Fedora Linux devs discuss dropping 32-bit packages - potentially bad news for Steam gamers
We may potentially be in for some big changes in Fedora 44, with plans in place being discussed to drop 32-bit multilib / i686 packages.
i would have liked if this had happened and i play games. this way, the pressure would rise on valve to release a 64bit steam!
a short pain but better in the long run.
Doesn't Steam run basically everything, including the client itself, inside the Steam Container Runtime now? No Steam games, native or not, use the system libraries anymore. I know I occasionally need to wait a couple of seconds after an update for it to update the Steam Container Runtime before even starting the client, which makes me think that they run the client in the container as well. I think the only real 32-bit dependency it has on the system is the user space graphics driver.
Doesn’t Steam run basically everything, including the client itself, inside the Steam Container Runtime now?
What makes you think that? I don't remember any announcements to that effect.
Last time I checked, Steam used pressure-vessel (the container) only for games, not for itself. But I haven't been following changes in that area lately.
Through some script sleuthing, I did discover that Steam ships several of its own 32-bit and 64-bit libraries, and that paths to both are added to LD_LIBRARY_PATH (search path for library files) when the client is launched by the Steam Runtime, but many files (specifically the Steam Runtime) are only present as 32-bit binaries in ~/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32.
Whether the Steam client uses those is a question someone else less sleep-deprived can answer.
This would be a stunning own goal by Red Hat (and let's face it, they are the largest driving force behind Fedora, if not in complete and total control of the project). Steam and gaming have brought so many new users to Linux - maybe even doubled the entire userbase - that if anything, they should be doing all they can to support it even better if they really want to increase the size of the userbase.
Even if flatpak is still an option, it will still drive a lot of new and existing users to use non Fedora-based distros, which would be sad for the project. I myself have never been a Fedora user, but I'm really grateful to see a lot of the positive things they do for the Linux community, so this would be a very sad step in my opinion. On the other hand, it would make me even happier if we see more users switching to Debian-based distros instead.
Damnit I just installed Fedora and it’s the best experience I’ve had lately. Works better than Bazzite and Cachy. Sigh.
I strongly doubt that they'd render Steam not runnable on their distro.
🤞
It's a proposal, not a for sure thing yet.
Also, does anyone seriously think they'd do this without some sort of carve out for Steam to work? I can't imagine a worse idea at this time than for a desktop oriented distro to break the gaming use case that hard.
Bazzite is Fedora tho?...
It is a modified version of their immutable variant and it runs poorly on my hardware. 🤷♂️
I am curious to know how it “works better”?
Bazzite for example runs poorly on my hardware. Video playback in browsers is super laggy/choppy/stuttery. I use the same browser in Fedora proper and it’s smooth.
As for Cachy, I know it’s meant for gaming but my games ran significantly worse than in both Bazzite and Fedora proper.
For my hardware setup, Fedora proper is the best balance between usability and gaming performance.
big linux wants to keep you distrohopping.
It's really unlikely this will become an issue. Especially not one without an easy solution. Fedora is a very popular distro.
Gamers will be fine, it's bad news for Fedora.
Just went and voted against. You should too.
Doesnt the steam runtime already exist for legacy 32 bit games.
But outside of Steam Games like Touhou 6 maybe it is a problem.
But we also have flatpak nowadays aswell so that's a option
Fedora wishes to push people who have x32 programs away from them. Check.
Edit: put a x in front of 32 for the ones who don't understand what it means without the x.
They might even have 33.
If you’re gonna be pedantic at least be correct. Either x32 or at least say “32-bit”.
The pedantic ones are the ones obsessed with correcting small errors. I only did it because someone tried to be snarky. Emphasis on tried. I for the most part overlook small errors unless they are funny. Which are the best kind of small errors.