My main qualms with bash as a scripting language are that its syntax is not only kind of bonkers (no judgement, I know it's an old tool) but also just crazily unsafe. I link to a few high-profile things whenever people ask me why my mantra is "the time to switch your script from bash to python is when you want to delete things".
>rm -rf /usr /lib/nvidia-current/xorg/xorg
https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee-Old-and-abbandoned/commi...
>rm -rf "$STEAMROOT/"*
https://github.com/valvesoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671
It's just too easy to shoot your foot.
In Ask HN: What are the best tools for web scraping in 2022?ValveSoftware
steam-for-linux
Systems & Infrastructure2012–2026
ValveSoftware / steam-for-linux
steam-for-linux
Issue tracking for the Steam for Linux beta client
63Distinct people
71Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
4.9KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Issue tracking for the Steam for Linux beta client
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
This is cool, I've used curses UIs to build various small things that need to be a) vaguely easy to use (so, complicated CLIs are out. oncalls need to be able to use this at…
atomicnumber3 used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- mrmeee/bumblebee-old-and-abbandoned · linked in 2 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 4:01:40 AM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year71 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2012-12-20 00:27:43 UTC to 2026-04-16 20:26:26 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 8 | 1 | 7 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 8 | 3 | 5 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Steam for Linux Client
This is the README for the Steam for Linux client.
Hardware and Software Requirements
Steam for Linux stable client requirements are as follows:
OS: Latest Ubuntu or Ubuntu LTS with a 64-bit (x86_64, AMD64) Linux kernel
Older Ubuntu LTS branches are not supported and may stop working in a future Steam release, especially the branches in ESM status (Ubuntu 18.04 or older).
Processor: 1GHz Pentium 4 or AMD Opteron equivalent or better
Any x86_64 / AMD64 CPU with support for the CMPXCHG16B and SSE3 instruction sets
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics: Any NVIDIA / AMD / Intel
Requires latest 64-bit (x86_64, AMD64) and 32-bit (i386, IA32) graphics drivers. Install them using sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall.
Storage: 5 GB available space
Additional Notes:
Requires internet connection for initial installation
Requires 64-bit (x86_64, AMD64) and 32-bit (i386, IA32) glibc
Starting from 2025-08-15, glibc 2.31 or newer will be required. This affects users of older distributions such as Debian 10, RHEL/CentOS 8, Slackware 14.x, Ubuntu 18.04.
For a list of requirements for the current beta client, please see README.beta.md
Getting Started
Install Steam for Linux client:
Download the steam_latest.deb package from this location.
Navigate to the directory containing steam_latest.deb and double-click it. This launches Ubuntu Software Center and installs the package.
If you prefer to install from the command-line, use gdebi. Install the gdebi-core package (apt install gdebi-core) and then install the Steam for Linux package (gdebi steam_latest.deb).
For a list of games supported by Steam for Linux either visit this page or click Store (from the client) and then the Linux tab on the far-right.
We recommend that you join the Steam for Linux official game group, located here. You will find future beta announcements and other information posted here as well as an active discussion forum.
Reporting Issues
If you encounter an issue with Steam for Linux, first search the issue list to see if it has already been reported. Include closed issues in your search.
For issues with:
Source-based games (HL2:DM, HL2, HL2:EP1, HL2:EP2, TF2, DoD:S, CS:S), visit our Source Issue List
GoldSrc-based games (HL, HL:BS, HL:OF, TFC, DoD, DMC, CS, CS:CZ or Ricochet), visit our Half-Life Issue List
Portal 2, visit our Portal 2 Issue List
CS:GO, visit our CS:GO Issue List
Games using Proton, visit our Proton Issue List
If it has not been reported, create a new issue with the following information:
a short, descriptive title;
a detailed description of the issue, including any output from the command line;
steps for reproducing the issue; and
your system information.
Please place logs either in a code block (go here for a GFM cheat sheet) or a gist.
When possible, please include a differential between a working configuration and the reported issue.
If a crash is involved, please include any CrashIDs or minidumps related to the issue in an archive. Archives can be drag and dropped into the text box of github.
For tracking purposes, there should be one issue per issue report.
System Information
System information can be gathered from within steam (Help -> System Information).
Once your information appears: right-click within the dialog, choose Select All, right-click again, and then choose Copy.
Paste this information into a gist and include a link to it from your bug report.
Conduct
There are basic rules of conduct that should be followed at all times by everyone participating in the discussions. While this is generally a relaxed environment, please remember the following:
Do not insult, harass, or demean anyone.
Do not intentionally multi-post an issue.
Do not use ALL CAPS when creating an issue report.
Do not repeatedly update an open issue remarking that the issue persists.
Remember: Just because the issue you reported was reported here does not mean that it is an issue with Steam. Also, should your issue not be resolved immediately, it does not mean that a resolution is not being researched or tested. Patience is always appreciated.
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
7 sourcesSince no one has said it yet, please always use https://www.shellcheck.net/ on your scripts, you don't want to be That Guy https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671
In Type-ish – A runtime type checker for bash, in bash> Problems like removing a large directory instead of a file
rm doens't do that unless you explicitly tell it to.
> Problems like removing a large directory instead of a file, creating your files on random places instead of the directory you pass on, or creating more files than you intended?
But yes, all of these can and do exist in other languages. Using python as an example, if you read an environment variable without checking it's set (as in the infamous steam bug) [0], you'll end up with pretty much the exact same behaviour. You can misindent your loop in python and not create/remove files that you intend to, or your script can have a syntax error halfway through and the interpreter will happily proceed until it halts, and leave you in a half baked state just like bash does.
[0] https://github.com/valvesoftware/steam-for-linux/issues
Read the rest
to be fair, steam is not above wiping your disk in similar scenarios:
https://github.com/valvesoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671
In Sunsetting the Bethesda.net launcher and migrating to SteamI'm someone who still mostly avoids non-native games but I don't send hate mail and most likely will just ignore your game so you won't hear from users like me at all. I don't draw a hard line but there a many reasons why I prefer native games:
* Proton is a very useful tool, but it is and will always be chasing a moving target. Any game update can break Proton compat and Wine/Proton is complex enough that updates do sometimes regress support for some games. Do I really want to invest (time wise and emotionally) in games that could just stop working?
* I want my platform to be officially supported. That does not mean that every niche issue needs to be fixed but I should at least be entitled to a refund if I cannot get the game to work or if it stops working due to game updates - without any limitations.
* I also care about Linux getting b
Read the rest
etter and better supported long term. I care more about making sure that I have a free and open platform in the future than I care about being able to play any particular game now. The best way for that to happen is more people developing for Linux. Maybe Proton will help by allowing more people to switch their primary OS to Linux, increasing demand for Linux SW, but ultimately I think living off Microsoft's scraps will not end well for Linux and direct support is needed. Anti-cheat already shows that emulation without developer support has its limits.
* Somewhat relatedly, I want more developers to be exposed to open source operating systems and software with the hope that they see how having full source access to the entire stack and liberal licenses for distributing modifications benefits everyone and will extend that philosophy to their own software where possible - and games are a particular type of software where the code of most games is pretty much worthless to competitors by the time the game is released but making it available can greatly benefit users through greater potential for modification and better options for long term maintenance.
* I like being appreciated. Do I really want to financially support someone who writes me off as a statistic? Sure, game developers need to eat and I understand that that sometimes means not being able to support minority platforms, but if profit is the only thing you are concerned about then being in games development is probably not the best way to achieve that anyway. Maybe you don't care about my platform - and that's fine, we can't all care about everything - but then it's only fair that I don't care about your game.
Meanwhile I have over 500 unplayed native games in my Steam library and, even with Proton, enough native games are being released that I will most likely never catch up. I do use Proton - like vanilla Wine before it - when there is something that seems interesting enough (mostly older games that have stood the test of time) but generally I just don't feel a need to. Even if I were to run out of native games and had to resort more to Proton, I am also much more willing to pay full price or even preorder when it comes to native games.
> I don't have time to track down audio issues for some random Linux version for 0.001% of players
Then don't? If you don't think it is worth your time to fix certain issues then you can always say that and people can get a refund if that is a deal breaker. Are you not going to release Windows builds because you can't work around some weird hardware issue or third-party tool messing with your game for 0.1% of your Windows users?
One good way for dealing with support load is to enable your community to do the grunt work for you by having a public issue tracker. This works especially well for the Linux community where more people will be used to reporting bugs rather than asking for support but is even something that I would suggest for Windows-only software as well. Valve has been using GitHub for this: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux
A more topical example: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671
In Thank You, ValveAnd damn Valve for not supporting a 64 bit Linux Steam client. Having to mess with installing 32bit OpenGL drivers just for Valve, sometimes messing up the installation left a bad taste.
At least give users the option to pick either 32bit or 64bit client. I'm sure many would happily drop 32bit games support for that. And people who want 32bit games pick the 32bit client.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/179#...
"Please provide a 64-bit Steam package, so that those of us on 64-bit distros don't have to install a gazillion 32-bit packages."
In Thank You, Valve