This article was published in the September 2015 issue of Maximum PC. For more trusted reviews and feature stories, subscribe here.
I wasn't mentally prepared for E3—not as a journalist, and not as a Linux user
When the doors admitting the unwashed masses to E3 opened at noon, the floor was filled with the multitudinous denizens of the video game industry. About half of the tech journalists, too, while the other half crowded the media lounge for a chance to sink their teeth into the provided box lunches.
This was a good move on E3’s part; it could’ve been a bloodbath had they turned on one another instead.
I immediately noticed the unstoppable force that is the console market. The Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation booths were unrivaled in the LA Convention Center. The big three consoles call the shots at E3, and they make it blaringly obvious. It felt dirty. It made me want to cower naked in a cold shower, sobbing uncontrollably while rubbing videocards on my body. Seeking the comfort of a keyboard, I set out to find a Linux machine at E3. In three days of searching, I saw exactly zero.
Nintendo’s white and pastel-lit booth was the least garish of the consoles.
Did I see PCs? Sure. Oculus had PCs running Rift demos, and there were even PCs set up at the Bethesda booth. My hopes were renewed when I discovered Alienware had brought a Steam Machine, but it was tucked away in a meeting room.
At E3, you’d think there would be more Steam Machines on display—they’re supposed to be such a big deal this fall. Yeah, not so much. That’s a problem I see with Linux: It’s not visible, and is thus disregarded by developers. Steam even states that Linux is Valve’s preferred OS, but you’d never know it given the disparity between the major titles available for Windows versus Linux. Every store I go into has laptops with Windows 8. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a laptop in BestBuy preloaded with Ubuntu.
But these makers exist. Firms such as Zareason and System 76 have been building Linux machines for years. Purism’s Librem 13 looks as handsome as my Yoga 2 Pro, but without the compatibility issues. Hell, even Dell released a “Developer Edition” of the XPS 13 that’s sporting Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.
These products, despite providing a chance to avoid the Windows tax, remain hidden from most consumers. Dell’s Ubuntu version of the XPS 13, for example, isn’t on the model’s main landing page, but on a page for businesses. And, as good as the machines might be, System 76 and Purism aren’t household names like Lenovo or Toshiba.
Most consumers don’t want to have to wipe a drive and start from scratch. They want to turn on a machine and have it work right away. After all, that’s what consoles do. (Oh, God, I need another shower.) Desktop Linux needs hardware partners. It needs companies like Dell to advertise its Linux options alongside its Windows options. It needs to stop being treated like a second-class citizen, only being allowed to enter through the back and eat with other open-source kernels.
After all, choice is good for the consumer. When users are shown they can have freedom, and avoid the $100 Windows surcharge, many (but by no means all) will choose freedom.
That’s why I was a little upset not to see any Steam Machines at E3. Or maybe it’s because when I said, “I write about Linux,” to a young woman at a Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 promo booth, s he looked at me like I was explaining orbital mechanics. I don’t blame her, I blame the hardware market. At least I got some free T-shirts.
Alex Campbell is a Linux geek who enjoys learning about computer security.
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