Valve isn’t just the biggest force in PC gaming, and they’re not just the newest console manufacturer swaggering into the arena.'n'nThey’re morphing into something far bolder: the Apple of Linux.'n'nIf you’re not a gamer, that might sound unhinged.
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Valve isn’t just the biggest force in PC gaming, and they’re not just the newest console manufacturer swaggering into the arena.
They’re morphing into something far bolder: the Apple of Linux.
If you’re not a gamer, that might sound unhinged. Maybe even a little deranged. But if you’re already deep in the Steam ecosystem—if your library scrolls so far it needs its own municipal transit system—you know this isn’t wild at all. It’s practically destiny.
Let’s rewind. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he didn’t reinvent the wheel. He just drew a big cross on a whiteboard and said: four products. iMac, Power Mac, iBook, PowerBook. Four neat squares. Four clean market segments. And everything Apple built slotted neatly into that grid.
Apple didn’t suddenly leap to 30% marketshare. They barely scraped 3%. Didn’t matter. Because the money wasn’t really in the hardware. It was in the ecosystem.
Buy a Mac and suddenly you’re buying OS upgrades, iLife apps, office software, music tools, the whole glittering Cupertino starter kit. That stack of software made the hardware profitable, and that hardware made the software inevitable. The loop fed itself.
Now fast-forward to Valve. Look at what they’ve assembled.
Four core hardware pillars:
- Steam Controller
- Steam Deck
- Steam Machine
- Steam Frame
Four segments. Four use cases. Four doors into the same house.
Already have a PC? You grab the Steam Controller.
Want your library in your backpack? Steam Deck.
Want it in the living room? Steam Machine.
Want it strapped to your face? Steam Frame.
And the moment you buy any one of these, something interesting happens: the rest of the ecosystem starts making sense. Buy a game on Steam and it works everywhere. Your save files carry across devices. You can stream titles between them. The more hardware you add, the smoother it all feels, and the more the ecosystem pulls you deeper in.
But here’s the part I really want you to notice: I didn’t say Valve wants to be the Apple of gaming. No. They want to be the Apple of Linux.
And that’s where this gets concrete. Their hardware ships with Linux that isn’t locked down or lobotomized. It has a real desktop environment hiding under a slick UI.
Which means Valve can evolve SteamOS in ways Apple never aimed to with macOS. Apple built a general-purpose OS that occasionally supported games. However, Valve built a gaming OS that can naturally branch outward into media, creative tools, and productivity. “Gaming-adjacent” doesn’t require a conceptual pivot. It’s the next logical step.
What might that look like?
- A native media center built directly into SteamOS—think Plex or Jellyfin, but officially blessed and seamlessly integrated.
- First-party creative tools that take advantage of Proton and GPU acceleration—video editors, music tools, asset creators.
- A productivity layer—file syncing, cloud storage, collaborative apps—that piggybacks on your Steam identity.
- A SteamOS app store that isn’t just for games. Apps, utilities, editors, streaming clients, the works.
They’ve already dipped into this with Big Picture Mode’s media features, Steam Link, Steam Input configurators, desktop mode on Steam Deck, and Proton opening the gates for thousands of non-gaming applications. Nothing stops them from extending that further.
That’s why Valve—private, secretive, and small enough to fit inside an Amazon lunchroom—is still one of the most valuable forces in the entire industry. Not because they sell hardware like Apple, but because they’re building an ecosystem like Apple. Except this one runs on Linux.
If you’re a PC gamer, none of this is news. But if you’re outside the gaming bubble and this future arrives exactly how I’ve described, just know: it didn’t come out of nowhere. You just weren’t looking in Valve’s direction.
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Valve isn’t just the biggest force in PC gaming, and they’re not just the newest console manufacturer swaggering into the arena.
They’re morphing into something far bolder: the Apple of Linux.
If you’re not a gamer, that might sound unhinged. Maybe even a little deranged. But if you’re already deep in the Steam ecosystem—if your library scrolls so far it needs its own municipal transit system—you know this isn’t wild at all. It’s practically destiny.
Let’s rewind. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, he didn’t reinvent the wheel. He just drew a big cross on a whiteboard and said: four products. iMac, Power Mac, iBook, PowerBook. Four neat squares. Four clean market segments. And everything Apple built slotted neatly into that grid.
Apple didn’t suddenly leap to 30% marketshare. They barely scraped 3%. Didn’t matter. Because the money wasn’t really in the hardware. It was in the ecosystem.
Buy a Mac and suddenly you’re buying OS upgrades, iLife apps, office software, music tools, the whole glittering Cupertino starter kit. That stack of software made the hardware profitable, and that hardware made the software inevitable. The loop fed itself.
Now fast-forward to Valve. Look at what they’ve assembled.
Four core hardware pillars:
- Steam Controller
- Steam Deck
- Steam Machine
- Steam Frame
Four segments. Four use cases. Four doors into the same house.
Already have a PC? You grab the Steam Controller.
Want your library in your backpack? Steam Deck.
Want it in the living room? Steam Machine.
Want it strapped to your face? Steam Frame.
And the moment you buy any one of these, something interesting happens: the rest of the ecosystem starts making sense. Buy a game on Steam and it works everywhere. Your save files carry across devices. You can stream titles between them. The more hardware you add, the smoother it all feels, and the more the ecosystem pulls you deeper in.
But here’s the part I really want you to notice: I didn’t say Valve wants to be the Apple of gaming. No. They want to be the Apple of Linux.
And that’s where this gets concrete. Their hardware ships with Linux that isn’t locked down or lobotomized. It has a real desktop environment hiding under a slick UI.
Which means Valve can evolve SteamOS in ways Apple never aimed to with macOS. Apple built a general-purpose OS that occasionally supported games. However, Valve built a gaming OS that can naturally branch outward into media, creative tools, and productivity. “Gaming-adjacent” doesn’t require a conceptual pivot. It’s the next logical step.
What might that look like?
- A native media center built directly into SteamOS—think Plex or Jellyfin, but officially blessed and seamlessly integrated.
- First-party creative tools that take advantage of Proton and GPU acceleration—video editors, music tools, asset creators.
- A productivity layer—file syncing, cloud storage, collaborative apps—that piggybacks on your Steam identity.
- A SteamOS app store that isn’t just for games. Apps, utilities, editors, streaming clients, the works.
They’ve already dipped into this with Big Picture Mode’s media features, Steam Link, Steam Input configurators, desktop mode on Steam Deck, and Proton opening the gates for thousands of non-gaming applications. Nothing stops them from extending that further.
That’s why Valve—private, secretive, and small enough to fit inside an Amazon lunchroom—is still one of the most valuable forces in the entire industry. Not because they sell hardware like Apple, but because they’re building an ecosystem like Apple. Except this one runs on Linux.
If you’re a PC gamer, none of this is news. But if you’re outside the gaming bubble and this future arrives exactly how I’ve described, just know: it didn’t come out of nowhere. You just weren’t looking in Valve’s direction.
@atomicpoet The comparison is pretty ugly. Apple focused on closed ecosystems and pushing against digital rights. It was and is part of their core DNS. Valve hardware is actually pretty open, and it’s one of its big selling points. Steam itself is proprietary and closed, but everything around it isn’t. Apple caused strong rejection in the same crowd that actually kinda likes Valve hardware.
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@atomicpoet The comparison is pretty ugly. Apple focused on closed ecosystems and pushing against digital rights. It was and is part of their core DNS. Valve hardware is actually pretty open, and it’s one of its big selling points. Steam itself is proprietary and closed, but everything around it isn’t. Apple caused strong rejection in the same crowd that actually kinda likes Valve hardware.
@whynothugo Let’s not kid ourselves. Steam is the gravitational core of Valve’s entire ecosystem, the thing they’ll bleed to defend. Their sudden “we love Linux” energy isn’t altruism. It’s strategy.
If openness were the mission, they’d pull a GOG and ship everything DRM-free. They don’t. Because that’s not the point.
Open source isn’t Valve’s destination. It’s their moat. The same way Darwin OS—also open source—was Apple’s moat. -
@whynothugo Let’s not kid ourselves. Steam is the gravitational core of Valve’s entire ecosystem, the thing they’ll bleed to defend. Their sudden “we love Linux” energy isn’t altruism. It’s strategy.
If openness were the mission, they’d pull a GOG and ship everything DRM-free. They don’t. Because that’s not the point.
Open source isn’t Valve’s destination. It’s their moat. The same way Darwin OS—also open source—was Apple’s moat.@atomicpoet From a practical point of view, Steam’s investment in Linux is improving the entire ecosystem. A non-steam Linux host runs games better because of it. Linux phones can run x86 software because of their investment. DarwinOS is just a “technically open source” core which has little practical impact.
Is it all part of a strategy? Sure it is. But it’s still having a net positive impact. Their strategy aligns with the interests our interests.
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@atomicpoet From a practical point of view, Steam’s investment in Linux is improving the entire ecosystem. A non-steam Linux host runs games better because of it. Linux phones can run x86 software because of their investment. DarwinOS is just a “technically open source” core which has little practical impact.
Is it all part of a strategy? Sure it is. But it’s still having a net positive impact. Their strategy aligns with the interests our interests.
Hugo 雨果 You’re talking like Darwin was a cardboard sticker slapped on BSD, and that’s just wrong.
Apple pumped more engineering into BSD than the BSD projects ever had access to: drivers, networking, kernel modernization, LLVM funding—the works. BSD’s hardware maturity, VM improvements, security models, and even its toolchain all advanced because Apple needed them to.
That’s why the “little practical impact” line doesn’t hold. Darwin reshaped BSD at every layer.
And that’s exactly the point you’re missing about Valve. They’re not uplifting Linux out of ideology. They’re fortifying the ground beneath Steam. Proton, Mesa, scheduler work, shader pipelines—these improvements exist because Steam must run everywhere, reliably, with no Microsoft kill switch.
Others benefiting is a side effect, not the mission.
This is the same strategic pattern Apple ran: open-source the perimeter, keep the core locked tight, and let the ecosystem uplift amplify your hardware position.
Valve isn’t morally purer. They’re just playing the same game in a different decade.
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@whynothugo Let’s not kid ourselves. Steam is the gravitational core of Valve’s entire ecosystem, the thing they’ll bleed to defend. Their sudden “we love Linux” energy isn’t altruism. It’s strategy.
If openness were the mission, they’d pull a GOG and ship everything DRM-free. They don’t. Because that’s not the point.
Open source isn’t Valve’s destination. It’s their moat. The same way Darwin OS—also open source—was Apple’s moat.@atomicpoet @whynothugo
Valve's stance on Linux isn't new, and isn't a strategy. Vavle doesn't require Linux support or even really encourage it. I'm not sure where this fear mongering is coming from, but it's not based in any rational analysis. -
@atomicpoet @whynothugo
Valve's stance on Linux isn't new, and isn't a strategy. Vavle doesn't require Linux support or even really encourage it. I'm not sure where this fear mongering is coming from, but it's not based in any rational analysis.Kofi Loves Efia :verified: Hugo 雨果 I don’t think anyone is claiming Valve’s stance on Linux is new. What I’m saying is that dismissing it as “not a strategy” makes it sound like you believe the last decade of work was just luck or coincidence.
Valve’s entire hardware roadmap—SteamOS, Steam Deck, and now Steam Frame—depends on Linux. Their products simply don’t exist without a strong Linux gaming layer. That alone makes their investment strategic rather than incidental.
And the investment itself has been deliberate: Proton, Wine integration, steady pressure on Mesa, shader pipeline work, GPU driver collaboration, kernel scheduling improvements. These aren’t small experiments. They’re long-running engineering efforts that strengthen the environment around Steam while reducing reliance on Windows.
This is exactly what a moat looks like:
- open-source the scaffolding
- ensure hardware independence
- keep the proprietary center—Steam—stable and protected
You might feel this interpretation is “fear mongering,” but it’s really just a clear-eyed look at the pattern of work Valve has actually shipped. Whether someone views that strategy positively or negatively is subjective, but denying that it is a strategy doesn’t line up with the evidence.
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Kofi Loves Efia :verified: Hugo 雨果 I don’t think anyone is claiming Valve’s stance on Linux is new. What I’m saying is that dismissing it as “not a strategy” makes it sound like you believe the last decade of work was just luck or coincidence.
Valve’s entire hardware roadmap—SteamOS, Steam Deck, and now Steam Frame—depends on Linux. Their products simply don’t exist without a strong Linux gaming layer. That alone makes their investment strategic rather than incidental.
And the investment itself has been deliberate: Proton, Wine integration, steady pressure on Mesa, shader pipeline work, GPU driver collaboration, kernel scheduling improvements. These aren’t small experiments. They’re long-running engineering efforts that strengthen the environment around Steam while reducing reliance on Windows.
This is exactly what a moat looks like:
- open-source the scaffolding
- ensure hardware independence
- keep the proprietary center—Steam—stable and protected
You might feel this interpretation is “fear mongering,” but it’s really just a clear-eyed look at the pattern of work Valve has actually shipped. Whether someone views that strategy positively or negatively is subjective, but denying that it is a strategy doesn’t line up with the evidence.
@atomicpoet @whynothugo you claimed above it was "sudden" what's more Valve has binned many projects that seem core to their brand including half life 3. You've got a paranoid narrative that doesn't fit any evidence and a series of claims that aren't supported by history. It's more likely the newel will sell Valve (which isn't likely) than it is he's got a long term strategy to "corner the open source market by (checks notes) not locking developers into it, nor requiring them to support it"
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@atomicpoet @whynothugo you claimed above it was "sudden" what's more Valve has binned many projects that seem core to their brand including half life 3. You've got a paranoid narrative that doesn't fit any evidence and a series of claims that aren't supported by history. It's more likely the newel will sell Valve (which isn't likely) than it is he's got a long term strategy to "corner the open source market by (checks notes) not locking developers into it, nor requiring them to support it"
Kofi Loves Efia :verified: Hugo 雨果 You’re arguing against claims I never made, and you’re doing it with absolute certainty—despite the fact that anyone can scroll up and see the words you’re putting in my mouth simply don’t exist.
The only times “sudden” appeared in my post were in sentences about Apple’s marketshare in the 90s. It had nothing to do with Valve, Linux, strategy, or anything you’re now insisting I said. You connected it to an argument I never made, then treated that connection as if it were fact.
And it doesn’t stop there. I never claimed Valve is trying to “corner the open source market.” I never claimed they’re “locking developers in.” Those aren’t misinterpretations—they’re fabrications. You built an entirely imaginary argument and then started debunking your own invention.
Meanwhile, my actual point was straightforward:
Valve has spent over a decade investing in Linux technologies because that work supports Steam’s independence from Windows. Proton, Mesa pressure, VKD3D, shader pipeline work, kernel scheduling improvements, SteamOS, the Deck—all of this is real, shipped engineering that exists because it benefits Steam.
You’re welcome to disagree with my conclusion. But you don’t get to replace what I wrote with something you wish I had said just so it’s easier to argue against.
If you’re going to challenge my position, challenge the one I actually made.
