You might think, Good Penguin? Who are you calling a Penguin? But to clarify; I often refer to Linux users as penguins.

The goal of this guide is to list things people can do to help promote Linux on Steam, Think of letting people know you use Linux by mentioning it in your profile, How to properly react to +1 topics without breaking the Steam guidelines. Setting the store settings so developers know you use Linux. Just using Linux is sadly not enough to really make clear you use it. And this is really important for the advancement of Linux on Steam.

So without further ado, I hope you will learn at least a thing or 2.

Sadly not every purchase is counted as a Linux purchase, Many stores don't keep track of sales per platform, so if you buy your games there the developer will think you are just another Windows user, And that surely doesn't help us.

Good stores that make sure your money counts as a Linux purchase are the Steam Store, Humble Store[www.humblebundle.com] and the Feral Game Store[store.feralinteractive.com]. Be sure you buy your games there to support Linux. Also don't buy the games with your phone or with a non Linux machine, Because then the sales also don't count as Linux.

Sadly even buying your games on Linux is not always enough, There also is this strange 2 week 2 hour period where it checks your platform, I am not even sure how it works exactly. The bottom line is that you should also play your games on Linux, If you dual boot, try to play as much of your games on Linux, even the Windows titles. And if you do make sure you use the Linux Steam Client with Proton, and not use Wine to start the Windows Steam Client on Linux, Because sadly this will count as Windows playtime.

To let developers know you use Linux, And they can see A Linux user has their game on his wishlist you need to set your store preferences. Just click your name in the top right of Steam and click Store Preferences.



If you scroll to the bottom you will find Platform Preferences. Here it is very important that you only mark Linux as your OS


Don't worry about WIndows games, This will only remove Windows games from your store homepage, you will still see them everywhere else in the store :)

The Steam Hardware Survey asks random users about their system. You can either accept or refuse it. When you accept it you will contribute to the Survey and your system will be included in the monthly report

This ofcourse boosts our pathetic <1% market share on Steam. A small note, It sometimes looks like we are losing people, but it is just the influx of Windows people on Steam that just overpowers the slow (but steady) growth of the Linux userbase.

If you refused it at some point in the past, please post a comment, I believe it is possible to spawn the survey.

First up, you should wishlist the game, Yes I know it messes up your wishlist, But you can always filter on platform, and it will just remember that setting. If you set your store preferences in the store preferences in one of the previous steps and you wishlist Windows games the developers will be able to see we Penguins want games too :)

Many say the +1 topics don't help and they are against the Steam guidelines, But I have seen many cases where People would ask and devs just responded with a yes. Don't start a new topic. Look for a +1 topic in the discussions, Just use the keyword Linux.

Never leave just a +1 or a single word, Because this is against the community guidelines. Make it at least a sentence that you would love to buy it and include a nice relevant quote or explain why you would like to play it, or why you think it needs a Linux port. Messages with only +1, Yes, We need this, Etc is considered spam and could get removed. You can also share that discussion with your friends or a group so they can give their vote if you think the game is of any interest to them.

I see many people who have Linux in their name, Tux as an avatar, But a little I use Linux on your profile is already great, I surely don't want to force anyone to do it, But why would you hide it, Linux is something worth fighting for, It is something to be proud of. So show off a bit and help promote Linux :)

There are many Linux users who do not mention it, But it would certainly help grow awareness especially if you also list why you use it over proprietary operating systems or link to certain articles.

Try to share the Tux love wherever you can, On your profile, in your reviews, Even in game. 90% of the time the first thing I ask is; any Linux users here? There is no limit, But even the smallest mention of Linux can help in ways we can't possibly understand.

If you want to go totally full blown Linux Zealot (Like me). You can get some pretty cool shirts on the internet, from sites like Aliexpress, Yes I know the site is horrible, But cool Linux shirts for 10 bucks, You can also choose to support your favorite Linux personality, Some of them have pretty cool merch, For me it spawned a lot of interesting discussions with total strangers :)

If you encounter bugs in a game, or you find a game that is not working, Don't immediately leave a bad review, It does not help one bit, Surely if you get ignored then you have real grounds for that negative review. Surely it should run out of the box, But lets be honest, Nobody uses SteamOS right? The Ubuntu version that happened to be supported is probably also not the version you are running because new versions release every 6 months. And if you use any other distro you are probably not officially supported.

I would recommend to first check the discussions, Just search for Linux, or include a different keyword related to your issue if you get too many results.

If you can not find a topic related to your issue you can start a new topic, But I would even post it in topics if they are remotely related, Like I would place Bad mapping in a controller not detected topic. Piling on eachother in the same topic makes it more likely the problem will get solved, Because more people can be heard louder, It also notifies other penguins that have responded in the topic and they might be able to solve it.

If you post anything Always try to give as much relevant information as possible, If you are not very technical that is not bad, Just include what you can, Try to explain the issue step by step, how it happens and when it happens, Also include what you tried to make it work.

Handy things to include are often the terminal log, Game logs if the game has those, Your system hardware specification including the distro you are running and any non default software that could interfere, Like custom gamepad drivers or custom kernels. If the issue is related to a controller include what controller you are using.

Most of all Be friendly, be patient, Thank the developers if they help you. And Never resort to insults.

I don't want to tell anyone how to write reviews, And I actually encourage you to give it your own spin, But bad reviews don't help anyone. Negative reviews with a positive smiley, or stuff like that. Surely you can dislike games and leave negative reviews, But try to give some constructive criticism instead of just insulting the game or the developer. It doesn't help anyone, Especially if you are running around with Linux in your name or Tux as an avatar.

Try to include that you use Linux, Every time a stranger reads your review they will see what a decent person you are and that the toxic Linux user is just a stereotype.

I also want to encourage anyone to do whatever they can do to make the game work anyway, Check out the discussions, ask some friends who own the game. You can leave a negative review for not running out of the box, But by including a possible fix or at least listing what did not work or what you tried will certainly help the developer and other penguins.

And yes, I agree some developers deserve all the ♥♥♥♥ that is coming over them, (Looking at you Psyonix) But by just leaving a review with a ♥♥♥♥ you psyonix does not help. Try to explain the situation, Reviews are meant to convince people. Good or Bad, If you explain your case your opinion at least has a chance.

Socialize on Steam, Open up your profile, Join some Linux groups and their chats, Add penguins you think you will like and actively contribute to making Steam a more penguin friendly place, And there is a whole world beyond Steam, You can check out my Linux Link Collection to find all kinds of Linux Communities :)

I hope you learned at least a thing or 2, If you think anything is missing please let me know in the comments and I will be sure to include it. I am always looking to improve my guides :)