Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March • Hacker News Board

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#241

Post by jijijijij » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 12:59 PM UTC

UqWBcuFx6NV4r wrote: post #221

jijijijij wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Privacy minded Linux users probably also know, spoofing your user agent is likely to increase fingerprint entropy and actually decreases privacy. It may have been true in the past, but I don't think anyone even recommends it anymore.

Actually that sounds like exactly the sort of nuanced reality that “privacy-conscious Linux users” aren’t that likely to know at all.

The EFF's "Panopticlick" paper was published in 2010 [1], together with Firefox/Tor research that knowledge became mainstream. Therefore privacy guides don't recommend it. The Arch wiki linked above has this warning in bright red:

> "Changing the user agent without changing to a corresponding platform will make your browser nearly unique."

Sorry, I am not sure, if arguing about nuanced reality is the battleground, where I see you thriving.

[1] https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ (browser test since 2014)

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#242

Post by Gander5739 » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:00 PM UTC

deltoidmaximus wrote: post #223

Gander5739 wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying that easy anti cheat on linux is different from on windows? I am aware it is not as effective as detecting cheating on linux, but does this affect gameplay itself? Or do game developers not want reduced efficacy of detecting cheaters, and so they don't support linux at all?

I don't play those games myself but the word is that the EAC on linux lacks the same kernel hooks that are available on Windows. I personally consider that a plus but if you're a developer obsessed with strong anti-cheat you probably do not.

Ah, I was under the mistaken impression EAC operated in userspace.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#243

Post by mancerayder » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:07 PM UTC

mikkupikku wrote: post #160

Pewdiepie becoming an arch-pilled rice-maxxer who advocates Linux for freedom and gaming has surely had some effect. He's such a good sport he even swore off Photoshop and tries to learn to like Gimp.

Is there an English translation for those not in the latest influencer language trends?

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#244

Post by PaulHoule » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:10 PM UTC

I am impressed with the Steam Deck. Playing The Hundred Line on the deck brings back the glory days of the Playstation Vita. And it's the one device I have (including iPhone, iPad and Mac) for which AirPods are 100% a "just works" experience.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#245

Post by Synaesthesia » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:11 PM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #243

mikkupikku wrote: post #160

Pewdiepie becoming an arch-pilled rice-maxxer who advocates Linux for freedom and gaming has surely had some effect. He's such a good sport he even swore off Photoshop and tries to learn to like Gimp.

Is there an English translation for those not in the latest influencer language trends?

Ricing = making your linux desktop look pretty. arch = a 'techy' flavour of linux.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#246

Post by vidarh » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:12 PM UTC

bregma wrote: post #178

jijijijij wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Privacy minded Linux users probably also know, spoofing your user agent is likely to increase fingerprint entropy and actually decreases privacy. It may have been true in the past, but I don't think anyone even recommends it anymore.

There's still plenty of web sites that check the OS and if it's not Mac OS, Windows, or Andoid it's no service for you. Faking your UA is not always about privacy, it's about defeating stupidity.

I'm sure there are some, but having used Linux for 32 years, it's been at least 20 years since I needed to do that.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#247

Post by ChoGGi » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:16 PM UTC

BigJono wrote: post #102

amarant wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean you make good points and all, but on the other hand I really want this to be the year of the Linux desktop, so I'm gonna go with the other interpretation anyway!

Well, if it's any indication, my sister, who is very much not a tech person, randomly asked me to help her install Linux Mint a month ago, and has been using it successfully since without needing to ask for help once (at least not from me, I suspect ChatGPT is getting a workout). That felt like an indicator to me. I only switched to Linux a year or two ago and haven't mentioned it to her once, so she got the idea fro…

> but if random normies start using it without fanfare

From the normies I know, they only vaguely know what chatgpt is and sure don't use it.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#248

Post by archi42 » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:20 PM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #233

mikkupikku wrote: post #160

Pewdiepie becoming an arch-pilled rice-maxxer who advocates Linux for freedom and gaming has surely had some effect. He's such a good sport he even swore off Photoshop and tries to learn to like Gimp.

I haven't used GIMP in a while but I had great experience with Krita, even with my display tablet it all "just worked".

krita looks great! I'm not a hugely creative person, so last time I spent time to learn a graphics tool that was gimp in the early 2010s. But I used krita last week to test my convertibles's pen (Dell PN7552W, on Linux of course). Pleasant experience overall, and utterly amazing how far krita came in the last decade.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#249

Post by gchamonlive » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:24 PM UTC

nijave wrote: post #222

gchamonlive wrote: post #174

I am a long time windows pc gamer, but lately I was having to re-pair my DS4 controller every week or so. But the windows Bluetooth device manager will just refuse to remove that device. So I was periodically having to open the old school device manager, click show hidden and remove the controller there. By the fifth time I got fed up, replaced windows with Bazzite and am happy now. Good riddance.

YMMV, I've not had good luck with Bluetooth on any OS

It's absolutely fine on Linux for all the devices I have so I'm happy with it. I daily drive arch (https://github.com/gchamon/archie), bazzite which is fedora, and the notebook my current employer provides which comes with Ubuntu pre-installed.

Re: Steam on Linux Use Skyrocketed Above 5% in March

#250

Post by mzmzmzm » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 1:27 PM UTC

Personally, after using Windows at home since I was in kindergarten (3.1), having an employer-provided Macbook the last 15 years, and every few years dipping a toe into Linux for various projects, I can say they finally did it. I panic built a new PC for gaming, video editing, and messing with LLMs just at the start of the RAM crisis and thought what the heck, why not CachyOS. I might not be the average user, but it has been so much more convenient, snappy, and fun to troubleshoot than any other time I can remember. KDE just works and has sane defaults. The Arch repository has almost everything you can imagine, and usually the Cachy maintained "safe" repos do too. I downloaded Steam and immediately jumped into my saves from BG3, Cyberpunk, Claire Obscur, and more, like nothing happened. QGIS, Affinity apps (bye Adeobe), LM Studio can take advantage of my GPU. DaVinci Resolve is wonky, but Kdenlive is fine as a stopgap. I want to evangelize now as much as possible since it's all so starkly different from even 5 years ago, largely but not wholly thanks to Steam's Proton work. Microsoft really doesn't care about Win users (fine, it doesn't make them any money), and now is our chance.