Can we get Linux added as a platform type?

I had a thought of going through my humble bundle games and going through the list of linux games on steam and adding linux as a platform for those games, but when I searched for Linux, I realised that its not available as a platform, even though Mac is. I don't think PC accurately encompasses Windows and Linux since they really are different.

I'm a fairly casual site user, so this was my first time trying to edit the wiki.

There have been many discussion in the past with adding Linux as a platform. The consensus is that it should not have its own platform page. Heres on of those discussions:

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/editing-tools/820/add-linux-to-platforms/384525/

@Snail: Linux does not have its own page as per a staff verdict whereby they did not want to break up PC games by operating systems. The staff have already rejected "Linux" as a platform for the database as it did not meet our criteria for warranting its own platform page. That criteria being:

Consoles/computers that only run games that are currently served by another platform on the site do not get their own platform page and can be safely discussed on the wiki pages for the machine they are duplicating.

However if you have objections you should feel free to contact Jeff as only he and the staff can add Linux to the database as a platform.

The PC icon even has a Windows symbol now, and the Mac platform persists. Seems like a Linux page fits right in when the PC platform now more then ever seem to indicate "Windows".

I agree, we have the Android, Windows phone, iPhone as a separate platform, PC and MAC are separate, various versions of old apple computers are there own platform, and even all the ipad, ipod etc. which i think most of there games can be served on the iPhone have there own platform.

Linux........

I agree that as a platform then obviously Linux is a separate entity (not many exclusives but possibly useful going forward and Valve push Linux to know which titles are available on that platform) but then so is DOS, yet having a different platform for the digital store for consoles to the main listing is going to become increasingly weird (already the Vita ships all non-network titles on their network store and Wii U and PS3 do for plenty with 360 GoD only offering some games).

But platform doesn't really mean that, it's more of devices groupings. Linux and Windows are just OS you run on a generic PC and for the platform label we're mainly meaning x86 hardware so it isn't even that well defined as to be any Linux or Windows PC but more IBM PC Compatible + evolutions of that bucket of specs. Mac gets its own bucket thanks to years of PowerPC and having dedicated hardware and their own devices (can't buy that OS for your generic PC, even if you can ignore the EULA and make a Hackintosh) even if today they run the same PC hardware as everyone else. It's the device grouping (+ some history) that gives you the dedicated bucket. Having both iOS device groups as different platforms (despite being two sides of the same thing with lots of apps running on both groups) makes it clear that the Ouya and GameStick are probably going to need their own platform pages if they ever get specific device versions of games or even exclusive games, possibly same for Raspberry Pi (they have an exclusive version of Minecraft but not sure what else could be used to try to promote that addition, new platforms need some volume of need).

But the official criteria for walling off a device block can be met with games. Work out the long list of exclusive games that only appear on Linux and use that to push for a platform page. Just be very careful doing it as I'm sure none of us are really looking forward to going over the entire archive and adding in DOS vs Windows versions (as done on places like MobyGames who are more interested in tracking the details of the history of games) if you ever win the argument that PC should be renamed to Windows.

In the last 24 hours 6 games on Steam had Linux versions added to them: Bastion, Titan Attacks, Revenge of the Titans, Unity of Command, Intrusion 2 and Droid Assault.

It's slowly growing.

It's unfortunately not as simple as adding a separate Linux platform. What happens to the existing PC platform then? Does it become Windows? Then we'd need a DOS platform, and many more for the other operating systems PC currently represents. Otherwise we'd be introducing factual errors to the wiki by claiming that all PC games currently in the database run on Windows.

Linux is now a platform.

Great. I already submitted a few old releases (pre-Steam, those that come in weird rectangular boxes with bits of plastic and paper inside them).

So that's crazy. We now have PC, a platform that describes on the wiki both Linux and Mac OS and the history of hardware that includes stuff pre-IBM Compatible as well as being a category defined by being 'not those two OS and not any of the consoles'. So as @lordandrew asks (as does Jeff), what now? I think sites like RPS are still coming to terms with this (they take all of PC and so have moved to encompass Linux and Mac tentatively as those platforms gained more games) and there are no easy answers.

Classic PC isn't hard to define, IBM Compatible and onwards (x86's iterations) but then we've just said Linux is a new category and Mac has been for a while and they moved from PowerPC to Intel years ago. But you can't stick a Windows or even Microsoft label on it, Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 aren't PC are they? Is the closed app store ARM SoC WinRT things in the PC bucket? Not to mention the old PCs back when I had an Amstrad PC-1512 weren't only an MS thing. I got discs for MS DOS but also DOS Plus with GEM OS (a Digital Research system (from CP/M days), even if Apple were none too pleased about a WIMP interface a lot like their Macs had a year earlier; this was in the early to mid '80s rush) for that machine. It's definitely a PC all the way up to IBM Compatible status but it isn't a Microsoft joint.

As I said above, splitting the wiki into Windows and DOS as platforms seems like a herculean task for everyone to go in and make sure our data is all sane so I'm not sure anyone would really want to split them but PC also will contain some niche edge cases so even just renaming Pc to 'Windows/DOS' would seem to be introducing incorrect signage.

TBH I can't see any better answer than having the PC category maybe push the MacOS and Linux wiki content into their own platform pages and just link them. Make it clear that PC is the grab-bag platform term for mainly IBM Compatible / x86 and mainly MS OS from MS DOS up to Windows 8+ for desktop and laptops but it more defined by (Is PC) - (Mac) - (Linux) rather than a cohesive way of collecting everything under the banner of PC with a single inclusive definition. It's PC, I know it when I see it.