Is it normal for the Steam client to be so slow on Linux Mint?

It takes about 30 seconds for the Steam client to start logging in when I use the shortcut or run "steam" from terminal.

Even with the Steam client open, if I use a shortcut to run a game, or use the terminal to do "steam steam://rungameid/xxxxxx" it still takes around 30 secs to start the game. If I click "Play" in my steam library or just run the binary directly, the game starts immediately.

EDIT:
If I enter "steam" from terminal, then it just blinks for about 25-30 secs. Then only the text starts appearing
"Running Steam on linuxmint 19.3 64-bit
STEAM_RUNTIME is enabled automatically
Pins up-to-date!
Steam client's requirements are satisfied
...
etc"

at which point it either logs me in, or if logged in already, the client appears.

I'm using NVidia proprietary drivers.

If you are saying slow compared to Windows, I think that's because STEAM adds itself to load on startup (without asking) on Windows systems. That's why it opens faster when you run it since it is already running. I disabled that on my Windows 10 and it now takes about 2 minutes for Steam to start.

I maybe wrong and something else might be at play. :)

No. I had that disabled on Windows 7. It still opened pretty much after a few seconds.

Anyway, I don't think it's the issue because as I wrote, this happens even if Steam is alread running. I can have Steam already open, then enter "steam steam://rungameid/xxxxxx" in terminal (or use a shortcut), and it still takes 20-30 secs to start running the game (pressing Play on the client, or running the binary starts the game instantly).

I just noticed another, probably related issue. If I shutdown while Steam is running, then it takes 20-30 seconds for Cinnamon to close. I found a 5 year old thread with several people having the same issue, but no solution.
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=202860

I ran a couple of tests for you, maybe it will shine a light to your problem.

On Windows 10:
Running Steam for the 1st time: 1 Minute 25 seconds.
Running Steam the 2nd time: 32 seconds
Additional attempts all took around 30-32 seconds.

On Linux Mint 19.3:
Running Steam for the 1st time: 1 Minute 35 seconds.
Running Steam the 2nd time: 18 seconds
Additional attempts all took around 18 seconds.

And then still on Linux, I tested terminal...
Ran "steam" on the terminal while Steam was closed. It took 18 seconds to open Steam.
Ran "steam" on the terminal while Steam was running. It took 4 seconds to switch to Steam.
Ran "steam steam://rungameid/xxxxxx" on the terminal while Steam was running. It took about 18 seconds to show the "preparing to run" screen, while this showed instantly when I tried to run the game directly from the Steam App.


So in my system, opening STEAM was faster on Linux. However, it did take additional time to run a game while using the terminal.

NOTE: This is the same machine triple-booting Linux Mint alongside Win10.

I don't know if that will help you but more DATA is always good, right? :)

Maybe I should mention that My "gaming" pc is 14 years old :). I use this for all kinds of tests.

I am glad you solved the problem.

A certain someone from Star Trek wholeheartedly agrees.

Unless, of course, Seb Cheneb maybe? :)

Has there been much of a change between 19.3 and 20.1? Probably not? I see the PDF is about Mint 19.3.

And perhaps you too have been discouraged by the changes in GOG over the years, leading to less reason to stay active here. I recall you were pretty vocal a few years ago about Linux and suchlike. Seems like it may be a bit less now (though I've not been around a whole heck myself, so could have missed it).

Anyway, if nothing else, this can at least serve as a bump (for those who don't have the thread favourited).

I've still not moved on from 19.3 yet... hoping to update to 20.2 soon though & plan to update the guide shortly after that. AFAIK the changes are mostly under the hood though.

I've been busy with other things, but GOG's decline has been a part of it as well.

Spare code for Hellpoint, expires 16th:

DFA1C--ECEF8

Middle segments: C7596-3B6DE

Not what was expected in this thread. Anyways i redeemed it. Thanks for the game.

I have updated the guide and my common libraries meta-package for Linux Mint 21.3 and they are now both hosted on GitLab. The first post has been updated with the new links.

My Wine wrappers are still on hold for now but I'm still planning to eventually get those all updated and posted to GitLab too with various improvements. I have been doing some work on them every now & then but progress is slow due to lack of motivation, in large part due to dissatisfaction with GOG over the gradual abandonment of their DRM-free policy/"core principle" (and subsequent gradual endorsement of DRM), as well as their ever-increasing focus on Galaxy and diminishing Linux support...

As well as reworking & moving them over to GitLab I'm thinking of widening support later on to include DRM-free games from the likes of Zoom Platform, Humble Store, itch, etc. too, and possibly even some Steam games (for games there that are either fully DRM-free already or compatible with the Goldberg emulator to make them "DRM-free").

Feel free to ask for help with these.

And feel free to ignore me for these ;)

Firstly, I wanted to thank you. I've been a Windows user since the beginning (90s). I thought about switching in the 00s while I was learning programming, but didn't at the time because honestly, Linux at that time was still too complex for my tastes. But somehow, the idea was there. I didn't switch either during the 10s, but I was unhappy about most big companies and wanted to go as DRM and service free as possible. Your posts made me do the jump in 2022 from Windows 7 to Linux Mint and I'll never look back.

I've been a happy user since then. I have been able to do nearly all the things I did on Windows, having a few problems here and there (honestly, like it happened on Windows), but being able to find many more solutions to those problems. The only part that gave me more problems is that I usually have the games on a NAS so I can access or play them with any device, and I needed many manual adjustments to do it properly. Right now all works even better than on Windows (for some reason, it works faster), and the only step I didn't make is understanding and using Wine. I've been mostly playing my emulated library, and a ocasional linux native port here and there, but it's the only step I'm missing. I just don't want to play most of my PC library right now, so I'll learn when the time comes.

Thanks for all your work and information, because I wouldn't probably be encouraged enough to make the switch if you didn't make it. Two members of my family have switched too: They aren't PC gamers so honestly, they haven't got any trouble at all.