Valve Software Joins the Linux Foundation

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Valve Software is now finally part of the Linux Foundation collective.

The Linux Foundation announced on Wednesday that Valve Software has finally become one of its newest members, along with the HSA Foundation that's backed by AMD, ARM, Imagination Technologies, Qualcomm and a number of others. Valve Software is currently working on SteamOS, a Linux-based gaming platform designed to be the core OS for its Steam Machines PC "console" initiative.

"Joining the Linux Foundation is one of many ways Valve is investing in the advancement of Linux gaming. Through these efforts, we hope to contribute tools for developers building new experiences on Linux, compel hardware manufacturers to prioritize support for Linux, and ultimately deliver an elegant and open platform for Linux users," said Mike Sartain of Valve.

Platinum members of the Linux Foundation include Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, Oracle, Qualcomm and Samsung. Gold members include AMD, China Mobile, Cisco, Google, Hitachi, Huawei, Motorola and several others. A much larger list of Silver members includes Adobe, Broadcom, Canonical, D-Link, Dell and so on. Where Valve and the HSA Foundation will fit into this tier system is currently unknown.

The Linux Foundation is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to the growth of Linux and collaborative software development. The organization was founded back in 2000 and sponsors the work of Linux creator Linus Torvalds. The organization also promotes, protects and advances the Linux operating system and collaborative software development by marshaling the resources of its members and the open source community.

"Our membership continues to grow as both new and mature entities embrace community development and open technologies," said Mike Woster, chief operating officer, The Linux Foundation. "Our new members believe Linux is a strategic investment that allows their markets to evolve as quickly as possible to achieve long-term viability and competitiveness."

Valve introduced SteamOS back in September. The new operating system is designed for the TV and the living room, and will be made available to download for free. Valve said that although the company previously worked on bringing Steam to the living room with elements such as Big Picture, the only way to offer the best environment would be to simply develop an entire operating system.

For more information about the Linux Foundation, head here.

Kevin Parrish
36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Jgriff
    there has been no viable pc gaming alternative other than windows, until now...finally someone did something about it, cant wait to leave windows...ever since bill gates stepped down as chaiman microsoft has went to sheet
    Reply
  • onedos
    I hope linux explodes and is one everyone's desktop.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    This is pretty exciting. I was a bit pessimistic about Steam OS at first, but if it develops into a full blown Linux OS with all of the options that brings with it, then it is quite exciting. Microsoft has been firing on three cylinders the past few years so the timing of this is quite fortunate.
    Reply
  • vmem
    hmm, this is VERY interesting. Microsoft has some major work to do or more and more software developers are going to jump on the Linux boat.

    Will definately be keeping an eye on it
    Reply
  • vmem
    12102969 said:
    This is pretty exciting. I was a bit pessimistic about Steam OS at first, but if it develops into a full blown Linux OS with all of the options that brings with it, then it is quite exciting. Microsoft has been firing on three cylinders the past few years so the timing of this is quite fortunate.

    I have to partially disagree with this. I think Steam OS should be a gaming only highly optimized platform, and Steam should exist alternatively as a part of a large Linux based OS developed by the Foundation.

    This is because there are a lot of professional software out there that still lack proper Linux support (or a linux version at all). examples would be autodesk and Adobe. until proper alternatives can be found, professional gamers like myself will keep AT LEAST ONE high-powered PC for content creation etc. dual-booting into Steam OS would only be attractive as a highly optimized gaming platform, as I can't get that much work done on Linux atm...
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    12102998 said:
    This is because there are a lot of professional software out there that still lack proper Linux support (or a linux version at all). examples would be autodesk and Adobe. until proper alternatives can be found, professional gamers like myself will keep AT LEAST ONE high-powered PC for content creation etc. dual-booting into Steam OS would only be attractive as a highly optimized gaming platform, as I can't get that much work done on Linux atm...

    If by "AutoDesk" you mean AutoCAD, try DraftSight from Dassault Systèmes, the same developer as Solidworks and Catia.
    Reply
  • vmem
    12103216 said:
    12102998 said:
    This is because there are a lot of professional software out there that still lack proper Linux support (or a linux version at all). examples would be autodesk and Adobe. until proper alternatives can be found, professional gamers like myself will keep AT LEAST ONE high-powered PC for content creation etc. dual-booting into Steam OS would only be attractive as a highly optimized gaming platform, as I can't get that much work done on Linux atm...

    If by "AutoDesk" you mean AutoCAD, try DraftSight from Dassault Systèmes, the same developer as Solidworks and Catia.

    I meant Maya. and I guess I should specify that the problem isn't that I can't personally find an alternative, but rather Windows is very much entrenched in the enterprise and will easily take a decade or more to remove. until then, anyone working for one of these enterprises will do well to keep at least one Windows based system. which leaves Linux only for 'side jobs' (read running that NAS), 'personal tasks', or entertainment.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    12102998 said:
    12102969 said:
    This is pretty exciting. I was a bit pessimistic about Steam OS at first, but if it develops into a full blown Linux OS with all of the options that brings with it, then it is quite exciting. Microsoft has been firing on three cylinders the past few years so the timing of this is quite fortunate.

    I have to partially disagree with this. I think Steam OS should be a gaming only highly optimized platform, and Steam should exist alternatively as a part of a large Linux based OS developed by the Foundation.

    This is because there are a lot of professional software out there that still lack proper Linux support (or a linux version at all). examples would be autodesk and Adobe. until proper alternatives can be found, professional gamers like myself will keep AT LEAST ONE high-powered PC for content creation etc. dual-booting into Steam OS would only be attractive as a highly optimized gaming platform, as I can't get that much work done on Linux atm...


    I just don't see the downside in putting a full OS on it. Obviously Linux is on there or you couldn't game on it. So they might as well open up the other uses for it. Personally, I wouldn't want to devote a computer to just gaming and don't really want to dual boot either. It seems dumb to me to dual boot, with one version of linux being gaming only and then to switch to a full linux.... I don't see how that would make sense.

    I get that a lot of people will still have a Windows machine. But a lot of people won't. Take me for example, I only use my computer for gaming, writing, surfing the net, watching videos, preparing presentations etc.... I don't actually need Windows to do that. About the only MS program that I would miss is Power Point, but there are viable alternatives to it out there.

    Reply
  • itchyisvegeta
    All because Windows 8 sucks!
    Reply
  • ZolaIII
    Maya is present on Linux & IBMs software is present to!

    What ever Valve stripe down from mainline Linux you will be able to put back in because its open source OS & even more than that! Just like it's done on Android (with costume kernels) .
    Reply