r/Steam • u/Slow_cpu • 4d ago
News Steam for Linux finally goes 64-bit
https://videocardz.com/newz/steam-for-linux-finally-goes-64-bit373
u/Altinvfinance 4d ago
this is bigger than it sounds. ubuntu tried to drop 32-bit libraries back in 2019 and had to walk it back mostly because steam still needed them. if the client is fully 64-bit now, distros can finally start cleaning that up, though older games will still need the 32-bit runtime for a while
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4d ago edited 10h ago
[deleted]
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u/LordXamon 3d ago
That's a cool as hell name for a process. What does it do?
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u/CremePuffBandit 3d ago
It starts up when you open a game and tracks any child processes the game makes, basically extra little scrips separate from the main program. Then when you close the game, it kills any strays that didn't automatically shut down.
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u/Entegy 4d ago
The only company that had the power to force 32-bit's retirement is Apple. Many pre-microtransaction games were lost to that transition though. Everyone else needs to keep 32-bit around for much longer.
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u/Loudergood 3d ago
I'm still amazed Microsoft managed to retire 16bit
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u/raw_dogger222 3d ago
Most 16 bit software was from the 3.1 days before Windows really exploded, so it's a lot easier to sunset than 32 bit
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u/Sunlit_Neko 2d ago
I hate that apple did that. I used a MacBook in high school and kept it on the older macos to keep running steam. I might have actually stayed a Mac user if they didn't axe so many apps.
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u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
Tons of game still require 32-bit runtime, and are unlikely to change because they're no longer maintained. There is little to no cost, aside some storage, in keeping both 32 and 64bit available anyway.
Up until recently (well, a few months ago at this point), a 32-bit windows games running under proton required 32-bit support libraries for graphic drivers on the host system, which was an issue because for the 24.04 version of the build, ubuntu forgot to include these libraries in the nvidia package. Had to roll back to a previous driver, and then skip the broken one to get a newer version that did include the missing libraries.
I'd rather keep using a few MB of disk space than break half the games that are more than a decade old or so.
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u/Escalope-Nixiews 4d ago
Gentoo users in joy
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u/britaliope 4d ago
YES !
i will finally be able to get rid of all those package.use annoying rules
Edit: NOOOOOO :'(
However, the move to 64-bit does not mean Linux users can remove their 32-bit libraries. Valve’s updated requirements explicitly state that 64-bit-only installations are not supported. Systems must still provide both 32-bit and 64-bit libraries and graphics drivers, including multilib support. The new client also requires Linux kernel 5.6 or newer and glibc 2.31 or newer.
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u/Valen7789 4d ago
Ofc 32bit still needed... There are many 32bit games
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u/ledow 4d ago
Barely makes any difference whatsoever. It's not like the Steam CLIENT is pulling more than 4GB or processing a ton of data rapidly.
Even the in-Steam browser is a 64-bit process already.
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u/Mikumiku_Dance 3d ago
it makes a big difference for distros looking to drop 32 bit libraries. Steam support was one of the last things blocking it
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u/GoogleDisDick 3d ago
Which this won't do because it still has 32-bit components and 32-bit native Linux games still rely on those libraries.
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u/ninjadev64 2d ago
Those run in the Steam Linux Runtime which should provide those libraries. The only things remaining that the distro has to package are the 32-bit graphics drivers.
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u/r_search12013 4d ago
iirc it was the only piece of software on my linuxes in the last few years that still needed 32bit.. so this would be really quite a pleasant upgrade :)
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u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
Unless you play games. The switch to using 64bit build as the default is not as old as many people think.
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u/r_search12013 3d ago
well.. I did have an n64? :D that's also not as recent as I'd like to believe :D
these days I mostly play games that happen to have dedicated linux clients, too .. not like I sought them out that actively, it just seems to coincide with my particular brand of nerd-feel :D
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u/TheDragonSlayingCat 3d ago
The dirty little secret of the N64 is that, while the console really did have a 64-bit CPU, the majority of games released for the console ran in 32-bit mode.
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u/r_search12013 3d ago
that's what I noticed years later in emulating too.. but still, the technology existed, it just wasn't widely adopted .. that's just the same way the upgrade from 16 to 32 bit went .. sloooowly :D
in my experience, transitioning 32 to 64 was a lot smoother and faster, probably because it had been done before..
and eventually I noticed that I had nothing 32 bit remaining .. until the inevitable steam install on each system anew :D2
u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
Well, running games from another platform through emulation or recompilation is kinda cheating :)
Phoenotopia: Awakening, released in 2021, is a 32bit game. Granted, it is not a native linux game. Game with full linux support on Steam are likely to have 64bit build, if only because they're likely to be more recent. But that's not a guarantee either. If you get your hands on a 32-bit build of a game, and the publisher/dev is not going to push a 64-bit build, you'd be out of luck running it on a system with no 32-bit support libraries.
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u/r_search12013 3d ago
of course .. but, as long as steam has 32 bit with it it's much harder to have a pure 64bit system .. it increases choice .. not doing it will definitely not progress anything, it's a strange argument for argument's sake to say deprecated things will stay the software they are, isn't it?
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u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
it's a strange argument for argument's sake to say deprecated things will stay the software they are, isn't it?
Not really, since it's a truth. If you keep moving forward without thinking about how to keep backward compatibility, you lose things. And if there is little upside in moving forward, you lose thing with little benefits.
Unless we agree that "oh well, from now on 20 years of game will disappear, that's just how it is", it is pointless to aim at a 64bit "exclusive" system. Especially if we look at the bigger picture, where 32 vs 64 is only one part of the issue; you have to consider architecture too. x86-64 might not be the target in a few years, hence the work in place to keep the game built for it running on other architecture (like ARM).
All I'm saying is, chasing a 64bit exclusive system today, without a solution to run legacy software, is willingly asking to put a fair share of games down definitively without much gain aside from saving a bit of disk space for most people.
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u/AutoCockerPB 3d ago
Should have happened sooner. 2015 is when it should have been the end. Windows 11 is what mostly killed it for windows
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u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
It's not killed on windows though. WoW64 is exactly that: the whole system library as 32bit variants. That's how you can still run 32 bit windows applications.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/r_search12013 3d ago
legacy libraries no one really cares to maintain anymore? .. various exploits found in everyday ancient software like curl and such?
I suspect 32bit steam would be a very good hacking target for whoever has a particular exploit in mind that targets gamers
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u/c00kieRaptor 4d ago
What? It wasn't already 64-bit??
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u/your_mind_aches 74 3d ago
Famously, no. You know how when you go to check game files or find a directory for a mod, you goes into the "Program Files (x86)" folder? Yeah.
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u/HuntKey2603 I remember Ricochet 4d ago
i mean, not a high priority when most games are 32 bits
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u/Orange_Tang 3d ago
It's 2026, 32bit software hasn't been the standard in over a decade. The transition started in the windows XP era.
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u/Damglador 3d ago
Well, weren't not in 2015, most games are no longer 32bit.
I think it's more of why bother if it doesn't make a difference for the user.
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u/BeepIsla 3d ago
Funny the Windows client got 64-bit before the Linux client.
With Valves games it was the other way around, CSGO was 32-bit on Windows for all its life but Linux was 64-bit for many many years.
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u/4r73m190r0s 3d ago
Can I play CS:GO and Quake on Linux?
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u/iDaddyDirection 3d ago edited 3d ago
All Valve games can be played on Linux without issue. Quake also works on Linux.
Edit: fixed a misspelling of Quake, lol
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u/kitestar 3d ago
Mmmmm oatmeal
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u/iDaddyDirection 3d ago
It took me way too long to realize this was a response to Quake being spelled wrong, lol.
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u/Taste_My_Noodle 3d ago
I’ve been running every game on cachyos without an issue.
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u/4r73m190r0s 3d ago
So, there is translation layer from Win syscalls to Linix ones?
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u/Taste_My_Noodle 3d ago
All the proton and wine translation layers are contained in a “gaming pack” you can install on first bootup along with Nvidia drivers if that’s what you use. They did a really good job
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u/Postiez 3d ago edited 3d ago
I went with endevouros and ended up switching to cachy kernel and mirrors. This is by far the best OS experience I have ever had and I have been using everything since Windows 95.
If anyone feels intimidated by making the switch, everything is super well documented so it's actually a great use case for LLMs to help you through any process you need.
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u/fmccloud 3d ago
Say what you will about LLMs and AI, but it helped me get deeper in the Linux rabbit hole by using Docker on my NAS. It's great for stuff like this, especially if you need to use a command line and aren't familiar with it like me.
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u/DerpWyvern 3d ago
many people hate Ai just for the sake of it. this is actually one of the best uses for Ai, it helped me recover my system multiple times and i learned a lot from it
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u/CelebrationOwn3414 3d ago
There is official tutorial on Cachy website how to convert arch based linux into CachyOs. Highly recommend it.
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u/RadimentriX 3d ago
Does that change or improve anything on the steam deck?
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u/capitan_turtle 3d ago
It will free up like a megabyte of disk space
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u/Aimless115 4d ago
This obsession to ditch 32 bits is ridiculous
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u/BeepIsla 3d ago edited 3d ago
I hate 32-bit with a passion as a game modder. Looking at you Windows calling conventions. 64-bit makes my life so much easier.
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u/Eorlas 3d ago
The fuck is this comment…
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u/Cley_Faye 3d ago
There is little gain in trying to remove all 32 bit dependencies, and an enormous cost. Any old software that isn't maintained anymore is dead, for example.
Unless someone develops a 32-to-64 bit bridge that can make 32bit software run on a fully exclusive 64bit software stack, there's a big downside to it.
And it's not that easy; calling convention, data conversion, sheer availability, and so on, makes this not that easy.
We'd be losing a lot for the gain of a few MB of storage. That makes this a weird hill to die on.
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u/slenderchamp https://steamcommunity.com/id/slenderben226/ 4d ago
been thinking of installing Linux to try it, perfect opportunity I guess