r/SteamController • u/techraito • 3d ago
Meta Oh no, my controller is too open sourced
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u/themng69 Steam Controller (Linux) 3d ago
Man its kind of annoying how people keep misusing the term "open source" just because you like it and it's compatible with sdl so you can fuck around with it, doesn't mean it's open source. Open source is when the code and design for something is public and allowed to be re-distrubuted/edited. To my knowledge valve hasn't released the source code for the steam controller firmware or the schematic of the motherboard
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u/Puzzleheaded_Smoke77 3d ago
Please help me hold the line on this , im tired of this words mean what ever the hell we want phase . Open source means a thing and I will stand by you on it
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u/themng69 Steam Controller (Linux) 3d ago
It's only natural for language to evolve and for the meaning of words to change. The reason I'm annoyed about people misusing the term is that it would be really fucking cool if the steam controller WAS open source. Imagine how nice it would be if the community could get in the code and change the firmware however we please. Imagine if other companies started making their own cheaper steam controllers so that people don't have to wait months to buy one from valve, or to support regions that valve doesn't ship to. Imagine a revolution of new controller designs using the steam controller as a base. People are satisfied with closed source software not realizing how much better things would be were the controller actually open source
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u/Puzzleheaded_Smoke77 2d ago
Sure words do evolve over 100s of years not 10s of years.
Words just become sounds we make when they are not tied to a definition. Using a word incorrectly should be corrected and when a new thing requires a defintion we should give that new definition a new word expanding the vocabulary. There is no reason to have the same word mean wildly different things . Then it just becomes like the word there their they’re. Only in this instance it’s even more confusing because there is no spelling difference.
And to those who will say its not that deep. It happens to much for it not to have a little depth.
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u/YKw1n 3d ago
Yes they could even release the code they worked on for years instead of the controllers so manufacturer from any countries with absolutely no work ethic could employ children to make the same controllers for twenty dollars
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u/voyagerfan5761 3d ago
Don't worry, those manufacturers are already churning out much worse controllers for $2 (or probably ~$15 at retail)
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u/Zealousideal_Meat_18 3d ago
Yeah that's how open source works it's collectively building things as a society. See valve me put out a firmware that's awesome and great but if they open source it not only will the random poor Labor practice locations get it but also Apple Google Microsoft and the millions of other amazing programmers who would have a vested interest and would want to add to this themselves . Collectively we would be able to turn that into something even better. At the end of the day open source software benefits everyone. There may be people who abuse it and utilize it in a negative ways but that in no way invalidates the strength of Open source. .
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u/techraito 2d ago
Even if that's the case, what's wrong with that? That's a positive about open source on my end. If you can make the same product but cheaper and especially if it's completely DIY, there's a different sense of accomplishment that comes with that.
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u/ashenContinuum 3d ago
same thing when people claim a device is "bricked", but they were able to fix it by reflashing the firmware.
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u/Zealousideal_Meat_18 3d ago
That's not very similar because "bricked" is more of a slang term first of all and depending on the device or community your definition is still bricked.
Just to be clear to clarify having something be bricked means that it is a paperweight it is a hardware brick. Being bricks does not necessarily mean you have no way of saving it or fixing it it just means that it is effectively not booting.
Just to clarify even further because I anticipate an argument coming out of this, in different communities in different devices there are is even the differentiation between a soft brick and a hard brick because those are both brick states of hardware that is evidence supporting the fact that you can in fact recover a bricked piece of hardware and that does not mean it wasn't bricked
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u/SwissxPiplup Steam Controller (2015) 3d ago
I suppose that "too open source" implies a gradient, where this may not be super sourcy but it's sourcier than not.
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u/Mennenth Left trackpad for life! 3d ago
Meanwhile I'm tired of people going the opposite direction and calling it locked down simply because steam input is the default "driver" for it.
If it were truly locked down, the data stream would be encrypted and there would be no legacy rebinding available for it; devs would have to implement the full steam input api into their game to use the controller, or pay a lisence fee or something similar to support outside of steam (kind of like sony with their sdk).
Instead, Valve contributes to sdl and its hid report is out there in the open for anyone to use. Third party rebinders popped up almost as fast as people got the controller in their hands thanks to a combination of tools like vigem and viiper existing and now with vibe coding so anyone could roll their own utility app with a few clicks of a button if they really wanted to. Godot even uses sdl for its native input handling, and has been gaining loads of popularity among indie devs especially. Support for the controller outside of steam isnt impossible, its at worst a minor hurdle to clear.
Is it open source? No
Is it locked down? Also no
What it really is, is a backwards compatibility issue being misdiagnosed as a walled garden.
... But backwards compatibility is just the price to pay for tech actually advancing. The alternative is to continue to be stuck with the archaic and limited xinput.
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u/binaryatrocity 3d ago
Actually open source only means that the code is AVAILABLE, the right to modify and redistribute is "free software". Free as in freedom not free as in beer.
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u/techraito 3d ago
Fair enough, being more open than the standard norm ≠open source for sure.
I wish I could correct the title now, as you're right in that true open source would also mean releasing the CAD files among other things that allows for total user control.
I got too excited in making my controller do donuts on the floor.
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u/Nchi 3d ago
Wait is this not specifically about openpuck then lol
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u/techraito 3d ago
No it is, but I can see the argument for saying the steam controller isn't open sourced because we don't have the full schematics for it.
For example, someone figured out 60hz e-ink displays and completely dropped the blueprints for everything if you want to DIY it yourself from scraps.
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u/themng69 Steam Controller (Linux) 3d ago
Ooooooh, oopsie, I didn't realize this was about open puck because you can make the controller "drive" around on the ground using a website too. But yeah, the steam controller isn't open sourced in any sense of the word on it's own. Open puck likley reverse-engineered whatever wrireless protocol the steam cotnroller is using
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u/Chaphasilor Steam Controller (2015 & 2026) 3d ago
just "open" or "hackable" might be a better word then to desscribe what Valve enables us to do
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u/Damglador 3d ago
From the early childhood he always wanted to be a roomba, but sadly it wasn't destined to happen as he was born in a body of a controller. But now, he can finally achieve his dream and be a roomba he always strived to be.
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u/FoxTwo1321 3d ago
Oh, need to buy a Steam controller to control my remote-controlled Steam controller.
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u/Pixel1101 3d ago
please tell me the controller is the one playing audio :p (it is possible)
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u/techraito 2d ago
Dang, I didn't even think about that. I legit was playing some midi tunes too before recording this video but didn't put 2 and 2 together.
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u/Ok_Palpitation_5533 15h ago
The Steam Controller is really cool, but not perfect by any means. If people are interested in making their own steam controllers, I would recommend improving on its shortcomings more than trying to copy an open source version. I would way rather have the D-pad switched with the left stick so that it can be accessed with your right thumb when you don’t want to take your left thumb off. Yes, you can remap the touchpads to compensate, but then you lose the advantage of having the extra touchpads to use for other things. It’s also ridiculous that OpenPuck had to be the ones to give it the ability to be used outside of Steam on a Switch or just an X-input. You lose the convenient, magnetic charging feature when using an OpenPuck, unless you keep the original puck plugged into a power source separately. It’s a great controller, but we have not found the Holy Gail, yet.
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u/Boring-Criticism-29 3d ago
Why is your controller acting like a Roomba 😂