Linux, the future of gaming....Gabe says so!

1.52%              7.28%              91%

Numbers, that's all those are and by themselves meaningless.  So let's add some context.

1.52% is your number if the PC you're reading this on happens to be running Linux.  

7.28% if it's got "Mac" somewhere on its badge and 91 for pretty much everyone else in the world running some flavor of Windows made in the past 10 years.  

Oh yeah and 2.46% for you weird people still running BEOS and OS/2. 

So what?  Those numbers haven't changed much in the past decade or so.  But wait!  Ol' Gabe's at it again.  

This week at the 2013 LinuxCon  Valve chief Gabe Newell proclaimed that Linux is the "Future of Gaming!" among other things.

He bases his belief on what he deems closed and incompatible ecosystems across gaming platforms from the likes of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.  Linux will apparently put an end to all of that by embracing a more "open" and collaborative gaming experience.  "Blurring the line" between gamer and developer.

He also pointed to the release of the Steam Client for Linux in February this year and the 198 games currently available.  Exciting titles like "Euro Truck Simulator", "Towns" and a port of the now 4 year old zombie shooter "Left for Dead 2."  By the way, if you've got a version of Linux that isn't based on Ubuntu, good luck getting the client to work. 

Bemoaning the "friction" of getting his wares on traditional and mobile platforms was another barb hurled by Newell at the likes of Apple's App Store certification process.

Thing is, if Linux is the future of gaming in your living room, why does the platform have less market share than the "other" category of Desktop OS's? (1.52% to "other's" 2.46%)

Claiming that many of the world's game servers run Linux is one thing but actually playing a game on Linux is quite another.   Oh, and that whole thing about game servers running Linux?  A quick glance at Steam's own forums belies Newell's claims of greater stability and access.  Any regular user of Steam whose lost their saved games due to "cloud sync" can attest to that.

 Trying to make the platform more user friendly with the release of customized libraries, interaction with hardware developers and the eventual emergence of Steam branded hardware will help but there's still a problem.

It's that whole "open" thing. 

As distasteful as it may be for him to admit it, Newell will have to recreate a very Microsoft like ecosystem for his ambitions to bear fruit.  At some point to make Linux gaming commercially viable he'll have to tighten the reins to move things along.   Which means less democracy (aka Mob rule) and more tyranny in the eyes of the open source community.

It's the same problem that's plagued open source since its conception.  Everyone has a vote and if they don't like it they can go do something else.  That's fine but it also leads to a splintered platform with devotees to branches defending "their way" with an almost cultish fanaticism.   In the end it leaves users confused and weary.  The open source world has to face facts and stop developing for eachother and start taking "real" users into account.  Quite a hurdle for the APT-Get and RPM types.

That's why after 2 decades Linux is still not a player on the desktop.  It's also why Newell will have to step on a few toes to have any hope of Linux gaming even being a tertiary choice.

Thus  the world of Linux Gaming has largely been limited to minor titles and either emulated or buggy ports of Windows games.

The current offerings for Linux are primarily translated from other platforms like Windows or indie  wares that rarely rise above the level of a cult classic.  Being a game developer, Valve is certainly in a position to add content to the Linux platform but aside from a few hits like Half Life and Portal the company isn't exactly known for pumping out blockbusters on a regular basis.  Which is a big reason why you don't see many triple-A titles on the Linux side of Steam. 

Another reason?  Let's face it, Linux has less than 2% market share on the desktop.  Mobile platforms are hostile to Steam and the only chance of increasing market share for Linux gaming is to produce....what?

Of course, a gaming console.  One that will have to be as reigned in and locked down as any Xbox or Playstation.  One that cannot be just another homebrew PC running a weird Linux distro like MythTV. 

Warning Linux faithful, you may have a wolf in your midst.  The sad thing for you is that it may be your only chance to have a decent gaming experience.