Valve Announcement - Steam client coming to Ubuntu

[Zeven]

Windows 8 tells Microsoft every time you install a program. Perhaps this is something else Valve didn't like about Windows 8, hm?

[MikeCyber]

Yea this is going insane. The Samsung 1 billion penalty would not be possible outside the US.

[Zeven]

According to this article, it's actually worse.

It turns out that the protocol Microsoft uses to communicate this information is widely known to be extremely vulnerable to interception. This means that it may not just be Microsoft that will end up scanning your list of installed software. Identity thieves could conceivably use this information to profile their victims, which can lead to myriad headaches for the unfortunate Windows 8 user.

[oscarivera9]

According to this article, it's actually worse.

It does get worse indeed. At least we've got Linux.
Just imagine all of the people who don't yet use Linux but will come crawling over when they find out all of the dirty tricks Micro$oft's got up their sleeve with Window$ 8.
A few months ago when I began to hear that Window$ 8 would be the end of the Window$ operating system, I thought it was too far fetched of an idea, now I understand why they would say that.

But getting back to Steam on Linux, this is just awesome!!!

[Dr.Paneas]

Hhahahaha Windows 8 is ever worse...

BTW as I promised you guys, there will be many benchmarks with Ubuntu (only) when Steam hit Linux. If you are interested to join us please take part in our Voodoo People Project. This week meet, Daniel. Just I can't wait for L2D2 release

[VeeDubb]

Just imagine all of the people who don't yet use Linux but will come crawling over when they find out all of the dirty tricks Micro$oft's got up their sleeve with Window$ 8.

Personally, I doubt that will happen. The intrusion of M$ into peoples' computers, information and lives is a lot like slowly boiling a frog. With every release they have become more and more intrusive. This is simply the next step in their evolution; and I'm not really sure that it's a big enough change from all of their existing non-sense to cause people to make a break. I'm sure some people will leave when they realize their desktop has been turned into a giant smartphone with no touchscreen, but it won't help us.

While many distros (and especially Ubuntu) have gotten better and easier to use, the marketing is still largely non-existent. Even if they want to leave windows, there is a huge portion of the population that will believe their only alternative is an over-priced Mac. When you tell most people you run Linux, assuming they don't work in IT, they ask the same question, "What's Linux?"

[kemtnbkr]

While many distros (and especially Ubuntu) have gotten better and easier to use...

What I think many people neglect is that many people that use desktop computers ex. just for pictures/ solitare, etc, just want them to work. (Think your parents/grandparents, etc). For people that don't like computers, learning how to "kind-of" use windows was already a struggle, and it'll take a lot to get them to try a completely new OS, especially one that they have to install themselves. I'm willing to bet many 'casual' users don't even realize that you can install a different OS onto their machine, much less be willing to try it. This means windows will have a large market pretty much no matter what they do, at least for now.

However, on a positive note, Ubuntu is definitely heading in the right direction for increased usability. As they improve, linux distros in general are becoming practical alternatives and in many cases improvements over windows/mac OS'es, even for n00bs .

EDIT: BTW, VeeDubb, I came across as disagreeing- which I wasn't. I was just argumentativly agreeing

[VeeDubb]

For people that don't like computers, learning how to "kind-of" use windows was already a struggle, and it'll take a lot to get them to try a completely new OS, especially one that they have to install themselves.

In my experience, this is almost the exact opposite of what really happens.

I would agree that the highly trained and tech savvy rarely have any trouble switching operating systems. They simply use the one that works best for them, or more often, the one that their company uses; which also takes them out of the discussion. However, that group is a lot smaller than you'd think. There are countless thousands who think they should be in that group, but shouldn't be.

They should really be in the "power users" group. In my experience, it's the power users of one system or another who have the most trouble switching systems. They are heavily invested in the perspective of a particular system, and learning a new one is like re-learning everything from the ground up. These are the same people who had a conniption fit when the Ubuntu devs moved the window control buttons to the other side. This almost certainly includes the vast majority of the PC gaming crowd. The people who are going to be incentivized to try Ububntu because of Steam are the very people who will find the switch to Ubuntu to be the most daunting.

Meanwhile, grandparents using the computer to look at snapshots of the grandkinds couldn't care less. They would probably have the easiest time of all. The applications needed for what they do come pre-installed, alternatives are easy to find in the Software Center (and easier to install than on Windows) and they don't have to worry about things like proprietary video drivers. They may have trouble setting up their WiFi, but they'd have had trouble with that under Windows anyway.

In terms of web browsing, social media, document editing, emailing, etc. there are no meaningful differences between any of the major operating systems anymore. You may be using a different program to get the job done, and the look and feel of the desktop may be much different, but the functionality is the same.

On top of that, I don't know if you've installed a Windows system recently, but it hasn't gotten any easier. On first boot with almost any hardware, you're left with a system that has only the barest of functionality, and you have to either install mountains of bloatware from the manufacturers install disc for your system, or spend half a day downloading and installing all manor of drivers, add-ons and plug-ins just to reach the level of functionality required by grandparents. A fresh install of Ubuntu takes 15-60 minutes depending on your hardware and whether or not you ask it to download updates as part of the installation process, and is 100% grandparent ready on first boot.


Oh, and dont' worry about disagreeing, or argumentatively agreeing. You were perfectly civil, and civil debate is almost always a good thing.

[Headstrung]

That would be awesome! It looks like the right things are happening.

[techmad]

The fact that steam is coming out on Linux is the best news I've got in ages.

Can't wait to format my Windows drive