OMG! Ubuntu! have learned from a reader that Reddit users on /r/linux_gaming have already figured out a way to bypass Valve's Beta Invitation - which allow users to start exploring Steam on Linux much earlier than the folks at Valve had likely planned for.
The limited-access beta of Steam for Linux has gone live. Over 60,000 people responded to the call for beta applicants made last month. From this pool an initial subset have been chosen to test the client and report their feedback.
Valve engineer Drew Bliss has given a short talk to ubuntu developers present at the Ubuntu Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark. Revealing little in way of time schedules or release dates, instead referring to 'Valve time' - a 'release when it's ready approach' - Bliss did have one trick up his sleeve for attendees of the summit: guaranteed access to the forthcoming beta.
The developers of Left 4 Dead 2 have dropped a hint about when the general beta release of Steam for Linux will arrive. Although a beta limited to 1000 users is currently seeking participants, and a UDS-only event is also rumoured for this week, a wider release date had yet to be given. But it seems we won't have long to wait: it seems it's coming the "middle of next month".
Want to help test Steam for Linux Beta? Valve have today launched a 'Steam for Linux Survey' - a short questionnaire potential users fill out to inform Valve of their hardware, software and OS set-ups.
Steam fans will want to keep an eye on next weeks Ubuntu Developer Summit. As well as Valve rocking up on the event for a talk, an interesting listing has popped on the 'Open Steam Works' site titled "Steam Linux UDS Beta".
Canonical's Bryce Harrington has spoken about efforts Canonical are making to provide Ubuntu users with a first-class gaming experience. As an Ubuntu Desktop team member, as well as the maintainer of X.org, Harrington has played a key role in prepping Ubuntu for the arrival of games distribution service Steam and its troop of freshly ported Linux gaming titles, as well as enhancing the experience of existing games from the links of Unity3D and The Humble Indie Bundle.
Steam's arrival on Linux isn't a secret - and even when it was it was a poorly kept one. The company have been internally testing the Linux client for a while, and recently announced that an 'external' beta Linux users would be coming out 'sometime in October'. No specific date was given. But, today, a request from Valve's "bryceh" to Ubuntu developers has offered up a more definite time-frame - one that's happening this week.
Valve's Gabe Newell last week called Windows 8 a ‘catastrophe for everyone in the PC space’. But it seems that Newell is not a lone voice in this: American video game developers Bilzzard - known for the World of Warcraft series - have also chimed in with their opinion.
Richard M Stallman - one of the founding fathers of the Free Software movement - has expressed anxiety over games company Valve's plan to bring their gaming wares to Linux. The bone of contention in Stallman's eyes is Valve's frequent use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) within its software. Rights-encumbered software is, Stallman writes on his blog, 'unethical'.
Do you think Microsoft's bet on Windows 8 will pay off? Valve's Gabe Newell doesn't - even going as far as to call the OS a 'catastrophe for everyone in the PC space'. Newell - a former Microsoft employee - shared his thoughts on the controversial OS as part of a question on gaming on Linux.
Valve are bringing their digital games distribution client 'Steam', and a AAA gaming title, to Ubuntu, the company has officially announced.