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NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 08:51 PM
OH BLOODY HELL YES!

Phoronix:
Less than two weeks ago we reported on the Mac OS X Steam client confirming the existence of a Linux client and then found more Linux references too. We then found the unreleased Steam Linux binaries that were under active development. Some still didn't believe the existence of a Steam client for Linux with Source Engine support, but it's something we have said for nearly two years based upon our sources and then the emergence of these binaries.

These Linux binaries didn't successfully run, but now some independent users managed to get the first Steam client window to appear. Below is the first screenshot of the Steam Linux client provided to us by a Phoronix reader known as Kame.

This is part of the window being rendered, but as you can see, Valve is still working away at their Linux client. The client is not yet in a usable state to play your favorite games (at least in the external builds), but you can see that it is coming. You can follow this lengthy forum thread discussing their poking around of the Steam Linux build and today's IRC logs (via #phoronix on FreeNode IRC) as those independent users continued in their exploration efforts (search for mastertheknife within that page as he was the user that managed to achieve this feat).


http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ugWCk2EgoSI/S98ra9Xfb2I/AAAAAAAAJPo/qEZkVAwxBcI/s400/Steam1.jpg (http://lh6.ggpht.com/_ugWCk2EgoSI/S98ra9Xfb2I/AAAAAAAAJPo/qEZkVAwxBcI/s800/Steam1.jpg) http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ugWCk2EgoSI/S98rj_QCmPI/AAAAAAAAJP4/lVRqhrzgcio/s400/Steam2.jpg (http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ugWCk2EgoSI/S98rj_QCmPI/AAAAAAAAJP4/lVRqhrzgcio/s800/Steam2.jpg)

Source (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODIwNQ)

Chrysantine
May 3rd, 2010, 08:53 PM
Great advertising for Linux, the first thing you see is.. oh yes, a terminal. ](*,)

antenna
May 3rd, 2010, 08:56 PM
Splash screen and non native UI... typical Windows junk. But yes I would probably use it. :|

Ylon
May 3rd, 2010, 09:06 PM
The possibility for Valve to port their stuff on linux is opposite proportional to their volume of business they had with Microsoft's Xbox and Microsoft's DirectX.

If Valve had intention... there was already Steam for Linux.

Epic Games did port their best game to Linux in far far away 2003.

So far I see... the only one that can bring gaming to Linux is Canonical.

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:07 PM
Great advertising for Linux, the first thing you see is.. oh yes, a terminal. ](*,)


Splash screen and non native UI... typical Windows junk. But yes I would probably use it. :|

Have you heard of appreciating what you get? Seriously, this is one of the biggest games retailers in the world, and it's being ported to Linux along with the Source engine. This is awesome!!!


The possibility for Valve to port their stuff on linux is opposite proportional to their volume of business they had with Microsoft's Xbox and Microsoft's DirectX.

If Valve had intention... there was already Steam for Linux.

Epic Games did port their best game to Linux in far far away 2003.

So far I see... the only one that can bring gaming to Linux is Canonical.

Valve is also Porting the Source-engine, the engine behind Counter-strike, Half-life 2, Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress, and the list goes on!

Chrysantine
May 3rd, 2010, 09:13 PM
Have you heard of appreciating what you get? Seriously, this is one of the biggest games retailers in the world, and it's being ported to Linux along with the Source engine. This is awesome!!!
I'm not complaining about Steam being ported over (apart from the fact that they use regional pricing which is the spawn of the devil - read EU pays 25-30% more than US or even more) but the fact that the first screen shots from the whole system that are being spread around from website to website show Linux having a terminal running as the first thing which reinforces the "Oh my, Linux - always a terminal!!"

Get rid of the terminal (from screen shots), get rid of complex looking things (present your product in a way that appeals to casual users) and you can market your product a whole lot better.

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:18 PM
I'm not complaining about Steam being ported over (apart from the fact that they use regional pricing which is the spawn of the devil - read EU pays 25-30% more than US or even more) but the fact that the first screen shots from the whole system that are being spread around from website to website show Linux having a terminal running as the first thing which reinforces the "Oh my, Linux - always a terminal!!"

Get rid of the terminal (from screen shots), get rid of complex looking things (present your product in a way that appeals to casual users) and you can market your product a whole lot better.

Have you even read the article? It's some users on Phoronix's IRC-channel who managed to debug Valve's currently very unstable Linux-code enough to make it run. He then took the above screenshots.

Ylon
May 3rd, 2010, 09:23 PM
Valve is also Porting the Source-engine, the engine behind Counter-strike, Half-life 2, Portal, Portal 2, Team Fortress, and the list goes on!
...and *had* actually ported a single product on Linux?
Epic Games and IDSoftware *did*... if I had to bet in quality product gaming I would watch more for companies like these two rather other slow ones.

Don't get me wrong, Valve would be able to bring really good Linux in terms of multimedia and business... Sadly, I strongly doubt that they are seriously looking into.


More realistic if Canonical would push for something like: there's already a software center and Blender Fundation show (both Movies (http://durian.blender.org/) and game (http://www.yofrankie.org)) that the only thing linux lacks for have great multimedia product.. is courage from skilled artist/programmer.



Valve is more than welcome to give it's try: but keep in mind that Linux already had everything hardware/software needed for great gaming!

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:35 PM
...and *had* actually ported a single product on Linux?
Epic Games and IDSoftware *did*... if I had to bet in quality product gaming I would watch more for companies like these two rather other slow ones.

Don't get me wrong, Valve would be able to bring really good Linux in terms of multimedia and business... Sadly, I strongly doubt that they are seriously looking into.


More realistic if Canonical would push for something like: there's already a software center and Blender Fundation show (both Movies (http://durian.blender.org/) and game (http://www.yofrankie.org)) that the only thing linux lacks for have great multimedia product.. is courage from skilled artist/programmer.



Valve is more than welcome to give it's try: but keep in mind that Linux already had everything hardware/software needed for great gaming!

Except for a visible channel for developers to sell their games through. Soon, we may very well have two.

LowSky
May 3rd, 2010, 09:41 PM
I'm not complaining about Steam being ported over (apart from the fact that they use regional pricing which is the spawn of the devil - read EU pays 25-30% more than US or even more) but the fact that the first screen shots from the whole system that are being spread around from website to website show Linux having a terminal running as the first thing which reinforces the "Oh my, Linux - always a terminal!!"

Get rid of the terminal (from screen shots), get rid of complex looking things (present your product in a way that appeals to casual users) and you can market your product a whole lot better.

Doesn't Europe technically pay more because VAT is added into the costs?

Also the screen shot is leaked image. Not a Full blown "Release notification". The terminal is probably there for error reporting. And I really don't get why it took so long for Steam to release a Linux version. They have had Steam for Linux Hosting Servers for years.

And many games are built on the quake engine that runs on openGL and not DirectX, so games support should be decent. Just look how many games run on Wine with decent frame rates.

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:44 PM
Doesn't Europe technically pay more because VAT is added into the costs?
Yep, I think that's why. Buying games from Steam is still cheaper than going to a store.


Also the screen shot is leaked image. Not a Full blown "Release notification". The terminal is probably there for error reporting. And I really don't get why it took so long for Steam to release a Linux version. They have had Steam for Linux Hosting Servers for years.

And many games are built on the quake engine that runs on openGL and not DirectX, so games support should be decent. Just look how many games run on Wine with decent frame rates.

Not really leaked no, just an ordinary user who managed to get a publicly available Linux binary run, then took a few screenshots.

Chrysantine
May 3rd, 2010, 09:44 PM
Doesn't Europe technically pay more because VAT is added into the costs?
Nope, it's called "Regional Pricing" which means the prices are translated to the local currency and added whatever imaginary sum they feel that the region is willing to pay for the product.

You can either use a proxy or buy from a 3rd party (there's a Polish company that sells Steam games for considerable discount compared to the "off the shelf" price - all legit but they get their keys from non-EU area).

It was fun when they introduced it, the prices went up for 25-30% overnight. That was the day I stopped buying anything from Steam and removed it completely.


Yep, I think that's why. Buying games from Steam is still cheaper than going to a store.
No, it's not - I can get any Steam game cheaper at a local retailer, usually cheaper by almost 1/4 of the price.

For more information, take a look at this; http://steamunpowered.eu/

Ariakkas
May 3rd, 2010, 09:48 PM
i read somewhere that canonical had zero interest in making ubuntu a gaming platform.

i looked around and cant find where i saw that, someone else may know.


but i wouldnt be waiting for canonical to bring gaming to linux, it seems they have their plate full just trying to get ubuntuone to work.

murderslastcrow
May 3rd, 2010, 09:50 PM
Personally, I'm kinda' looking forward to this, since the Orange Box was the only thing I ever got from Steam. Since Steam has such momentum in the computer gaming industry and most gamers these days use it, this will brings tons of people running to other platforms.

People will realize they care more about their OS's capabilities than its compatibility with stuff from the 90s. Which we have with Wine, anyway.

Seriously, I have at least three friends who would have no issues at all switching to Linux once this client is released. That's all I'm saying.

NCLI
May 3rd, 2010, 09:51 PM
Nope, it's called "Regional Pricing" which means the prices are translated to the local currency and added whatever imaginary sum they feel that the region is willing to pay for the product.

You can either use a proxy or buy from a 3rd party (there's a Polish company that sells Steam games for considerable discount compared to the "off the shelf" price - all legit but they get their keys from non-EU area).

It was fun when they introduced it, the prices went up for 25-30% overnight. That was the day I stopped buying anything from Steam and removed it completely.
Are you sure they didn't simply start to compensate for the generally higher European taxes?


No, it's not - I can get any Steam game cheaper at a local retailer, usually cheaper by almost 1/4 of the price.
Not in Denmark, that's for sure.

yester64
May 4th, 2010, 01:51 AM
OH BLOODY HELL YES!

Phoronix:
Less than two weeks ago we reported on the Mac OS X Steam client confirming the existence of a Linux client and then found more Linux references too. We then found the unreleased Steam Linux binaries that were under active development. Some still didn't believe the existence of a Steam client for Linux with Source Engine support, but it's something we have said for nearly two years based upon our sources and then the emergence of these binaries.

These Linux binaries didn't successfully run, but now some independent users managed to get the first Steam client window to appear. Below is the first screenshot of the Steam Linux client provided to us by a Phoronix reader known as Kame.

This is part of the window being rendered, but as you can see, Valve is still working away at their Linux client. The client is not yet in a usable state to play your favorite games (at least in the external builds), but you can see that it is coming. You can follow this lengthy forum thread discussing their poking around of the Steam Linux build and today's IRC logs (via #phoronix on FreeNode IRC) as those independent users continued in their exploration efforts (search for mastertheknife within that page as he was the user that managed to achieve this feat).



(http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ugWCk2EgoSI/S98rj_QCmPI/AAAAAAAAJP4/lVRqhrzgcio/s800/Steam2.jpg)

Source (http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ODIwNQ)

This source is more like a hobby blog from some dude who perhaps did get it working, but as long it is not approved by valve what value does this have?
You know a lot of people write a lot of stuff, but i believe it when i can download it from valve's website.
Why would they offer it to linux? Makes no sense. If they were interessted they could've done that years ago. Why now?
In this blog are also references missing. As such it is doubtful and can not be verified.

chappajar
May 4th, 2010, 02:32 AM
Wow, this thread isn't getting much love!
Don't worry NCLI, you're not the only one excited about this. :D