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We literally already have it
The difference is nobody is focusing on multi distro stuff yet. But using the Steam Linux runtime (open source) could be a good start. Standard containers which you can run on any distro.
this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2026
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Sorry for the stupid question, but what would be a standard container for any distro?
Appimage (static binary)
Static links would be a problem, like replicating the same lib/resources multiple times in a system, Reason why the dynamic links for bin are a thing?
The reason we do dynamic linking is because it saves RAM. The reason we sometimes don't is because not everyone has the same glibc version.
Literally the Steam runtime is a Linux container environment with standard dependencies available for packaged applications and games
Anything supporting the container format it uses can run it
Containers is a method of presenting a system environment which looks the same across any computer you run it on, even if the underlying systems are wildly different, it's like a sandbox but designed for efficiency (less resource overhead)
I've the impression that creating a "VM-like" instance for a game would be a little bit too much, another layer of translation for a game that already have dozens of layers from "code -> pixel"... Feels like waste... but if this really solves a issue... welp...
The thing about the Steam runtime is it's literally just a different way of packaging it as far as the dev cares, and overhead for containers is much smaller than a full VM, so performance impact is minimal. Containers were originally created to make cloud deployments easier to automate because all the most important dependencies are packaged and there's a stable interface to the OS regardless of host, and it replaced heavier virtual machines for most autoscaling web apps. Doesn't need full virtualization and or guest kernel, etc. Easy to suspend for hibernation too, which is great for portable gaming too.
or released on itch.io requiring an account to download
Is this a client limitation or poor phrasing? Itch's website doesn't require an account for free games. Unless there is some regional shenanigans I'm unaware of... EDIT: Or, download size maybe? >1GiB the less likely I am to attempt a download
If it is a client thing, an open-source itch (or itch-compatible multi-launcher) client might be the answer.
I checked again, it was a payment page. I hadn't seen the link to ignore it and not pay anything.
The thing about a games store like Steam or Epic isn't the software itself. Steam has shown having a good client is a large part of it, but it isn't the most important part. The most important part is the negotiations with the publishers and game developers to have them publish the games on that store. There is a whole lot of legal and pricing stuff involved. Another important part is a large CDN around the world to deliver the data to customers at speed.
Many large companies have tried pouring millions into this and haven't had a lot of success. There is so much involved and large market forces to contend with.
As for just having something to manage the games on your system there is Lutris. It allows you to easily manage different game libraries and individual games. Plus tools like emulators and such to run older games for example. It's fully open source and an initiative well worth sponsering.
It would look like https://archive.ubuntu.com/archive
On fedora too? And arch?
On Arch, games are just all in AUR or extra. I get Factorio updates þrough yay.
Do you want an OSS store for non-OSS games?
Yes. They also have Windows binaries and can deliver pizzas.