Steam Can Now Be Repackaged In Linux Distributions

[ferry_th]

Steam Can Now Be Repackaged In Linux Distributions

Posted by Michael Larabel on February 08, 2013

Back in mid-November there were concerns about packaging Valve's Steam Linux client by Linux distributions that allow binary blobs to reside within their package repositories. In particular, Arch Linux developers were unsure whether they were legally allowed to put Steam into one of their repositories for each re-distribution. Valve has now said it's okay by clarifying their license.

Valve continues to push *buntu as the primary platform for supporting Steam on Linux. The Steam Linux binary has been a Debian/*buntu package while others have had no issues making the binary work on their own distribution of choice. Arch and other Linux distributions have sought re-packaging the Steam client so they can easily ship the gaming distribution platform to their users.

With an update to the Steam Linux client this week, as noted in the Steam Client Beta Group, it's now officially okay to re-package the client. One of the noted changes to this latest beta update is "Added license to allow repackaging for other Linux distributions."

The Linux client update also has a couple of fixes and the Steam Runtime has now been reduced by 50%.

Source:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTI5NzI

[Just17]

I think we should all say a big 'thank you' to all those bunty users who tested & debugged this software before it was released for the rest of us.   

[deathromantik]

Still testing and debugging to do, I want to test it on PCLOS!

[menotu]

Posted by Michael Larabel on March 01, 2013

Linux Gamers Make Up ~2% Of Valve's Steam Users

With the start of a new month, Valve's popular hardware survey has been updated with the latest software/hardware stats about their millions of customers.

Linux use now comes in at about 2%, which is nearly double that from one month prior. Ubuntu 12.10 x86_64 is the most popular Linux distribution followed by other flavors of Ubuntu, and Linux Mint now comes in at just over 0.1%.

While Linux gamers won't be taking the majority market-share away from Microsoft Windows anytime soon, the current Apple OS X usage is about 3%. Prior to Valve introducing their Linux-based Steam console, I wouldn't expect the Linux market-share for this survey to rise above 5~6%.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTMxNTQ

=============================================

Steam Hardware & Software Survey: February 2013

Steam conducts a monthly survey to collect data about what kinds of computer hardware and software our customers are using. Participation in the survey is optional, and anonymous. The information gathered is incredibly helpful to us as we make decisions about what kinds of technology investments to make and products to offer.

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey