Valve confirms Steam and Source engine for Linux

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97

It's been a long wait but it looks like Linux users will finally get some native gaming action on Steam soon, according to Michael Larabel of Phoronix. Despite denying the existence of a port last year, the revelation comes straight from Valve's headquarters in Bellevue, Washington, where Larabel met with Gabe Newell to discuss their plans for the open source operating system.

Apparently Valve has been working towards a Linux port of both the Steam service and Source engine for a while, but given the company's flat structure and absence of managers assigning tasks, there has been no real direction and focus on the project -- like some of you joked when the employee handbook leaked. Developers worked on the Linux client when they could and wanted to, but now Newell has become personally involved in the project, prompted by a seemingly newfound love for Linux and his disappointment of Windows 8.

valve steam source linux gaming

According to Phoronix, Valve has already hired at least one Linux OpenGL developer and is looking to hire more. Exactly when the Linux version of Steam will arrive is unclear, but the photo above offers some proof of progress, showing Left 4 Dead 2 running natively on Ubuntu 11.10 with AMD Catalysts drivers.

Larabel says Valve chose Left 4 Dead 2 for their initial port because of its stable codebase, but once the Source engine has been successfully ported other AAA games will follow. The company also plans to lobby other game developers using Steam and the Source Engine to bring their games to Linux natively.

Lastly, the report claims Valve and Gabe Newell's interest in Linux goes beyond what would be expected of any normal game company. Though Larabel didn't elaborate on that, one possibility is that the company might be looking into Linux to power its "open hardware platforms", which they recently expressed an interest in, to create 'mobile and living-room devices' as an alternative to existing proprietary console technologies.

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Very interesting. I've been saying for years that a Linux build might be a great backbone for a "PC console" gaming system, but the lack of mainstream titles doomed it. Then there was the story about Valve looking at building gaming hardware, and my first thought was that Linux could be great as the heart of whatever they develop. And now, here we are with Steam and Source on Linux... Starting to think my wishes may have an actual chance of coming true!
 
I really hope they can put out something this year. At least a beta.
 
If 'Valve' confimed it then where is their press release and/or official statement? Oh right, 'Valve' didn't confirm anything. Ths just another Moronix rumor.
 
Right, a rumor that includes a screen shot of L4D2 running on linux with drivers.

-ikesmasher
 
love it! Finally. Linux users have been waiting for this eagerly. Great move.
 
There were also screenshots of UT2k3 running under Linux. So what? It's not unheard of for there to be multiple versions of software in internal builds for other platforms that don't ever get released. One again, if 'Valve' confirmed this where is the official statement? There isn't even a single quote in the article from Moronix to back this up. So, no, 'Valve' confirmed nothing.
 
I'm so happy for this, I actually laughed out loud when I read Gabe's thoughts on 8...
Finally the time might come when Windows gets a real beating from Linux!
Just think if all games sold on steam would support it, then there would be a real alternative!
 
Good move on Valve's part. If apple can get a client, linux should get one as well.
 
I guess I'll be the first to say it here: I don't care!!! Bring us Half-Life 2 Episode 3 or whatever it'll be called! :)
 
this is huge, the only reason i use windows is because of games.
if i wanted to just use a operating system for typing docs? i would use linux
if i wanted to use for watching movies? i would use linux

im honestly trying to think of something linux cant do that windows can besides games atm.

and contrary to belief ubuntu is now really user friendly. looks just as good as windows 7 too.
 
Aye, I think I'm in the same boat as many others that use Linux in being kinda stuck to Windows in at least some form due to gaming.

I've had limited success getting the client to work in the past via Wine, but a native client would be fantastic. I'll remain optimistic until I see it arrive though. But fingers crossed!
 
im honestly trying to think of something linux cant do that windows can besides games atm.

The only reason I built my HTPC using Windows was because I couldn't stream Netflix on Linux. Besides access to my Steam library, of course. I hate Silverlight for holding me captive... Bleh
 
So you're going to switch to Linux where you won't be able to run 90+% percent of the games on Steam? And you think that's a smart idea?
 
"im honestly trying to think of something linux cant do that windows can besides games atm."

Play the entire catalog of 1600 Windows games that are on Steam?
 
@Guest, you are making a huge assumption that everyone is jumping ship to Linux today. This is news of something in the works, not something ready for prime time at this moment. I would imagine that, by the time Linux Steam (I shall call it Steamux from now on) is ready for public consumption, there will be at least a handful of titles available on it, with more coming at a decent pace. You know, exactly like they did when the OSX version was made ready?

Maybe slow down on the nay-saying and wait to see what happens first.
 
Wow... A handful of games? Year of the Linx Desktop is now assured! Oh wait.... Why would anyone switch to play a handful of games that have already been available for Windows for years? Again, what a dumb idea.
 
I'm so happy for this, I actually laughed out loud when I read Gabe's thoughts on 8...
Finally the time might come when Windows gets a real beating from Linux!
Just think if all games sold on steam would support it, then there would be a real alternative!

I agree with you 100%. This type of news could de-value Windows quite a bit.

If this becomes a reality, I can see Microsoft trying to find some reason to take Valve to court to delay it though.
 
Wow... A handful of games? Year of the Linx Desktop is now assured! Oh wait.... Why would anyone switch to play a handful of games that have already been available for Windows for years? Again, what a dumb idea.

Guess it's a good thing you aren't in charge of technology in our world. There would never be any innovation or new products, since, you know, it's stupid to even think about trying anything new or giving people options outside of what is already being done.
 
It will be nice to see some new innovations comming out. I know all the ppl above, slamming Valve for trying to do something new, dont want advancment. Im sure the new and different scares them, so we must take pity on them. Perhaps educating them on the pros of what Valve is doing would help to change their perspective a bit lol.
But seriously its a lot of good news. If Valve can get their products working on Linux that MIGHT mean we will see a new gaming console. It would be nice to see Microsoft go soft and lose some of that gaming market share. Everyone poo-poo'ed Sony when they first came out. Same with Microsoft.
 
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