There's Now More Than 1,100 Games On Steam For Linux

[Xaero_Vincent]

So how many games will stop working on distros shipping GCC 5.1 with the new liibstdc++ ABI enabled and all core components linking to this compiled with the new ABI? Especially considering you have to delete the libstdc++ from the Steam Runtime on many modern distros because it conflicts with the system-wide installed one. I've read that Fedora 23 and Ubuntu 15.10 plan to recompile all their C++-based packages or even all their packages with GCC 5.1 with the new ABI enabled, if applicable.

If problems do occur, I cannot imagine that all or even many of these Steam game developers will try recompiling their games to work with GCC 5.1 because that would break compatability with the older distros used as a minimum requirement for games. I'm hoping things just continue to magically work but I'm not so sure, seeing the conflicts that already exist with the Steam Runtime libs in modern distros.

Could Docker be a solution here?

Perhaps run Debian Wheezy-based SteamOS inside a Docker container on-top of a GCC 5.1 enabled distros?

https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/tianon/steamos/

https://maci0.wordpress.com/2014/05/...am-pidgin-vlc/

couldn?t steam runtime just add gcc and libstdc++ 4.8 and the stuff thats connected with it?

The Steam Runtime has those libraries but the problem is that they conflict.

On Archlinux, I frequently need to run this command to delete certain files from the Steam Runtime, just for Steam to launch with proper 3D accelerated direct rendering:

find ~/.steam/root/ \( -name "libgcc_s.so*" -o -name "libstdc++.so*" -o -name "libxcb.so*" \) -print -delete

I've also had to do this with some older games outside of Steam as well, for instance the very old binary version of Quake 4 Demo included an old libstdc++ library and the game crashes with a segmentation fault until I delete that and use the GCC 4.x system-wide version.

[Passso]

So how many games will stop working on distros shipping GCC 5.1 with the new liibstdc++ ABI enabled and all core components linking to this compiled with the new ABI? Especially considering you have to delete the libstdc++ from the Steam Runtime on many modern distros because it conflicts with the system-wide installed one. I've read that Fedora 23 and Ubuntu 15.10 plan to recompile all their C++-based packages or even all their packages with GCC 5.1 with the new ABI enabled, if applicable.

If problems do occur, I cannot imagine that all or even many of these Steam game developers will try recompiling their games to work with GCC 5.1 because that would break compatability with the older distros used as a minimum requirement for games. I'm hoping things just continue to magically work but I'm not so sure, seeing the conflicts that already exist with the Steam Runtime libs in modern distros.

Could Docker be a solution here?

Perhaps run Debian Wheezy-based SteamOS inside a Docker container on-top of a GCC 5.1 enabled distros?

https://registry.hub.docker.com/u/tianon/steamos/
https://maci0.wordpress.com/2014/05/...am-pidgin-vlc/

I suppose you imagine a future mess, but it is Valve's work to prevent that.
So if you stick to LTS like Ubuntu 14.04 / 16.04 or OpenSuse 13.1 / 14.1 etc. you will probably never see those bugs happening.

[Xaero_Vincent]

I suppose you imagine a future mess, but it is Valve's work to prevent that.
So if you stick to LTS like Ubuntu 14.04 / 16.04 or OpenSuse 13.1 / 14.1 etc. you will probably never see those bugs happening.

If GCC 5.x ends up breaking stuff, then sticking to an LTS distro will only prolong things. 16.04 will certainly have GCC 5.x as will any future distros.

Valve tries to make the Steam Runtime a solution but it isn't perfect as we can tell and Valve's official response is this:

If you are running another distrubiton of Linux we will be unable to offer support as these are not officially supported. If you are having trouble running Steam for Linux on another distribution we recommend switching to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or 12.10 with the Unity, Gnome, or KDE desktop.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1504-QHXN-8366

[tomtomme]

The Steam Runtime has those libraries but the problem is that they conflict.

On Archlinux, I frequently need to run this command to delete certain files from the Steam Runtime, just for Steam to launch with proper 3D accelerated direct rendering:

find ~/.steam/root/ \( -name "libgcc_s.so*" -o -name "libstdc++.so*" -o -name "libxcb.so*" \) -print -delete

I've also had to do this with some older games outside of Steam as well, for instance the very old binary version of Quake 4 Demo included an old libstdc++ library and the game crashes with a segmentation fault until I delete that and use the GCC 4.x system-wide version.

steam-runtime bundles gcc? are you sure? I thought it bundles only those libs you mention above and those conflict with your local gcc - if that is newer

[Passso]

If GCC 5.x ends up breaking stuff, then sticking to an LTS distro will only prolong things. 16.04 will certainly have GCC 5.x as will any future distros.

Valve tries to make the Steam Runtime a solution but it isn't perfect as we can tell and Valve's official response is this:

If you are running another distrubiton of Linux we will be unable to offer support as these are not officially supported. If you are having trouble running Steam for Linux on another distribution we recommend switching to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS or 12.10 with the Unity, Gnome, or KDE desktop.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...1504-QHXN-8366

If some games need gcc X then Valve will ship a version of gcc X with Steam or require an additional package like all software maintainer do... I really see no problem with that.

I bet they forgot to update their article as 95% of their 12.04 users already switched to 14.04 or more, and Steam keeps working well for them

[Xaero_Vincent]

steam-runtime bundles gcc? are you sure? I thought it bundles only those libs you mention above and those conflict with your local gcc - if that is newer

I'm not exactly sure what is all bundled but Steam Runtime is essentially a very stripped down version of Ubuntu 12.04 from my understanding.

[r3pek]

The Steam Runtime has those libraries but the problem is that they conflict.

On Archlinux, I frequently need to run this command to delete certain files from the Steam Runtime, just for Steam to launch with proper 3D accelerated direct rendering:

find ~/.steam/root/ \( -name "libgcc_s.so*" -o -name "libstdc++.so*" -o -name "libxcb.so*" \) -print -delete

I've also had to do this with some older games outside of Steam as well, for instance the very old binary version of Quake 4 Demo included an old libstdc++ library and the game crashes with a segmentation fault until I delete that and use the GCC 4.x system-wide version.

I also use ArchLinux, and you know what? I *never* used that command before. Just pacman -S steam and that's it. I do use the BETA Steam.

[carewolf]

couldn?t steam runtime just add gcc and libstdc++ 4.8 and the stuff thats connected with it?

It already has those, but some people are deleting it. Anyway it doesnt matter the new libstdc++ is dual ABI.

[Calinou]

What game(s) are you hoping to see on Linux next?

More games that respect user freedom, both for code and game data. Like 0 A.D. and Xonotic.

[smitty3268]

Right now, most distros are in the process of f*cking up libstdc++ backwards compatibility. You know, because GCC developers couldn't find a better way to introduce the new features of GCC 5.1. Isn't it amazing when the developers of core Linux userspace components (glibc and libstdc++) don't give a damn about compatibility.

Do you have proof about this, or are you just wildly accusing people of crap you don't understand here?

libstdc++ is VERSIONED, which means that unless they are doing something stupid (and i haven't looked into it, so tell me if they are) all old binary applications should still work perfectly fine. Because they'll link to the old version (.so.1) while new apps compiled with the new libs will link to the new version (.so.2)