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Note: This is an editorial, please remember this is my opinion. I'm going to talk about other websites, some people don't think I should be allowed to do that as a webmaster and I disagree. Being a webmaster doesn't mean I'm not a reader and fan of other sites, just to make that clear.

A few websites are reporting that Steam for Linux has hit 1900 games after only hitting 1800 around nine days ago, this is false. We are currently on 1820.

To get the correct reading you need to filter by Games only, and by Release Date. The default sorting option "Relevance" includes all games on Linux now, and games yet to come out. This took no time at all to figure out, I simply clicked the last page in the list to see games not yet available.

Sadly, some websites instantly reported on it hitting that milestone without bothering to look into how we got 100 games in nine days (which is an insanely quick time for so many games to come over).

I'm going to be brutally honest, as soon as I saw the figure I knew it was wrong, and I don't entirely get how Phoronix and Softpedia didn't notice. Those two websites comment on every milestone we hit (we do also), so they know how long ago we hit 1800. Part of journalism is researching, even for a few minutes, or so I thought anyway.

I pointed this out to both websites, Phoronix has yet to clarify it, and Softpedia blocked us on twitter, seriously:
image
Don't like the truth pointed out I guess, or was it how blunt I was about it? Who knows, but at least Softpedia corrected themselves.

As always, I am here to simply give you the real news as we get it. We aren't in it for money, ad clicks, or anything, so we aren't in a rush to push content out that ends up being completely wrong. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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37 comments
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ricki42 Jan 29, 2016
Quoting: shigutso1823 games for me when I sort by "Release Date"... Brazil here. Do we have 3 more games or were them released just now? :P

Just checking and it shows 1824 right now for me in the US when sorted by release date. This morning it was 1820. The top 5 games have a release date of Jan 29, so I guess they really were released just now.
tomtomme Jan 30, 2016
Quoting: TheBossNo one has to rush out unresearched junk for money, that's clickbaiting, no one appreciates it.

Me neither.

Quoting: TheBossI pointed it out to Phoronix and Softpedia as soon as I saw it on twitter, my commenting on Phoronix was an additional step hours later as he has still not corrected it.

Ok, no problem then.

Quoting: TheBossI made a "story" out of it because I don't like false news spreading, it's quite simple.

Yes, correcting wrong news is fine with me. However the form of an editorial is not professional. I was a professional journalist for 5 years and if you are interested in what exactly I mean read on.
If you aim for a professional style you would have just written this short news article:

"A few websites are reporting that Steam for Linux has hit 1900 games after only hitting 1800 around nine days ago, this is false. We are currently on 1820. To get the correct reading you need to filter by Games only, and by Release Date. The default sorting option "Relevance" includes all games on Linux now, and games yet to come out."

Do you see what I have done? I have just cut all opinions, emotions, pointing fingers etc. from your article. This fulfills the goal of correcting the wrong news completely.

Quoting: TheBossIt's how I normally speak, I'm not going to mince words any more and tread softly around websites which constantly put out junk. We are here to give the correct news, and not shuvvel out articles for advert clicks.

Writing, how you would normaly speak, is the best way to write - a novell. In journalism you are expected to leave emotional language asside. Opinions on the other hand are ok, but only for really important topics and when signed as editorial / comment. That you have done. The problem is the emotional language. If you do not know which parts I mean, I can go through the sentences step by step if you wish.

Quoting: TheBossI did try to help, by pointing out they were wrong. I was greeted with hostility by Softpedia's reply to me of "wtf is this then" (whch they have since deleted), and then they blocked me.

Definitely bad style of Softpedia. Even then staying polite would have been more professional. What you could have written:

"I pointed this out to both websites, Phoronix has yet to clarify it, and Softpedia blocked us on twitter"

See? Again I added nothing, I just deleted your guesses.

Quoting: TheBosslolwut, it's completely ethical to point out totally wrong news and spread the truth, how is that unethical? Weird.

Maybe they meant what I meant. At some points your article made guesses without a foundation and sounded like if you were laughing or angry or disappointed about how stupid the others were not to see their mistake. Nothing of this is needed if you want to spread the truth.


Last edited by tomtomme on 30 January 2016 at 1:51 pm UTC
tomtomme Jan 30, 2016
Quoting: scaineBut the article remains unchanged.

not anymore


Last edited by tomtomme on 30 January 2016 at 2:04 pm UTC
tomtomme Jan 30, 2016
Quoting: adolsonI can't believe there are people here defending the spread of misinformation.

Nobody defends that. We are just critizising the style of informing us about the misinformation.


Last edited by tomtomme on 30 January 2016 at 2:06 pm UTC
tomtomme Jan 30, 2016
Quoting: jedidiahlnxI don't like these numbers. That just reflects the number of purchasable items I think


wrong. you can filter by games, excluding addons etc. and that was done here correctly.
tomtomme Jan 30, 2016
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: TheBossEverything comes out of my own pocket, and will continue to do so. People are free to send games over however, not going to pass up free games.

And yes, real journalism also involves pointing out flaws in others work, not just pumping out articles.

Hopefully costs aren't too high then! And yes, journalism does, can, and should be critical of other journalists, pointing out the ones who are wrong, as well as the ones who get it right. Journalists are supposed to be the watchdogs for truth. Ignore anyone who says otherwise! ^n.n^

quite right. but it is also important how you are "pointing out", see my longer post above.
Liam Dawe Jan 30, 2016
I was writing a long reply to you @tomtomme, but you know what, I've had my fun here. Both websites eventually corrected themselves. I expect better of them both considering one has adverts and takes money from people, and the other is just littered to shit with adverts.

I will continue to show my opinion in my own editorials on my own website.

End of.
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