According to these new numbers from Valve, the Linux customer base is up to 1.96%, or a 0.52% jump over June! That’s a huge jump with normally just moving 0.1% or so in either direction most months… It’s also near an all-time high on a percentage basis going back to the early days of Steam on Linux when it had around a 2% marketshare but at that time the Steam customer size in absolute numbers was much smaller a decade ago than it is now. So if the percentage numbers are accurate, this is likely the largest in absolute terms that the Linux gaming marketshare has ever been.

Data from Valve: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam?platform=combined

  • kitonthenet
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    1 year ago

    maybe if valve recompiled tf2 for fucking 64 bit macOS users would use steam more it’s 2023 for fucks sake

    • @[email protected]
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      301 year ago

      Steam still runs on Rosetta2. They just gave up and aren’t even trying anymore, probably thanks to apples hostility to them and no Vulkan

      • kitonthenet
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        01 year ago

        that’s their prerogative but then no one should be surprised when Mac usage slumps

  • Vuipes
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    391 year ago

    Good, now we need devs to officially support Linux.

    • @[email protected]
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      101 year ago

      I noticed that wine/dxvk/proton works better than many native Linux versions. This is usually because the game studio does not think Linux is a priority and ships a half-assed implementation. Better to use the optimized version through wine/proton/dxvk.

    • 👁️👄👁️
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      61 year ago

      I just want games officially supported for proton. Linux ABI is still way too inconsistent compared to Wines, and a bitch to work with. Not to mention, performance tends to be better on proton games lol.

      • @[email protected]
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        251 year ago

        Well, “officially support” can just mean check if their game runs via proton on the Steam Deck at launch. Fine by me, that is the bare minimum I expect, but to be fair launch day support on linux is still a fairly new thing. Not something I would have expected just a few short years ago.

        • @[email protected]
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          31 year ago

          Yeah a lot of that first wave of steam machine fueled linux gaming is filled with buggy games with dropped support, that dont run on modern hardware. Im sure there is an easier way for them to support native linux gaming, but given how mac gaming is supported Im fine with them supporting linux by making sure proton works and accepting bug reports from proton users.

  • @[email protected]
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    61 year ago

    NixOS on steam deck is currently my daily driver because it’s dedicated, portable linux hardware with better than iGPU performance I can actually afford. Having said that I’m only about a week in, but adding Jovian NixOS modules to my previous configs has been enough to make it a pretty solid experience so far. Amazing portable gaming is a nice bonus.

    • @[email protected]
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      31 year ago

      How does NixOS compare to SteamOS on the Deck? Does it work just as smooth? Also, is EMUDeck compatible with NixOS?

  • @[email protected]
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    1 year ago

    I would fully switch to linux - I have done some dabbling with it, including setting up a media PC w/ steam on it - but I cannot run any of my business or productivity apps.

    Specifically, Autocad, Revit, and VR software do not work. So wahwah

    • @[email protected]
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      21 year ago

      On the same boat, I would gladly change, but most of my collaborators still use software you can only use on windows, I could use VMs or emulators, but it usually breaks my workflow anyway.

  • @[email protected]
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    141 year ago

    Nice. Steam with Proton works really great for me so far. If only wine would be as good for other software. Trying to get my Affinity products to work on wine or DAZ Studio is a nightmare and I probably will just use a VM 😩.

    • @[email protected]
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      21 year ago

      I used to check winehq or protondb before buying games. I don’t do that anymore because everything just works in Linux these days.

  • TheSaneWriter
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    101 year ago

    I switched to Linux last year, and have been having a mostly smooth single-player experience. It’s not perfect, but the improvements that have been made in Linux gaming (in large part by Valve) are undeniable.

      • @[email protected]
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        41 year ago

        It’s interesting that Lemmy is still small enough I can remember a shithead from yesterday with a certain username that is also being a shithead today…

      • @[email protected]
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        131 year ago

        Plenty of people ask themselves that, which is precisely why so much work has been done to improve it.

        Like come one, just drop your attitude here.

    • @[email protected]
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      71 year ago

      Always funny to see this Mr.robot like nutcase linked Just read through what this person considers spyware and have a bit of a laugh

      Man thinks the while world is after him with that level of paranoia

    • sickday
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      11 year ago

      Cool article, but it bases most of its claims off Valve’s ToS for steam, their privacy policy, and an old Reddit post that has multiple people disputing its claims in comments. So no actual traffic snooping or any individual research into what the application is actually doing.

      Yea they’re definitely going to store purchase-related information (Name, Address, Cc info, etc.), just about every digital storefront does. Where’s the actual danger at?

      • @[email protected]
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        -11 year ago

        Would you mind sharing your name and address and cc info? I need these for a scientific research, you can send them in pm if you don’t want to post them here, i promise that i won’t share them with anyone else

        • sickday
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          51 year ago

          I need these for a scientific research,

          Lol. So you’re go-to argument for this is false equivalence. Steam is a digital storefront. Vavle can’t process digital payments without that information.

          Also, research funding is a very real thing and anyone requiring funding is using an actual payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, Wire/ACH) which is going to require that information anyway.

          Do you operate a payment processing company? Where can I find your privacy and compliance policy? Why do I need to send my financial credentials directly to you (an individual)?

          Yeah that argument falls apart very quickly when we apply real-world policies to your hamstrung argument.

            • sickday
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              21 year ago

              Great anecdote, but that doesn’t change the fact that any storefront that processes digital purchases and handles currency is going to require payment information and is essentially required to record that info to stay in compliance with federal regulations. At least here in the US where Valve is based. So remind us all what your argument here is?

              • @[email protected]
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                -11 year ago

                Most of these stores sell your data to third parties and do that just for profits. Remember that we are on the linux sub. What data was recorded when you bought your linux?

                • sickday
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                  11 year ago

                  Most of these stores sell your data to third parties and do that just for profits.

                  Sure. But until you bring some proof that Valve is actually selling my financial data, I’m going to chalk this up to baseless claims. So far, all the proof you’ve provided has been a hysterical article that cites Valve’s own ToS and Privacy Policy and makes claims that Valve is basically operating the exact same way as all other digital storefronts do when consumers make purchases online. It also claimed that Valve is tracking my internet history citing a reddit thread with multiple comments debunking the claim.

                  What data was recorded when you bought your linux?

                  That depends. I use actual RHEL quite a bit considering it’s what I’m familiar with and what’s used in my workplace. Before I could setup any of my personal servers that use RHEL9, I had to provide all the exact same information you requested. My laptop is running FreeBSD, which cost me nothing considering it’s not sold in a storefront. Not sure what you’re getting at with this unless this is once again some false equivalence.

                  Look, I’m all for moving away from Steam if there’s an actual compelling reason to do so. Valve doing illegal shit that no one’s reported is certainly a legitimate reason for me to move off the platform, but neither you nor the only other person in this thread claiming Valve is the literal devil have provided any legitimate reasons not to use the platform. If all it takes is a hysterical article with some bogus claims and bold text for you change how you consume products, I got this huge bridge to sell you.

    • @[email protected]
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      121 year ago

      How about letting people enjoy things? If you don’t want to play games or have access to the biggest gaming library there is currently, then it’s fine, won’t blame you. People have the freedom to decide if they want to limit their privacy a bit (while things stated on that website like credit card, address, browsing history, chat logs and forum posts are like: no shit, they sell games, have an internal browser and chats and forums, of course they do that. And with that defenition, you are currently as well on a spyware platform, because your posts are saved unencrypted on your homeserver) to have access to their games where some have invested A LOT of money in, before knowing about such things.

        • @[email protected]
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          41 year ago

          I do go with you, that nobody is stopping them using it. I was just pissed from the statement of the author of the comment, saying, if you don’t stop using it, you are just an addict. That is simply not true, because of the bullshit DRM, one is bound to the platform. I aswell try to get away from DRM as much as possible but I of course reject ditching Steam completely. I won’t throw away all the games I bought just to get rid of “spyware” or rather not-perfectly-privacy-friendly-marketplace-software using the horror DRM is.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 year ago

              Sure, I get that, but as I said, if you already “own” quite some amount of games on steam I think it’s reasonable to not have your money completely wasted by refusing to use steam at all. Social bindings are an “issue” as well. If the multiplayer game you want to play with your friends is for some reason bound to steam, then many will choose their friends over their privacy. And I think we all know how hard it is to get others away from their comfort zone. Same with the debate to get rid of Discord.

            • sickday
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              11 year ago

              that infringes on your right

              Which one(s)? Very interested to know if Valve is breaking the law by operating their digital storefront.

              • Metaright
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                21 year ago

                Rights are not a purely legal concept. You can have rights that are not codified by law.

                • sickday
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                  11 year ago

                  Sure, but in that case it should absolutely be specified what type of “right” we’re referring to. I’m guessing this falls in category of moral rights? They’re breaking our moral rights by operating the same way each other digital storefront does.

            • @[email protected]
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              -41 year ago

              Steam pushed gambling down their throat with lootboxes. They now have to play and win prizes or their dopamine hits the floor

        • @[email protected]
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          71 year ago

          Sad that you don’t even try to defend your view but rather resort to straight up insult me instead. That’s how we discuss in the internet nowadays.

            • @[email protected]
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              21 year ago

              Ok so this will be the last comment on this thread, I just want to make one final thing clear and I suggest that we get out of our way afterwards.

              I totally understand, that selling data to third parties is a bad thing, but even your cited site doesn’t claim, that valve sells one’s private data to third parties and their privacy policy also doesn’t state it (at least the german version I have read through), even more they explicitly state in 5. that they don’t sell data to third parties. They only state that they give it to third parties where they more or less have to.

              Now one has to decide if they trust valve to hold on their own PP but that is always the case for every platform, even open source ones,because again, no one can easily verify, that they don’t do shady business with your data, because they won’t give you ssh access for obvious reasons.

              Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty paranoid as well: I don’t use any Microsoft products anymore (except minecraft), I stay away from Meta and Google as well by using e.g. signal and matrix for communication and have lineage on my phone, I use noscript because I don’t trust every website’s JavaScript and host my own instances for gaming servers, git and other stuff on my netcup server.

              But I step out at some point where convenience wins over more privacy and security. I don’t package and compile everything myself, have verified the souce code before myself, because I trust the maintainers. I don’t have a completely open hardware PC, where I have built and verified everything myself, because I trust chosen manufacturers that they haven’t tampered with it (and don’t have the time or even money to do that).

        • AnonTwo
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          1 year ago

          Technically we have the absolute freedom to call you an idiot too though. Nobody has to care about what you think matters.

        • apotheotic (she/her)
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          81 year ago

          Hey, try being kind. No need to start name-calling, no matter how much you disagree with this person about their personal choice to use a platform.

          • @[email protected]
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            -11 year ago

            What do you think it’s worst: being called an idiot in the middle discussion or having all your data mined maliciously and sold to third parties and having your kids abducted into gambling?

            • apotheotic (she/her)
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              31 year ago

              Why not neither? Why don’t you be kind AND avoid steam? If your motive is as morally driven as you seem to imply, then I’m sure you would have a much higher success rate at converting people to your cause if you didn’t call them names.

              • @[email protected]
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                01 year ago

                To be stupid is not a slur it’s also a fact. If you smoke cigarettes to look cool knowing they are bad for you, you are stupid. If you use steam and everyone keeps telling you that it’s bad but you overlook it and don’t want to understand, you are stupid.

                • @[email protected]
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                  1 year ago

                  Ok so first of all, “everyone” is restricted to you and stappern. Now what’s the difference between you two? Stappern made actual good and valid points and got me convinced a bit more to stay away from steam as much as it is possible for me in my situation without even insulting me once. If you really think you could get others convinced of your opinion by just insulting them, then I think it would be cool for you to call you stupid.

                  And that the comparison between doing something that reduces your lifetime and overall quality of live vs. giving others the data they need to stay in compliance with the various legal systems and get you the things you bought WITH money (because you seem to also understand downloading foss software as buying), is so farfetched that it’s even crazy to come up with, should be clear.

                • apotheotic (she/her)
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                  21 year ago

                  Okay cool thanks.

                  If your motive is as morally driven as you seem to imply, then I’m sure you would have a much higher success rate at converting people to your cause if you didn’t call them names. So why not be kind? Do you gain anything at all by calling someone stupid? Does it make them more likely to stop using steam? Does it reduce the amount of data Valve collect from users? Does it just make you feel smart?

      • Metaright
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        11 year ago

        How about letting people enjoy things?

        How is this person’s criticism preventing you from enjoying things?

        • @[email protected]
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          11 year ago

          The criticism itself is not. Throwing assumptions like “you are an addict if you continue to use this platform no matter what your reason is” (which is what I read out of this person’s comment) around is also not preventing anyone from enjoying things. I just thought that specifically this assumption was overshot and it read like a straight up insult. I do get it now at least a bit although especially because they just insulted me without any arguments, I still guess that they just insulted people and not gave them a diagnosis of an addiction.

          • Metaright
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            21 year ago

            Oh, that person was definitely insulting people and accusing them of addiction, and it wasn’t cool at all. I just think the whole “let people enjoy things” retort is ridiculous and overdone.

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        And before you say: but it is open source!: Doesn’t hold the administrators back from still selling your data using software analyzing the database. And to give more examples what would be spyware with their definition:

        • Any kind of online shop (credit card, address, mail etc)
        • Any kind of forum that doesn’t somehow encrypt everything while still working as a forum
        • Using the internet at all because your ISP has access to your IP at least
  • @[email protected]
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    281 year ago

    Yes! Not only do I have a Deck, but I’ve switched my main PC to Linux. Sick of Micro$oft’s shit!

  • @[email protected]
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    451 year ago

    Not surprised. Steam on Linux just works. Click a checkbox in settings to use Proton. Then only way it would be easier is if it would automatically detect Proton and use it. I don’t think it does yet?

    • @[email protected]
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      181 year ago

      It automatically uses Proton for titles that Valve has whitelisted as compatible. To play anything else you need to check a box in the settings. Honestly, it should probably just be checked by default.

      • @[email protected]
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        131 year ago

        Probaby just to deter non tech savy people to blame all the problems on steam without realising it wasn’t made for linux in first place. There may not be a lot but with how popular steam deck is, I won’t be surprised if a lot of people are trying out linux for the first time.

  • grimaferve
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    161 year ago

    I did my first Linux Steam hardware survey yesterday so I’m doing my part!

      • grimaferve
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        11 year ago

        Valve claims it’s monthly but my previous survey was October last year so I doubt that. I don’t believe it was related to the article in the OP. They seem to just randomly pop up after an update. A surprise to be sure but a welcome one.

  • @[email protected]
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    81 year ago

    Well, I’m certainly helping with that.

    Running Garuda, and I can play so many of my favorite games.

    I also have GOG games, they usually run great too. I have Fallout New Vegas and runs incridibly well on just wine.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        Is an Arch based distribution. It comes pre-riced and comes with shit preloaded so you just start gaming. I like how the KDE dragonized looks, and also is very convinient, since I wanted to start gaming without too much of a hassle.

    • @[email protected]
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      81 year ago

      Less than that though they are a large slice.

      Most Windows and practically all Mac instances are preinstalled by the hardware vendor. There are very few companies selling preinstalled Linux gaming machines other than the Steam Deck. I expect they might be a majority of new Linux steam users for some time as they are by far the lowest entry cost in terms of hardware, prerequisite technical knowledge and time.

      Many gamers who dabble with Linux are still taking the path of least resistance and dual booting for gaming. Linux first people like myself will continue to grow in number but as long as it is a DIY thing realistically we will always be a few percent at best as most people want a simpler out of box gaming experience.

    • Ezahn
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      221 year ago

      @cipherlab @pnutzh4x0r Nonetheless, it’s quite the achievement. That’s exactly what Linux needs: visible, tangible and reputable hardware that’s ostensibly better than the competition. It’s great to be flexible, but you still need to have a face.

  • @[email protected]
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    61 year ago

    I’m one of these statistics. I got a cheap SSD on Prime Day and installed Pop!_OS. The first thing I did was install Steam.

    I still boot to Windows the majority of my time because of other apps or games that I need but I’m trying to get away from Windows.