Further to this, I am trying to use symlinks as a work around, but steam is telling me that I don't have enough space to install games. How does it decide what mount to use for the capacity? Is there a further work around anyone has found?

Just wanted to add a note here. If you are symlinking make sure you do the entire ~/.local/share/Steam folder. If you just move the SteamApps folder TF2 will crash on start.

@BruceLGL I had to symlink my entire steam folder (not just SteamApps) to another directory to allow it to install my games.

I hope we can choose locations for steam library soon, because many linux users we have different partitions and it's better a built-in system than messing with sym-links.

In addition, it isn't in windows client neither, but if we can choose the default steam library to install more easily and directly...

I agree about the locatation for installing steam apps except for one slight detail.. most people, myself included have a rive layout more like this 100gb example:

/ ~20 GB
|/home/ ~78 GB
|/boot ~2 GB

yes, I know it looks like a server.. but in a nut shell that's about how my computer starts out.. however.. having the steam binaries installed into ~/.steam by default is dumb. if anything, leave it up to the Users. prompt them, and if you want to make it so installing the Steam Binaries to /opt doesn't make all the games go berserk looking for steamui.so make the installer do a sudo chmod 770 /opt/Steam && ln -s /opt/Steam ~/.steam. But always, please ALWAYS give us, the users the final say over WHERE we decide we want the games themselves! Please!

I moved the Steam folder to /host, the windows partition. Then i started Steam. When i went to "Steam library folders" it said that i have 332 GB free space in the default folder. When i try to install TF2 it prints some information, among other things, that i have 332 GB free space. But when i click Install and it loads a few seconds a window opens. It says that i don't have enough disk space!

I can confirm this issue - in the last steam version 1.0.0.20, I still not able to install the game in my additional folder:

But I have additional folders:

By the way, if I use my additional folder for windows games too, is it correct to use the same folder as additional in Linux?

And another peace of dirt, when I add the additional folder that I used before in windows, Steam in Linux show me installed in this folder Windows games. For example, Braid is crossplatform, but I can't download Linux version of it, because it is "already installed". If try to run it. it shows me that "executable file not found".

I am also confirming that this has not been fixed.

andyceo, from issue #123 it’s not recommended to share steam libraries between platforms as games have different data files for their installs.

For people that added a feature request to this bug report - I’ve made #630, please keep bugs on topic as muddled reports can get lost.

@andyceo: Can you show the "About Steam" dialog so we can verify that you're using the new steam version? I set up something very similar to your setup and tried to install World of Goo and I got the dropdown of additional directories and installing to an alternate directory worked fine.

Also, you shouldn't share your directory with Windows, for the reasons you discovered.

@slouken: Thanx for pointing me out. I was used old version from December 2012. I update my steam before posting comments and relaunch it, but it was for December 2012. I was needed to update some my other packages and reload my computer and restart Steam, and now version magically changes to January 8, 2012 and now I am able to choose directory during game installation.

@slouken: Are some games it can't be installed out of the default steam library folder? Now i can't do it with TF2 but with others i can. I have a similar problem with Steam in Windows (i have already a support ticket in Steam Support), i don't know if it's an issue (i don't wanna add a new issue here if it's a known behaivour), or i need some special requeriment, or that must be so for now (or it will be so forever)

@LukasThyWalls https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/111#issuecomment-12067082 answers your question :)

@johndrinkwater: Ok, thanks, that solved my doubt. But it make me sad because in Steam Windows i have the same problem with all Valve's games except Portal 2, and i don't think all of them will be fixed... :/, anyway, that doesn't go here, sorry.

This has been fixed for a while, closing.

Also happening on Windows 8 for Left 4 Dead 2.

This is tracker for Steam for Linux client issues, not for Windows 8 client nor for L4D2 issues.

@Majkl578 It's better here than in other places right now because it's relevant information to the bug; it shows that the issue may still persist in some fashion.

Originally, Gold Source (HL, CS...) and Source (HL2, L4D, CS:GO...) games aren't prepared to work with custom steam library folders in all OS, only works in steam install folder. Valve is working with a new game format for both, Gold Source games are working now, and for Source games is underway.

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/2123#issuecomment-14663960