Post Comment - Blue's News

Valve on Linux Plans

[Oct 29, 2012, 8:11 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Ubuntu Vibes quotes (or paraphrases) Valve's Drew Bliss speaking at a Ubuntu Developer Summit in Denmark praising Linux as being amore viable gaming platform that Microsoft's just-released Windows 8. They summarize what they learned about Valve's Linux plans going forward in handy bulleted form:

Steam client is running nicely on Ubuntu and many developers have approached them with good game products.
Cooperation with Canonical has been good.
Ubuntu is preferred platform as it has a large user base and good community support with a strong company like Canonical behind it.
Linux has everything they need: good OpenGL, pulseaudio, OpenAL and input support.
New Source engine games will be available for Linux.
No firm time frame for Steam Linux release, but soon.
Copy protection is up to the game publishers.

Post Comment
Enter the details of the comment you'd like to post in the boxes below and click the button at the bottom of the form.

32.

Re: Valve on Linux Plans

Oct 30, 2012, 08:53

Verno

John wrote on Oct 30, 2012, 08:43:
GayBlade wrote on Oct 30, 2012, 07:00:
I think this whole Windows 8 is bad for gaming is much ado about nothing IMHO.
I was reading up on it some and it sounds like Win8 has better memory and CPU management which could be good. Can anything be done about the home screen with all the live 'apps' running on it though?

I was reading an article at Ars the other day and got a different impression, I thought the memory and CPU management improvements are mainly related to Metro apps and how they interact with each other. Due to process suspension, sandboxing and strict WinRT guidelines very few resources are allowed to be allocated for "live" background updates and only in specific circumstances. There are no real reasons for gamers to upgrade to Windows 8. I've certainly seen no difference on a test box between it and Windows 7.

The whole "Windows 8 is bad for gaming" thing mainly refers to the Zynga-ization of gaming in the casual space. If you have a look at the games available on there right now it's mostly casual fare aimed at a casual crowd. Microsoft having control of a platform is also a dubious thing, they haven't exactly instilled confidence with their often heavy handed treatment of the Xbox and its various marketplaces.

I have no opposition to Linux per se, I just don't see the average Johnny FPS being able to make that transition even with something like Ubuntu or Mint. I would be fairly comfortable as a result of using both FreeBSD and Linux in a work environment but I won't deceive myself that normal users won't have problems.




Playing: Super Mario 3D Land, Tales of Graces F, Fire Emblem 3DS Watching: Hannibal, Community, Life

Subject

Comment Enter your comment here, but please respect the forum rules (below).

;) :( :o %) :) :| ;P X| :D More

If you have a signature set up, it will be automatically appended to your comment.
If you don't already have a Blue's News user account, you can sign up here.
Forgotten your password? Click here.

Email me when this topic is updated.

Special Codes

b[bold text]b
i[italic text]i
u[underline text]u
-[~~strikethrough text~~]-
c[code text]c
+[bullet point]+
q[quote text (indented)]q
[quote="Author"]quote text (indented)[/quote]
[url=Link]text[/url]
r{red text}r
g{green text}g
b{blue text}b
m{maroon text}m
s{secret text (shows in the background colour)}s

Forum Rules

Disagree all you want but attacks of a personal nature will not be tolerated.
Ethnic slurs and homophobic language will not be tolerated.
Do not post spam, links to warez sites, or instructions on how to obtain pirated software.
Abusing the forums in any manner that could be construed as 'griefing' will not be tolerated.