Linux + Steam OS?

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
1

Ok, so I am a Linux newb, as some of you may know from my couple of threads since last night, one on installing Mint, and the other on getting my screen brightness dialed in (both of which have been reolved)

So @Blanger and I have been back and forth a bit about getting my soon to be built PC setup to game and the simplest way to accomplish this without the need for doing a pass through setup which would require a second GPU and a second monitor, etc.

Well I was sitting here contemplating this, and I had a eureka moment of a though. The thought here is for me to migrate away from Windows and OSX. Obviously don't use OSX for gaming but had been since 2009 until I got on this laptop that was a hand me down and updated.

Anyways, what about running a dual boot configuration, but with Linux (in the flavor of my choosing) and then an entire Separate SSD just for Steam OS?

Would this not allow me to game on Steam OS any of the titles I want, even new AAA titles, and then have the linux on a separate drive that I can boot into for all other uses besides gaming?

I have not seen of anyone else talking about this so I'm sure there is a reason, but I'd like to get some feedback from the folks here much more intelligent than I on all things PC as it relates to this setup.

Thoughts? Is this doable?

2

Tl:dr steam os is Debian based Linux.

1 Like
3

Yes I understand that, but my thinking is that to push their own OS for gaming they will be working on releasing games that would usually play only on windows to play natively on their OS, no?

So you would be able to play on that drive without having to use Wine or POL....?

4

Steam OS is basically Debian + Steam Big Picture mode. If the game doesn't support linux, it won't play on SteamOS.

The ultimate idea, is for AAA game publishers to release games on SteamOS (Linux) in addition to Windows (and OSX).

5

@DeusQain So if I'm understanding you correctly then what you're saying is whatever I could play on Stem OS, would also being playable on Linux?

6

If a game is made for steam os it will work on any Linux distro. It does not matter which distro you choose (although if you are new to linux you should start with Ubuntu or something based off of Ubuntu) because they all have steam clients and a game made for one distro will work for any other distro.

7

Kind of the opposite. Games that work natively on Linux, will work natively on SteamOS.

Games that require POL or Wine will still require that..... Unless I'm missing important information on the topic.

8

Yeah this is what I am trying to figure out. I want to see if aside from dual booting with windows, is there a way to play AAA titles without going through the hoops associated with a pass through setup......

9

What it sounds like you are asking is: "Can I play Windows only games on Linux without jumping through hoops?"

To which, the short answer is: No.

10

Gotcha.

Pass through will require more hardware so was looking for another alternative that didn't, so the short answer then is dual booting with Windows for the windows only games......

11

That's the long and short of it.

12

So then just for the learning aspect of it, what then is the draw for a console gamer to a Steam Machine?

13

Currently, there isn't.

Says here it's still very much a pre-release.

It's designed to bridge the gap between PC gamers and a living room gaming experience.

Steam can now play a game on one system, and stream the experience to another.
Means a SteamOS box doesn't have to be a workhorse because you can play the game on your Gaming rig and stream it to the "living room."

As for converting a console gamer, I don't think it's there yet.
https://steamdb.info/linux/ <--- current list of games available for Linux (SteamOS)

14

Thanks yeah I'm digging through their website now. So looks like I will Still need to run Windows for now.....

15

"pc gaming iz 2 hard" - unknown console peasant

16

? purpose of this lol?

17

Just adding to @DeusQain 's statement on why console gamers don't convert. Its a fun poking statement but in reality many console gamers are initiated to pc gaming or consider it super n we do and only consisting of LOL or Dota etc. GabeN's will be done

18

A lot of the games that Valve sells as "runs natively on Linux", actually is just a Windows game in a proprietary wrapper for Linux.

Valve has made the decision some time ago to stop marketing games for "Linux", but instead market them for "SteamOS". They are also removing the Tux logos everywhere and replacing them with the SteamOS logos.

That said, they do want to shift to SteamOS as main platform on November 15th 2015, and since I doubt that many commercial games are going to develop a native Linux version, it's quite possible in my opinion that Valve equips SteamOS with a commercial/proprietary wrapper to make it run Windows games, while studios migrate to engines that are also natively Linux-compatible. Even EA is now working on native Linux versions of even their most successful franchise Need for Speed, so apart from the dissident Ubisoft and Microsoft, native linux versions might be available sooner than expected. That's not necessarily a good thing though, who wants DRM on their naturally DRM-free Linux install...

Which leads us to kvm to run SteamOS, which is high performance and doesn't need passthrough with KMS drivers, and the KMS drivers (apart from nVidia of course) are evolving quickly and AMD is also moving towards open source kernel modules for Catalyst, which would give these drivers the same functionality as KMS drivers.

The biggest grow market in gaming is not PC gaming by far, and thus the traditional marketing model of PC gaming is not valid any more. Strangely enough, the advancement of console and mobile gaming vis-à-vis PC gaming might greatly benefit the software on PC's and make PC's better for everyone again, instead of just for shareholders of some big corporations. The best thing that ever happened to PC's and PC gaming might just be that Intel wants to make Intel products relevant on mobile devices, where Microsoft software is almost absent (with actually less market share for Microsoft in the mobile market than GNU/Linux market share in the US in the PC market. The strange thing there is that the US has the lowest market penetration of Microsoft software in the mobile market, even though they used to be the largest back in the Compaq iPaq days... in Europe, Microsoft has the best market share in the mobile market, up to 17% in some countries like France, but the worst in the PC market, whereas in the US, Microsoft almost rules the PC market, but scores really bad in the mobile market, to the point of not being relevant even).

Whatever the outcome will be, I think these are exciting times. The gaming market has been an oligopoly for the longest time now, and there is real opportunity for smaller and new companies now because of the whole situation now. In the end, whatever the gaming platform of choice is or will be, I'm most interested to see innovation in games instead of always the same cold chow of reissues and empty promises and pay-to-play/pay-to-win crap that we've been seeing from the oligopolists in the last couple of years. The games themselves are much more important than the platform. The platform shift is just an ideal opportunity to shake up the gaming world and offer new opportunities for badly needed innovation.

1 Like