Valve's Gabe Newell Wants to Support Linux, Because Windows 8 is a ‘Catastrophe’

**FirtY** · 07-25-12 at 10:27 PM

The head of Valve says his company is working to develop for Linux, calling Microsoft's Windows 8 a "catastrophe" that will lead product manufacturers to abandon the platform.

At a gaming event in Seattle last night, as reported by AllThingsD, Valve CEO Gabe Newell said the one thing holding back Linux is video game support.

"The big problem that is holding back Linux is games. People don't realize how critical games are in driving consumer purchasing behavior," Newell said, according to AllThingsD. "We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux as well. It's a hedging strategy. I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."

Earlier this year, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell wrote an article for Kotaku about Windows 8's issues. Wardell called the new operating system a "usability nightmare." If other PC developers feel similarly, perhaps they'd be more than willing to follow Newell's lead to the Linux platform.

Newell also talked about touchscreens, calling them "short-term" and saying he thinks the future of interaction will be through computerized wristbands.

"We think touch is short-term," he said. "The mouse and keyboard were stable for 25 years, but I think touch will be stable for 10 years. Post-touch will be stable for a really long time, longer than 25 years.

"There's some crazy speculative stuff. This is super nerdy, and you can tease us years from now, but as it turns out, your tongue is one of the best mechanical systems to your brain, but it's disconcerting to have the person sitting next you go blah, blah, blah, blah... I don't think tongue input will happen, but I do think we will have bands on our wrists, and you'll be doing something with your hands, which are really expressive."

Perhaps we'll be using them to make Steam hats. According to Newell, there's a guy in Kansas making virtual hats for $150,000 a year. $150,000 a year. Anyone else want to get into the hat-making business?

Source:

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http://kotaku.com/5929067/gabe-newell-wants-to-support-linux-because-windows-8-is-a-catastrophe

**Noledox** · 07-25-12 at 11:01 PM

Valve: go ahead and support Linux (you've been showing demonstrations of getting Source onto Linux for quite some time), but don't even think about ending support for Windows 7.

**PhoenixBSD** · 07-25-12 at 11:38 PM

I take this with a grain of salt as there were a lot of naysayers just before and shortly after Windoze 7 was introduced. Those 'gurus' were all proven wrong. M$ does some crazy things, thanks to Steve Ballmer not having the brains to come in out of the rain, but I don't believe M$ will completely abandon the PC gaming format. If that were their master plan then gaming on the PC platform would have died long ago, i.e., after Xbox became so popular.

I personally think Gabe Newell is forgetting that Windoze 8 desktop edition still allows the ubiquitous mouse/keyboard way of life. Besides that, Windows 7 will be around for years, if XP is any metric to go by.

sayargh · 07-25-12 at 11:50 PM

What he fails to realize is that Linux is still a worse catastrophe... What with the hundreds if not thousands of variations of Linux game developers have a hard enough time testing different systems with windows nevermind adding another layer to test all these Linux builds too.

**jbgoode** · 07-26-12 at 12:20 AM

Maybe that guy is rite.
I mean, c'mon! the only games that we'll be able to play on a tablet would be chess or tetris.
Although I understand there'll be still mouse/keyboard support, that dont change the fact that this system is designed for hand gestures.
Touch screens aint my cup of coffee anyway.
Just sayin

**tehhunter** · 07-26-12 at 02:42 AM

he sounds like a jealous guys probably he wanted to work with the windows team lol. i still dont understand why people said that metro style suck and windows 8 sucks i mean desktop is still there and if you dont want to use metro style app dont use it just used desktop environment or interface. is the same thing as windows 7 just more polish and a new interface metro and the original desktop. comon people with one click taaaaayou are on desktop how hard is to click once

**Spazzer** · 07-26-12 at 07:22 AM

The way I understand it, this Windows 8 feature will be competition for Steam.

It will take 30% cut from every game sale. That will send PC game prices up to or even past the cost of console games.

excalibur1814 · 07-26-12 at 07:34 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by jbgoode

Maybe that guy is rite.
I mean, c'mon! the only games that we'll be able to play on a tablet would be chess or tetris.

Not really so on something like the Samsung 7 Slate or HP 2760p and the specs can only get better.

ANyway...

In all my years I'm not too sure if I've ever read so much rubbish before. Windows 8 is hardly anything different over Windows 7 and we'll all still be using foxit, 7-zip, Office, Open office or whatever like nothing has changed and once you've drummed Winkey+I into your skull you can use Windows 8 at lightning speed.

All in all we're exchanging desktop icons for Metro tiles. Hardly earth shattering and when you think about it, even for two seconds, what is so ESSENTIAL about the Start menu?

tycoonist · 07-27-12 at 11:15 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Spazzer

The way I understand it, this Windows 8 feature will be competition for Steam.

It will take 30% cut from every game sale. That will send PC game prices up to or even past the cost of console games.

If MS plans on making their pockets that fat I hope valve drops em.

**Noledox** · 07-27-12 at 11:41 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tycoonist

If MS plans on making their pockets that fat I hope valve drops em.

I think the 30% cut only applies to the Windows Store, like the Apple and Android app stores.

Loora · 07-28-12 at 12:16 AM

Metro isn't the issue here. I believe this is about windows 8 beeing a very "closed" system for developers forcing a number of restrictions on them. There are also licensing issues afaik which makes it a nightmare to develop for and publish on the windows 8 platform. It also greatly affects OEMs from what I understand. I don't have many details but it won't take long until some developer violates the NDA and leaks detailed info to the press.

Also, Gabe Newell isn't the only one complaining about Windows 8 .... Rob Pardo (Blizzard) agrees with him and pretty much said that Windows 8 sucks for Blizzard. Whatever that really means is, at this point, open for guessing I suppose.

Alumni · 07-28-12 at 08:47 AM

Quote:

"The big problem that is holding back Linux is games."

Steam isn't going to magically solve this problem, so I'm stuck with Windows for the foreseeable future.

eeeaddict · 07-31-12 at 11:49 AM

the biggest problem is that metro apps will ONLY be available through the windows store!
Basically were all ****ed if microsoft doesn't approve an app, also this means everything will cost more because of the revenue split!

eeeaddict · 07-31-12 at 12:38 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Noledox

I think the 30% cut only applies to the Windows Store, like the Apple and Android app stores.

thats good all but metro apps can ONLY come from the store

07-25-12 at 11:01 PM	#2
Noledox Bad command or file name Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Terra Incognita Posts: 2,709	Valve: go ahead and support Linux (you've been showing demonstrations of getting Source onto Linux for quite some time), but don't even think about ending support for Windows 7.

07-25-12 at 11:38 PM	#3
PhoenixBSD Luminiferous Ether Sailor Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Thailand Posts: 1,613	I take this with a grain of salt as there were a lot of naysayers just before and shortly after Windoze 7 was introduced. Those 'gurus' were all proven wrong. M$ does some crazy things, thanks to Steve Ballmer not having the brains to come in out of the rain, but I don't believe M$ will completely abandon the PC gaming format. If that were their master plan then gaming on the PC platform would have died long ago, i.e., after Xbox became so popular. I personally think Gabe Newell is forgetting that Windoze 8 desktop edition still allows the ubiquitous mouse/keyboard way of life. Besides that, Windows 7 will be around for years, if XP is any metric to go by.

07-25-12 at 11:50 PM	#4
sayargh Apprentice Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 336	What he fails to realize is that Linux is still a worse catastrophe... What with the hundreds if not thousands of variations of Linux game developers have a hard enough time testing different systems with windows nevermind adding another layer to test all these Linux builds too.

07-26-12 at 12:20 AM	#5
jbgoode Expert Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Way over yonder (expat) Posts: 579	Maybe that guy is rite. I mean, c'mon! the only games that we'll be able to play on a tablet would be chess or tetris. Although I understand there'll be still mouse/keyboard support, that dont change the fact that this system is designed for hand gestures. Touch screens aint my cup of coffee anyway. Just sayin

07-26-12 at 02:42 AM	#6
tehhunter Master Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1,282	he sounds like a jealous guys probably he wanted to work with the windows team lol. i still dont understand why people said that metro style suck and windows 8 sucks i mean desktop is still there and if you dont want to use metro style app dont use it just used desktop environment or interface. is the same thing as windows 7 just more polish and a new interface metro and the original desktop. comon people with one click taaaaayou are on desktop how hard is to click once

07-26-12 at 07:22 AM	#7
Spazzer Bucking Fastard Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Australia Posts: 2,640	The way I understand it, this Windows 8 feature will be competition for Steam. It will take 30% cut from every game sale. That will send PC game prices up to or even past the cost of console games.

07-26-12 at 07:34 AM	#8
excalibur1814 Newcomer Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 38	Quote: Originally Posted by jbgoode Maybe that guy is rite. I mean, c'mon! the only games that we'll be able to play on a tablet would be chess or tetris. Not really so on something like the Samsung 7 Slate or HP 2760p and the specs can only get better. ANyway... In all my years I'm not too sure if I've ever read so much rubbish before. Windows 8 is hardly anything different over Windows 7 and we'll all still be using foxit, 7-zip, Office, Open office or whatever like nothing has changed and once you've drummed Winkey+I into your skull you can use Windows 8 at lightning speed. All in all we're exchanging desktop icons for Metro tiles. Hardly earth shattering and when you think about it, even for two seconds, what is so ESSENTIAL about the Start menu?

07-27-12 at 11:15 PM	#9
tycoonist Apprentice Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: thanks moopette Posts: 390	Quote: Originally Posted by Spazzer The way I understand it, this Windows 8 feature will be competition for Steam. It will take 30% cut from every game sale. That will send PC game prices up to or even past the cost of console games. If MS plans on making their pockets that fat I hope valve drops em.

07-27-12 at 11:41 PM	#10
Noledox Bad command or file name Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Terra Incognita Posts: 2,709	Quote: Originally Posted by tycoonist If MS plans on making their pockets that fat I hope valve drops em. I think the 30% cut only applies to the Windows Store, like the Apple and Android app stores.

07-28-12 at 12:16 AM	#11
Loora Apprentice Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 437	Metro isn't the issue here. I believe this is about windows 8 beeing a very "closed" system for developers forcing a number of restrictions on them. There are also licensing issues afaik which makes it a nightmare to develop for and publish on the windows 8 platform. It also greatly affects OEMs from what I understand. I don't have many details but it won't take long until some developer violates the NDA and leaks detailed info to the press. Also, Gabe Newell isn't the only one complaining about Windows 8 .... Rob Pardo (Blizzard) agrees with him and pretty much said that Windows 8 sucks for Blizzard. Whatever that really means is, at this point, open for guessing I suppose.

07-28-12 at 08:47 AM	#12
Alumni Novice Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Australia Posts: 215	Quote: "The big problem that is holding back Linux is games." Steam isn't going to magically solve this problem, so I'm stuck with Windows for the foreseeable future.

07-31-12 at 12:38 PM	#14
eeeaddict Newcomer Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 67	Quote: Originally Posted by Noledox I think the 30% cut only applies to the Windows Store, like the Apple and Android app stores. thats good all but metro apps can ONLY come from the store