Steam Linux client enters open beta testing

Santa Tux has visited early this year, dragging an open beta version of Steam's Linux client behind his Gentoo-powered sleigh. Now, all who've embraced the free software revolution can try and test Valve's crack at making Linux a viable gaming platform. Now, stop me if you've heard this before, but next year will surely be The Year of the Linux Desktop.

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Santa Tux has visited early this year, dragging an open beta version of Steam's Linux client behind his Gentoo-powered sleigh. Now, all who've embraced the free software revolution can try and test Valve's crack at making Linux a viable gaming platform. Now, stop me if you've heard this before, but next year will surely be The Year of the Linux Desktop.

The beta client installer is over here. It includes a Linux version of Team Fortress 2, but the Steam store already stocks a fair few games with Linux versions so you'll have plenty to play.

Gabe Newell has said that it's looking at releasing its own Linux PC hardware for living rooms once Steam Linux and the sofa-oriented Big Picture mode are in fit shape.

Hit up Valve's announcement for details on where to report bugs and all that jazz.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 20, 2012 9:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Steam Linux client enters open beta testing.

    Santa Tux has visited early this year, dragging an open beta version of Steam's Linux client behind his Gentoo-powered sleigh. Now, all who've embraced the free software revolution can try and test Valve's crack at making Linux a viable gaming platform. Now, stop me if you've heard this before, but next year will surely be The Year of the Linux Desktop.

    • reply
      December 20, 2012 1:59 PM

      ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod....

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      December 20, 2012 2:14 PM

      And I'm all tingly in the midsection.

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      December 20, 2012 2:19 PM

      For those interested, Steam Linux titles (39 so far): http://store.steampowered.com/browse/linux/

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      December 20, 2012 2:34 PM

      Does anyone have a sense if Steam for Mac improved game support on that platform?

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        December 20, 2012 2:55 PM

        I would imagine that a well-executed port of Steam to GNU/Linux would create many benefits for the Mac client as well, as most Linux/BSD code is cross compatible (before compilation). If I owned a Mac, I'd be paying attention for patches and updates as this beta moves forward.

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        December 20, 2012 3:18 PM

        It couldn't have hurt since the number of Mac ports increased. About half of my ~350 Steam games work on OS X now, so that isn't bad.

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      December 20, 2012 2:41 PM

      Cool, I now own about five linux games.

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      December 20, 2012 2:56 PM

      And 8 people rejoiced.

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        December 20, 2012 3:04 PM

        And they were universally acknowledged to be the eight most advanced people the world has ever seen.

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      December 20, 2012 3:00 PM

      They need to have a more monochrome version of Tux for their SteamPlay Linux icon, but that's awesome nonetheless.

      I never thought I'd see the day when Steam supported three different computer platforms.

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