Official Steam Client For Ubuntu Linux Released

I'm so glad this day finally came. It almost got to a point where I just figured it never would happen, but lo and behold, Windows 8 pushed Newell over the edge.

Haha... I wonder if it was Win 8 or just the proliferation of Linux and the need to tap new platform revenue streams.

I'm glad to see it happen, no matter why.

A very nice attitude for the PC-sector. Microsoft is getting old, linux is better. And nobody needs to do separate R&D for everything, that gets lost with companies. Open source is good, but personally when this grows big and mainstream one needs to ditch the code-idolatry of RS also. Please do read: http://paradoxuncreated.com/Blog/wordpress/?p=2268 for how to get games to run amazingly on linux (better than windows) with low-jitter config.

Peace Be With You.

Probably a combination of factors, not the least of which was competition posed by the MS App Store... mind that Steam is steadily going to be selling non-game programs as well as games. So the option of being a gateway app on MS Store and/or limited to legacy desktop would not have been sufficient for them going forward...

Though, they still need to develop a bigger library of programs and games for Linux and it would help if they can release pre-optimized versions of Linux distros to make it easier for the average user... otherwise many may still not bother.

While it's nice to have options for those of us who don't mind any early limitations...

I bought a couple of new games from the sale to show my support.

BTW, if you're using a 64-bit distro and flash does not work in Steam, you can fix it by following the instructions here: http://www.dedoimedo.com/games/steam-linux-flash.html

This is good news for Linux users but lets not confuse the progression of Steam for Linux as really promoting Open Source, other than offering the option for Linux based OS to have access to options and services it has lacked up till now!

Steam for Linux is pretty much the same as it is for Windows! They're selling software, whether they be games or apps and how those get made won't really change!

Just because the service will be available on Linux doesn't mean the software it offers will be Open Source! Especially, if they want to charge for it!

This is why not all Open Source advocates were exactly happy about the development as they prefer true Open Source solutions. They just mostly accept it because it will still help promote Linux, even if it's at a less than ideal cost of bringing a pay for service, which doesn't have to comply with Open Source, to Linux.

Steam runs great on my desktop with an amd 6850 but still the drivers for my nvidia 460m laptop are pretty bad and has a lot of problems running steam games.