Game Pass could be one reason, if the rental model appeals.

No idea. For me the best method is just not logging into GOG :D
I'm proud of my "0 hours played" on GOG and I don't want to lost this achievement ;)

I don't think Valve has ever made a game that I would be actually interested in playing.

I also suffer often from the "Missing Out"-syndrome.

It doesn't appeal to me. I don't want a future of not owning anything and being dependent on a service. Plus I would prefer to spend my time on games I like enough to own and replay rather than throwaway titles you play for a bit and then move on from.
I'm not a Half-Life fan. But I thought Portal 1/2 were decent.

I believe Gamepass can be used on the Steam Deck with some effort, so it can run on Linux somehow.
Sorry, I don't know the ins and outs of the system.

I would also love some sort of distro but there's liitle chance someone put as much money, effort and manpower as Valve has put on SteamOS3.
I am not advocating the use of Steam, also would prefer to not use it at all and the OS still have a lot of rough edges but even not very technichal minded people can play games on Linux just fine with little more than a click on the "play" button.

The Steam Deck is one of the best and worst things to ever happen to Linux gaming. On the one hand it is a good thing that encourages developers to make Linux compatible games, if not Linux-native ones. It has broadened the exposure to Linux for many people, and with that also comes the downsides, the hordes of people expecting their Linux experience to be as consumer friendly as their Windows experience has been. "Why can't I just click n' go? Plug and play? Why is it so difficult to load such a simple program?" So while it may get more Linux gaming solutions brought to life, it's bringing in a swarm of uneducated (on Linux, at least) entitled folks who don't want to actually learn how to use the OS they are trying to use.

I disagree. I see no downside. It is no bad thing for someone to wish for the process of running the game to be easy and streamlined. There's no virtue in being more technical than someone else. Things have gotten much easier & hopefully that will continue. Let's not pretend there's anything good about something being harder than necessary.

I welcome anyone to try it regardless of their technical knowledge. The more people use it the more improvements will be made for all.

Totally agree and I would go further, the same is possibly true for Valve's involvement in Linux. On one hand is great to have many games available now, on the other, the "old school thinking" that Linux community like open/non-proprietary software seems to be slowly dying. I recall some random Linux hardcore Youtuber saying the only proprietary software he would use are games, because games are fun (I believe was some guy name Brian Lunduke?).

If that's good or bad we shall see. If Linux continues to be a major open platform or it turns like GOG. A Windows alternative focusing on becoming just like Windows itself.

TBH, the Steam Deck experience is actually pretty plug-n-play, at least for the so called "verified games". Community made stuff, like Retrodeck, Heroic and a truck load of games seems to be pretty much the same, wich are available from the "Discover app" also called the "Deck's play store"...

Linux is strong in many areas where you don't expect to see Windows as much, like on servers, high performance computing, and sometimes even in embedded systems. In these areas, you don't see Linux becoming more like Windows; if anything, you sometimes even see the reverse.

How many people have a cell phone? How many of those run Windows? Think about it.
Windows is legacy. I don't think it has a long future.

POP OS. It's the distro I've been on since leaving Ubuntu Mate a few years back.

GNOME Cosmic

I don't use any launchers. I just install the binaries.

I might have disagreed with you, what with the extremely large install base...then I saw Windows 11 in action.

What a disaster.

I've never seen a software launch so botched in the past 10 years (and that's saying something given the last 5 or 6 years of AAA game releases). It's somehow more resource-intensive than Windows 10, runs slower, requires very specific hardware on the motherboard just to get past the boot screen, all in an effort to look and feel like iOS.

All I've just typed is my opinion, of course, but I will say that my local computer store is offering free 'downgrades' to Windows 10 on any new Windows 11 system. I haven't seen that since Windows Vista.

Sears, Roebuck and Co was dominant once, so was IBM, so was Blockbuster, so was Blackberry, so was AOL. A large install base might slow the decline. But it can't stop it.

I mostly agree with you. The games I know I'll want to play again some years down the line (mostly point'n'clickers and stealth games) I get on GOG, so I know they'll be playable somehow. Even if some form of emulation will be needed.
But, like with movies and TV series, there are lots of games I enjoy playing to completion once, and never return to. For those I kinda think the rental model feels more "honest" than a DRM'ed purchase, where I can't even be sure I'll be able to run the thing 5+ years from now. Even if the game itself ought to run fine, will the DRM be compatible?

However, I completely agree with you in disliking the general move to abolish out-and-out ownership and switch to the service model (more palatable name for rental) and its never-ending payments. It's almost dystopian, IMO.


Probably just the cloud gaming part in a Chromium browser.
While Xbox Cloud Gaming does work incredibly well IMO, it's still only got a limited set of games available. Close to 400 IIRC, including some great ones, but not necessarily the one you might fancy at any given time, and not even all the games otherwise available on Game Pass PC and/or Console.