Arch Linux Announces Collaboration With Valve

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 29, 2024,
updated Oct 05, 2024

• GamingOnLinux ☛ Valve (Steam) begin a direct collaboration with Arch Linux

  This is some pretty exciting news! The Arch Linux team have announced a new direct collaboration with Valve (Steam). Something that's not too surprising, since Valve do fund a lot of open source work, and SteamOS for Steam Deck is built directly on Arch Linux so working more closely together makes a lot of sense.

• OSTechNix ☛ Arch Linux Announces Collaboration With Valve

• Linuxiac ☛ Arch GNU/Linux Announces Collaboration with Valve

  Valve and Arch GNU/Linux join forces, speeding up key projects with a build service and secure signing enclave.

Two More:

• Arch Linux and Valve team up to make Steam gaming even better

  Valve and Linux have been making big strides lately, and now, it seems it's getting even better. Arch Linux has announced that it has struck a partnership with Valve that will help it do its job better. And given how the Steam Deck uses Arch Linux as a base, this will likely mean good things for gamers.

• Valve steps up support for Arch Linux with new infrastructure - Neowin

  Valve announced a new collaboration with the Arch Linux distribution. The company revealed it will provide financial backing for two crucial Arch Linux initiatives— a build service infrastructure and secure signing enclave.

  This collaboration will take off some old pains for Arch Linux. The volunteer developers work on projects in their free time. However, some tasks require an amount of time investment that volunteers alone couldn't reasonably achieve. Valve's backing will allow that focused work to be done through freelance contracts, accelerating progress.

  Of these, the main one would be setting up a strong build service. This would automate building and packaging software from source for Arch Linux. It would save volunteers from mundane or repetitive tasks so they could contribute to more creative work, such as making actual software or packaging.

  Furthermore, it would be more reliable because it catches errors and makes sure all the software builds cleanly. That is one of those projects that have been talked about for a very long time but never really had dedicated resources.

Only tangentially related and new:

• Shall we play a Game?

  Here it comes. Ultimate Edition Arch Gamers has been on the Internet for almost a day. I only have 3 or 4K friends on Facebook. Easy beating on servers, at least here (23 currently). Ironic, I am now building server based Operating Systems.

It's FOSS:

• Arch Linux ❤️ Valve: The Most Impactful Collab of 2024 for Linux Gamers!

  Valve is a popular name in the video game industry mainly due to their offerings like the Steam store, the Steam Deck, and the Proton compatibility layer, all of which that make Gaming on Linux a breeze.

  They have been a major driving force in making gaming a fun experience on the various Linux distributions, mostly thanks to their work on Steam OS, which is based on Arch Linux since the 3.0 release. (the webpage has not been updated)

  Needless to say, they don't seem to be stopping anytime soon, as leaks suggest that they are working on bringing support for Arm-based devices to the Steam platform.

  And, now, a recent announcement sees them going arms (no pun intended) open towards Arch Linux, extending well-deserved support in some key areas of distribution development 🥳

Also here:

• The Arch GNU/Linux team is now working directly with Valve — SteamOS and Arch should both benefit greatly

  The Arch GNU/Linux team is now working directly with Valve.

Linux Magazine:

• Valve and Arch Linux Announce Collaboration » Linux Magazine

  Arch Linux recently announced that it would be a part of a collaboration with Steam for two major projects. The projects in question are a build service infrastructure and a secure signing enclave.

  According to the Arch news release, "This opportunity allows us to address some of the biggest outstanding challenges we have been facing for a while. The collaboration will speed up the progress that would otherwise take much longer for us to achieve and will ultimately unblock us from finally pursuing some of our planned endeavors. We are incredibly grateful for Valve to make this possible and for their explicit commitment to help and support Arch Linux."

  The security enclave is intended for the Arch team to sign packages with a single signing key, instead of the current process (one person key per packager).

  Essentially, this collaboration will make it considerably easier for Arch Linux developers to do their jobs. Arch Linux project leader, Levente Polyak stated, "These projects will follow our usual development and consensus-building workflows. [RFCs] will be created for any wide-ranging changes."

Adding More:

• Arch Linux teams up with Valve

  The Arch Linux team has announced a partnership with Valve to support critical infrastructure projects, including a build service and secure signing enclave for the Arch Linux distribution.

  Valve’s Steam Deck uses SteamOS 3, built on Arch Linux, due to Arch Linux's lightweight nature, which has been maintained since March 2002. It is ideal for gaming with minimal performance overhead. A more intensive Linux distribution might not have been suitable for SteamOS 3, designed primarily for handhelds like the Steam Deck.

  Primary Arch Linux developer Levente Polyak said: "Valve is generously providing backing for two critical projects that will have a huge impact on our distribution: a build service infrastructure and a secure signing enclave. By supporting work on a freelance basis for these topics, Valve enables us to work on them without being limited solely by our volunteers' free time."

• Valve and Arch Linux Collaborating to Further Linux Gaming

  Valve and Arch Linux have entered into a direct collaboration agreement, with Valve supporting two projects that will help further Arch Linux and Linux gaming in general.

  Valve is one of the leading game publishers and distributors, and is the main way many gamers access their favorite titles via its Steam platform. The company also makes the Steam Deck, a handheld console that can be docked for traditional console play. The Steam Deck runs SteamOS, which is based on Arch Linux, meaning it can also be used as a full-fledged Linux computer as well.

Tux Digital:

• Valve Steps Up for GNU/Linux Gaming Again: Huge News for Arch and Wayland!

  Valve has proven many times over the years that they are a friend of Linux. They brought Steam to Linux, they made Proton for backdoored Windows games on Linux, and the Steam Deck runs Linux. This week that they confirmed it yet again.

LWN:

• Arch GNU/Linux getting support from Valve

  The Arch GNU/Linux project has announced that Valve will be helping the distribution with a couple of important initiatives:

  Valve is generously providing backing for two critical projects that will have a huge impact on our distribution: a build service infrastructure and a secure signing enclave. By supporting work on a freelance basis for these topics, Valve enables us to work on them without being limited solely by the free time of our volunteers.

Late coverage:

• Valve is pouring money into Arch Linux to further improve Steam gaming

  Arch Linux is an independently developed, general-purpose Linux distribution first introduced in March 2002 that prioritizes minimal software overhead. The OS features a small initial installation and has no traditional "major" releases, relying instead on monthly snapshots that keep only the core system components updated.

  Valve has used Arch Linux as the basis for its gaming-focused SteamOS platform since 2022. The company, co-founded by Gabe Newell, has now decided to offer developers something tangible in return: a "generous" yet unspecified initiative to fund two important aspects of the free, open-source operating system.

WPN:

• Valve and Arch Linux Collaborating to Further Linux Gaming

  Valve and Arch Linux have entered into a direct collaboration agreement, with Valve supporting two projects that will help further Arch Linux and Linux gaming in general.

  Valve is one of the leading game publishers and distributors, and is the main way many gamers access their favorite titles via its Steam platform. The company also makes the Steam Deck, a handheld console that can be docked for traditional console play. The Steam Deck runs SteamOS, which is based on Arch Linux, meaning it can also be used as a full-fledged Linux computer as well.

Very late perhaps:

• Valve and Arch Linux Begin New Collaboration

  Now while I admit I’m not exactly sure what these things are, one thing is for certain, Valve isn’t messing around with their commitment to open-source and Linux. It was always one thing to ship their Steam Decks and Steam Deck OLEDs with SteamOS, Valves flavor of Arch Linux. But, to take that manpower and research, and give it back not only to the team that created the foundation of your project, but the open-source community as a whole, shows that this isn’t just Valve trying to save money on Windows licenses or to get praise from a community that may not normally care for their practice. Valve deep down believes in being free to run your software as you see fit, and, as we’ve already seen with their iFixit collaboration, your hardware as well. We’ll have to wait and see if Valve continues this trend with other open-source projects, or if they’ll grow into helping other parts of Arch, but for now, this is an optimistic look into the future of wider Linux adaptation.

Late:

• Valve to fund developers of Arch Linux distribution, on which SteamOS is based

  The team of the popular Arch Linux distribution starts direct cooperation with Valve. Arch Linux is the basis for the SteamOS operating system, which runs Steam Deck. Tom’s Hardware writes about it.

  Because Arch Linux is FOSS (Free and Open Source Software), the developers of the distribution work on it in their spare time on a volunteer basis. Valve will fund the developers’ work on the distribution, allowing them to focus on development.

Until a week later:

• Valve officially sponsors Arch Linux, and here’s what that means for Steam Deck

  In a commitment to provide help to the basis of its handheld operating system, Valve has started a direct collaboration with the Arch Linux distro. In one of its mailing list updates, a dev announced the collaboration which will pave the way for some greatly needed updates for the version of Linux. An excerpt mentions the following.