this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2025
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Steam Machine’s upcoming release means more people will be playing games on Linux, specifically SteamOS. The idea of ditching Windows for gaming is becoming more attractive, as the Steam Machine is first-party desktop-level hardware that’s optimized for Linux-based SteamOS. The biggest hurdle for Linux gamers right now is a lack of support for many anti-cheats – particular those that require kernel-level access. But with the release of the Machine, Valve hopes game devs take notice.

Steam Machine seems to getting the most attention out of Valve’s latest hardware launches. The Steam creators announced the new console-like mini PC alongside the Steam Frame VR headset and new Steam Controller. Even the Frame runs on SteamOS, which means Valve now has a trio of first-party hardware on Linux (including the Steam Deck handheld).

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[–] olenkoVD@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

DID YOU KNOW that the new skate game for EA has kernel-level anticheat that actively blocks Linux and Wine??

Yay please install shit in my kernel so I can skate yay

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 3 points 22 hours ago

Got to protect users from someone doing script assisted kick flips

[–] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 1 day ago (1 children)

In case anyone thought it was a good idea from the article image:

Dont put goldfish next to your gaming rig, you'll cook it with the excess heat.

[–] stray@pawb.social 23 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

For that matter, don't put any fish at all in a tiny bowl of water, especially without a filter or heater. The common goldfish is meant to be very long-lived and gets fucking enormous if you don't torture it to death in a puddle of its own urine.

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

RIP that one fish I had when I was 10/11

[–] stray@pawb.social 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Is there a backstory for why you rate yourself out of 11 rather than 10?

[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Lmao, was intended to be a "or" symbol since memory is fuzzy and forgot the exact age I had the fish.

But um... I am Asian, so the scale is quite different from the standard scale. You know... "100 on a test? pfff, where is your extra credits, son?"

(okay maybe I exaggerated a little, but this is common in Asian families. I have talked to fellow Chinese-American classmates, and this is a thing, high grades are expectations. But I'm a failure so my parents already expect me to have bad grades lol)

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 23 hours ago

I was just being a shit, but that's honestly really interesting to think about!

[–] rucksack@feddit.org 45 points 1 day ago (3 children)

There's an interesting correlation between games that require kernel level Anti-Cheat and games whose community is toxic af.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 4 points 23 hours ago

Interesting assessment. I always correlated anti cheat to "our enshittified game isn't selling as well as projected. It must be piracy and cheaters"

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 6 points 1 day ago

Something about the kind of person who has such a need to prove their ability to shoot other people in a game that they're willing to give a corporation complete control over their home PC...

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[–] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 3 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] specialwall@midwest.social 2 points 18 hours ago

cm0002 has had a lot of spamm-ey accounts across several different domains. I block all of these accounts when I come across them myself

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

No thanks, Valve. One reason I switched to Linux was a game ecosystem absent root-level surveillance software. There are many other, better ways to discourage cheating in games.

[–] killabeezio@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I'm not sure that is what they are advocating for. They have VAC which doesn't require kernel level access. If anything they will probably advocate this and that anti cheat can work without root level access.

[–] infinitesunrise@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah that's a good point, on second read I see that the only mention of kernel-level anticheat made in the article were by the author, and nothing from the Valve rep themselves. Maybe I reacted too soon, and Valve is just trying to get devs warmed up to the idea of using better and less-intrusive anticheat systems.

[–] cmhe@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago

As long as Valve is committed to an open system, without locked down bootloader like on mobile phones, it is unlikely that kernel-level anti-cheat can be implemented.

But that also means Steam Machines are unlikely to support 4K streaming from Nextflix and co. because also DRM will also only be on the level of other Linux systems.

[–] andyburke@fedia.io 207 points 2 days ago (11 children)

You can keep your kernel-level shit off my CPU.

Spend money on servers. Verify your players. I don't care how you do it, but you don't get kernel-level access to my machine because some asshole script kiddies are aimbotting. You can never trust the client. This is basic shit that game devs will make up a whole host of bullshit to try to justify. (FWIW: I spent a solid decade as a professional game dev and I was as disappointed in this horseshit then as I am now. At least players are starting to figure it out now, too.)

[–] 18107@aussie.zone 63 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Kernel level anticheat still can't detect all possible cheats, like Neuromuscular Aim Assist.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

I love how the other players say they don’t consider it cheating.

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[–] kbal@fedia.io 46 points 2 days ago

People say "kernel level" anticheat as if that would be necessary for some reason, but I don't really see it catching on in the linux world. Steam doesn't even have root normally. Even if it did, not everyone runs exactly the same linux kernel and the only practical way to distribute a module that's going to work for most people is through dkms, which means you build it from source, which means proprietary super-obfuscated shit is not going have its intended effect (assuming it ever does.)

There's nothing stopping them from doing all the same bullshit in userspace instead.

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[–] biotin7@sopuli.xyz 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Should we start gatekeeping idiotic gamers from using Linux ??

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 23 hours ago

Only if we can also gatekeep them from using Windows. And games.

[–] stray@pawb.social 15 points 1 day ago (15 children)

Oh man, I'd definitely install Linux if only there were kernel-level anti-cheat. That's been the only thing preventing me from switching.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 4 points 23 hours ago

I think if you switched you would enjoy it so much more than Windows that you would prioritize Linux over the games with incompatible anticheats.

In due time though. Linux will always be available to you and eventually it will be suitable for your needs as well.

[–] lukalix98@programming.dev 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What about devs removing kernel-level anticheat?

[–] joelfromaus@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago

Definitely would be a positive outcome.

[–] Zetta@mander.xyz 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I thought you were being facetious and joking lol

"I'd totally switch to Linux if I could install spyware into my kernel"

[–] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I've been running Linux for many years now and for those games that need it I reboot to Windows. It doesn't happen a lot. So many games just work on Linux, I just play those.

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[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 106 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Kernel Level Anticheat needs to die. We have memory security, virtualization and antitampering features in operating systems now. All the games in Linux run in user space, none require system access because they are already sandboxed to an extent - every Wine/Proton game runs in a sandbox, since very older games often required admin permissions to run. Build your netcode with "never trust the client" as your first rule, E2E encrypt your network packets, learn to lag hide, and you'll eliminate 90 percent of the haxors.

[–] dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com 40 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Build your netcode with "never trust the client" as your first rule

I wish this were more prevalent. Server side anti cheat is a problem that money can be thrown at and solved but its cheaper at face value to lease that labor from anti cheat service contracts.

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[–] teawrecks@sopuli.xyz 11 points 1 day ago

We have memory security, virtualization and antitampering features

As someone who games entirely on Linux and wants multiplayer to work out, the features you're referring to are for keeping the application contained by the kernel, not the other way around. On a system where the user has full autonomy, no application should be able to know what is going on outside of its user space, and I don't want it to.

It'd be nice if it was a solved problem, but it's not. From consoles to phones to windows, currently the industry relies on you not having autonomy over your device for anti-cheat to work. Every other solution is either expensive (obfuscation arms race), or untenable (real time, high resolution server side validation of every property of every player).

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