The PPA has updated. I plan to buy DEUS: EX the next days. I've a GTX 970. How is the performance, what settings should I choose?

Is it really worth to update to the nvidia-375 driver? Currently I'm useing the 367 driver which is includes into Ubuntu 16.4.1 meanwhile. Runs very stable, but I have some issues with suspend to ram.

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From a German site:

https://vrodo.de/valve-virtual-reality-ist-die-finale-plattform-steamvr-fuer-osx-und-linux/

Money quote and translation:

QuoteValve is investing both in hardware and software and is convinced that the combination of virtual and augmented reality is "the final computer platform," says Ludwig in his presentation at the Steam Developer Conference in mid-October.

"It is difficult to imagine what could still follow a platform that controls everything you hear and see."

Therefore it is important that the new technology is built on open systems, according to Ludwig. Its definition of an "open platform" is as follows: It must run several devices from different manufacturers with the same software. Hardware and software should not be interdependent.

This helps to prevent gatekeepers from deciding which software and hardware may be made and published. According to Ludwig, an open platform promotes the will of all participants to engage in experiments.

I think Valves Linux's commitment is very sustainable and has a lot to do with VR. At this point Steam Machnines will become much more useful.

Also I think that Valve and the big publishers make already profits with Linux games. Nothing which finances the games themselves, but Linux ports creates additional revenue. One percent additional sales is very much. For many games this is maybe the profit margin. See Alien: Isolation for example. If you program games so that they are easily portable, you get an additional source of income. Large publishers calculate this way. They have to port their games on many platforms to be profitable. So I do not worry about more games, as long as our community does not shrink.

On the other hand Windows and the consoles are very important for the development of sophisticated games. Only if you have new developments you can port something to Linux. Obvious. Linux is much to small for primary development, but clearly big enough for high quality ports.

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Quoting: calvinMore points I might not have fully addressed:

1. Community - Valve is very interested in outsourcing tasks to the community, with things like Greenlight. SteamOS is kinda being extended in this manner with people like ProfessorKaos64, but they can only do so much with no extensibility in the client and overlay, and it requires you to get dirty in the terminal. Valve needs to build a solid foundation that's shippable as a product (the minimum viable, at the bare minimum) and allows the community and other entities to extend the client. (The fact Steam can sell non-games can be relevant here, and maybe a workshop for the client itself?)

2. Product - You need to make a product. You're not going to succeed just because you're Linux. Linux just lets you make a product. Android and Chromebooks didn't take off because they're Linux based, but because they had what people wanted. And as of right now, people don't want Steam Machines, because of the problems outlined in the article, like the lack of purpose.

3. The long game - I'd estimate Steam Machines have been in production for ~4 years, presuming they started work in 2012 with Big Picture, and maybe even quite a while before that. Other consoles have been developed in less time, and with more success. There's little visible improvement or effort coming from Valve. If they wanted to ship it, then perhaps we shouldn't have been Early Access'd without an acknowledgment that this is a preview of a platform, not the end result. Especially so considering the glacial pace of improvement. People don't like the lack of communication or progress, especially with platforms; it implies uncertain or bad times.

I do not believe that Microsoft and Sony will be in business in 10 to 15 years. Not in the video game industry. I see the Steam Machines as Valves preparation for this. Where is today the advantage of a PlayStation vs a DELL Alpha with Windows 10? Seriously. People still buy it but it will not go on forever. Wallet garden is no concept for the future.

Sony now tries through VR to create an advantage. But for Jane Doe this is also too complicated. If at all, normal people will use VR via Google's Daydream. The hard-boiled guys and girls on the other hand want real VR like the Vive and not a sealed and broken version from Sony.

In the future consoles will no longer play an important role, just like PCs. So you need a concept like Steam Machines to exist in the niche. The big business has moved to the mobile market. We stubbornly PC and console players are a very small group already today. And Sony and Micosoft are not interested in small groups. Microsoft will abandon the Xbox just as they gave up Windows Phone. Sony will also look for other areas in the future. They will no longer invest billions of dollars in their consoles. Without Steam Microsoft would already lost money in the gaming sector.

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Wow. They never sleep. Mad Max, Deus Ex and now Total War. Three premium titles at the end of the year. I know what I'm doing this Christmas. :)

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I'm sure Steam Machines will be a success. It is an open concept and everyone can do what they want. SteamOS is based on Debian. Valve has no cost for the deployment of the base system. Manufacturers such as DELL use hardware that they produce one way or another. The game selection comes then over Steam. Also no additional costs.

Compare this with Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. They risk the farm every time they bring a new console into the market. For them it is not a question of whether they are successful or not. They must be. When Nintendo's next console is a miss again, they are simply broke. SEGA has already disappeared from the console market long ago. Should Valve use the same strategy? They play against opponents, who cross-finances their consoles (Sony, Microsoft) and have wall off a market.

Steam Machines are a concept that works slowly. You need a critical mass of properties. Valve is just setting it up. It is much to early for a marketing attack. Valve would burn only money unnecessarily. They leave it to others. Sony will become a problem with its simple VR. Their biggest competitor is not Vive or Oculus but Daydream. Microsoft has major problems with its network, which does not work against Steam. A big problem for multiplayer.

Valve will simply wait for the rest of the development and invest its money much more wisely and more confidently than everyone else. Steam Machines will come. I'm sure. If possible, I would buy stocks.

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One question: Why is everyone so keen on Netflix support? This is supported by every TV.

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I think Tyranny has no round based fighting system. For old pen and paper players like me always irritating. Nevertheless, I will buy Tyranny and play. Many hours. You know. ;)

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Quoting: dmantioneOf course, but more Linux users means more potential gamers. Further, the availability of games was an important missing component from the Linux desktop experience and the fact that there now are games, may well have been a factor in the rise of Linux market share. Things are linked together.

The main problem is the bundling of PCs with Windows. No user like to installing a operating system or changing a already running system. So it stays a uphill battle for Linux.

From Schenker/XMG you can buy PCs and Laptops without OS:
https://www.mysn.de/
And there is another German company which offers this devices with pre-installed Linux:
http://www.tuxedocomputers.com/index.php

For example, you can buy there a Linux-Gaming Laptop with a GTX 1060/1070 and a pre-installed Xubuntu with drivers and support for all components. But this is of course the exception to the rule.

Because the big PC manufacturers such as Lenovo, DELL or HP earn well in the sale of the Windows licenses, they have no interest in offering Linux. Just a few alibi devices like the DELL XPS apart (is not offered anymore).

Without changing the law you can wait a long time for the breakthrough of Linux, because Microsoft and the PC manufacturers have divided the market already. I see under these conditions no chance for Linux in the mass market. Even if it would be the better alternative for many users.

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I play most in bic picture mode, because of controller configuration.

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Nice atmosphere. Remembers me a lot on Phantasy Star Online. Don't have played it much yet. There seems to be a segfault when you quit the game. This indicates unclean programming.

I absolute don't get this memory of Phantasy Star Online when I watch videos from NMS. NMS is a no atmosphere Game for me. It does not take me. I hope that Elite: Dangerous appears for Linux some day.

Also I hope they will make Sky Break even better. Because the atmosphere they have done great. It is certainly not one of the games that one plays hundreds of hours. But I like it.

Just my personal view.

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