A first look at Valve's gamer Linux SteamOS
Steam Engine
Valve has big plans for SteamOS, the new Linux that will run on the first generation of Steam machine gaming consoles.
Valve's Steam game platform has stirred up much discussion in the Linux gaming community since it was first ported to Linux two years ago. Like other popular game platforms, Valve is not just a developer tool, but also a distribution system, digital rights management framework, and communication tool designed to offer a complete, self-contained gaming universe.
According to Valve, the Steam platform now supports "over 2000 games from Action to Indie and everything in between." The community consists of more than six million online gamers.
Steam for Windows has been around since 2003, and Mac OS support first appeared in 2010. Linux came later, but since the arrival of the first Linux version in 2012, Valve has pushed swiftly into the Linux space. The reasons for this strong Linux emphasis became clear when Valve announced it was working on a hardware gaming console, which would be known as the Steam machine. What operating system would run on the Steam machine? Valve would need a system it could shape to its own needs – and develop free from the business agendas of closed-source OS vendors. They knew they would need to build their system on Linux.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.
-
FreeBSD Promises a Full Desktop Installer
FreeBSD has lacked an option to include a full desktop environment during installation.
-
Linux Hits an Important Milestone
If you pay attention to the news in the Linux-sphere, you've probably heard that the open source operating system recently crashed through a ceiling no one thought possible.
-
Plasma Bigscreen Returns
A developer discovered that the Plasma Bigscreen feature had been sitting untouched, so he decided to do something about it.