I can't help thinking that GOG would do well to join forces with the developers over at Zorin OS or POP OS to work on creating a port of Galaxy that runs natively on Linux. I'm sure there are those who would disagree, but I feel pretty confident in the fact that these two distros in particular have the most potential to break through to the mainstream PC gaming market due to their overall ease of use and aesthetic appeal. I think POP OS would do especially well if they released one of their PC's that comes preinstalled with the latest version of GOG Galaxy, because they have a very similar 'space' theme. I honestly believe that GOG has to move more in the direction of teaming up with other Linux developers, or they'll risk being left behind by the competition.

Here's a brief introduction on Zorin OS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTMBFtl_xs4&t=1121s&ab_channel=ExplainingComputers

Here's a brief introduction on POP OS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mie3vxD4O6g&ab_channel=ExplainingComputers

Okay, but why these over their current Ubuntu LTS (Mint) choice?

Aren't these both just Debian/Ubuntu derivatives anyway?

I will give Pop one point in favor, because they're currently butting heads with Gnome, who have been building a cathedral in the bazaar.

In terms of Linux support for games, they already went down the Debian/Ubuntu path, so that would probably be the case should they release a Linux native version of Galaxy. At this point I don't think it's a matter of not being able to, but rather a business decision of focusing their time and resources elsewhere. Unlike Valve, GOG does not have a horse in the Linux gaming race and is not making an effort to promote it. Yes, both are Ubuntu based, but provide a lot more support towards gaming than a standard Ubuntu distro. So the plus side here would be ease of use. They're still 100% Ubuntu compatible, so simply supporting Ubuntu would mean both are supported anyway.

GOG will probably do it only if they consider the vested time and money mean considerably increased sales.

Even in Steam the Linux userbase is quite low, based on the surveys, but Valve invests so heavily on Linux gaming for other reasons but for extra (short-time) profit. Linux gaming is Valve's plan B, in case Microsoft locks Windows down so that people would buy only from the Windows Store (their games and other apps). They are now strengthening their position there with Steam Deck which is a portable Linux gaming machine.

GOG probably doesn't have much willpower to try to "fight" Microsoft, when their main objective at the moment is to keep GOG profitable enough. Valve is big enough the try to compete with Microsoft, and try to learn to live even without Microsoft, if it comes to that.

Having said that, I certainly like Linux, and the idea that GOG would promote Linux gaming more. But oh well...

I'm sure that could be good for those who are diehard Linux users, but you need to look at the GOG mindset.

GOG don't really sell Linux games. What they do sell is Windows games that sometimes come with a Linux version.

GOG's marketing focus is not on Linux, and in a way they only provide Linux version games as a kind of service or bonus.

GOG don't provide Linux support, and so if they did embrace Linux more fully, they would have to do that, so a lot more work and dividing of resources. GOG seem to struggle enough as it is right now.

So while your idea has merit, I cannot see it as realistic at GOG any time soon. But never say never I guess.

As it is, many Windows users don't even use Galaxy, and Galaxy is not perfect.

Hell, it happened before they even started.

I think Ubuntu and Mint suffer from poor market branding and are generally unappealing to people who want to switch from Windows. POP OS in particular is doing a great job at marketing itself as a viable Windows alternative, specifically when it comes to it's pre built PC's. I realize that it's a long shot having these companies work together, but something really has to change when it comes to PC gaming on Linux. Unlike GOG, Steam actually sees the value of developing their own OS to run their games natively on Linux, which makes a lot of sense if you want your company to succeed in the long term. I used to think that Windows was going to remain the primary operating system for decades to come, but I don't think the market is heading in that direction. More and more people are becoming concerned with privacy and security, and Linux is the only real alternative to this problem. GOG would be wise to move in this direction, but who knows if that will ever happen.

You raised some good points. I've never actually thought of it from this angle. I can definitely see Microsoft locking down gaming apps in the Windows store, so this has potential to become an even bigger problem than I thought.

If they're both Ubuntu based, what exactly is the difference? They still run Debian packages and still lag behind upstream by a factor of X.

"They're better for games" doesn't make any sense if they're providing functionally identical packages and libraries.

Yes, steam sees and opportunity. The market it has dominated for decades via its clientwares is starting to erode with everyone else pushing clients. So the next logical step is to create their own proprietary operating system and lock their users into that. It’s all monopolies. It’s what M$ did back in the 80s, and why their are still far and away the biggest desktop OS around. But that has changed a bit, and certainly on backend machines. Still for the foreseeable future windows will be dominant.
As for the “people are becoming more and more concerned with privacy and security”, I am afraid that is simply wrong. People are not just becoming less concerned with it, most don’t even understand it anymore. Their whole lives are online, everything they do is tracked, amalgamated and sold. Do you have a “smartphone”? What about “smart meters”? What the reality is, even the few who still remember what privacy and security were are losing the will to fight for it.
As for GOG, their only purpose is to push their client onto as many machines as possible to support CDPrs microtransaction market.

The functionality is somewhat identical, but it makes things a lot less frightening to beginners by pre-configuring or allowing the easy installation of a lot of game utilities and clients.

To me this of course has no appeal either, since I know my way around Linux - but at the same time I admit it does tend to make things more "hassle free" for anyone not particularly interested in Linux, who just wants to boot up and game.

You do realize that Steam is building their newest Steam OS (and by extension Steam Deck) on Arch, and even give you the option to just nuke it the hell out?

I think it would be

You do realise that steam will never do anything except unless it increases their market monopoly? Yes, you can put windows on steam deck, and you will also note that it’s not recommended as some functionality (sleep mode for instance) does not work, rendering that inconsequential. It’s a well know trick, make it look like your open, but make it really difficult or awkward so no one in their right mind would do it.