Valve just released the first beta of SteamOS, a Debian Wheezy-based distro which runs the Steam client in Big Picture mode (designed for televisions). SteamOS is Valve's attempt to circumvent the walled gardens that are Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS/OSX and allow the digital distribution of their games though Steam independent of a locked-down OS. Their plan is to allow third party OEMs and VARs to install SteamOS onto "steamboxes", which essentially are HTPCs (PCs designed for the living room). Valve is developing their own custom input devices (gamepads, etc.) for the OS and are pushing game development studios hard to port past and future games to Linux so they may be distributed through SteamOS.
http://linux.slashdot.org/story/13/12/14/0045211/valve-releases-debian-based-steamos-beta I'm downloading the ISO now to test it in a VM: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:1e4dae83371ba704d5d89e1828068ef0c4151e32&dn=SteamOSInstaller.zip&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80%2Fannounce&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.publicbt.com%3A80%2Fannounce http://store.steampowered.com/steamos/download/?ver=default Currently GAMBAS can't run on iOS, OSX, Windows, Android or any game console OSs (PS3/4, Xbox 360/One, etc.). There is a strong possibility, especially if we contact Valve head Gabe Newell directly, that GAMBAS will be able to run on SteamOS with GAMBAS applications being distributed through Steam. I think it would be a serious mistake to let this opportunity slip by while SteamOS is still in beta. It's a very rare opportunity to increase the potential install base of GAMBAS applications that we may not see again. One glaring issue however may be GAMBAS's required packages and dependencies. SteamOS is basically a console OS, meaning it is expected to work the same way throughout its lifespan with the exception of Valve-tested updates. I doubt Valve would allow an application to arbitrarily install packages. Is there a way to package a GAMBAS application such that all the dependencies and libraries are stored with the application and not installed system-wide? It would be like a Windows application having all it's DLLs stored in its installation directory, ignoring the Windows system DLLs. Anyway, I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on this. I'm pretty damn excited! -- Kevin Fishburne Eight Virtues www: http://sales.eightvirtues.com e-mail: sa...@eightvirtues.com phone: (770) 853-6271 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Rapidly troubleshoot problems before they affect your business. Most IT organizations don't have a clear picture of how application performance affects their revenue. With AppDynamics, you get 100% visibility into your Java,.NET, & PHP application. Start your 15-day FREE TRIAL of AppDynamics Pro! http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=84349831&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk _______________________________________________ Gambas-user mailing list Gambas-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/gambas-user