Canonical may be ramping up its efforts to improve the Ubuntu gaming experience — yasss — but it seems their Steam snap package is causing a few headaches for Valve.
Timothée Besset, a software engineer who works on the Steam client for Valve, took to Mastodon this week to reveal: “Valve is seeing an increasing number of bug reports for issues caused by Canonical’s repackaging of the Steam client through snap”.
“We are not involved with the snap repackaging. It has a lot of issues”, Besset adds, noting that “the best way to install Steam on Debian and derivative operating systems is to […] use the official .deb”.
Those who don’t want to use the official Deb package are instead asked to ‘consider the Flatpak version’ — though like Canonical’s Steam snap the Steam Flatpak is also unofficial, and not directly supported by Valve.
Steam Snappenings
Steam Snap in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, plus recent reviews
Canonical launched its Steam snap in 2022 as a testing/development preview. That effort lasted around 11 months, and the build was deemed stable in April of last year, in time for the release of Ubuntu 23.04.
Because Canonical a) develops Snap, and b) packages and integrates the Steam Linux client to work within the tech, any bugs, issues, or quirks stemming from the Steam snap build should (in theory) be reported to them first, rather than to Valve.
It doesn’t seem like it’s happening.
Why?
I mean, are Ubuntu users even aware that they’re using a snap version that’s not created by Valve? They open Ubuntu Software, look up ‘Steam’, click on the corresponding result, see a comforting green check mark (although it’s next to ‘Canonical’ and not Valve, but still, it’s a check mark), and then proceed to install – in effect installing the Steam snap.
It’s true that Ubuntu Software (along with the newer App Center) does display package filters and format/source labels in the user interface, and also gives developer/package creator names along with support links. However, these features can only be beneficial if the user understands what they signify.
One might think that every Ubuntu user is well-versed in the nuances of the system, including understanding ‘snap’ and its unique qualities. However, with Ubuntu’s massive user base, this isn’t necessarily the case.
A straightforward guidance system leading users on how to report bugs could help immensely. The recent addition of an Ubuntu Gaming room on Matrix provides another accessibility avenue for Ubuntu users seeking advice regarding any issues they encounter.
They just need to be aware of these resources.
Canonical could consider updating their store description to make it evident that their package isn’t affiliated or supported by Valve. Still, would potential Steam installers read this detailed description? At least, in my experience, I don’t always read the full description if I’m familiar with the application.
“If it gets really bad I guess we could start popping a warning”
Snap back to the current situation, and there is another option.
If Canonical’s Steam snap continues to have issues that result in Valve being inundated by users unhappy with their experience, Timothée Besset posits that the company could ‘start popping a warning’ to Steam snap users when they open the app.
That would be an extreme move, but since Valve (and arguably its reputation) is the being affected just now, not an entirely unfair one.
Have any suggestions yourself? Please share them in the comments section.
I am eager to know: are you a user of the Steam snap? How has your experience been? Have you complained about any issues you’ve faced to Valve or Canonical? Share your thoughts in the comments section!