Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

kotaku.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 199 posts

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#31

Post by recoiledsnake »

malkia wrote: post #25
recoiledsnake wrote: post #12

I think the headline of the article is pretty misleading as he means that Windows 8 is a catastrophe for Steam because of the Windows 8 app store. Looks like everyone's upvoting the article because they seem to think that Gabe meant that Windows 8 will be a failure. Instead of having to go through Steam's distribution, games will have the option of going directly to the Windows 8 app store and get featured there, not…

"Microsoft is charging between 20 to 30%" - I think that's too much, it must be much less than that, but I don't know for sure.

Reference: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsstore/archive/2012/07/20/maki...

Store fees are calculated on a per-transaction basis as well. These fees are based at 30% of the app price, until your app reaches $25,000 or equivalent of lifetime sales (aggregated across app sales and in-app purchases) when they change to 20% of the app price.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#32

Post by commandar »

cooldeal wrote: post #27
bcbrown wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A business catastrophe, not a usability or market catastrophe. "I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people."

You're right, and I also wouldn't trust anything he says about Windows 8 since he has a vested interest in keeping easy distribution restricted to Steam. He will face no such competition on Linux.

Ubuntu Software Center isn't a direct competitor?

If anything he risks footing a lot of the effort to get developers onto Linux (see: Valve openly talking about working with GPU manufacturers to improve the quality of Linux drivers) only to have it benefit people that choose to distribute outside of Steam.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#33

Post by trotsky »

malkia wrote: post #25
recoiledsnake wrote: post #12

I think the headline of the article is pretty misleading as he means that Windows 8 is a catastrophe for Steam because of the Windows 8 app store. Looks like everyone's upvoting the article because they seem to think that Gabe meant that Windows 8 will be a failure. Instead of having to go through Steam's distribution, games will have the option of going directly to the Windows 8 app store and get featured there, not…

"Microsoft is charging between 20 to 30%" - I think that's too much, it must be much less than that, but I don't know for sure.

To lure in would-be developers, Microsoft is establishing an attractive revenue-split model that trumps what Apple delivers to its App Store and Mac App Store software partners. The Microsoft split starts at 70-30, between developers and Microsoft, respectively. This is the same ratio Apple offers, but once an app has proven its success by garnering $25,000 in sales, the split shifts further in the developer’s favor to 80-20.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/windows-8-store-intro...

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#34

Post by b0 »

ch0wn wrote: post #18
commandar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you don't like Metro, launch the desktop and forget it even exists. Been using W8 on my desktop at work for about a month now. If only it were that easy. The big problem is that W8 is insanely inconsistent. Trying to change system settings can result in having to navigate a byzantine maze guiding you through new Metro interfaces with old-school control panel applets interspersed throughout. The Control Panel stil…

I got the same impression so far. Take the Metro Windows Update for example. It failed for for me repeatedly without giving any reason until I found the same functionality within the "classic" Control Center where I had to allow the system to reboot in order to install the updates. This is simply a horrible experience in every way.

I whinged about this to our partner rep who made some calls - apparently they fixed it for RTM.

Whether or not that is bullshit or not, I don't know.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#35

Post by commandar »

correctifier wrote: post #20
summerdown2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who likes having a gorgeous desktop wallpaper, with icons arranged in clusters according to usability? Or to have overlapping windows? Everything I've heard about Metro suggests limited customisation of the desktop and apps that insist on being full-screen or some guaranteed fraction. All of this feels like evolution in reverse to me. I've never used Windows 8, but the stories coming out make me nev…

It is unfortunate that this kind of information has been spread so widely about Windows 8, but it's just not true. The desktop is still there, icons are still there, overlapping windows are still there, the only thing gone is the start menu, replaced with the metro launch screen that can launch both desktop and metro apps. There are still some issues with the two different environments, especially the difference in l…

>It is unfortunate that this kind of information has been spread so widely about Windows 8, but it's just not true.

Well, it is and it isn't. Native Metro apps do more or less behave the way he's describing. The thing is, almost no native Metro apps exist right now, so you'll spend the vast majority of your time in traditional desktop mode anyway.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#36

Post by ericd »

Donito wrote: post #9

The title should be: "Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe' [for steam]". Steam is, from a user perspective, a video game marketplace on PC. In Win8, they will have to compete with the built-in windows marketplace, where most games will published directly. In other words, Win8 is a catastrophe for them as it's endangering their business.

I can tell you that it would be very hard for Microsoft to make me choose to use their app store over Steam without resorting to anti-competitive tactics. Steam, from a gamer's perspective, does almost everything right, and I have a huge number of games "stored" there. Then again, laziness might trump for most people.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#37

Post by icebraining »

commandar wrote: post #32
cooldeal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, and I also wouldn't trust anything he says about Windows 8 since he has a vested interest in keeping easy distribution restricted to Steam. He will face no such competition on Linux.

Ubuntu Software Center isn't a direct competitor? If anything he risks footing a lot of the effort to get developers onto Linux (see: Valve openly talking about working with GPU manufacturers to improve the quality of Linux drivers) only to have it benefit people that choose to distribute outside of Steam.

Ubuntu Software Center isn't a direct competitor?

No, because it's DRM-less.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#38

Post by wtracy »

commandar wrote: post #32
cooldeal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, and I also wouldn't trust anything he says about Windows 8 since he has a vested interest in keeping easy distribution restricted to Steam. He will face no such competition on Linux.

Ubuntu Software Center isn't a direct competitor? If anything he risks footing a lot of the effort to get developers onto Linux (see: Valve openly talking about working with GPU manufacturers to improve the quality of Linux drivers) only to have it benefit people that choose to distribute outside of Steam.

I was going to reply that UBC doesn't support paid apps, but apparently now it does.

That said, Valve appears to be going for a play based on being a cross-platform app store (Windows, OS X, Linux). It's not obvious to me that they can add much value that way (after you've gone to the work to implement support for three platforms, submitting to three app stores is not a lot of overhead) but we'll see.

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#39

Post by cooldeal »

ch0wn wrote: post #18
commandar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you don't like Metro, launch the desktop and forget it even exists. Been using W8 on my desktop at work for about a month now. If only it were that easy. The big problem is that W8 is insanely inconsistent. Trying to change system settings can result in having to navigate a byzantine maze guiding you through new Metro interfaces with old-school control panel applets interspersed throughout. The Control Panel stil…

I got the same impression so far. Take the Metro Windows Update for example. It failed for for me repeatedly without giving any reason until I found the same functionality within the "classic" Control Center where I had to allow the system to reboot in order to install the updates. This is simply a horrible experience in every way.

>It failed for for me repeatedly without giving any reason until I found the same functionality within the "classic" Control Center where I had to allow the system to reboot in order to install the updates

Wasn't this on the Beta product? Why is everyone talking as if it's on the RTM version?

Re: Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a 'Catastrophe'

#40

Post by ryanisinallofus »

Steam has little to worry about in regards to the Windows App Store. They just need to keep pushing platforms, keep securing great titles, and RELEASE ANOTHER DAMN HALF LIFE 2 EPISODE. Exclusively on Steam of course.

Steam is pretty great and it's not easy to replicate. See "Google Play."

Post reply on HN