Does Steam work on Linux?

[epipslab]

Can I run Steam and all their games on Linux or do I need Windows?

 

[Pinhedd]

There is a version of Steam for several Linux distributions including Ubuntu and Fedora. Only games that support Linux explicitly will work through Steam on Linux, but some games may be playable through WINE.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

You can run Steam and a lot of games on Linux. I don't believe all games work but you can find out more here.

http://steamcommunity.com/linux

 

[Ijack]

Supposedly, but I've never managed to get it to work on my Fedora install. It keeps failing to connect to the Steam server. I'm sure it's something simple, but as only 1 of the 18 games I have purchased from Steam work on Linux it's not a priority.

More work on the client, and more supported games, needed before it's ready for the big time.

 

[stillblue]

Not all but some and the number grows. As the new steam game box is going to run on Linux one would expect all to eventually be ported to Linux and definitely all of the new ones. Will they port to Linux before Windows in the future to encourage you to buy their hardware, we'll see.

 

[Ijack]

I think that a distinction needs to be made between games published by Steam and thse sold by Steam. I have bought 18 games on Steam, but none of them were published by Steam.

I expect all future Steam-published games to run on Linux - or, rather, Steam's version of Linux; I don't think there is much prospect that many games from other publishers will run on Linux in the foreseeable future. (And, as an aside, I can't see the Steam Game Box being a success.)

 

[8350rocks]

Well, if MANTLE takes off and gathers enough support for NVidia to adopt it as well, then likely something on the order of 30 minutes worth of coding to slightly alter the DX HLSL code would be sufficient to port all games to OSX and Linux.

 

[Ijack]

I can't help but feel that it would take more than 30 minutes to alter all of the code - graphical and non-graphical - and thoroughly test the game on all common varieties of Linux. Visual C++, which I guess most games developers use, and GCC are not completely compatible.

 

[8350rocks]

I can't help but feel that it would take more than 30 minutes to alter all of the code - graphical and non-graphical - and thoroughly test the game on all common varieties of Linux. Visual C++, which I guess most games developers use, and GCC are not completely compatible.

Well, the language DX uses, HLSL, (which is the main issue in function of games, no compatibility), is the same language you use for MANTLE.

So, while you might make some odds and ends edits for the actual game code itself, the entire graphics code and instructions can be retained and recompiled to work in MANTLE with little effort. (The rest would be comparatively easy, as opposed to trying to code the graphics/sound/etc APIs twice for OpenGL and DX)

 

[Ijack]

Well, i look forward to all those Linux games from the big games companies. But until that happens I'm afraid that I'll reserve my judgement.

 

[8350rocks]

Well, i look forward to all those Linux games from the big games companies. But until that happens I'm afraid that I'll reserve my judgement.

That's a very fair position to take.

Though, I remain optimistic, for example, BF4 could very easily be made to run on Linux with MANTLE for the native drivers...WINE/PoL will have an easy time getting any games to run on Linux that supports MANTLE if you have a MANTLE compatible card (even if some of the big AAA titles do not come to Linux up front).

EDIT: Just to add in a tad more here, many game developers would like to divorce their favorite API features from the highly proprietary, and heavily integrated, world of windows.

For example EA had the Origin software written in QT, they could have chosen a number of languages to do that; however, QT is easily portable to numerous platforms.

 

[Ijack]

My opinions are perhaps coloured by my experience of the Steam client on Linux. I'm not exactly a newcomer to Linux (my first install used a 0.9 something kernel, and I compile kernels and userland programs on a very regular basis) but I couldn't get it to download a game at a first attempt. So what chance is the average Joe going to have.

However much you might hate Windows, the experience of installing programs - particularly games - is a pretty seamless one. Until Linux reaches that level of user-friendliness I can't see it making it as a gaming platform. I think the fractured nature of Linux - the number of different distributions each with their own different level of things like the standard C library - is a big problem here. OS X is a much more coherent platform than Linux and enjoys a level of support and restricted hardware choice that should make it a dream for programmers. Yet look at the state of games on OS X; it sucks compared to Windows.

The only serious attempt that I see so far to produce a coherent games platform using Linux is the Steam Game Box, which turns out to be a high-end PC that is probably going to be even more expensive than the average Mac - and that's saying something. Why would people go for that rather than an XBox One or a PS4 where for a much lesser outlay you can have access to a huge selection of games, plus all the media centre aspects they offer? I'm not convinced that whether the platform is open or not matters much to the average man or woman in the street.

So, in answer to the OP "Can I run Steam and all their games on Linux or do I need Windows?" the answer is, very definitely, "You need Windows".

 

[epipslab]

[So, in answer to the OP "Can I run Steam and all their games on Linux or do I need Windows?" the answer is, very definitely, "You need Windows".[/quotemsg]

Alright that sounds good. I just was wondering because I didn't want to pay $90 for windows.

 

[8350rocks]

Well, keep in mind, Steam was designed primarily around Debian Stable and Ubuntu, so other Linux OS will take some work to get the platform to function. Though I will download Steam to my Ubuntu install tonight and see what I can make of it.

 

[skittle]

My opinions are perhaps coloured by my experience of the Steam client on Linux. I'm not exactly a newcomer to Linux (my first install used a 0.9 something kernel, and I compile kernels and userland programs on a very regular basis) but I couldn't get it to download a game at a first attempt. So what chance is the average Joe going to have.

However much you might hate Windows, the experience of installing programs - particularly games - is a pretty seamless one. Until Linux reaches that level of user-friendliness I can't see it making it as a gaming platform. I think the fractured nature of Linux - the number of different distributions each with their own different level of things like the standard C library - is a big problem here. OS X is a much more coherent platform than Linux and enjoys a level of support and restricted hardware choice that should make it a dream for programmers. Yet look at the state of games on OS X; it sucks compared to Windows.

The only serious attempt that I see so far to produce a coherent games platform using Linux is the Steam Game Box, which turns out to be a high-end PC that is probably going to be even more expensive than the average Mac - and that's saying something. Why would people go for that rather than an XBox One or a PS4 where for a much lesser outlay you can have access to a huge selection of games, plus all the media centre aspects they offer? I'm not convinced that whether the platform is open or not matters much to the average man or woman in the street.

So, in answer to the OP "Can I run Steam and all their games on Linux or do I need Windows?" the answer is, very definitely, "You need Windows".

There won't be just one SteamBox. Valve has built SteamOS and other hardware manufactures can make 3rd party SteamBox. Alternatively you can build a PC your self and run SteamOS on it.
Leads to lots of choices and varying price levels as opposed to xbox/ps4. Installing games in SteamOS will be as seamless as it is in Windows.
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamMachines/
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/

Also the steam controller is badass
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamController/

 

[Ijack]

I don't think that we can really say how many Steam Boxes there will be, or how much they may cost, until they actually appear. All we can comment on is what has been announced. And even that is speculation - the history of computing is littered with vapourware.