Quoting: MohandevirThere is another thing to take into account, though. I do not have statistics to back this, but many PC gamers are DIY builders. Windows doesn't come preinstalled on these PC. If Valve releases a desktop version of SteamOS, it might lure a couple of them to our side. It's already begun.

Yeah, I don't have statistics either, but the impression that I get is that fewer gamers DIY build than they used to: back in the day, building your own machine, tweaking settings and config files, and doing all sorts of fiddling to get the maximum out of it was part-and-parcel of PC gaming; my understanding is that that kind of knowledge and experimentation is much less prevalent amongst gamers these days, which might mean that DIY building is also less prevalent.

But, yeah, if people are in a position to choose their OS (because they're going to have to install something regardless) then some may well choose Linux - especially if they're chafing from things like the enforced Microsoft account.

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What have you been enjoying the most on Steam Deck recently?

I've been streaming Death Stranding [External Link] off and on from my desktop even though I've completed the game, played quite a bit of Sail Forth [External Link], completed Contrast [External Link], and just started Dex [External Link]. I've also done a few runs through of Metal Gear Solid with RetroDeck.

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Quoting: MohandevirBad wording from my part, I should have used "Windows" instead of "Microsoft", I admit. My bad.

On the happy side, Linux has advantages over Windows for gaming. Games can run better on Linux even when they aren't built, or optimised, or tested, for Linux, and it's much easier to put together a controller-friendly interface using the abstractions of the Linux ecosystem than it is to do the same in the integrated Windows ecosystem.

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Quoting: MohandevirYeah ok. We were talking about OS only, technologically speaking, but yeah, in a business sense, MS is much bigger than that. Still, MS games are on Steam and are quite nearly all playable on the Steam Deck, last time I checked? This is what we were talking about.

For now.

After they've got their iOS and Android stores to tie in with their DirectX box store and their Windows store, seeded with the biggest games in the industry, with an Epic-matching publisher cut, everyone who buys a computer already having the Microsoft store and a Microsoft account, and Microsoft having all the money? Who can say for sure? Valve feared that outcome, which is why they invested in Linux in the first place. If the battle between Microsoft and Valve over PC gaming does kick off there's no guarantee that Linux gamers will still have access to all the new games, anti-cheat or not.

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Quoting: MohandevirUnfortunately, you are right about that. It's probably the only advantage that Microsoft still got over Linux, in gaming.

It's not the only advantage. They've also got a subscription service, their own console line, and hundreds of game studios (including the - by far - largest ever gaming industry acquisition) to lock people into Windows-only stuff, as well as being the default on essentially every computer people might buy.

Quoting: MohandevirThey will probably cling to it as long as possible even if giving kernel access to a game, which is absolutely not an essential service, doesn't make sense.

That was such a terrible solution. The proper response to "Microsoft's AV gets special access to the kernel that other AVs don't" isn't "everyone gets to futz with the kernel," it's "Microsoft's AV doesn't get to futz with the kernel, either."

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Love the Darkside Detective games. I played through both of them on the Deck and had a whale of a time.

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Quoting: BeemerI can't seem to find a definitive "Snap was announced/started at <somedate>"

It wasn't "snap" at the start. It was "click" for the Ubuntu Phone in 2013, then "snappy" for containers and IoT around 2014/2015, then became "snap" at some point after - potentially around the time it was made available on other distros.

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Quoting: TactikalKittyHonest Question: Why would you not use anything other than the Proton Experimental? Is there any real world use case that I would want to use the stable or and older proton version vs the up to date Experimental?

Experimental isn't "up to date." It's the janky first-pass attempts at fixes that haven't yet been tested. Once changes have actually been tested and shown to fix whatever issue (ideally without making anything else worse), they get put in stable.

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Fixed video quality of live streamed episodes in Quantum Break.

This was on my wishlist for quite a while, but the issues with their decision to stream parts of the game from the Internet meant that it never got bought and ultimately came off the wishlist. If it's fixed & working properly it might get on the wishlist again. Although - since the developers didn't care enough to fix it themselves and don't care enough to want the green tick - it'd still be waiting for a 90% discount.

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Quoting: tfkIt's a small difference in attitude I'm observing here.

We get native Linux support for something, we say thanks and start to give feedback on any issues we encounter.

They get Windows support for something, they're like "About time!". And when there are issues they're like "It won't work! You suck! I'm selling my device!".

There is a cultural difference that trips up game devs. When Linux users see issues, we send bug reports: most of our software is developed collaboratively, and bug reports are how software improves. When Windows users see issues, they send complaints: they are generally in the privileged position of being pandered to, and most of their software is a product they've paid money for. And so developers (who are used to Windows users) release their software for Linux and immediately get their hundreds of bug reports (as is polite in our community), but what they see is hundreds of complaints, which leads some to conclude that Linux users are really demanding and whiny, and nothing's ever good enough for us. Some do get it, though, after a while.

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