Valve favours open Linux platform to Windows 8 & iTunes

Valve really dislikes Windows 8 doesn't it? The studio has poured more fuel on the flaming debate surrounding Microsoft's OS - and now Apple's iTunes format - stating that it prefers the open nature of Linux. Find out why below.

PCGamesN reports that Valve engineer Drew Bliss gave a talk at the Ubuntu Summit in Copenhagen recently, where he distanced Steam and Windows 8.

“If you look at the way the world is going," Bliss began, "where you see Apple completely in control of their system, and at least part of Windows 8 entirely controlled by the Microsoft App Store, Steam is going to be a little bit harder to do - both in the store aspect and in the content delivery aspect.”

“We want to continue developing in open platforms," Bliss added, "and so we’re looking around, and obviously Linux has become a very viable alternate platform. So we are now looking into doing Steam for Linux and supporting as many of our Steam games for Linux as we can.”

Bliss concluded, “We want to remove one roadblock that people have with Linux usage and keep the open platform alive. If Microsoft goes the way Apple has and Windows and Macintosh are, both completely closed ecosystems, Linux really is the best alternative for everybody. So we want to help it be as good a platform as possible.”

What's your take on 'closed' formats? Is Apple's walled approach something that puts you off, or do open platforms like the Android Jelly Bean-powered Ouya console present a more palatable format? Let us know below.