Quoting: liamdaweI highly doubt they will make it lose compatibility with mainstream desktop distro's.

Games would need to be recompiled for them yet again if they did an Android type of thing later on, if they where going to do that they would do it from the start.

They already have their own locked down store - Steam itself, they don't need to lock out the OS later on when they have the store that everyone has to use for Steam games anyway.

they would not need to recompile if they keep on a linux based OS but they can customise gfx drivers, sdl libraries etc to get the best out of that box.  it can easly becomes its own eco system.    They can not remain compatible with mainstream desktops for long once Mir on one side and Wayland on the other side will replace X

anyways, been thinking a bit more and got 2 options:

- a box with a linux based OS but sort of locked and going its own way in the end so its a fixed thing against which big AAA publisher can work again.

- a box which is like the Vita TV [External Link], a small boxed (in this case on a linux based OS) which you hook up to our tv and it will stream your steam games to that, that would solve the issue of windows users losing all their games as you basicly still play on you pc no matter what it will be.

a well time will tell.

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had loads and loads of fun with this on the PS3, actually with all pixeljunk games

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Quoting: Mike Frett@Bumadar And who is to say it won't become some 'Android' type thing in the future, where it becomes incompatible with Desktop Linux?.

aye, sort of was my point, it will start of compatible and based on, but will go its own way if it wants to succeed

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Quoting: SpeedsterDon't you think they might be working on a low-end model of Steambox with the latest-greatest onboard Intel graphics?

the latest and greatest intel graphics are still not even close to the power of amd/nvidia sadly, so no I don't think that.  You want it to be a success then you need the big titles and those need big power.

Which still leaves the issue of people with hundreds (if not more) of windows games who wont be able to play those on a linux based box, so why would they get one ?  I don't see valve going with windows on their steambox though, not after what they said about win8.    Still on a box with fixed hardware/OS a codeweaver port will always work, so that's an option.

Quoting: BladeforceAlso if it is true that you can tinker and customize the OS in Steambox then that will be awesome

imagine the support nightmare on that one.....

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Why does a steambox based on linux have to be a good thing for linux as a gaming platform ?

Valve will bring out a small box with specific hardware with an OS based on linux and tuned for just that hardware, at first the difference between the SteamOS and Linux will be small, but as time goes on that gap will only increase as they will tweak the GPU drivers (binary blob else nvidia or amd won't help making them faster and more efficient) and other things and it would not surprise me if in the end you will get a Windows, Apple, Linux and Steambox logo on game pages as tweaks and changes to make a game work better will only be on the Steambox drivers.  

sorry if this sounds to negative but if they want to succeed then a dedicated box like the PS4 (based on openBSD) or XBone is the only way to go and to get the big publishers on-board because without them there won't be many AAA titles and without AAA titles then won't be much incentive for the masses to buy a steambox based on linux if they can't play the latest Watchdog or GTA game.

I think its naive to think they will put a generic ubuntu/fedora/opensuse on that box with the opensource drivers and steam pre-installed.

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its on the weekly humble bundle this week together with duke

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Quoting: Valczirbut Dark Souls II may push me over the edge.  If I can't get it to run in Wine ... I may actually make a windows partition just for that one game.  It kind of depends on what the verdict is when it comes out.

Daemon souls and Dark Souls, both played in the PS3 so probably gone stick to that for Dark Souls 2.  I can't remember any game where I cursed more about my mistakes, turned of the system more frustrated but always came back, they are unforgiving but they are brilliant :)

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Quoting: liamdaweIt's a lot different to using SDL, SDL games are able to communicate with Steam (just using Steam as an example since iRacing want to get onto Steam) while a Wine game won't be able to for example.

if the game uses wine and steam well then one of the requirements will be to have steam running under wine and they are simply making sure that the game runs fine under steam in wine.  That how the rift people did it (not the steam part as its not needed), they not officially support linux but went out of there way at launch time to make sure their code runs under wine.

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no startup issues here (opensuse, pure /home install), but since this morning the internal browser seems to be broken, so store, community etc. etc. all give "error code -130, failed to load webpage" back.  Library works fine.

switching from beta back to normal solves the issue.  appcache has no effect on this.

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Quoting: TheEnigmaticT

Quoting: Quote from liamdaweI have updated with the next answer, I have to agree now they are basically doing a cop-out and using any reason they can not to support us considering what they just said.

EDIT: Let me note: I'm Trevor Longino from GOG.com, in case you don't recognise the user name from our forums. 

Okay, I'll bite. How is that a cop out? You're a fan of Linux, I get it. I have two computers which use Linux--PupEEE Linux and a Mint one--so it's not like I'm opposed to the OS. 

The answer I gave wasn't "marketing B.S." It was the truth. The economics don't work out. I understand that you're all fans of the OS and you're part of an active community that is passionate and dedicated--all things that have gotten GOG.com where we are today--but you're also part of a *small* community. And until we create a better way to actually scale the labor required to test and master builds, it's not economically feasible for us to support even *one* Linux distribution, much less the three that we've targeted as providing a broad enough reach to make us feel happy about moving into the space and doing it right.

I'll admit that this is disappointing news for you guys, I'm sure, but I don't see why it's a source of vitriol.  I would think the fact that we've clearly thought about this in depth--and that we have a pathway for what we need to do in order to implement Linux support--should be more promising than discouraging. Sure, it's not Linux support today, but I think that our investigations and attention in this matter show that, while we're still a small company that's trying to make the best use of our limited staff that we can, this is definitely something that we believe is worth figuring out.  

Trevor, thanks for having the guts to step into the lions den so to speak.

As a linux user I am natually disapointed, but as a linux user I also found the areas on you forum to help me see if the game might run on wine or via dosbox or scummvm on linux, maybe you guys should start with a special forum for that, so those of us who can/want to risk it can post there or get help from others

If i step away from my linux system for a minute and read your posts I appreciate your honest answer, gog is not a charity and if you do not see a valid buisness case then I have to learn to live with that even if I dont like it.

Out of intrest, say the linux distro world stays as it is, you maybe start using things like osb.org to make texting distro's and can automate a bit, how big should the linux market become to make it a good buisness case (lets take steam % for now, maybe they off a bit but they probably the best we have now)

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