Update: They have now fixed it.
In January 2017 it will be 4 years since a bug report was opened about Steam not closing to the tray on Linux. On Windows it works perfectly, but on Linux it has been left to gather dust like so many other issues.
Essentially, the way Steam is setup is that both the Minimize and Close buttons do the same thing: minimize the application. The close button should close it to the tray/indicator but it just minimizes it instead.
The issue is due to bugs that Valve discovered where the Steam application indicator didn’t work correctly, but indicators have worked really well for a long time now. I use plenty of applications that have them like itch, telegram, discord, dropbox and the list goes on. Steam does have a fully working indicator too, so there’s really no reason for Valve to continue to force the close button to minimize.
Why am I highlighting this now? It’s not really talked about anymore and some of you probably don’t even know you can force the expected behaviour by running Steam like so:
You can also edit shortcuts and so on to do it by default too.
Hopefully that little tidbit will help some of you out who also get annoyed by Steam’s behaviour.
A minor issue I admit, but still annoying.
Hopefully next year, this and many other lingering issues will be fixed. This is typical Valve style though, slow to react to change especially when it comes to Linux. That whole “Valve Time” thing really stinks sometimes.
I love Steam and what Valve have done for us, I just want a little more attention to the real niggling issues like this. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
In January 2017 it will be 4 years since a bug report was opened about Steam not closing to the tray on Linux. On Windows it works perfectly, but on Linux it has been left to gather dust like so many other issues.
Essentially, the way Steam is setup is that both the Minimize and Close buttons do the same thing: minimize the application. The close button should close it to the tray/indicator but it just minimizes it instead.
The issue is due to bugs that Valve discovered where the Steam application indicator didn’t work correctly, but indicators have worked really well for a long time now. I use plenty of applications that have them like itch, telegram, discord, dropbox and the list goes on. Steam does have a fully working indicator too, so there’s really no reason for Valve to continue to force the close button to minimize.
Why am I highlighting this now? It’s not really talked about anymore and some of you probably don’t even know you can force the expected behaviour by running Steam like so:
STEAM_FRAME_FORCE_CLOSE=1 steamYou can also edit shortcuts and so on to do it by default too.
Hopefully that little tidbit will help some of you out who also get annoyed by Steam’s behaviour.
A minor issue I admit, but still annoying.
Hopefully next year, this and many other lingering issues will be fixed. This is typical Valve style though, slow to react to change especially when it comes to Linux. That whole “Valve Time” thing really stinks sometimes.
I love Steam and what Valve have done for us, I just want a little more attention to the real niggling issues like this. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Another option that I like on steam is that I have on startup to start steam as silent mode
steam -silent
So no annoying popups like connecting to steam or show up my steam library or steam promotions on my screen :P
Last edited by wolfyrion on 30 November 2016 at 2:53 pm UTC
steam -silent
So no annoying popups like connecting to steam or show up my steam library or steam promotions on my screen :P
Last edited by wolfyrion on 30 November 2016 at 2:53 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
I'm more concerned with the fact that I don't even get a steam tray icon at all in i3-bar.
I still use the workaround and it still behaves as it should (the window just disappears, presumably to a tray icon which doesn't exist). So to get the window back to launch my games I just attempt to launch steam again.
Thankfully it doesn't try to start a second copy of steam, and it just pulls the window up. So I can function without a tray icon and not have to deal with the window just being minimized. But it would be nice to see the steam tray icon again.
I still use the workaround and it still behaves as it should (the window just disappears, presumably to a tray icon which doesn't exist). So to get the window back to launch my games I just attempt to launch steam again.
Thankfully it doesn't try to start a second copy of steam, and it just pulls the window up. So I can function without a tray icon and not have to deal with the window just being minimized. But it would be nice to see the steam tray icon again.
0 Likes
Just work it with
LC_ALL=C steam command from terminal it works like a charm.When you hit X button(close)it minimizes to tray.
To do this as a resident solution,just create a launcher of Steam with this command.
LC_ALL=C steam command from terminal it works like a charm.When you hit X button(close)it minimizes to tray.
To do this as a resident solution,just create a launcher of Steam with this command.
0 Likes
Quoting: GuestWhat the close button *should* do is exit Steam completely.
This. I'm on e16, I don't even have a system tray. Always annoyed me that it minimizes Steam instead, and then I have to maximize it again and quit Steam using its menu.
Also, I wish I could disable the annoying console popup to install/update system packages, because what Steam suggests there makes no sense on Debian Sid.
0 Likes
Quoting: wolfyrion....
So no annoying popups like connecting to steam or show up my steam library or steam promotions on my screen :P
i guess my steam is bugged :D i never get steam promotion popups :D never seen them with native client, but i have seen then under wine.. i thought linux client doesnt have those hehe.. good bug.. i like it
0 Likes
I never even knew this was an issue. I generally hate it when things close to system tray anyways so I always leave things like that minimized when I'm not using it. I was more shocked that Steam has supported Linux for nearly 4 years now, which is amazing.
1 Likes, Who?
Thank for this! I had always wondered about it but never cared to look into it. On my laptop with Arch and Mate I had to create a script file. Will do this with my Arch KDE install after work.
0 Likes
"Closing to tray icon" is actually a bad practice according to desktop design guidelines. "System tray" is a notification area, and not a place for showing running applications. Situation when application is not shown on the task bar (or whatever UI element is used for showing all running applications) and is still running is not correct - it breaks general UI consistency.
There were several articles on this subject.
Last edited by Shmerl on 30 November 2016 at 5:33 pm UTC
There were several articles on this subject.
Last edited by Shmerl on 30 November 2016 at 5:33 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: natewardawgI'm on Manjaro, mine works properly. :) It must just be an Ubuntu thing?
Same here, it's always gone to SysTray if I hit the X button. Maybe Manjaro already includes the workaround by default?
0 Likes
I'd like to note that I run Mint 18 on both my desktop and laptop, and it behaves differently on the two of them! On one of them, hitting close just minimizes to the taskbar. On the other, hitting close "closes" it to the tray. So I'm not sure anyone can be confident that "Mint" or "Ubuntu" or whatever does a particular behaviour just because it has been their personal experience. It seems more variable and idiosyncratic than that.
When it closes to the tray it's still not really closed; in effect it's just even more minimized. Click the icon and it doesn't launch from scratch, it just pops up, and as has been mentioned if you go to shut down the computer it takes forever as the computer hesitantly shuts Steam down for real.
So I'm not totally happy with even the minimize-to-tray behaviour; call me old fashioned, but when I hit the X on a graphical application it's because I want the bloody thing to shut down.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 30 November 2016 at 6:31 pm UTC
When it closes to the tray it's still not really closed; in effect it's just even more minimized. Click the icon and it doesn't launch from scratch, it just pops up, and as has been mentioned if you go to shut down the computer it takes forever as the computer hesitantly shuts Steam down for real.
So I'm not totally happy with even the minimize-to-tray behaviour; call me old fashioned, but when I hit the X on a graphical application it's because I want the bloody thing to shut down.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 30 November 2016 at 6:31 pm UTC
0 Likes
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me