Why do you use Linux?
With the widespread support for Steam/Valve on this forum because of their contributions to making Linux gaming easier, I'm now confused as to why people here are using Linux in the first place.
I personally do so out of support for FOSS software, the customizability, and actual ownership of software, which I thought were most people's primary reasons for using any Linux distro. Steam seems antithetical to all of these. The software in the first place became popular as a form of DRM, and it gets publishers to use it for the allowance of DRM on the platform. The Steam client has the absolute minimum customizability. Your account can be banned at any point and you can lose access to many of the games you have downloaded.
Whenever I game on Linux I just use folders to sort my game library and purchase any games I want to play on itch.io or GoG. On my Linux PC I stay away from clients like Steam because I want a PC that works offline, and will work if all of my accounts were banned. It's more of a backup PC.
Since Steam has every characteristic of Windows, 0 customizability, DRM, plenty of games that are spyware, I see no reason to really not use Windows instead for the much easier time I can have playing games.
Yes, I prefer many of the features of Linux distros, but using a client like Steam defeats the purpose of them. Ridiculous storage requirements due to unoptimized dependencies, having to have a background client running for some games and wasting resources on doing so.
So, why use Linux and support Steam, or use Linux and use Steam?
I think a better title for your post would be, "Why do you use Steam?"
Many steam games don't even have DRM and most games only require Steam to be present and not necessarily online.
The company as a whole is very stable and doesn't perform any overly wild anti user behaviour. And they're big supporters and developers of Linux.
If you want to install games that are spyware that's totally up to you. And I suppose that's really the point.
Instead of turning into hyper capitalist assholes like every other company, steam just leaves us the fuck alone while providing great great games at great prices. Also no sexual harrassment coverups or buyouts.
Steam just leaves us the fuck alone and let's you focus purely on the game.
Even then there are Steam emulators. If OP really wanted to they could just download the games from Steam and use that.
It's kind of like using a Games For Windows Live fix or a no CD crack in Lutris for older games.
Not looking to disagree, but do you have a source on the "developers" part?
They fund the development of:
That's just off the top of my head. I'll admit that some of this work comes from 1 or 2 single paid developers that have their hands in many things, but that's not a bad thing.
Steam is made by Valve, and Valve, dispite their many failings, have shown a very strong commitment to FOSS.
Their contributions to Proton have played a massive part in making Linux a viable platform for gaming. Without them, Linux gaming would be stuck back 10 years at least. Back to the dark days of naked Wine and fighting with configs for hours just to hope to launch a single non-native game.
Valve has also locked themselves in with the Steam Deck. By creating a fresh hardware platform based almost completely on a FOSS software stack and by making it open, moddable, repairable, and upgradeable, they have made it very tough for themselves to break away to a proprietary solution further down the line.
All these things cause me to trust them quite a bit. Make no mistake, I'm committed to FOSS first. If and when Valve goes down the enshitification path, (once Gabe dies, sells out, or otherwise passes the torch), I will move off of the platform and only use FOSS games/software and resources like Lutris, Bottles, GoG, etc.
But until that dark day, I will support Valve at least passively. because by committing to so much development towards FOSS platforms, they are locking themselves into it and proving to us that they aren't just giving lip service to the FOSS community.
I wish Steam was FOSS, I wish Steam wasnt DRM itself, but in a world where things are mostly grey, I personally feel comfortable currently supporting them with my money.
Because I want my devices to do what I want, not what Microsoft wants.
I didn't really have a problem booting windows to play games occasionally until Microsoft decided that my machine must shut down without me telling it to. You can only lose so much in-progress work before it gets tiresome.
Beyond that I'd rather support community driven open source projects, especially my operating system, than keep giving Microsoft my attention to sell.
Because I prefer it in functionally every way to Windows. I prefer (when feasible) to use open source and/or FLOSS software. I am vastly more familiar with Linux than I am Windows on a technical level. I generally dislike most things about Windows.
It works, it's convenient, they have a generally good track record of not screwing over users.
That is a pretty serious leap in logic. You're welcome to not like Steam on a technical, moral, and/or philosophical level but at the end of the day it is a single application and saying that using Linux while also using Steam "defeats the purpose of Linux" is ridiculous. Linux is an Operating System, it is meant to assist the user in computing. If the user is using Linux to compute they are fulfilling the exact purpose of Linux, that being an open and free operating system to be used by any who desire it.
I swapped because I did not like the direction that Microsoft is taking Windows. It felt like just more tracking, more ads, and less control with each iteration. I always felt like Linux was better, but did not meet my need for gaming. The steam deck came out just a few months before I switched, giving me the confidence that I would still be able to play the games that I enjoy.
I was using Linux before there was a Steam, and I’m still here. You speak as if the “default state of being” is being on Windows.
Disregarding that, why would a single launcher/client/whatever dictate what OS I use? What I enjoy while using steam is not the openness of steam, what I enjoy is the freedom of choice on my home turf. I enjoy living in an age where I can boot up my trusty Linux rig, finish my work, and contemplate three or four launchers before picking one and facing choice paralysis while picking from hundreds of games (yes I’m very excessive and haven’t even finished 0.01% of them) that actually run like a charm.
This is a reality I love and celebrate. This is the year of the Linux desktop for me.
I don’t love the Steam store, but I love Valve, because they made all of this possible. Even if all of the above is incidental in their pursuit to build their steamdeck. At least they did it the right way by contributing back upstream to the FOSS community at large.
Steam/Valve investing in Linux has thankfully made non-steam gaming on Linux better than ever! Proton and WINE have made it easy for the average Linux user to set up games from GoG, Humble Bundle, etc. without needing to beg a developer to release a shoddy port.
@netchami @XenoStare I feel like devs who make games for windows and apple should use the open source tools to port their games to Linux, I.e steam. There needs to be some formate where we can play games on the deck that are deck compatible without steam. Hell, without heroic, too.
I check for every game if I can get it on gog.com instead before I buy on steam, except if multiplayer would lock me into my gog friendlist. There's some surprising stuff over there, not only ancient games.
@eldain @netchami I happen to personally love both of them
I switched for a few reason:
Now that I have switched
Yeah. Having used Linux for quite some time, I've watched it slowly go from being the better option for geeks and nerds to just being the better option.
One of the biggest, most useful Linux tips is:
Don't mess around forever trying to fix things that almost work. Get supported hardware instead. It's worth it, and once it's supported, usage is generally plug-and play - far more so than in Windows.
That aside, Linux won't shove crap in your face, sell your data, mine your data, cause major problems for you, force you to do installations when you don't want to (except Ubuntu's Snap), nor will it degrade in install quality over one year to the point where you think you need a new computer.
Linux allows you to make a hardware investment, rather than driving you towards cycling out to the newest thing ASAP.
The old ThinkPads I have become media servers or home automation rigs. They sip power and chug along for years.
I disagree with your implication that using Steam on Linux makes it pointless to use Linux; I think that it is always better if you are able to replace some proprietary software in your life with freedom-respecting software even if you may still be using other proprietary software.
I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the FSF does actually acknowledge that replacing all of the proprietary software that one uses can be an incredibly disruptive, difficult process, and they encourage users to embark on the journey of complete freedom one step at a time - check out their Freedom Ladder campaign.
Windows bad, apple bad, Google bad
Because Steam offers a good service. Almost as good as "hackers".
The other problem is game developers that want DRM and blablabla.
Anyway honestly you sound a little bit way too pathethic. Maybe one day Steam just get's out of Linux enviroment and goes with the "Steam OS" and you will lose every game you purchesed, but i doubt it because is a gaming platform, as many platforms as possible as much money comes in.
What is good about the service that is in any way similar to Linux, is my question. The two seem explicitly opposed in my eyes besides that Steam is using and therefore contributing to some Linux related projects.
It seems akin to supporting Microsoft for their implementation of WSL. MS also makes good some good products. They also have contributed. They are still anti-thetical to what I thought most Linux users want out of a company. Steam still seems anti-thetical to what I thought most Linux users wanted out of software.
@XenoStare @ZariZari yes, but some convenience is also good. In this case, being able to play windows games, as most of them are released for that platform, on linux without messing a lot with vanilla wine is a godsend. For now, it's about getting people, game studios, etc, to notice us, even if only through the lense of the steamdeck verified badge. It's only temporary I hope, but even if not, philosophi aside for a moment, it's good that we can have more enjoyment than before.
@XenoStare @ZariZari this doesn't make us evil, nor does it make valve good, they did it because they didn't want to pay for windows licenses for all the steam decks they produce, simple as that, we're collateral benefit. Not using entirely free software isn't evil. Every moment we accuse one another of not being supporting enough, idealistic enough, etc, gives the monopolies an advantage because we're squabeling pointlessly. This is what the pollitical left wing should understand as well.
Are you really curious or do you just want to hate on steam for paragraphs? Because I love FOSS too but I find your tone and post in general to be annoying and obtuse.
I'm genuinely curious about why someone would use/support Linux and then use/support Steam, and how people manage to conflate the two. I've already posted other paragraphs in other places complaining about Steam over the course of years so I'm alr.
I don't see how it's contradictory in any way
Liking FOSS and the ethos behind it doesn't at all mean you are required to be a zealot who only accepts that. Further, your claim that gaming on Linux without proton is easy is just flat out wrong.
Even being on Linux isn't enough for Linux users, now. Gotta have every piece of software they approve of and none of the ones they don't. On top of it you have to use it for the same reasons, too.
Fucking Christ, you guys make me want to never mention that I use Linux.
Made the switch way before any kind of support from steam, had several games from aspyr and feral, bought a codeweavers license and all that. For me at keast it's about the lack of interruptions and actually enjoying the workflow on gnome. I also love the idea of fetting in touch directly with the people making the programs I enjoy and not a random support rep on the other side of the world.
On the other hand, you should probably take a deeper look at steam. There are a ton of extra modifications you can do to the client, all of them unofficial and some straight up illegal, from changing the theme to injecting enhancements on the store (e.g. displaying protondb score on store pages) to aome shady shit like unlocking DLC. Steam is DRM but it's not denuvo or something like that. It's easily circumventable to the point I feel safe buying games on it, knowing if they ever go for a rug pull, I could keep most if not all my stuff regardless of the platform itself.
Steam will let you play pirated games through their Proton and compatibility framework. What kind of DRM is it truly if it helps you pirate?
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/why-free.html
If you don't like the way Steam works you can always game without steam. Heroic is a free and open source game store front end. It lets you buy games from DRM free online platforms like GOG.
It uses the same Proton compatibility software as Steam. It's a win win, you can support your favorite game publishers and have a free and open source platform.
Why not? It's a (free) tool, just like Windows and Steam.
Then again, I "use" Linux/GNU because of one thing:
User. Control.
I like Linux, so I use Linux. Before Steam came to Linux, I didn't play many games, and now that they're heavily investing in Linux, I'm playing a lot more games.
It's really that simple.
Here's my story:
I'm now on openSUSE, but my experience during college showed me that I really want control over my system. Proton is also a thing, so I've picked up a ton more games from Steam.
If games stopped working on Linux, I'd just stop playing games. It's really that simple, I pick the OS first, and games are secondary.
I see, thanks
Windows 10 shit the bed and needed a reinstall so I went through all the steps needed to get it just right again in my head. I realized it's gonna take me most of the day and I installed pop OS instead, that was like 2 years ago and I haven't looked back.
Have used linux almost exclusivly since 1999. Simply because it is the better system.
I use steam, since games just work without fiddeling, or a very easy refund.
I use Linux because I got frustrated with Windows and decided that in my opinion, something as fundamental as an operating system should never be closed source.
I don't mind some software, (e.g., a game store), being closed source.
I support Valve in particular because A) they have the games I want and B) because they've done more than any other company to improve the drivers on Linux (which is the operating system I bailed to following my distaste for Windows).
It's worth noting, I do use Windows to play some games, but I actually use two computers to do it. I use Moonlight and Sunshine. My Linux computer continues to be "my computer" and the Windows machine is effectively a LAN console/gaming computer that I interact with via my computer.
Basically you don't have to be an absolutionist to support free software ... and free software desktops are worth using not just because they're free, but because they're genuinely better at getting the job done.
• 1) I'm disillusioned with and sick of Windows. I've been in there since the days of XP and 7, back then those systems could take a crapload of abuse from my young clueless arse prone to downloading hundreds of malware, yet still be functioning largely flawlessy. Hell, even Vista and 8 were still quite resilient, and I say this as someone who used Vista for 2 years. Meanwhile, Windows 10 completely falls apart if I so much as look at it wrong, and I never had a W10 installation last longer than 6 months without falling apart with bizarre bug after bizarre bug (such as leaving me completely unable to open any image files) - and this is without my past proneness to getting malware. I don't have the patience for that anymore, and then 11 comes in adding ads to the start menu and I just can't anymore.
• 2) I've come to appreciate how Linux handles some things better - mostly with regards to Flatpaks and their self-containment making it less risky to run some things and easier to keep track of what I have installed. I find it's also easier to deal with backups on Linux than Windows, especially with Kinoite (and I heard Tumbleweed also does a good job at it with snapper, too). In general I feel safer when using Linux, but on Windows I'm always paranoid about downloading a virus again - and with how brittle 10 is...
• 3) I don't really like monopolies and don't like the idea of Microsoft becoming basically synonymous with computers (and Apple isn't any better).
It's not perfect, mind you, and I do still feel many frustrations with Linux (I had to deal with Steam stopping working for no reason lately, but at least I could rollback to an earlier version), but I've genuinely not had much better luck with 10 at this point.
It’s incremental. Steam on Linux is better than Steam on Windows.
What video card are you using?
I mean in terms of license and privacy, not performance.
I was already a full time Linux user when steam came to Linux. Most games are closed source anyways, so I don't see a problem in using a closed source game launcher. In fact as a general point I'm not against closed source, I use NVIDIA proprietary drivers since the performance is simply better, but I prefer open source software which is why my next GPU will be AMD. However the games are still closed source, so getting them from GoG, itch or Steam is very similar, but buying them on Steam gives money to Devs working on open source projects that improve game performance on Linux, so I'll keep buying from them.
Windows 11 is a bridge too far. I'm done with having my operating system being sold to me as a service, or monetizing my usage. Windows 10 was already unusable in any format other than LTSC.
The strides we've seen in gaming on Linux are possible largely with Valve's support, and I might have made the jump earlier if we had those abilities sooner. Dual booting has never been a realistic use case for a computer given the way I use one.
I try to protect my privacy as best I can. I prefer the use of open source software where I can get it. Libre is even better. My reasons are both practical and ideological. But I don't live in a world where I can reasonably cut out all proprietary software, and I honestly wouldn't consider trying. There are far more important fights in my world.
I'd use something else if it were better, but there isn't.
I use Linux because all the games I want to play run just fine through proton, wine, or native builds. I used to have a dedicated windows partition, but maintaining windows got tedious. After testing that my games worked, I fully defenestrated and never went back.
Sure, steam is proprietary and has flaws, but I'd rather run a proprietary and flawed userland application than a proprietary and flawed OS.
A very simple reason, I use Linux because when I use Linux I feel like my computer is mine and mine alone, when I use Windows I feel like I'm leasing my PC from Microsoft and I have no control over the OS. I'd rather own my PC from hardware all the way up to the software.
Because I do other things with my computer and use Linux because I like how I have it set up not because of ideological purism. I do not like how Windows and Mac work. I dread booting into Windows to play games.
The reality is that the vast vast majority of games are not FOSS. You have no idea what makes most games tick. So if you are that concerned about FOSS purity I question why you play games on any platform. Windows or otherwise.
It's easy to use. I'm a software developer. *nix is really well supported by software developers, and most programming languages support Linux first. So it's easy to develop for.
I use it because I'm more comfortable with working with it under the hood than Windows (day job experience). It's also less of a PITA when it comes to bloat, updates (not just OS, general software too) and telemetry.
I did use Windows on my desktop until about a year ago to be fair, as I didn't feel gaming was quite good enough - but after trying again it's brilliant now. No reason to ever go back.
I started using Linux at tge end of last year when I built myself a new gaming PC. Had enough of Windows telemetry and wanted to start taking small steps to improve my digital privacy. Ditching Windows for Linux is the easy part.
Valve has fone wonders in making gaming on linux relatively frictionless all things considered and for that, I (and i believe a lot of people) am grateful. It gives us a choice in OS. Yes, Steam can be considered "DRM" but at least it's better than Denuvo or EAC. Steam works on Linux without having to jump through hoops.
Also, Steam family sharing is awesome. I can let my partner / family play my games when I am working and they are not.
Steam is not mutually exclusive with denuvo or eac.
That's true. I guess the more accurate comprison would be Steam VS Epic games store since they are storefronts as well as drm.
I started using Linux Mint about 5 years ago because I'm interested in tech and wanted to mess around with it a bit. Now I'm staying on Linux Mint because I don't wanna deal with Microsoft's bullshit ever again. No more ads, forced updates, surveillance and crashes. Just a damn solid OS that does its job.
I'm an OS enthusiast apparently. I somehow enjoy blowing my OS up, getting irrationally irritated at how something behaves and trying something different. I would rather walk through a pile of Arch documentation than rely on Microsoft's word that they won't dick over the whole damn market. My efforts yield one more count towards a market share relevant enough for developers to care about. Gaming on windows feels like I am betraying all the sass I have given MS and if I truly believe this stuff I gotta at least try to use it for what reasonably works.
I've been using it for various reasons for about 15 years. So "familiarity" is one of my main reasons now, but a big part of it is to avoid being advertised to in my OS.
It started with me being creeped out with all the privacy settings everytime i reinstalled windows 10, wanting my fricking handwriting data and all that, then i saw a LTT video from anthony where he talked about trying linux instead of windows 11, and seeing previous LTT videos about gaming becoming doable on linux. I had tried linux before as a kid on my laptop, ubuntu and linux mint, but i didn't really get it at the time. I decided to follow anthony's recommendation and tried pop os. I was impressed with how far linux had come with playing games, but i also didn't realize how usable linux was in general for a desktop user. I quickly went down the rabbithole after that because i really liked how customizable linux was, so i went to arch linux, i ended becoming a tiling window manager user, making some simple scripts, running windows virtualized with single gpu passthrough, and now i've been using void linux for a few months. I'm really happy LTT made those videos cause otherwise i wouldn't be here now.
I get you, OP. Sometimes it seems like people treat Steam as the pinnacle of Linux. It's even more baffling when people say that they like Linux but wish they could run MS Office, Photoshop etc. Do you really like Linux or do you just hate Windows? Because for me almost the entire point of Linux is that it's FOSS. If all I wanted was to run proprietary software, I would use an OS that the proprietary software officially supports and was designed to run on, saving myself a ton of trouble.
Yeah this is my main point, I feel the same way when people are trying to run other proprietary software. I understand just being very particular about workflow, big part of the reason I use any given Linux distro, but moving to Linux to then go through the hoops of running MS Office, which even in the best case scenario will be another app that is not easy to update, has always seemed silly to me.
Because it's easier to use/troubleshoot and fix problems. "Oh something broke on an update" revert to the last update. "I have an issue and it outputs an error code in the terminal" copy paste into Google/chatGPT and find the solution.
What is it you want to know? "why do you use Linux" seems like it assumes something about what you might want to know.
Like, why Linux and not MacOS/Windows? Or, what are the Linux specific stuff you use it for? And when you say "Linux", I'm sure you don't mean the kernel, but likely Linux kernel + some package manager + some window manager?
The answer to a lot of these things are true statements for me, but will come across as incredulous. They are:
Are the main ones. I cannot think of a single thing either MacOS or W11 does better, that isn't "well, you can run X software on it", which is a fair argument and likely a valid deal breaker for many use cases/professions. But also not really the fault of the OS. And there are many, many reasons why MacOS and W11 are a pain to use.
Because it's my system and not Microsoft's system. Also I find Apple products extremely expensive for what you get, and that's coupled with how anticonsumer they are.
Because it's an honest system
Adverts, telemetry, bloatware, and I don't look good in a turtleneck.
I couldn't give a squirty shit about games. The GPL made me a convert 25 years ago.
Well this is the Linux Gaming community...
Yeah, I'm an idiot. I was on all and didn't read the sub for context.
I initially switched because I heard about Windows planning to drop support for Windows 10 and I knew that Windows 11 was slow as hell so I jumped ship. I stayed because I really like the customizability and all the options Linux affords me as well as being able to just... switch distros if one company does something I don't like. Being able to update when I want to is also amazing.
I bought a new laptop, and it was lagging more than my old PC. I was enraged by this fact. My old pc had 4gb RAM, my laptop would freeze playing games like osu. Yeah, 8gb was the limit in 2016, but not like to get random freezes. I installed Ubuntu and then never went back, now using Arch. Performance. No random things going under my nose, making spikes happen. Now, it's not about performance alone. It's about control and privacy. I study psychology and I wish my peers realized what it means using Meta services everyday, Microsoft, etc, and how these are connected with our everyday life, decisions and lack of control, thus worth to get the psychology field to debate and put the everyday services under discussion.
I always wanted to learn. I had a number of failed attempts with Linux back in 2000, 2006, etc. I always gave it a shot every 5 years ago just to see.
I fully made the switch with pop os a couple years ago and it ended up sticking. I was in a better place to learn linux and pop os is just easy and noob friendly. This last time was also spurned on when the rumour was going around that windows 11 was going to have ads right in the explorer. I don't know if that ever happened but it was enough to get me to give it another shot haha
You stuck with popOS ever since? Had any issues or had to reinstall after switching or was it smooth sailing pretty much?
Mostly smooth. When I jumped onto pop os I think it was the 21.10 version which was good. Only the ng that I never got working was lutris. When 22.04 was released I updated to that and had some weirdness afterwards that I couldn't quite iron out. I ended up doing a fresh install with 22.04 and it's been great since.
Nice, thanks. I've been (slowly) preparing to switch, for me its probably gonna be mint at first but if that doesnt pan out popOs sounds like a good fallback.
The last version of windows I could tolerate was Win 7. I could find a webpage something like "how to unbloat Win 7" after a fresh install and happily use it.
Linux was a hobby I learned slowly but gaming hold me back and best I could do was dual boot.
I hated everything about Win 8. Win 10 was too demanding hardware-wise. So when Steam bridged the gaming gap, Linux as the only OS was a no-brainer.
I'm interested in the philosophy of open source and I use open source when there is a viable option. But at the end of the day, I prioritize convenience and practicality and Steam is convenient.
I work in science and at university, I was noticing that increasingly often, the kinds of computational work I was doing worked better on Linux. Often, there'd be software that would ostensibly run in Linux and Windows, but the Windows documentation and community would be pretty sparse.
The more I learned, the clearer it became that switching over properly to Linux was the way to go. It just provides better infrastructure. As an example, an area of science I feel passionately about is FAIR data principles, a list of guidelines on how we can make scientific data more Findable, Accessible, Interactible and Reusable. In practice, for me, this means I've gotten very good at using containers, which I found much easier on Linux
I use Linux because it's the better platform for my workload. Knowing that I'm using and supporting FLOSS is great, but ultimately I will choose to use the best available tool for the job. For playing games Valve has made the best platform to manage my library and run it on Linux, so it is the only option for the vast majority of the games I would like to play.
Linux systems are usually laid bare for people to tinker with, which for me is specially good if I see something I don't like, be it software, UI or UX.
Plus, most PC's I've seen from at least the past ~20 years can run Linux, so if I get my hands on a working PC, Linux becomes an easy choice.
Plus², Linux can be made very privacy friendly.
I use it for my servers and for remotely programming for over a decade. Using it on a desktop setup for work or games? Fuck no!
It's my criticism of the Linux community: They don't understand what "being productive" really means. I need to do work during the day, and produce results. I don't have time to deal with my docking station not working, monitors settings breaking, and tinker with them every day... not because I can't, but because I SHOULDN'T NEED TO.
It was cool when I was a teenager... now I need to make money.
As frustrating as it sounds. On windows and mac, literally plug and play. Every time I get the exact same setup. On Linux... dear Lord... every day a different problem and a different tinker until I swore that I'm done, and went back to remote use of Linux. Linux terminal is perfect, and that's probably all I'll need. Linux desktop through VNC, if ever.
Random breakage and weird behavior is why I stopped using Windows at home. On so many machines, I've seen the Start menu just stop functioning... or what's up with the system trying to update the video drivers to the version dated 1968 (the year of Intel's founding)? Nagging me (again?!) to change my web browser to Edge... Is your browser compliant to web standards this time, Microsoft? I still don't want to use it.
Users are taught to fear Linux "because you might have to use the command line!" when in Windows you need to use brain-melting Powershell commands like
just to get a functional OS back.
You pay for Windows, but the privacy terms make it clear that it's Microsoft's computer, not yours, yet you have to fix it yourself when things spontaneously break. If I manage to break Linux (by my own actions), at least I feel like I'm learning a bit in the process of fixing it.
i had a dream about switching to linux, then woke up to a windows update
Switched from Arch to Endevour cuz the icon was prettier
It's annoying when games require Steam in order to run, but let's be clear: it's not DRM.
In most of the cases I've seen, it's nothing more than a library dependency, for features like Steam Input and achievements. Here's a Steam client emulator to satisfy that dependency without Steam being present at all:
https://gitlab.com/Mr_Goldberg/goldberg_emulator
If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, then let's call it a duck. Those dependencies work a lot like DRM for your typical user. And, sure, you can fix it... but you can also install a NoCD for a game with actual DRM.
It doesn't. You might just as well call Steam a spreadsheet.
Steam binds game installations to a specific account where you purchased them; and you are not supposed to run that game instal without Steam alongside it, or through another account, or no account at all, or in 2+ computers at the same time. And the way dependencies are handled is part of that.
As such, you can argue that it's DRM done less worse than most, or that the "DRM-ness" is not its primary "goal", but you can't really argue that it doesn't behave a lot like DRM would, for practical purposes, and for your typical user.
Please don't be disingenuous.
I don't know what you think Steam is doing in this regard, but if you have some evidence that it writes personal account data into game files to prevent their use elsewhere, then please share it. That would be newsworthy.
The only similarity to DRM is that the game expects it to be present. If that made it DRM, your graphics driver would also be DRM, as would your OS, your input devices, and your internet provider.
Obviously, these things are not the same. That's why we have different words for them.
Please don't confuse people by misusing technical terms.
(Or at the very least, have the grace not to complain when someone corrects their usage. Sharing and refining knowledge is how we all learn from each other, after all.)
Because I wanted to use a computer and OS is needed. When I got a first computer, I didn't even understand what OS is. Then researching further, I thought Windows is just another distribution. I tried it, and it was confusing. Linux Mint I immediately liked, so that's what I stuck with.
No special reasons, I am just used to Linux.
I guess this would be the case for more people if Windows wasn't the default as it usually is.
I'll try and keep it short with a bullet list, as I can tend to be long-winded about everything.
There are some reasons to like Windows, but it's harder to justify with the direction Microsoft is, and has been, moving.
EDIT: To actually answer your question about Steam and Linux... because I have a Steam account that I've had for many, many years with 1000 games that predates me moving to Linux in a more serious capacity. While I could move to GOG (and have), I'm not just going to throw away my game library. But also, Steam working to make gaming more mainstream on Linux is a net positive for Linux in general. That was always the reason many people gave for why they wouldn't switch - that, and proprietary software that won't run on anything other than Windows or maybe Mac.
I hate tech and computers in general now, I find myself constantly fighting bugs and issues in general.
this is why I use arch, it allows me to minimize junk that constantly and neverendingly breaks on me, so now i have a system that just works with fairly little pain points
Ownership: I don't worry about windows or Mac doing something behind my back with my stuff
Huge system, full homelab with a lot of self-hosted stuff and linux let's me use everything securely and transparently wherever I am.
I fucking hate Steam. Screw forced updates, DRM, not being able to choose where each game gets installed, or the "we assoooome that you're always on lol" mentality. I use it mostly due to a few games, but I don't buy shit from it, and I'm seriously
considering to piratepirating right now the games that I own just to get rid of Steam.And even if I weren't getting rid of Steam right now, I'd rather use a small proprietary blob over a free system than a full-blown proprietary system.
Did Steam finally get rid of the skin option in the recent update? I know a majority were kind of broken towards the end there even before the major UI change.
Privacy
Yesterday I couldn't log into my session. The password was correct, yet it wouldn't work. I had to reboot and lose whatever I was doing.
That was a first. And it feels like every week since I've started using Linux forever ago I discover a new very annoying bug
For a long time I liked tinkering, customizing, and tolerated fixing bugs... but this time is mostly gone
Were it not for privacy, (and the feeling my computer is truly mine and not rented from a giant corporation) I would switch to something more stable
I use it in some similarities to you such as owning my own OS and supoorting FOSS but as well as not having my OS spy on me. Since I got into the realm of Linux maybe two years ago I have found out about GoG and have been slowly rebuilding my library there and not playing Steam anymore. There are a few games I'll miss such as Snow Runner but I'll live. Ultimately I want to own what I have and not be spied upon by so many things now a days.
I like to tinker with it and the lack of restrictions on low level stuff. The ability to completely change anything about he system that is restricted on other platforms. No data is sent from the system unless you actively enable it. Its stable, I have a raspberry pi that can run for months without error whereas windows bluescreened once every 2 weeks with regular usage. Its free.
Because I own my PC, not Winshit
Simple.i don't use steam