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Steam Machine

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1173 points davikr | 6 comments | 12 Nov 25 17:59 UTC | HN request time: 1.058s | source | bottom
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hebejebelus ◴[12 Nov 25 18:42 UTC] No.45904087[source]▶
Very interesting! The one killer issue that jumps to mind is anti-cheat. I switched away from gaming on Linux via Proton to gaming on Windows because Battlefield 6's anti-cheat won't work under Proton. Many games are like this, particularly some of the most popular (Rainbow 6 Siege for instance). And BF6 made this decision only recently despite the growing number of Steam Deck players (and other players on linux - in fairness I don't think there would have been that many BF6 players on a handheld).

Edit: I specifically use a gaming-only PC. The hardware is used for nothing else. Hence, discussions of rootkits don't really bother me personally much and on balance I'd really rather see fewer cheaters in my games. I think it would be the same with any of these machines - anything Steam-branded is likely to be a 99% gaming machine and their users will only care that their games work, not about the mechanisms of the anti-cheat software.

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1. aDyslecticCrow ◴[12 Nov 25 18:49 UTC] No.45904207[source]▶
This is a issue of critical mass. With the continued growth of steamos, steamdeck, and linux as a game platform, eventually it will pull over support.
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2. sodality2 ◴[12 Nov 25 18:54 UTC] No.45904294[source]▶
I have to wonder if it's possible to ever even guarantee something that can't be trivially bypassed on Linux - Windows, sure, it's possible with DMA, but it's damn hard. On Linux you could just compile a spoofed kernel or a DKMS module or something.
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3. kykat ◴[12 Nov 25 19:14 UTC] No.45904733[source]▶
Look at android, locked bootloader, no root, se linux, and voila
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4. aDyslecticCrow ◴[12 Nov 25 19:18 UTC] No.45904811[source]▶
you can make a signed readonly linux installation, and restrict your games to it. this would be like "support steamos but not linux".

Or deliver the game as a container format, like snap or appimage to bypass most of the system.

Or demand the installation of a kernel driver like they do on windows.

or just give up on kernel level aticheat since they're been breached all the same, just as windows are restricting their power too.

easy-anticheat has a linux version. Developers have to disable the support intentionally.

5. robotnikman ◴[12 Nov 25 20:24 UTC] No.45906000{3}[source]▶
It looks like Valve wants to avoid going down the road of an extremely locked down system like that. They even view the ability to load alternate OS's as a feature of their products.
6. lawlessone ◴[12 Nov 25 21:09 UTC] No.45906732[source]▶
is it not possible for someone to have Linux spoof that it's Windows to the game?