use" "our" Linux and don't even give us back something in return.
We still can't play the games we want on Desktop Linux, because it is still not an option for the companies because only 1% gamers use Desktop Linux and 99% of all Linux users use a Linux console.
It's the same "no-control" environment, completely closed-source.
No Terminal, no choices, an imprisoned Linux.
Think about it.
NoYzE
0 Likes
I can't see anything to worry about here, in fact I would think it's cause for celebration. We have another company dedicating some resources to working on linux, but unlike IBM, Intel et al this company is focused purely on gaming - we've already seen improvements in graphics drivers thanks in part to their involvements, no doubt Valve ramping up their involvement with SteamOS will mean there'll be more to come that will benefit linux gamers regardless of the distro they use.
As for the game streaming option - You only need to look at the articles on this site quoting steam hardware surveys to see that the percentage of linux gamers using steam is tiny compared to Windows and Mac equivalents. The game streaming option is absolutely necessary if Valve want to push the SteamOS to 98% of their existing userbase. Getting SteamOS into the hands of those users is the key because I think that only when we see steamOS (and the hardware that people are speculating may be announced later this week) gain real traction we can expect the big developers to produce AAA titles to run natively on linux. Just a guess but I reckon from a commercial point of view games like Metro Last Light and Football Manager 2014 have/are being produced for linux on the promise of future profitability rather that the revenues linux is currently capable of generating. Hopefully this SteamOS is a step towards delivering on that promise.
As for the game streaming option - You only need to look at the articles on this site quoting steam hardware surveys to see that the percentage of linux gamers using steam is tiny compared to Windows and Mac equivalents. The game streaming option is absolutely necessary if Valve want to push the SteamOS to 98% of their existing userbase. Getting SteamOS into the hands of those users is the key because I think that only when we see steamOS (and the hardware that people are speculating may be announced later this week) gain real traction we can expect the big developers to produce AAA titles to run natively on linux. Just a guess but I reckon from a commercial point of view games like Metro Last Light and Football Manager 2014 have/are being produced for linux on the promise of future profitability rather that the revenues linux is currently capable of generating. Hopefully this SteamOS is a step towards delivering on that promise.
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NoYzE, Valve are aware that gamepads and touch are limited, they are researching new types of controllers. I guess in two days we'll see what they are up to.
As for the rest, yes there will be a harmful separation between mainstream Linux and desktop Linux (there is already), yet it's much better for us if the 99% are on a linux based platforms than on Windows/Mac. The important thing though is that people start to realize the benefits of openness. It's a first step to global wisdom.
As for the rest, yes there will be a harmful separation between mainstream Linux and desktop Linux (there is already), yet it's much better for us if the 99% are on a linux based platforms than on Windows/Mac. The important thing though is that people start to realize the benefits of openness. It's a first step to global wisdom.
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Quoting: XodetaetlThe important thing though is that people start to realize the benefits of openness. It's a first step to global wisdom.What is open on Android? It's just as close as IOS (for 99.9% of all users).
They won't dig into the source code and change Android to free it from Google.
They ship it with Google apps all the way.
You need a Google account to use the app-store, without the smartphone is useless.
Just for that you need to agree to countless terms of agreement and grant them to collect your data and use it for their enrichment.
There is no gain for the user.
This is not free as in freedom, but free as in free beer.
And this is just because they can rip you off better if you get it for free because most ppl actually think Google is really neat and just do everything to make the user happy and even supports open-source because they want to help everyone in the world.
Did you know Google is offering free Internet in poor countries IF the people use Google for searches and use Google services?
It must be, because they really want to help everyone in the world so the poor can achieve Internet. WRONG!
They just want to make money with them!
Sorry 'bout that, i'm not 100% negative, but i am the kind of person pointing with the finger on misery to wake the people up, because if you believe everything the companies tell you and don't ask questions you will end in chains but still you believe it's good for you not to be free.
Best regards,
NoYzE
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Disappointing announcement: Very low on actual facts.
New distro? Based on an existing distro? On what architectures and peripherals will it run? Old stable kernel? New kernel? Wayland? Mir? Will users be able to fiddle with the system to their heart's content? Will it include ScummVM/ResidualVM/GemRB? FLOSS games? How often do they plan to update the packages? Audio directly using ALSA or some crap like pulse? --verbose on "freely licensable", please.
And those are just the questions I got during the first 5 minutes of reading this "announcement".
New distro? Based on an existing distro? On what architectures and peripherals will it run? Old stable kernel? New kernel? Wayland? Mir? Will users be able to fiddle with the system to their heart's content? Will it include ScummVM/ResidualVM/GemRB? FLOSS games? How often do they plan to update the packages? Audio directly using ALSA or some crap like pulse? --verbose on "freely licensable", please.
And those are just the questions I got during the first 5 minutes of reading this "announcement".
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I think they will release all new games to Linux as well (else why work for native debugger). I also hope new publishers targeting steamos will release their games for Linux too (don't know if things like Netflix will target Linux or not). Big win for Linux.
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philip550c Sep 24, 2013
Quoting: NoYzEPersonally i hate consoles, because it is NOT good for PC gaming to have consoles at all!but big picture mode works with mouse and keyboard and game controllers, and I even had it working with the kinect.
What we have now for some time is, that the lead development platform are consoles and if the PC gamers get a port (if!), the controls feel very spongy, because they were originally designed for game-pads.
Heck, even ego-shooters like call of duty are designed for consoles...game-pad rather than mouse and keyboard!
The controls of Skyrim are very unresponsive due to this.
That is really sad.
With this move, Valve pushed it in the wrong direction.
Big-Picture is designed for game-pads.
If the steam-box runs well and developers start to develop for SteamOS, it will be designed for.....game-pads!
Like windows said before, they want to kill mouse and keyboard in the future!
Windows 8 is all about touch.
Android is all about touch. (Many mobile games "for Linux" but not playable on Linux desktop.)
Windows 9 (probably), X-box one and Microsoft smartphones are gonna be (all about) voice.
Google glass...Virtual Reality (Oculus Rift)...Smartphone invasion...Tablets...mobile gaming...even Ubuntu is going for mobile devices and every company wants unified Surfaces...but this does mean, that the PC is going to get just an other "one touch primitive dumbass monkeysafe entertaining platform"
It started a few years ago...they started to hide the Menu bar, they proceeded to hide menus and now they go on and limit even the menus to as few choices possible so that even a grandma of your choice can use their devices.
I do not say it's bad if things are simple enough to be accessed by a good amount of people without computer knowledge, but they limit it to just that.
They assume you to be a stupid user and they don't give you the choice.
Do windows 8 let you choose (initially) to use the Desktop instead of metro? no!
And i assume, that SteamOS doesn't let you choose to use mouse and keyboard, it will most likely start in big picture mode and won't let you change to an desktop environment just like chromeOS.
I came to Linux to have the choice again...
And i want to use mouse and keyboard for gaming and working, no touch, no voice, no telekinesis (well that might be actually cool), just my mouse and my keyboard.
And i want my PC do what i want, not what Microsoft or any other company wants my PC to do.
And i don't want to see Google (and Valve maybe) take Linux, make it portable, shut it down and generate content (like the mobile games) that is not accessible with desktop Linux.
If that is to become true, Linux might become just the new "Mobile OS", totally incompatible with Desktop Linux and everyone hypes Linux for it's mobile capacities and development shifts into mobile market...and...so...on...
Just imagine Linux is running on "Xbox two" and "Playstation 5" incompatible with desktop Linux.
They just "use" "our" Linux and don't even give us back something in return.
We still can't play the games we want on Desktop Linux, because it is still not an option for the companies because only 1% gamers use Desktop Linux and 99% of all Linux users use a Linux console.
It's the same "no-control" environment, completely closed-source.
No Terminal, no choices, an imprisoned Linux.
Think about it.
NoYzE
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Ok so totally off topic here..but anyone her check out the kickstarter for the game called ".DECIMAL", and check out the FAQ: "What Platforms will .DECIMAL be released for"....and the reply for that was "Currently, .Decimal is slated as a Windows PC title through digital distribution because this type of game is heavily dependent on mouse interaction.". ...I backed it just to get a reply about this. This doesn't make any sense. So apparently Linux doesn't have enough mouse interaction as Windows does??
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