It’s kind of weird that Gabe Newell et al shows this much support and appreciation for the long term future than most of the people from his generation, referring more to when he entered the industry than when he was born. In theory, he could profit more in the now instead of investing in a future he might not be around to enjoy, but instead chose the high road.
It’s also kind of weird that a person not being scum in a position of power is weird to me. Pretty low standard we’ve set for humanity.
I’m not trying to hate on Gabe Newell or Valve or anything (and not to say that it isn’t a pretty objectively win-win) but I think there’s some pretty easily explainable motivation behind this that isn’t just “out of the kindness of their hearts”
I think the product they intend to sell is actually the software and services (there’s a reason the Deck seems to be sold basically at cost), they’re betting on these PC-based portable gaming devices taking off and being a viable segment of the market that other hardware companies will want to invest into, and if they do, what highly functional and easy to integrate (since it’s all open source) operating system (and its subsequent game store integration) might they be more likely to use?
And why push upstream? They’re by far the largest PC games provider, so more games running on more (Linux) devices can only really serve to financially benefit them
So if Gabe suceeds, we get a gaming ecosystem with different hardware sellers, all using a platform that other software sellers are not blocked from using (Linux)? And the only reason Valve wins, is because they invested into providing the best possible distribution platform on Linux?
This does not make them evil by any standard I know. It just sounds like a solid long term business plan.
I cant even tell Steam Deck is Linux, it actually runs really well.
Oof
Right in the feels
Yeah. There are a few things like that. Other than catching the but screen you’d never know what OS is under the hood
This is the best summary I could come up with:
This shouldn’t come as any surprise to any longtime Phoronix readers and dedicated open-source/Linux enthusiasts, but Valve with their work on the Steam Deck and SteamOS have been lifting the open-source ecosystem as a whole.
A talk this week at the Linux Foundation Europe’s Open-Source Summit highlighted some of the great and ongoing contributions by Valve and their partners.
Alberto Garcia of the open-source consulting firm Igalia, which continues to collaborate with Valve on some of these Linux ecosystem improvements, talked at length around how SteamOS is contributing to the Linux ecosystem.
SteamOS is built atop Arch Linux with a GNU user-space and systemd, the desktop mode features KDE Plasma to which Valve has funded some improvements there, Valve’s Steam Play / Proton that leverages Wine has been immensely valuable to Linux gamers and enthusiasts along with related open-source projects like DXVK / VKD3D-Proton, and then there’s also they work they are doing around AMD color management / HDR.
Not just to the AMD graphics drivers for benefiting the Steam Deck’s hardware but also to Zink OpenGL-on-Vulkan and then other common infrastructure.
There has also been other efforts Valve has been involved in such on expanding case insensitive file-system support on Linux, various other kernel features, their Gamescope Wayland compositor, immutable software updates, and Flatpak.
The original article contains 366 words, the summary contains 215 words. Saved 41%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This platform is the best thing to happen in the computing landscape in a very very long time. If the Deck can become the target platform for developers due to the install base, we’re going to see more legitimate gaming hardware and software come out alongside it.
There are a glut of gaming handhelds out there running android or windows but there are a few that rise to the top as the pinnacle of the platform. When a clear winner emerges, everyone else tries to be like it enough while having something new to offer.
This problem with windows (one of the many) is almost all the value ads like game hubs (i.e. ROG Armoy Crate) detract from the experience and almost provide a superficial “ooh she diff’rent” appeal.
With the contribution of their work back to the Linux community, imagine Asus deploying their own Linux OS that ran steam. They too would be inclined to contribute back to the larger ecosystem while providing actual added value of substance!
I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here but I’m just so happy about the success of the steam deck that it makes me want to evangelize it in my spare time!
Microsoft: “Oh. Be a real shame if…Someone fucked that up, wouldn’t it?”
Microsoft is a big contributor to the Linux kernel. It would probably not be in their interest to tank it as they’d lose customers from Azure.
But who knows, they might be stupid enough to try.
Thousands of selfless individuals contribute to FOSS
Tech journos: 🥱
Some profit-driven business contributes to FOSS
Tech journos: ✊🍆💦💦💦😩a good product is the best advertising. make linux usable as a daily driver, and people come flowing in from the shithole that is windows.
Google, Meta and Samsung too. You can be 90% FOSS, 10% complete tracking. Thats enough
The reverse is equally true, if not more: Linux and Free Software are Wonderful Contributors To Valve Business. You know the expression about “standing on the shoulder of giants.” Anyway, kudos to Valve. Don’t become evil like the other big tech co’s.
…whose product is closed source and non-free.
And? We can still be glad for their contribution.
