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Update: It seems Valve have adjusted their survey and changed the total, the new figures are

Linux Total: 0.81% + 0.01% (instead of +.02% originally)
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit 0.20% - 0.04%
Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS 64 bit 0.10% - 0.02%
Linux 64 bit 0.08% + 0.01%
Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa 64 bit 0.07% - 0.02%
Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS 64 bit 0.06% + 0.06%

Original article below:

The latest Steam Hardware Survey is out and for the first time in a while the Linux figure seems to have grown.

Linux total: 0.82% + 0.02% (we are 0.02% away from June's level)
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit: 0.21% - 0.03%
Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS 64 bit: 0.11% - 0.01%
Linux 64 bit: 0.08% + 0.01%
Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa 64 bit: 0.07% - 0.02%
Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS 64 bit: 0.05% + 0.05%

A few things to remember:

It is such a tiny percentage we could be seeing nothing more than statistic anomalies here. Same for any survey that shows a positive/negative change when it's such a small amount. Let's not get carried away over an increase. With that said, it's still great to finally see something positive isn't it!

SteamOS and Steam Big Picture are still not included in the survey and it's a manual survey, so you're not included in it unless you get the pop-up asking you to submit your details.

I actually had the survey this time, so it's not a myth!

In all honesty, the figure is likely around the correct number going by the sales statistics I often see from developers. It doesn't mean Linux isn't worth it though, plenty of developers are selling enough to make it worth porting. Heck, even Rust has sold over 30 thousand copies to Linux gamers.

You may be wondering why I still bother to cover this since nothing really changes! Well, it's another chance to plug our own User Statistics Page. Be sure your profiles are up to date. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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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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Beamboom Aug 2, 2016
Quoting: lucifertdarkAnother month where I didn't get the survey, they really need to do it once every couple of months with every single steam user included, then we'd see how "small" the Linux community really is.

As long as the randomness is truly random the relative amount of "skipped" Windows users would be around the same so it would matter very little if every single user received a survey.


Last edited by Beamboom on 2 August 2016 at 1:52 pm UTC
Eike Aug 2, 2016
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Quoting: coryrj19951I actually got the survey yesterday too :P

Must be The Month of the Linux Desktop!
Homepcgamer Aug 2, 2016
I got the survey last month. I cant remember last time I did it on my linux rig.

We have to catch those surveys with a grain of salt. The trend indicates that more and more publishers are looking in to the linux market. More and more games (still missint AAA's, but the time will come) are coming to linux. Something is hapening, or all the developers and publishers launching linux titles are going crazy?...
You think so?... really?
Beamboom Aug 2, 2016
At least it's great to finally read about a rise, if small, instead of the usual fall.
Purple Library Guy Aug 2, 2016
Quoting: burnallIn general, other platforms have grown much faster.
It's a percentage figure. How can other platforms grow faster, "in general"? The total would have to end up like 120% of users, or something.
Mountain Man Aug 2, 2016
I still say Steam is doing a disservice to Linux with this survey. They should release comprehensive numbers some time.
oldrocker99 Aug 2, 2016
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I was booting into a 14.04 virtual machine to play OOTP Baseball, which does not run on 16.04 :><: , and got the survey. I hadn't gotten a survey since I used Steam for Windows through PlayOnLinux, and of course it was counting as a Windows deck.
Mountain Man Aug 2, 2016
Quoting: oldrocker99I was booting into a 14.04 virtual machine to play OOTP Baseball, which does not run on 16.04 :><:
Is this an older version of OOTP? Because OOTP 17 works just fine in 16.04.
ElectricPrism Aug 2, 2016
I know Ubuntu is a "supported platform", but it honestly sounds like it has more trouble than Arch.

Occasionally I have to reset the libraries in steam when I switch between the blob and MESA to relink the libraries, but that's about it.

I'm amazed at how much trouble Ubuntu has really.

I tried installing SteamOS the other day in VFIO Kernel however and wasn't able to get the blob to run yet, shame because compartmentalizing my GPU for SteamOS and using Intel HD open drivers for professional desktop needs is a attractive idea.

So much time wasted I'm so jumping to RX 480 as soon as they come back in stock. This closed driver nonsense is a pain.
F.Ultra Aug 2, 2016
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Quoting: Eike
Quoting: TacoDeBossYeah, it's pretty disappointing. I would move back to Windows and give up the fight, but since I've started getting into programming, that's not an option. Not about to go from using Gedit and make to edit and run code for FREE to trying to pirate Visual Studio because you have to be a millionaire to buy it.

I will not tell you there's a free edition of Visual Studio - or that VS is the best IDE I've ever tried.
No, I won't, because I want you to use Linux!

Each to their own I guess, myself I would rather code everything in nano than use VS. Not to mention how horrible VC have been since VC6 with their "four new versions of libc for every new release of VS", that Microsoft themselves don't even use that is quite telling.
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