Duel boot

That’s probably the best way to describe it.

It is also worth nothing that no Borderlands games use anti-cheat, much less kernel anti-cheat. I’d even go as far as to say that no Gearbox, Take2 or 2k Games use kernel anti-cheat.

This is boilerplate language for games which include an online service component. Publishers often use the same Terms of Service across all of their games, so they include language that is often irrelevant for any specific game.

The only thing that’s different about this is that there are a bunch of bored people who consume engagement farming content, which often make outrageous claims in order to earn money from engagement farming. This “story” is not an actual story, but it is a great example of how a mob can be summoned with some creative writing and a credulous audience.

So…if Steam is running in a Flatpak, and Borderlands is launched from Steam, how much can they even see…really?

Without using exploits to escape the container, not much. A very empty Windows environment with a single game installed, your network interfaces and any directories that the Flatpak has access to (usually just the SteamLibrary directories).

The TOS (https://www.take2games.com/legal/en-US/) changes are mostly related to data that they collect via their interfacing with Steam and through their website. This idea that they’re requiring you to agree to a root level access or installing a spyware rootkit is just nonsense.

Shh, the kids don’t want to hear about the dark side of free things (oh hey, a new Meta service!)

/s

He said it

That not misinformation…

It is misinformation if the things he said are not true.

So, let’s look into the claims.

Here’s the TOS:

https://www.take2games.com/legal/en-US/

There is nothing about root level access.

In addition, if you look at the patch history for Borderlands 2 on SteamDB, you will see that the last update for the game was 4 August 2022.

So, to be clear:

There is nothing in the TOS that requires you to submit to a rootkit and there is no spyware that has been added. The comment in the OP is simply wrong.

This is what happens when you simply read social media and repeat what you’ve heard without checking to see if you’re spreading misinformation.

reboot: machine restart

This makes me think it’s a motherboard issue.

The system is done with its shutdown process and issued the reboot command, but the motherboard didn’t restart.

There could be some electronics components which get wedged over time. My sound card will occasionally not boot unless it has been completely powered off for 30 seconds or so.

No, it’s misinformation and people who uncritically repeat things without verification.

I’ve had the game installed for years and have to manually apply updates, there hasn’t been one. e: I just checked, last update in Steam is dated 2022

All they’ve done is make their TOS universal across all of their games.

e: adding this from last post. TL;DR: People are spreading misinformation

So, let’s look into the claims.

Here’s the TOS:

https://www.take2games.com/legal/en-US/

There is nothing about root level access.

In addition, if you look at the patch history for Borderlands 2 on SteamDB, you will see that the last update for the game was 4 August 2022.

So, to be clear: There is nothing in the TOS that requires you to submit to a rootkit and there is no spyware that has been added. The comment in the OP is simply wrong.

If you’re not familiar with reading mailing lists or don’t follow what is happening, Brodie Robertson on YT did a good video on this: https://youtu.be/GhfhzTDQdUU

TL;DR: Some tooling script caused the problem, but it initially seemed like a malicious pull request from kernel developer. It wasn’t and the issue was resolved. The tooling script will be updated with better error messages so this kind of problem should be obvious when it occurs.