At the very least we can call BS on developers who claim they don't support Linux because it's niche, while they support MacOS.
this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2024
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Developers don't have to support Linux natively because Proton does the job very well
They still have to make sure their anticheat works on Linux. That's the biggest missing support.
The anti cheat does already work on Linux, just needs a checkbox tick to enable.
I know, but it still something developers need to do to support Linux
Plus testing and training customer support.
They can just say that Linux is not supported though with proton because the community will just make it run better if they don't block do anything to block Linux.
Some anti-cheats work on Linux. Some do not, like Riot's Vanguard.
Ime native ports rarely work as well as proton versions do too.
Especially with atypical setups, like Wayland
"I use 'Arch Linux'" she said sarcastically. Why are Arch and Manjaro in quotes, but Ubuntu LTS and Linux Mint aren't?
And why is Arch more popular than Ubuntu? Surely SteamOS counts as something different, so it's probably not that.
I'm not a fan of Ubuntu, but it's a very popular beginner OS, and I'd assume a lot of Linux gamers are lazy and use the thing that gets them into a game the fastest.
Arch is listed as a whole, while Ubuntu is a specific version (22.04 LTS).
Ah, good point. Still a lot more Arch users than I expected.
I've had so many issues with Ubuntu in the last few years compared to other distros that honestly I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending it as a beginner distro anymore.
Why are Arch and Manjaro in quotes, but Ubuntu LTS and Linux Mint aren’t?
They're probably putting the rolling releases in quotation marks -- I'm guessing they're pulling the Description field from "lsb_release -a", where "Arch Linux" says just that, while each Ubuntu/Debian/Mint/etc distro will show specific version numbers (and that would explain why Arch shows up as a higher share than Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS) -- I'm sure there are several more Ubuntu entries in their list that would total more than Arch's percentage. I'm not sure why they arbitrarily truncated the Linux list at 4 while showing 5 Windows/Mac releases, though.
EDIT: Found another screenshot where they list "SteamOS Holo" in quotes, too. So I guess they just include quotes for every distro that doesn't show a version number in that field.
Version numbers I'm guessing.
Do they not have actual version numbers maybe?
Which means, Ubuntu may have several separate entries, whereas Arch gets all combined altogether. If that's the case, then likely not a very accurate Linux distro list without additional data cleaning to combine versions of distros.
Yesterday was the first time I got the survey on my Deck.
I got it on the desktop (as I often am during the day because I do all my work on it), and noticed that while it reported the device as Valve manufactured and the OS correctly, a whole bunch of other data was wrong, like it said the device didn't support touch, etc.
Should I have taken the survey on Game Mode? Is it even possible to get the survey in Game Mode?
Yup, I got it recently in regular gaming mode. I doubt it matters which one the survey gets taken in, it gathers system info.
Did you happen to notice if yours also said touch support: none?
I didn't. I rarely use desktop mode, so I doubt anything odd was going on.
If there's a report somewhere I can review, I'm happy to look it up.
I did my part. I rejected the survey on macOS and completed it on my Steam Deck, so I think I'm helping.
I do wonder what percentage of Linux users reject the survey compared to Windows users. Not that it's changed much, but every little helps right?
I'm not sure, on one hand Linux users are quite privacy oriented but on the other hand "I use arch btw"
@flashgnash @samc As a linux steam player i answered this survey 2 times on the last ~15-20 years.
And i did it then, because i wanted to feed steam's efforts on linux as gaming platform.
I rejected it on my steam deck, on my aging windows computer and on my Linux laptop.
I'm not going out of my way to give data to a private corporation
(Even if it's a kawaii "good for consumer" corporation)
Fair enough, each try their own
I don't mind anonymous data going out that will serve to potentially improve my experience gaming on Linux
The problem in my eyes is the non anonymous data that goes out that is used to design horrible addiction machines
At least a survey is them asking for information, not just quietly gathering it behind our backs.
Yeah, I'm not shitting on it and I'm grateful to the people who fill it out, I'm just lazy
You know it's not really an actual survey right? It can get all the info it needs on its own it just asks for permission
I guess I never clicked lol
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I was wondering how in the world my beloved Arch beat the popular Ubuntu, but then I remembered Steam Deck runs on Arch. So over half of the Linux users are probably actually Steam Deck users.
NOOOOOOOOOO
I don't get it. Is Arch the most popular Linux distro at 0.15% of 1.95%? What's missing here? Steam OS?
Is Arch the most popular Linux distro at 0.15% of 1.95%? What’s missing here? Steam OS?
A couple of things -- yes, SteamOS is by far the most popular Linux distro and it was left off this part of the list, and also Arch is the most popular because it's a rolling release distro, so we're all running "Arch Linux" no matter how far behind we are on patching our system. Ubuntu would probably come out on top if you bundled every other version besides 22.04.3 LTS together into one line item.
Here's a screenshot of the Linux breakdown with a few more entries (though most are still bucketed under Other). SteamOS alkone is almost half of Linux deployments.
That makes more sense. Thank you for that added context.
Yes and I will not accept any other fact
So what are the other 1.42% on?
Temple OS, what else could it be?
If it’s not Hannah Montana Linux, I don’t want to hear another word of this.
I've been using steam since Half Life 2 released and had the survey pop up twice. And both times major data-points were completely wrong. Like resolution (it apparently used my second screen) and HDD space.
That data is about as relevant as a once a lifetime epidemiologic study about diet preferences.
Just jumped to linux after a long time of windows, I was very surprised to see my games running better at higher settings through proton. it's been at least a decade since I've used linux and played native tux games. I'm fed up with corpos and I like having full control of everything on my computer. There's only 1 program I use that I'm not sure will run properly but I haven't made attempts to get wine up yet cause it's just been a few days. That said... feels really good to be using EndeavorOS.
You can theoretically run the other program with Proton as well. Just if that helps get your other software up and running. =)
Thanks! I'll have to look into it, it's an audio workstation program I'm pretty attached to, I've tried linux alternatives in the past but they weren't even close, I'm sure they are better now but even compared to other flagship programs I just like mine a lot more and it's windows "only"
I'm mostly a MP gamer and the only reason why I game on Windows still is the fact some games (because of the AC) simply do not work on Linux. And even in instances where you can trick the AC it's not running in a VM, but on bare metal - you risk getting banned.
Sad. I hope this changes.