Post by Sysop-Delco in ItchOS

Viewing post in ItchOS

Hm, some merit to the idea. Browsing the listings of a few sites it seems that Itch.io has more linux games available than any other platform:

itch.io: 3796
SteamOS: 3530
GOG.com: 1350
Desura: 755

Still, even though its not straight forward to include non-steam games into SteamOS it can still run them, and its getting some very active driver/tech support. At this point it might be a better idea to make the Itch.io App compatible with SteamOS to more easily load itch.io/non-steam linux games than to build an entirely new OS, Steam might love the idea of giving SteamOS users access to additional content (or not), and potentially this would give itch.io developers a backdoor into Steam land.

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Fortoj9 years ago

Well, you can't stand out by just following what big companies are capable to offer better.

Valve's job to improve Linux's driver will come to benefit to everyone (that's the greatness of the open source), and any Linux derivative. On the opensource side is even better with Intel/AMD graphic stack... which mean that driver can be delivered to work out-of-box, at full performance, without infringing licensing issues with GNU.

Anyway, having an ItchOS doesn't mean that the main app couldn't work into steam as non-steam app.

The capability to boot your own complete gaming platform on something simple like a usb dongle, it's an added value/capability that Steam doesn't have.

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Sysop-Delco9 years ago (1 edit)

Well, you can't stand out by just following what big companies are capable to offer better.

True, but thats not necessarily the main reason I mention the idea. There are doubts about whether or not SteamOS and linux gaming in general will get anywhere compared to mainstream windows gaming, if it doesn't gain enough momentum hardware manufacturer's may lose interest and let their drivers lapse again. Getting a boost of double the library would inject a much needed sense of progress and legitimacy. In other words rather than dividing the market further, we could pool our resources to try and increase the odds of generating a successful linux market.

Anyway, having an ItchOS doesn't mean that the main app couldn't work into steam as non-steam app.

And vice versa. I'm not saying don't make ItchOS, only that we have the Itch.io App right now and building roads into SteamOS could prove beneficial for both parties. I think there's a strong argument for ItchOS, not just because the linux library is larger on Itch, but because it could provide a DRM free alternative to SteamOS, be more developer accessible, add some useful features like USB live sessions out of the box, have lower spec targets and builds, and include accessibility for the disabled beyond what Steam is capable or willing to offer.

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