Steam Linux Usage Put At 0.6% For September, Contrary To Other Inflated Numbers

[Zan Lynx]

The sad thing is, I know a lot of people using Linux for almost everything else but they all still use Windows for gaming. So I think the important question is, if not even the Linux users play on Linux, how can this ever take off? I guess the only way left is hidden behind a game console with steam.

Well, if we can afford to own a second computer, why NOT use Windows for gaming? It's a better choice. The only reason to use Linux would be to make some kind of point, but who's paying attention?

Plus, anyone working with computers is going to need to deal with Windows at some point in time. Better to make sure you know how to use it so you don't look like an idiot when your uncle or a friend needs some help.

[Guest]

... The only reason to use Linux would be to make some kind of point, but who's paying attention?

Plus, anyone working with computers is going to need to deal with Windows at some point in time. Better to make sure you know how to use it so you don't look like an idiot when your uncle or a friend needs some help.

My worth lies elsewhere, definitely not in assimilation to Windows. And, I really dislike requests to fix friend's computer with cracked Windows, or to install a cracked Windows to their PC.

And, no, the most of the Linux users don't use it to make some kind of point. I just like Linux's architecture, and it offers me all I need, and mainly I like the ideology behind FOSS. Also, I don't like illegal usage of SW. So, paying $90 for M$ Windows (with subjectively worse architecture, and no added value to me) is just not worth it.

[hxfhjkl]

So does anyone actually know anything more than percentages? Is the user base decreasing, is it increasing, but more slowly than windows, how do these numbers come about exactly, is wine counted as linux etc, are devs talking about losing sales on linux etc.?

[schmidtbag]

So does anyone actually know anything more than percentages? Is the user base decreasing, is it increasing, but more slowly than windows, how do these numbers come about exactly, is wine counted as linux etc, are devs talking about losing sales on linux etc.?

To my recollection, Valve sends out 40,000 surveys at random to users when they sign in, and they're voluntary. That being said, we won't be able to know if userbases are increasing or decreasing based on these results.
As has been stated before, Wine doesn't count as Linux.
Valve doesn't appear to keep track of sales, but even if they did, I don't think there's a way to accurately answer your question. All Linux games are compatible with Windows, and many games (even if primarily played in Linux) may have been bought using a non-Linux device, so such numbers would be really skewed.

I would argue that these surveys are really only useful at gauging hardware, but that isn't really true either because Mac users really skew the results, considering they strictly use Intel CPUs (and, most Macs use Intel graphics).

EDIT:
Looking at the graphs, I'm surprised how much AMD CPUs have actually lowered since April. That doesn't sound right.

[Kemosabe]

C'mon. Valve's "surveys" mean a $%1\. There is no information there. We don't even know what kind of randomness decides who gets a survey and who not ...

[muncrief]

I'm sure AMD dropping Linux support cold turkey has affected many people who wanted to play games under Linux. The open source developers have done an admirable job of attempting to develop new drivers, but it's a huge job that looks like it won't be ready for prime time for at least a few more years. Unfortunately since AMD is barely dedicating any resources to help I just can't see it happening any sooner. We already see AMD hardware from just a few years ago being abandoned in desperate attempts to keep up with new hardware, which is a mere harbinger of things to come.

[schmidtbag]

I'm sure AMD dropping Linux support cold turkey has affected many people who wanted to play games under Linux. The open source developers have done an admirable job of attempting to develop new drivers, but it's a huge job that looks like it won't be ready for prime time for at least a few more years. Unfortunately since AMD is barely dedicating any resources to help I just can't see it happening any sooner. We already see AMD hardware from just a few years ago being abandoned in desperate attempts to keep up with new hardware, which is a mere harbinger of things to come.

Uh.... what? Where exactly are you getting that AMD is dropping Linux support? If anything, they've been increasing it.

[Holograph]

The way I see it is this: If you don't mind your personal information leaking to parties that don't need it, you might do things like: Use Windows; Answer the Steam survey

If you don't like your information making its way to third parties - or at least less of it - you might do things like: Use Linux; ignore Steam surveys

I really don't see these numbers as having any meaning at all, and frankly I don't even believe them, even though obviously not all Linux users are gamers. And the way Steam calculates these things is wonky. It seems to only ask a small number of people to take a Steam survey at any given time and a lot of people, especially Linux users, probably say no anyway. And it seems to only give game publishers information based on installations and not actual game time - if you install a game in Windows, the game publisher will be told you are a Windows user, but they will never be given any clue that you may also use Linux, and you may even do more of your gaming on Linux than Windows.

That said, gamers are one group that could be attracted to modern Linux more than a few years ago since game selection and driver quality/speed have gotten much better, even if not yet on par with Windows. So I also wouldn't say that the number of people using platforms like Steam is pointless, but it is somewhat pointless when you can't actually trust the data. People who just do stuff like web browsing could have been using Linux just fine for a while now, while gamers are one group that are only just starting to get better software support.

P.S. AMD has not dropped Linux support... They dropped support for FGLRX, yes, but the radeon and amdgpu kernel drivers + Mesa cover most AMD users that would game, and they are working on Vega support. The past year has seen a lot of improvement for them.

[ZeroPointEnergy]

Well, if we can afford to own a second computer, why NOT use Windows for gaming? It's a better choice. The only reason to use Linux would be to make some kind of point, but who's paying attention?

Plus, anyone working with computers is going to need to deal with Windows at some point in time. Better to make sure you know how to use it so you don't look like an idiot when your uncle or a friend needs some help.

Seriously, I rather look like an idiot than to fix Windows no matter whose PC it is. I will gladly install and support Linux if they can live with that, I have no obligation and would actually feel pretty bad to support an OS I think is basically malware. I use Linux exclusively at work and for everything else and have no problem doing so.

As for the "no one pays attention", yes they do, and the very topic this thread is about is prove of it. So if you are a Linux user and use Windows you basically are -1 for Linux and +1 for Windows.

[e8hffff]

I'm sure AMD dropping Linux support cold turkey has affected many people who wanted to play games under Linux. The open source developers have done an admirable job of attempting to develop new drivers, but it's a huge job that looks like it won't be ready for prime time for at least a few more years. Unfortunately since AMD is barely dedicating any resources to help I just can't see it happening any sooner. We already see AMD hardware from just a few years ago being abandoned in desperate attempts to keep up with new hardware, which is a mere harbinger of things to come.

Same here. I can't play Divinity over Steam as Intel's graphics drivers don't support the modes needed by the game, even though they do in Windows version.