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1.85% of Steam users run Linux

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Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#71

Post by claudius »

velodrome wrote: post #65
codygman wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Changing resolutions requires a restart for you? Why in the world would that be? Do you use ubuntu? Do you have to save settings with the GUI and then restart? For instance I run a shell script which does some xrandr commands to make my external desktop work on Xubuntu (same for debian). 2. Agreed 3. LTS means more stable and packages are more tested. Getting newer packages will mean testing less, meaning less sta…

Yes, I use Ubuntu but I am considering moving to Debian or Suse. To be fair, changing resolution does not always require a restart (but for my multi-monitor setup it often does). I can do most changes without a restart with Nvidia not AMD. Also, why should I change the resolution within the driver software...why not do it in the desktop like Windows or OSX. I am really curious to know how Intel graphics drivers work…

> I am really curious to know how Intel graphics drivers work on linux. Intel seems to be more linux friendly compared to AMD/Nvidia. Is the support a lot better?

They ‘just work’ – you can change the resolution/screen setup any way you like at any time, either using xrandr directly or one of the many frontends (each DE usually has one called ‘Display Settings’). Of course, the drawback is that these are still just Intel on-die GPUs; enough for Portal (2), CS etc., but even KSP runs rather slowly/only at low details.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#72

Post by shangaslammi »

codygman wrote: post #67
shangaslammi wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you are trying to imply. :) Vista (at least after the first service pack) is a solid OS. I still run it on my gaming PC (which also dual boots to Ubuntu) and I don't see any reason whatsoever to "upgrade" to W7 or W8.

Security vulnerabilities? Are they still supporting vista?

Vista gets security updates until 2017.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#73

Post by velodrome »

codygman wrote: post #62
Maakuth wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any kind of hardware acceleration for 3D graphics? If no, then those drivers are pretty much useless for gaming.

There is hardware acceleration for the open source fglrx (radeon) drivers, nouveau (oss for nvidia), and closed source nvidia drivers.

For me, the open source radeon drivers do not work at all. I am on an AMD 7790 on Ubuntu 13.10. Is the hardware not supported yet?

Is the AMD open source driver better than the closed source one?

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#74

Post by forktheif »

Maakuth wrote: post #61
forktheif wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The open source drivers for my ATI card are pretty good. Performance isn't spectacular but it's acceptable, and I've not run into any serious bugs for years, and I have no trouble changing resolution at all.

Is there any kind of hardware acceleration for 3D graphics? If no, then those drivers are pretty much useless for gaming.

Yes, there's hardware acceleration. For games like TF2 I never dip below 45fps and I'm usually up around 75fps

TF2 isn't exactly a new game, but neither is my graphics card.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#75

Post by wtallis »

velodrome wrote: post #73
codygman wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is hardware acceleration for the open source fglrx (radeon) drivers, nouveau (oss for nvidia), and closed source nvidia drivers.

For me, the open source radeon drivers do not work at all. I am on an AMD 7790 on Ubuntu 13.10. Is the hardware not supported yet? Is the AMD open source driver better than the closed source one?

Support for the Radeon 7000 series in the open source driver arrived pretty slow. You should check to see what version of the driver is included with your distribution, as it could easily predate the 3d acceleration support.

For older hardware, the open source driver is getting competitive in terms of performance, and of course has the usual benefits of open source drivers.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#76

Post by moomin »

forktheif wrote: post #59
velodrome wrote: post #57

Gaming on Linux still has a long way to go: 1) The drivers are still crappy. It's getting better but it still needs a lot of work. To simply manage multiple screens or to change resolution requires a restart! Nvidia is still better than AMD drivers. 2) Many games just get the Linux ports to a "working" condition and leave it at that. The games are really buggy. Valve games are top notch and deserve a lot of credit fo…

The open source drivers for my ATI card are pretty good. Performance isn't spectacular but it's acceptable, and I've not run into any serious bugs for years, and I have no trouble changing resolution at all.

You're lucky. I get the choice of Steam or a laptop that can sleep. (nVidia)

In many ways it's a good thing, I get more code dOne this way.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#77

Post by stormbrew »

velodrome wrote: post #57

Gaming on Linux still has a long way to go: 1) The drivers are still crappy. It's getting better but it still needs a lot of work. To simply manage multiple screens or to change resolution requires a restart! Nvidia is still better than AMD drivers. 2) Many games just get the Linux ports to a "working" condition and leave it at that. The games are really buggy. Valve games are top notch and deserve a lot of credit fo…

Intel drivers, lack of horsepower aside, are much better than either nvidia or amd at this point. You do not need to restart X to change resolutions or manage screens, it's just an xrandr command. It works very well.

That said, a lot of games on linux deal extremely poorly with multimon no matter what. They'll usually try to play over all screens with sometimes completely insane geometries.

Re: 1.85% of Steam users run Linux

#80

Post by fulafel »

1qaz2wsx3edc wrote: post #37
i80and wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most games work, but the problems fall into a few categories: 1) Missing libraries: Almost always 32-bit/64-bit problems. 2) Missing executable: this is usually fixed sooner or later. 3) Graphics problems: This shouldn't be a problem on NVIDIA systems, and the Intel Mesa drivers are pretty good these days, but it still can occur.

Ergo StreamOS. I wouldn't bother running Steam on a non-valve distro, it just doesn't seem practical given the options available (Win/OSX/SteamOS). Full disclosure: I use Steam on OSX & inside a Windows VM. My biggest peeve is that Valve restricts the Steam client to a single runtime (meaning: I can't run steam on OSX & Windows at the same time "This account is logged in elsewhere"). So I'm always switching between t…

> Come on, just allow unlimited instances/logins from the same IP.

This would only work for NAT victims, not a good way to go...

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