Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Steam Linux Usage Was Up Slightly In June

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • #11
    Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
    They don't know enough or at all about "my" political movement, but if you look at issues related to privacy, DRM, and ownership of data, you find the "most users", and definitely many gamers, care a lot. I think that if users were more informed about what's at stake in the free software movement then they would find a compelling reason to switch to free software.

    Otherwise, why prefer Linux at all? Why is Steam pushing for it?

    A "reality check" is just a picture of the current situation, but what's at stake is a future reality that none of us can see.
    why do you think valve is pushing for steam on linux? the reason is quite obvious here - not to be dependant on any closed os. apple and ms are on the road to close the os to the point where you'll be only able to install stuff from their private online distribution stores. we all should be happy, valve is in fact pushing for the change - as they are the only ones that can promote the linux platform to general consumers. right now, weren't it for the many apps that do not have a linux counterpart - people (in my humble opionion) do not have a valid reason to stay and use windows. in fact, i proved this migrating the computer of my father in law to a kde desktop (ubuntu based, although i'm thinking about reinstalling it with debian right now) - he never noticed the change.

    it's just common ignorance (or actually not ignorance but unawareness) that pushes people to use windows, whereas the common folks could in fact use linux.

    it's just the gamers and people dependant on windows software (most of which runs in wine just fine), that are left with less options.

    on a side note - general folks don't care about political reasons to use linux over windows. if they can get the same experience and have someone to take care about the problems they might encounter during the switch - it does not matter wether it's linux or windows.

    what i'm trying to say is: give them the same or at least very close experience to what they have on windows - and they don't mind using whatever you throw at them.

    that said - thank you valve for pushing for more general adoption - gamers will switch sooner or later.
    Last edited by arabek; 03 July 2014, 06:08 AM.

    Comment


    • #12
      Originally posted by arabek View Post
      what i'm trying to say is: give them the same or at least very close experience to what they have on windows - and they don't mind using whatever you throw at them.
      But notice something strange about this logic: if the experience is the same as in Windows, then there is absolutely zero motivation to switch. Why fix what ain't broken?

      The only truly compelling reason to switch is if people realize that there is something *seriously broken* with Windows (and with MacOS): that these operating systems are maintained by companies who do not have the best interests of their customers in mind, in terms of freedoms to install what they wish and verify that they are not being spied upon.

      Comment


      • #13
        Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
        They don't know enough or at all about "my" political movement, but if you look at issues related to privacy, DRM, and ownership of data, you find the "most users", and definitely many gamers, care a lot. I think that if users were more informed about what's at stake in the free software movement then they would find a compelling reason to switch to free software.
        No, no they wouldn't actually. If that was the case Facebook and G+ would have died by now. Guess what hasn't happened? The fact is that as long as something isn't directly harming them in an obvious manner and in a continuous or at the very least consistent manner then they don't actually care. For pretty much as long as the internet has been around comments have been made about the NSA reading everyone's emails however once we found out they actually were has the average person actually done anything? the answer is a resounding no. Why? Because in reality the average person doesn't actually care. It doesn't directly harm them in a way they can see. Should they care? probably yes, but should has never been the same as what really happens.

        Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
        Otherwise, why prefer Linux at all?
        I don't know about you but I use it for pragmatic technical reasons of it, and more particularly KDE being better for my needs than what windows provides me. I'm considering switching to FreeBSD (or more particularly PC-BSD) because of pragmatic points like far better documentation (and I've yet to confirm it but the sound systems are supposed to be much better)

        Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
        Why is Steam pushing for it?
        Two words: Windows Store. They're trying to avoid a future where users go to the windows store for buying games and apps as opposed to them and other digital distribution services.

        Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
        A "reality check" is just a picture of the current situation, but what's at stake is a future reality that none of us can see.
        So you want to play the "What if" game, you go have fun with that.

        Comment


        • #14
          Originally posted by Luke_Wolf View Post
          No, no they wouldn't actually. If that was the case Facebook and G+ would have died by now. Guess what hasn't happened?
          Google plus is dead, the only reason it has so many users is because you are forced into having an account via your Google account for their SEO.

          Comment


          • #15
            As Emblemparade said, if Microsoft Office is so important to someone to the point of stopping his moves, he can install Crossover Office (it's really a Wine) and use it. If they are able to install Microsoft Office, they are able to install Crossover Office. And yes, it works.

            Comment


            • #16
              Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
              But notice something strange about this logic: if the experience is the same as in Windows, then there is absolutely zero motivation to switch. Why fix what ain't broken?

              The only truly compelling reason to switch is if people realize that there is something *seriously broken* with Windows (and with MacOS): that these operating systems are maintained by companies who do not have the best interests of their customers in mind, in terms of freedoms to install what they wish and verify that they are not being spied upon.
              I think you are missing the point here. Who is going to educate those people? Microsoft? Apple? Why should they do that?

              It's up to us to actually make that change happen. People don't care if it's broken. I heard stories of people reinstalling their windows instances each 3-6 months - they didn't quite catch, that it's broken by design.

              Comment


              • #17
                People can call it "political" but a lot of people (and governments) realize that big companies like Microsoft are there to earn money, if they benefit from promoting vendor-lockins and closed file formats, DRMs, leaving you with low-quality stalled software (IE, MS-DOS, etc.) for years, they will do this way, getting money from people and some governments, and spending less. They are there for that, not for you. If they earn money changing interfaces (ribbon, Windows 8, control panels, etc.), they do it this way (altough the productivity of people will get reduced). Pragmatical people end up realizing that.

                Comment


                • #18
                  Originally posted by Nth_man View Post
                  People can call it "political" but a lot of people (and governments) realize that big companies like Microsoft are there to earn money, if they benefit from promoting vendor-lockins and closed file formats, DRMs, leaving you with low-quality stalled software (IE, MS-DOS, etc.) for years, they will do this way, getting money from people and some governments, and spending less. They are there for that, not for you. If they earn money changing interfaces (ribbon, Windows 8, control panels, etc.), they do it this way (altough the productivity of people will get reduced). Pragmatical people end up realizing that.
                  all I've got to say to this is

                  and that people really don't care, they just want something that works with what they have for minimal effort *now*.

                  Comment


                  • #19
                    Yes, Luke_Wolf, you are right, most of people think this way. Later they are prey of thief vendors that think long-term, that use low-cost entries, big-cost maintenances, low quality later, big-cost exits, planned obsolescence, etc. (a clear example is drug dealers that offer the first dose "for free" and win more money this way) because their target doesn't think about the future :-(

                    Comment


                    • #20
                      Originally posted by Luke_Wolf View Post
                      To you maybe, but reality check most users don't care about your political movement, what they want is for the OS to work with the apps they want to use. For gamers what this means is that most of their games need to be available through either steam or GOG for the platform to even be considered. No support? No dice. WINE still isn't an answer because it's a far from perfect solution.

                      The average user is, on the other hand, not confident enough to install an operating system. To them the computer is a magical black box and they're too afraid of breaking something to even consider such a thing. Unless linux boxes start showing up pre-installed, they're not going to try it. Further unless WINE is preinstalled, and there's an Intro Tutorial explaining to them that this is not windows and does not operate like windows (and most importantly that you get applications from the package manager not off random sites on the internet) they're not going to be happy.
                      He already covered practically everything you just said, you're pretty much just being a troll...

                      Originally posted by emblemparade View Post
                      But notice something strange about this logic: if the experience is the same as in Windows, then there is absolutely zero motivation to switch. Why fix what ain't broken?

                      The only truly compelling reason to switch is if people realize that there is something *seriously broken* with Windows (and with MacOS): that these operating systems are maintained by companies who do not have the best interests of their customers in mind, in terms of freedoms to install what they wish and verify that they are not being spied upon.
                      Not only are the broken in the freedom aspect (MacOS seems to be more so, not sure), but Windows has routinely shown it is fundamentally broken with the litany of viruses it gets, requiring defragmentation, unnecessary interface changes just to stay appealing (didn't really work for 8 though), and just being a general pile of rubbish. The only thing Windows has going for it is dominance, but that doesn't say much about the OS itself, just the marketing.

                      For anyone that wants a good source of arguments for using GNU/Linux (or really anything besides Windows, like one of the many BSDs): http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X