Thom, exceedingly pure

Valve exists in that weird superposition where I'm supposed to dislike them for their monopolistic power, shitty client, DRM, and just general fuck capitalism, but at the same time, they're the only thing standing between us and the end of PC gaming as we know it because they actually seem to give a gram of shit about us.

Like, how's an anti-corp dude supposed to feel, man?

Jun 16, 2024 at 9:39pmWeb
Show threadLeafletJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda Fun fact about Steam: it's still using Ubuntu 12.04 libraries to power the client. It was only a few months ago that it started using Debian 11 libraries to handle some stuff like the webview.
Show threadTransfem Tomboy 17 Pro MaxJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda An increasingly rare case of "the exception that proves the rule" in this era of enshittification.
Show threadGreyshley Jun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda try vaguely pleasant with a side of suspicion
Show threadNick BisbyJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda Valve is privately owned so CAN make decisions based on benefiting users (can is doing a lot of lifting here), or otherwise make long term moves (backing Linux) instead of focusing on the next quarter profitability. I only support them so long as they continue to at least make attempts to do good things. I don't use Ubuntu because Canonical is basically Microsoft. Valve is still very far away from "basically Microsoft" and not even moving that direction.
Show threadTorbJun 17, 2024

@thomholwerda Your problem is you assume you have to view it in black and white. You don’t.

I have similar views on another company. It’s completely possible to both like and hate a company, and it should be more common.

This desire for consistency is how we end up with fanboys.

Embrace contradiction.

Show threadPēteris KrišjānisJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda Valve is not corp. It is privately held by a big number of people working there.
As for DRM, that is valid criticism. There are other points. They, however, don't seem to engage in monopoly offenses. They got lucky, slept on laurels. Then focused on Linux as an alternative because of Microsoft Store idea, and then used it as spring board for improving UI etc.
I have a choice sometimes to find game elsewhere, without DRM. I try to do it and use Heroic.
Show threadPēteris KrišjānisJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda in short, I criticise them, but also praise their technical investment and approach where it is due. In the world of corp predators they do the right thing a lots of times, and I underline and support that. Yes, I still will invest time and money to be more independent. But lets be real.
Show threadLukasJun 17, 2024
@thomholwerda were there some good news for once?
Show threadBeam me out!Jun 17, 2024

@thomholwerda Well the client is still better than anything else out there. GOG is second, all other clients and stores are bloated or just randomly break.

Like Epic store always logs me out for no reason.