A couple of points based on your comments Rajko.
- Any points we make are pure speculation on what Valve may do if
they release a Steam Client for Linux. The only way we can possibly
know what's planned is if we contact Valve as a project (a single user
standing alone will likely not get much traction in finding out what's
happening and what can be done)
- Your comments lead me to conclude that you've never used Steam on
Windows, nor have you used Desura on Linux. I'll explain why with my
comments in-line.
On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 00:53, Rajko M.
On Sunday, April 29, 2012 02:26:30 AM C wrote:
Steam for Linux has been floated a few times starting int 2010. ... Today I spotted this: http://www.ubuntuvibes.com/2012/04/canonical-in-touch-with-valve-to-ensure. html?utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UbuntuVibes+%28Ubuntu+Vibes%29&utm_medium=feed&ut m_source=feedburner
and this made me wonder... are we (as a project) also approaching Valve in some official capacity too ...
SUSE as company can do that, but openSUSE as cloud like entity is not really interesting for Valve [1]. They need someone that can guarantee that game store for openSUSE users will be present in every release, visible and easy to use.
A game client like Steam or Desura does not require a game store be present in every release. The principle of the client is that the user downloads the client from the distributor (that would be Valve for the Steam client not openSUSE repos) and installs (ie, it's not distributed via the openSUSE repos, it falls under the same process as Steam, TeamViewer etc where a user installs the client downloaded from an external source). Once installed they launch the client and the client manages all commercial or open source games for them - this is exactly what Desura is doing now (for both commercial and open source games), and the exact model used for Steam on Windows and OSX. Games are managed 100% by the client (following the current Desura model which is pretty much the same as the Steam for Windows model... and it makes sense for now that the Steam for Linux model will do the same). This means that any games installed are self contained. They provide statically linked libraries for the game - so that the game developer does not have to rely on locally installed libraries being in place and the right version. This works very well with Desura. Why not just stick with the fact that Desura sort of works on openSUSE? Well... because Desura sort of works (issues with trailers not working in the client), and Desura does not have the industry clout that Valve does. Valve is a multi-billion dollar/Euro company that top tier game developers are very interested in co-operating with.
Games will ask for certain level of stability in every release, easy access to proprietary graphic drivers and possible more proprietary components, that could mean more mandatory purchases of other components that make multimedia support for games.
Yes the stability is a factor.. sure, but that applies to the distro in general. Proprietary drivers... we already provide that via the Community repos... so what's the issue there? Theoretical mandatory purchases of other components would logically need to be managed by the client, not openSUSE since said components should be game specific... again I don't see the issue here. If a specific game needs some proprietary bits, those bits need to be included in the game purchase or available via the client, not managed by the distro... it's not the distro's business what a commercial application is doing.. that is no different to the situation as it is today. Basically, do not mix up games and the client, they are two different animals.
With current SUSE goals, to serve enterprise market, not individual consumers, this would require serious adjustment in openSUSE treatment, or creating completely new edition that will be supported for a longer time, media oriented, purchase based [2].
That's SUSE, not openSUSE and it doesn't make any sense that SUSE pursue this.
Will that benefit openSUSE? I think yes, specially that openSUSE doesn't need much adjustments, nor much time to create product that will support media stuff. Problem is public perception reflected on http://www.distrowatch.com , http://alexa.com [3] and probably other sites, that openSUSE is similar to Fedora.
It is obvious that Ubuntu has some advantage, at least in size of user base, and public perception that they are friendly distro for beginners and all that want to use computer, but not to dive in computer internals. openSUSE can fix that in a few years, that much needed Ubuntu to raise from newcomer on the Linux scene to the most used distro. But, that will not happen with current goals that cut fine to linux oldtimers, do-it-yourself guys, but not to current trends where more users are coming that use computer to do stuff that is not computer configuration.
A few years will be too late. This is a one time opportunity. If... if Steam for Linux is actually released, and say that it runs well on Ubuntu because they are *already* in there assisting, but there is no RPM released, or the client fails to install on openSUSE because of something simple like a library naming convention difference (this specific issue has happened over and over with openSUSE), we will be left in the dust. We can ignore it... that's the "easy" way, and if this client is released as is hinted at, the uptake of Linux goes the way speculated, openSUSE risks being left as a "once-was-great, but they missed the boat". OK, that may be a bit over the top, but hopefully you see my point here.
[2] Purchase. It is not simple purchase installation CD. It could be purchase game with link to site that will provide installation ISO, offer CD/DVD to order with preinstalled game(s),
This is not how Steam works.. not at all. Not even remotely close. There are no installation ISOs. Steam is not a webshop, it is a delivery and management platform - the closest analogy we have on openSUSE is... YaST. If your view of Steam is that it's a simple webshop where users can purchase a CD/DVD, you really need to go check it out because you are way off the mark here. C. -- openSUSE 12.1 x86_64, KDE 4.8.2 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org