Wednesday 7 November 2012

Steam Beta For Linux Released, Use Steam Beta Right Now

Finally the steam beta was released today and is ready for beta testing by the selected 1000 beta testers who were chosen through the Steam For Linux Beta Survey. This post also provides the steps for using steam beta for other users who were not selected.

Don't worry if you were not lucky enough to get a Beta account in Steam for linux survey. Some of the Reddit users have found a way around this and non-beta account holder can use steam for linux beta.

The post from Valve Software writes:

The Valve Linux team is proud to announce the launch of a limited access beta for its new Steam for Linux client.

The Steam for Linux Beta client supports the free-to-play game Team Fortress 2. Approximately two dozen additional Steam titles are now also available for play on Ubuntu. Additionally, the Steam for Linux Beta client includes Big Picture, the mode of Steam designed for use with a TV and controller, also currently in beta.


Below are the steps you should follow in order to use steam beta in your linux. First, type the following commands in the terminal:

samar@samar-Techgaun:~$ sudo apt-get install libopenal1
samar@samar-Techgaun:~$ wget http://media.steampowered.com/client/installer/steam.deb && sudo dpkg -i steam.deb


The steam installer will then download and update the data for steam client. Once the update is finished, launch the steam from Unity dash and then login to your steam account (or create one). Close your steam client and then type the followin in terminal or just update your shortcut with following shortcut:

steam steam://open/games


Enjoy steam in your linux :)