Steam for Linux: A consumers thoughts

Yay, let the Windows unshackling begin

Games really are the biggest reason I stick to Windows. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Windows. 3.11, 95, 98, 2000, XP, 7. I have been a PC gamer for two thirds of my life, and by being a PC gamer, I mean being a Windows gamer. But over the past decade I have tried to dual-boot Windows/Linux several times. But I always end up nuking the Linux install for the simple reason that there is nothing I want to do that I can do in Linux, but cannot do in Windows. Word processing? Programming? Web browsing? Most of the time I just download the Windows binary of the same open source tools I would use if I was working under Linux.

So why do I keep paying for Windows when all the stuff I use is also compiled for Linux? Because... games. Because… I lied. All the stuff I use is not available for Linux. Dawn of War? Borderlands? Rome: Total War? Mass Effect? Anything by Paradox Interactive? Anything by Valve? Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope, Nope, and Nope. You get the idea.

But I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. I assume that there are plenty of people out there that feel the same way. We want to use Linux, but gaming keeps us tied to Windows.

Steam'd Penguins

But that is the past, things change. Today Valve officially announced the development of Steam for Linux. Sure, it will be awhile before I can install Ubuntu and "sudo apt-get install steam" (See: Valve time™) but a start is a start. And where Steam goes, so does the Source engine. In a couple of years time I will be able to fire up Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, and CS:GO. I will no longer have to justify an install of Linux as a second OS, I will have to justify an install of Windows as my second OS.

The only problem is major publishers are unlikely to support Linux any time soon, even if the Steam user base is there. But I find myself buying less and less from the majors, and more and more from the indies and smaller/mid sized outfits that would follow the expanding Steam market to Linux. And I have a console for the rest. Sure, it'll take aaaggggeesss, but with Valve moving, Linux gaming has an actual chance to be a market force, not just something that indies support for a slightly larger market/geek cred.

Plus, smart long term business planning on Valves part. I haven't really followed Windows 8 at all, but I think I am correct in assuming that MS wants to introduce a Windows Store. So Windows Store + the Mac store + the rise of the Mac vs. Windows = major long term threat to Valve. Valve will want to move gamers to an OS that is not controlled by a company that wants to eat Valve's lunch.