Comment 8 for bug 1562357

Let's review where we are in 2024:

- There is *some* feedback to the user that the folder is excluded. The Folders preferences page has a question mark that you can click for a list of all the default exclusions (including ~/.steam/root). Whether or not that is sufficient is open for interpretation, sure.

- You can work around this default exclusion by adding ~/.steam/root to the include list. (the OP bug reporter said that didn't work - maybe that was true at the time, but it works today)

For those reasons, I don't agree that this is a critical failure. But maybe I don't understand the issue well enough!

Let me explain the thinking behind the exclusion: The Steam folder is full of a lot of data that is actually a big local cache. All the game data can be redownloaded. Game saves are usually stored in the cloud. On my (non-gaming) laptop, I already have 25GB of data in the steam folder. I can't imagine how much would be there if I actually seriously gamed on this thing. I think I would also get plenty of complaints if I included the steam folder by default.

As Vej mentioned, there were/are thoughts around a redesign of the folder preferences UI, and if we do that in a way that makes it easier to toggle this exclusion off, I'm open to that. Depending on the answers to the below question.

So help me understand - what stuff in the steam folder is not cache but actual local-only content? Games that don't use cloud saving? Global steam (i.e. non-game) settings?

I wish there was a way to distinguish between files that are cloud-backed and those that aren't.

The best solution is probably the UI redesign that makes it easier to control big exclude options like that: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/DejaDup/Design/Review-2019-11#Preferences

But even doing that, it's kind of a crappy choice to make for users - like they may not know whether their game saves are cloud backed or not. And even if they do know, it would be nice if they could just back those up and not all the other junk.

Anyway, I've not yet prioritized the redesign, but maybe I should.