It may take a while to see how Valve's controversial move to Linux is affecting Windows. One thing is for sure, however: with companies like Valve and even Intel looking to Linux as a viable gaming platform, Windows had better watch out!
Manufacturers such as Dell and Web host companies have catered to the Linux operating system for a while now. Valve's "defection", as well as issues surrounding the reception of Windows 8, may drive more users to the open-source operating system. Read on to find out more.
Windows 8 controversy
Earlier this year, Gabe Newell, chief executive and co-founder of
Valve, the award-winning game publisher and creator of the Steam digital distribution service for games, said that
Windows 8 would be a catastrophe for the PC market. He sensed that the update would will drive people away from Windows. There may also be concerns that Microsoft's licensing agreements may not be kind to software vendors. Many Windows hardware partners are already grumbling about Windows 8-Surface licensing (or rather, lack-of-licensing) issues.
Hard-hitting giants NVIDIA, AMD, and even the PC processor Intel have been working with Valve to
develop games for the Linux platform. And sites like Computergeeks.com and Thetop10bestwebhosting.com are carrying that momentum onto the web.
Despite the fact that Linus Torvalds, the father of Linux, described NVIDIA as "the single worst company we've ever dealt with," these three heavy-hitters' involvement is worth noticing.
Will All Games run Better on Linux-Powered PCs?
Different companies are using the Linux platform to expand their services. Web hosts like
thetop10bestwebhosting.com and other forms of web and gaming firms that are catering to Linux are seeing the opportunities broaden.
While Windows offered an official "No Comment" on Newell's harsh words, they can't be liking the Left 4 Dead 2 "test drive" that Valve performed on a Linux-run computer. That test run showed that the game's graphics ran at 315 frames per second! That's something that even tweaked and overclocked hardware can't do with Windows.
While Valve has been making its games run on the Windows platform for over 8 years, it's only been developing for Linux since 2011. It's very possible that Valve's
game graphics for Linux will surpass those for Windows on every game it makes in the near future. This is not a good sign for Windows.
Valve Meets Controversy Against the Move--From a Big Linux Advocate!
GNU was designed to be a 100% free-of-cost and
open-source operating system, and is often used hand-in-hand with Linux. While many in the Linux community are cheering, Free Software Foundation founder and GNU creator Richard Stallman says this is unethical.
Stallman objects to non-free software on the basis that the coding for games like Half Life and Left 4 Dead is closed-source, meaning that users aren't technically allowed to modify the game's code at their pleasure. He also objects to the paid software on the basis that it is not free.
These two facts, says Stallman, mean that anyone who runs Valve's games on their computer, do not have freedom of computing. Stallman does admit that when game makers like Valve develop for the Linux platform, it can be a good thing for "spreading the word" about the system. But he remains adamant that the adoption of closed-license software will bode no good for the future of GNU/Linux.
