Steam For Linux!
  T.J. Newton

Steam is a free online social gaming website with its own app that lets you download and play your favorite games. The site has over 3,000 games from Action to Indie and everything in-between. Steam lets you meet new people, join game groups, form clans, chat in-game, and more. With over 40 million potential friends (or enemies), the fun never stops! You can gift your friends, trade items, and even create new content for games in the Steam Workshop; make your mark on the future of your favorite games! Steam also has exclusive deals, automatic game updates, and other great perks. Get Steam and check out a catalog of PC, Mac, and Linux games, many of which support Steam Play so you can buy once and play anywhere. And now Cross-Platform Multiplayer allows you to play with all your friends, no matter where they log in.

Steam and Linux were made for each other! Linux is a free operating system that can be installed on a PC or a Mac, and it offers a lot more than Windows or Mac OS X... If you haven't already taken a Tour of Linux, be sure to check it out. Once you've taken the tour, check out the NewsKing Linux Installation Guide to get started.

If you're already running Linux, you probably installed Steam if you used the installation guide. If you haven't installed Steam yet, we'll help you do that!



Big Picture

Before we check up on your Steam installation, you need to know about the big picture. Steam's Big Picture, that is...

Why give up your games, your friends, and all that you love about Steam when you play games in the living room? With Big Picture, Steam is reformatted for use with your TV and game controller, so you can enjoy your Steam games from the comfort of your couch. Pick up your game controller or liberate your keyboard and mouse - the choice is yours. Big Picture, paired with your controller, makes for a powerful match. You can navigate Steam, surf the web, and even chat. Oh, and play games, too.

Click the play button above to start the video.

Big Picture is just getting started. Features like a web browser with reticle-based navigation, tabbed browsing, and your favorites saved to the cloud are being added all the time. As Big Picture is rolled out, it will support a growing base of users with even more features!

If you've tried Big Picture and your computer didn't have everything it needed, don't worry. Big Picture is getting better every day. But you can play games through Steam on your television right now! All you have to do is hook your computer to your TV set. You may not be able to use all of the advanced features of Big Picture, but once a game is running, you'll have a "Big Picture." And I'm sure we can get a game controller running for you - even in Linux...

Whether you choose Big Picture or "Big Picture," you have to connect your computer to your TV. There are as many ways to do that as there are computers and televisions...


Choose A Computer for Big Picture

We'll be using the NewsKing Connection Wizard For Steam to connect your computer to your television, but you have to pick out a computer to install Steam on first. If you've already installed Steam, make sure you're happy with your computer's gaming performance...

A Dedicated PC or Mac:


This is probably the easiest way to get Big Picture up and running. Simply connect a PC to your living room TV and you're on your way! There are lots of cool-looking "compact computers" that'll look great with your TV setup, too. The NewsKing Connection Wizard for Steam will help you get connected...




A Laptop:


A laptop is a good choice because you can just grab a seat in front of the TV, plug it in, and go! You can use a controller, or just keep things simple and use the controls on the laptop. It's great with the kind of wireless setups we'll be covering, too. Just make sure you've tried Steam on your laptop and are satisfied with its gaming performance.
The NewsKing Connection Wizard for Steam makes it easy to connect to your TV...



A Computer in Another Room:

We'll be covering lots of wireless possibilities, and some of them even include sending an HDMI signal from another room! Of course, if your equipment doesn't support HDMI, there are other ways of getting a great TV picture from the computer down the hall. We're trying to be budget conscious, so if the computer you have in mind is in the basement, be sure to get some wireless gear with the longest range you can find. It's all covered in the NewsKing Connection Wizard for Steam below...



Install Steam

This post is supposed to be about installing Steam for Linux, but I'm going to cover a Windows installation, too, as well as a CrossOver Steam installation. The reason is that a lot of Linux users have systems with a dual boot (the NewsKing Linux Installation Guide explains how to install Linux with a dual Linux/Windows boot), so that they can boot Linux or Windows whenever they start their computer. So, it would be helpful to have Steam installed in both Linux and Windows. There's also a program called CrossOver that makes it possible to run a number of Windows games through Steam on the Linux operating system. None of this will affect connecting your computer to your television; that'll work no matter what...

Use the table below to install Steam for your operating system. You can use all of the installation options you want. The more options you use, the more games you can play!

Download Steam
Steam for Linux

One-click Installation:

Your browser should ask you if you want to install Steam...

- Fedora 18 Steam Installer.rpm
- Ubuntu/Kubuntu 12.04 & 12.10 Steam Installer.deb (you may have to download and click)
- openSUSE 12.2 Steam Installer.ymp

Package Installers:

- Fedora users can install Steam with Yum or another package installer after completing this post-installation: .

EasyInstall Info:

Everyone can install Steam easily by visiting the page below. No matter what distro of Linux you're using, whether its an older version or the latest release, Steam is now putting together a resource for easy installation:

- Steam EasyInstall Info
Steam for Windows

If you have a Linux system with a dual Linux/Windows boot, this is just a link to Steam's Windows installation file. Boot into Windows and download the file from HERE. Double-click it in Windows Explorer file manager or your browser's download window, and it will install.

- Steam for Windows
CrossOver Steam

CrossOver Office and CrossOver Games both allow you to run Windows software in Linux without using a Windows emulator. Both CrossOver Office and CrossOver Games include support for Steam. Not all Windows games that run via Steam are supported by CrossOver, but many of them are, and the number of games supported by CrossOver grows every day. There's also CrossOver Mac, which allows Windows software to run on OS X.

CrossOver uses free software called Wine to allow certain Windows programs to run in Linux. Wine can be difficult to use because programs need certain files that aren't included with Wine. CrossOver greatly simplifies the software installation process with an easy point-and-click interface, even creating launchers.

CrossOver for Linux is available for download HERE. It's one-click installation. It installs into the menu, and all you have to do is launch it and click "Install Applications."

- CrossOver for Linux
- Wine
Steam for Mac

If you have a Linux system with a dual Linux/OS X boot, this is just a link to Steam's Mac installation file. Boot into OS X and download the file from HERE. Double-click the file on the desktop or in a Finder, and drop the icon into your Applications folder.

- Steam for Mac
More Linux Options

More Linux Options is a post that ties together some loose ends like installing Linux on an external hard drive - which covers Mac and PC installations - as well as infomation about Linux on mobile devices, connecting mobile devices to televisions and computers, mobile gaming, and more... Click HERE.


Controllers

Before we connect your TV, it's a good time to pick a controller if you don't want to use your keyboard and mouse. Use whatever you're most comfortable with...

Linux supports many game controllers without any special software or configuration. You can check to see if your controller is Linux-friendly, or you can just plug it in and see if it works. There are a number of Linux apps out there that let you program the buttons, and save your button setup for different games.

If you're installing a controller for Windows or OS X, be sure you pick a controller intended for the Windows or Mac OS (or both). The best choice is a controller compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.


Controller Options for Linux Users
Popular Linux Controllers:

Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers work with Linux. Logitech's controllers work as well. You can also use "generic" controllers sold at Walmart, BestBuy, RadioShack, etc.

In most cases, you can just plug them into your USB port and go. But be sure you read Controller Installation Tips below.
Programming Controller Buttons:

QJoyPad is the app that's most talked about for programming game controller buttons (keymapping) right now, but there are some similar apps listed below. Unfortunately, none of the apps - including QJoyPad - is available for handy installation via a package installer, but QJoyPad or some of the other apps may soon start showing up in package installers...

- QJoyPad
- Installation Guide:

Other Popular Apps for Programming Controllers:
- Joy2Key
- Rejoystick
- Jojsticken
Controller Installation Tips:

To use a game controller, you need to search for and install the following packages in your package installer, or verify that they are already installed. Remember, your package installer is a program like Yum, Muon, Yast, or Ubuntu Software Center...

- joystick
- joystick-support

If you don't see "joystick-support," install:

- kernel-modules-extra

To install QJoyPad, you need to make sure the following packages are installed in addition to the packages above:

- automake
- libtool
- gcc
- g++
- libqtcore4
- libqtcore4-gui
- qt4-dev-tools
- libqt4-dev


Connecting Your TV
 

Use the NewsKing Connection Wizard For Steam and get your Steam computer connected to a television now! The Wizard will open in a new window so you can return to this post. In addition to step-by-step guidance, the Wizard links to equipment you may need to connect your computer and television. Equipment links also open in a new window so you can return to the Wizard...


The NewsKing Connection Wizard For Steam is the quick and easy way to get Steam connected to your TV today! The Wizard makes connecting your computer and TV fun! Don't delay! Do it now!


Related:
- http://store.steampowered.com
- http://store.steampowered.com/bigpicture

See Also:
- More Linux Options
- Tour Linux
- Install Linux

Artwork (may include photos, images, audio, and/or video):
- http://techcrash.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/9675_Steam-Linux...
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EFrL6...
- http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/files/2012/01/alienware...
- http://www.linuxmint.com/store.php
- https://www.system76.com/laptops
- http://vicepost.com/2010/08/23/crvd-43-inch-curved-monitor
- http://www.umipc.com/default.html
- http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/power-a-batarang-controllers-now...
- The NewsKing Connection Wizard for Steam
- http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AcOWcEKv7c0/UQQUgYIgSrI...
- http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/gewoldi/gewoldi1201...

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