Steam Linux Usage Reportedly Hits 0.33% For March

[caligula]

And ignoring consoles for a minute: Developers create an application, they support it as necessary to add content and remove bugs. At that point, there shouldn't be any need to continue supporting it; it already works.

That assumption is false. It may work for some users with some configurations, but there will be new software and hardware generations which will be incompatible. I've never heard of bug free programs and if I ever needed to sort apps based on their bug counts, the games would suck bad on that list. There's plenty of technical debt as the time to market is much more critical than with traditional useful software.

This is one area where Linux design philosophy is simply WRONG; changes to the underlying kernel or its libraries should not result in developers needing to recompile/redesign working codebases.

On the contrary, the open source model enables full support for applications for decades. I can use all sorts of stuff from 1980s. Windows binary apps are totally broken beyond all help after few years. Luckily the users are quite comfortable with that.

[azdaha]

Most of the major home consoles going back to the Atari 2600 have been backward compatible. The main exceptions are the N64 (which hardware was was "unique"), the first two XBOXs (due to going from x86 to PPC back to x86 again), and the PS3 (another "unique" piece of hardware). [Note the SNES was fully backward compatible with NES games, but no converter was ever made by Nintendo.]

And ignoring consoles for a minute: Developers create an application, they support it as necessary to add content and remove bugs. At that point, there shouldn't be any need to continue supporting it; it already works. This is one area where Linux design philosophy is simply WRONG; changes to the underlying kernel or its libraries should not result in developers needing to recompile/redesign working codebases.

Reminds me of the difference between European roads and US roads/infrastructure.
Autobahn --> multiple layers of concrete; continuing, exhaustive inspections; maintenance occurs immediately
US --> Lower quality materials/design; maintenance checks frequency lower; remove and replace

[fuzz]

Reminds me of the difference between European roads and US roads/infrastructure.
Autobahn --> multiple layers of concrete; continuing, exhaustive inspections; maintenance occurs immediately
US --> Lower quality materials/design; maintenance checks frequency lower; remove and replace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_road_network_size

Feel free to help pay for more infrastructure.

[azdaha]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_road_network_size

Feel free to help pay for more infrastructure.

At the risk of indulging an irrelevant discussion, which had been only referenced as a metaphor, I have to point out that you should look at the national GDP and under-taxed personal/corporate wealth of USA when compared to those countries before pointing to their road network size.