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I saw the news that Microsoft is eying to buy them. That'd be a tragedy and we'd say goodbye to such contributions.
I think Microsoft's valuation is woefully underestimated
Also GabeN would have to agree to sell it, it's not really up to anyone else (and I don't think he's really interested)
I'm worried that Gaben isn't immortal and he'll eventually die/retire/sell etc, and the people in his footsteps won't share his vision. Throughout history this has been an often repeated story.
Is Gabe really that irreplaceable? The way he runs the company (flat-hierarchy), it's mostly self-governing -- the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible. A like-minded successor or even governing council could probably quite effectively handle things in Gabe's absence.
Well... regardless of that: nothing lasts forever, but that's no reason to assume that things will change for the worse. Gabe seems to put a lot of deliberate thought into his actions, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he has already taken care of preparing for a smooth and faithful transition away from his leadership when the time comes. Who knows, maybe they'll even do a better job than Gabe could?
The way he runs the company (flat-hierarchy), it’s mostly self-governing
Is it really? Or is it a dictatorship under Gabe, but he's a benevolent dictator who very rarely uses his dictatorial powers? Are there any influential people at Valve who don't share his vision? Or is he using his power to softly, maybe even unconsciously, ensure that everyone influential sees eye-to-eye with him?
Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. I like Valve and I like its leadership. But, I don't think there's any chance it would survive his death or his stepping down.
To be clear, by using the term "flat-hierarchy" I was indeed suggesting a situation that's exactly as you say: a company ruled under an iron first used sparingly -- ergo "the truly defining characteristic of his leadership is his willingness to be as hands-off as possible."
We can of course only speculate as to the soft power dynamics at play, although we can be certain that a soft-power dynamic does exist. I even agree with you when you state that this dynamic is unique to Gabe's specific personality and individual mannerisms and not something which can exist without him. Where we seem to differ, however, is in our opinion of how important Gabe's special flavor of soft power really is -- is it the secret sauce or nothing special?
I argue that it's nothing special. Given the right hand-picked successor, I foresee an uneventful transition and not a catastrophy. Some things will get easier and some things will get harder, but I think the overall structure and mission of the company will ensure a certain measure of continuity. If anything, I'm actually optimistic; the mere presence of a new leader will help change internal perceptions of what's possible and help bring about some exciting new ideas.
I argue that it’s nothing special.
I disagree given that as far as I know, Valve is the only company in the world that operates this way. I've worked plenty of places where the leadership talked about not having a hierarchy, but none of them could actually pull it off. When push came to shove, there were always bosses and those bosses had bosses, and decisions flowed down from the top. There are probably small communes where they're able to make decisions using consensus, but Valve is a 1000 person company that's a key player in a major industry.
I think on top of this, it's probably safe to say there is already a plan set up to pass to someone Gabe trusts considering the hierarchy
This is my fear too. No doubt there are great people working at Valve, but Gabe is responsible for how customer first the company is. I too worry that Valve will fall when he's gone.
Valve are a private company, so Microsoft can't just barge in and buy it up.
Considering the investment Valve has poured into Linux because Gabe doesn't trust Microsoft enough to have his business rely on Windows, I'd be pretty shocked if he decided to sell up to Microsoft.
Valve is my favorite company. Not just because I like video games, but I love the way Gabe runs it. Valve is so customer focused and deserves the "don't be evil" slogan. I am very scared of the day we lose Gabe because it's his vision that drives them. Selling to Microsoft would destroy everything that makes them good.
I'm really glad they let them add support for case insensitivity in ext4
I would've 100% expected some prideful cunt to block it
Valve is a wonderful contributor to Linux. Look what a beautiful wooden horse they have gifted to us!
Explain. I get the reference, so not that.
Valve is a capitalist company, aiming for profit.
They were heavily involved into establishing DRM in the video gaming world.
They were among the first to establish "FreeToPlay", Lootboxes and whaling, a predatory business tactic.
They accepted right wing extremist games in the past.
They have a kind of monopolist web store for PC games.
They are known to use the embrace and suffocate tactic against community projects in the past (DotA, once a community driven project is now a trademark of Valve).
The linux gaming scene is flourishing, but this comes at the price of dependency. And not all this dependencies can be resolved at the will of the community; many of the users that came over in the last time are probably unable to start a binary without help.
I think you have a lot of valid arguments for why Valve isn't a pure champion for all things good. But, that also wasn't the question.
I've used proton more often than not with games purchased through GoG. Their contributions to wine and the layer on top is excellent. Sam Latinga is a Valve employee and creator of libSDL, which is also another significant and foundational contribution to FOSS.
A company can do a lot of good without having to be exclusively good. And as for Linux gaming, it wouldn't be where it is without Valve.
I’ve used proton more often than not with games purchased through GoG. Their contributions to wine and the layer on top is excellent. Sam Latinga is a Valve employee and creator of libSDL, which is also another significant and foundational contribution to FOSS.
Wine and SDL were around before Valve was involved. It is unclear if and how good they can prevail if Valve decides that they aren't interested anymore. Structures that are lost might be hard to regenerate.
And as for Linux gaming, it wouldn’t be where it is without Valve.
Half on the way to a glorified console for most of its users? The Linux gaming scene is now a reduced mirror of the gaming scene for Windows and the consoles; imo it was to be more interesting before. There was a higher and more vocal interest in smaller and more experimental productions. Nowadays it is the same as everywhere else.
A company can do a lot of good without having to be exclusively good.
Companies do profit, not good. The Linux Gaming scene was once quite sensitive to privacy, self control, and independence. Lemmy is a dedicated left site. But some of the folks here are cheerleading to a monopolist corp like there is no tomorrow. I'm from Germany - if I hear people worrying about what will happen when the benevolent dictator dies (see above in this thread) I get the creeps.
Its a Private Company which is not focused to gain Profit because Investors push to. That is true for literally every other company that has Investors.
Valve has a Money Machine and mostly don't care for the next big Profit. They create creative things and behave human in my Opinion.
Its a Private Company which is not focused to gain Profit because Investors push to.
MARS is also a private company and has a section for child and slave labor on the Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars,_Incorporated#Child_labor_and_slave_labor
ZF is a private company and produces weapons.
As I already said, Valve has a history of unethical and predatory business tactics. Do you suppose they do these for fun? (and would this improve things in your opinion?)
Private companies are market participants and have to act in their interest, or go eventually down. Valve wants to make revenue with their investments. The Linux community is at best a vehicle, and at worst a target to them.
Good points tbh
And they were nice enough to leave the unit they gifted to us locked inside, safely and visibly trapped in the bars of a cage where they can't stab us with the pointy fork they invented!
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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