Steam On Linux Still Tap Dancing Around 0.9% Marketshare

[mppix]

Linux is never going to make a significant dent in the Windows gaming/Steam ecosystem until Linux users have a reliable way to get he latest graphics drivers (regardless of their Linux version/distribution) and hence for graphics card manufacturers to actually be able to quickly fix their graphics drivers without needing to go through Linux kernel maintainers.

This is why the majority of people game on Windows and not on Linux, Linux is way too monolithic and inflexible for the gaming ecosystem. Games are complex and being able to deliver fixes quickly (regardless of the environment that the user is running in) is of critical importance.

The (GPU) driver handling (and implementations) are certainly better on Linux vs Win. Who wants to manually maintain a driver?
And if anything, only Nvidia drivers come with a gotchas on Linux. Who should we blame?

[mozo]

grandmas do not install or maintain it which makes this statement false.

Grandmas do not install or maintain Windows either.

[avem]

The (GPU) driver handling (and implementations) are certainly better on Linux vs Win. Who wants to manually maintain a driver?
And if anything, only Nvidia drivers come with a gotchas on Linux. Who should we blame?

This is simply not true.

Under Windows you can choose any version of drivers to install. You can even update them on the fly in the case of NVIDIA (AMD for some reasons always requires a reboot. sometimes even two, Intel also requires a reboot).

Under Linux Mesa and the kernel are tied to your disto updates cadence and absolute most users have no expertise to install the version of drivers (mesa/kernel) they actually need. And then debugging what works and what doesn't under Linux is a PITA.

[avem]

Grandmas do not install or maintain Windows either.

Windows is a breeze to install and I've seen non-IT people do that without any issues as long as you hand them a USB flash drive.

[ServerGarbage]

Unfortunately I got mine just yesterday. But rest assured: This "something's fishy" argument has been around since the dawn of Steam on Linux.

What distro do you use? I said something strange is happening too but I don't think it's some kind of conspiracy. It could be just a bug on many pieces of software, or it even could be i'm just a stupid human falling on my bias.

[BesiegedAce]

so why Valve inc. is still pushing so much effort for linux support?

It's a long term plan. Good insurance for when Windows really shits the bed for good. Whenever that'll be. Plus it's not like they have to answer to shareholders or are hurting for cash.

why? Valve makes money with linux gaming, 0.9 is likely millions of profit every year and a alternative if something goes wrong with windows and mac(this is only a matter of time to stop having steam).

This too. People see '0.9%' and think "oh that's barely anything." They don't realize that Steam's active userbase is massive. 0.9% of 100 million is still almost a million users.

[mdedetrich]

The (GPU) driver handling (and implementations) are certainly better on Linux vs Win. Who wants to manually maintain a driver?
And if anything, only Nvidia drivers come with a gotchas on Linux. Who should we blame?

You clearly haven't played any recently released AAA games on Linux. Its not uncommon that Linux can only handle such games after they have been worked on/patched in Wine/Proton and until everyone finally moves to a newer kernel that can run the game well because they need the latest in tree graphics driver.

On windows you just go to NVidia/AMD and download/update the latest driver (in fact both of these companies have drivers that also auto check for updates).

The context of the thread/article is not about basic desktop environments where someone is just using a browser (and even that has problems, wayland/pipewire anyone?)

[mozo]

Windows is a breeze to install and I've seen non-IT people do that without any issues as long as you hand them a USB flash drive.

Linux is far more easier to install. And without a single restart. Windows is a mess, do not advertise this garbage heap here.

[mdedetrich]

Linux is far more easier to install. And without a single restart. Windows is a mess, do not advertise this garbage heap here.

Yeah with laptops (and even desktop motherboards now) having Secure Boot enabled by default (plus typically need some other bios settings, i.e. sleep style for Lenovo laptops) this is complete crap.

Install Arch, it's flexible enough. I have being gaming for 15 years on Linux, the experience is great.

You missed the whole "regardless of distribution part" (and I do run arch/Manjaro btw)

[Tuxee]

What distro do you use? I said something strange is happening too but I don't think it's some kind of conspiracy. It could be just a bug on many pieces of software, or it even could be i'm just a stupid human falling on my bias.

Ubuntu. Since Steam started - 8+ years ago - I got the survey maybe 20 times. I do log in frequently. Not every day, but nearly.