With the widespread support for Steam/Valve on this forum because of their contributions to making Linux gaming easier, I’m now confused as to why people here are using Linux in the first place.
I personally do so out of support for FOSS software, the customizability, and actual ownership of software, which I thought were most people’s primary reasons for using any Linux distro. Steam seems antithetical to all of these. The software in the first place became popular as a form of DRM, and it gets publishers to use it for the allowance of DRM on the platform. The Steam client has the absolute minimum customizability. Your account can be banned at any point and you can lose access to many of the games you have downloaded.
Whenever I game on Linux I just use folders to sort my game library and purchase any games I want to play on itch.io or GoG. On my Linux PC I stay away from clients like Steam because I want a PC that works offline, and will work if all of my accounts were banned. It’s more of a backup PC.
Since Steam has every characteristic of Windows, 0 customizability, DRM, plenty of games that are spyware, I see no reason to really not use Windows instead for the much easier time I can have playing games.
Yes, I prefer many of the features of Linux distros, but using a client like Steam defeats the purpose of them. Ridiculous storage requirements due to unoptimized dependencies, having to have a background client running for some games and wasting resources on doing so.
So, why use Linux and support Steam, or use Linux and use Steam?
Simple.i don’t use steam
Because I own my PC, not Winshit
What is it you want to know? “why do you use Linux” seems like it assumes something about what you might want to know.
Like, why Linux and not MacOS/Windows? Or, what are the Linux specific stuff you use it for? And when you say “Linux”, I’m sure you don’t mean the kernel, but likely Linux kernel + some package manager + some window manager?
The answer to a lot of these things are true statements for me, but will come across as incredulous. They are:
- Gnome is a more consistent user experience over both MacOS and Windows. Gnome 9/10, MacOS 4/10, W11 3/10.
- It is the actual “just works”. (the list is looong)
- It’s much more usable for power users.
Are the main ones. I cannot think of a single thing either MacOS or W11 does better, that isn’t “well, you can run X software on it”, which is a fair argument and likely a valid deal breaker for many use cases/professions. But also not really the fault of the OS. And there are many, many reasons why MacOS and W11 are a pain to use.
Even being on Linux isn’t enough for Linux users, now. Gotta have every piece of software they approve of and none of the ones they don’t. On top of it you have to use it for the same reasons, too.
Fucking Christ, you guys make me want to never mention that I use Linux.
I’ll try and keep it short with a bullet list, as I can tend to be long-winded about everything.
- Helped recover files on an old laptop in the Win XP days (how I got started).
- Breathed new life into older hardware that was too crappy for Windows.
- Thought it was neat, novel, fresh, etc.
- Free. Why pay for or pirate Windows?
- FOSS and, specifically, FOSS alternatives to paid software I’d otherwise have pirated.
- Less targeted for malware.
- Windows 11 says no to my aging, but plenty capable, computer (the last holdout on Windows til Win 10 hits EOL).
- Reasonable, optional telemetry.
- Not having to reboot (possibly more than once) during updates.
- Fun to learn.
There are some reasons to like Windows, but it’s harder to justify with the direction Microsoft is, and has been, moving.
EDIT: To actually answer your question about Steam and Linux… because I have a Steam account that I’ve had for many, many years with 1000 games that predates me moving to Linux in a more serious capacity. While I could move to GOG (and have), I’m not just going to throw away my game library. But also, Steam working to make gaming more mainstream on Linux is a net positive for Linux in general. That was always the reason many people gave for why they wouldn’t switch - that, and proprietary software that won’t run on anything other than Windows or maybe Mac.
