Steam Linux Usage Increases Slightly, Still Below 1%

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Steam Linux Usage Increases Slightly, Still Below 1%

The 2015 October Steam Hardware/Software survey results are now available. While Steam Machines with SteamOS are just days away from launching, right now the Linux gaming market-share is reported at under 1%...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Steam-Linux-Oct2015-Survey

[Creak]

I had my first Steam survey on Linux yesterday!

But it seems weird though... I spent 5 hours on Windows (at work) with Steam and had already 2 surveys, and I spent around 150 hours on Linux with Steam and just had my first survey.

I don't know, maybe I'm very unlucky...

[CapsAdmin]

I had my first Steam survey on Linux yesterday!

But it seems weird though... I spent 5 hours on Windows (at work) with Steam and had already 2 surveys, and I spent around 150 hours on Linux with Steam and just had my first survey.

I don't know, maybe I'm very unlucky...

Yeah I've been using kubuntu as my main os for a while now and I've installed steam on my laptops and my main but I have yet to see any survey. However I've seen the survey multiple times using windows in virtualbox or when booting to windows to do something windows specific.

[blackiwid]

if that numbers are right, and not wrong because of problems like Creak suggests. I think in 1 year Steammachines will be the number 2 on that list right behind windows. Depends a bit on the rollout of course, if they sell the steammachines on our big elektronic markets, what I guess they will do, it will in my estimation be a big success.

Maybe not in germany, we will see, people here seem often to "be cheap". On the other hand in computer forums ofter are 100% of people that build their pcs by their self, there a steammachine can never compete, but that is not representative for the masses

[uid313]

Valve should pre-release their games as open beta for the Linux platform before they launch the title on Windows.

Linux users are good at testing, writing detailed bug reports, with step-by-step instructions how to reproduce bugs, attach screenshots, etc and are familiar with bug management and bug tracking systems such as Bugzilla, Launchpad and GitHub. Many have familiarity with debuggers too.

[icewater]

Just an interpretive perspective here on the "slight increase" in Linux usage, and what it actually means to market share, using myself as the example.

I will not use Windows, and since higher-tier gaming has always lagged behind (sometimes way behind) on Linux, I basically gave up gaming when I went to Linux exclusively.

However, now that Valve has made a commitment of sorts to champion the cause, I'm back in. Since I'm essentially new to gaming, my tiny numerical contribution to the "slight increase" number actually represents a significant outlay of cash into the market. I bought a Linux gaming computer (Steam Machine), and I'm building up an entire library of newly-purchased games.

On a somewhat related note, I would not have bought a UHD TV if I hadn't gotten into gaming again.

Just saying that an economic analysis of the impact of viable Linux gaming should include some weighting of the numbers financially.

[Hedaja]

I had my first Steam survey on Linux yesterday!

But it seems weird though... I spent 5 hours on Windows (at work) with Steam and had already 2 surveys, and I spent around 150 hours on Linux with Steam and just had my first survey.

I don't know, maybe I'm very unlucky...

I have seen the same behavior on my machine too. In windows I get survey almost every time i log into steam (not that often anymore) and under Linux I think I have never seen one.
If Steam is really basing their numbers on these surveys than the Linux numbers should be quite a bit higher. Maybe it's some kind of marketing trick (sending out very few surveys to Linux users and than after the release of the steam machines doing an equal amount for Windows and Linux so that the Linux number jumps up). Okay I think I'm getting too much into conspiracy theories. But it would still be interesting how Steam calculates these numbers

[torsionbar28]

I never understood the function of the Steam Survey for evaluating OS distribution. Can't they read the OS on each client login, and use that for their statistics? Why the elaborate hardware survey, just to capture client OS name? Heck, a simple web browser string gives a webmaster data on all his visitors OS, you'd think a custom client like Steam would be reporting this info automatically.

[schmidtbag]

I never understood the function of the Steam Survey for evaluating OS distribution. Can't they read the OS on each client login, and use that for their statistics? Why the elaborate hardware survey, just to capture client OS name? Heck, a simple web browser string gives a webmaster data on all his visitors OS, you'd think a custom client like Steam would be reporting this info automatically.

There's some information they aren't able to collect, such as network speed or whether you use a microphone. I think they could just read the data from each client login but then there's going to be those whiny tinfoil hatters who claim their privacy is being invaded. So, it's easier to just take a random sample of people who log in and just ask them if they want to be surveyed.

[torsionbar28]

There's some information they aren't able to collect, such as network speed or whether you use a microphone. I think they could just read the data from each client login but then there's going to be those whiny tinfoil hatters who claim their privacy is being invaded. So, it's easier to just take a random sample of people who log in and just ask them if they want to be surveyed.

For gathering information about a user's hardware, cpu and gpu models, etc, I agree with your assertions.

But that doesn't really make sense for simply discerning Windows vs. Linux vs. OSX. Again, every webmaster on earth gets that data from the browser string. Michael here on Phoronix can tell us exactly how many people visit his web site from Windows vs. Linux vs. OSX vs. whatever, and nobody is crying tinfoil hat, it's an accepted practice. Plus the fact that Steam has an in-built web browser, for browsing the Steam store, so it should have this capability inherently, without some manual "survey".