Add RFC: Steam distribution for OBS

text/0030-steam-distribution-for-obs.md

@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+# Summary
+
+This RFC proposes distribution of OBS on Valve's Steam platform as well as considerations for OBS distribution on other third-party
+platforms in the future.
+
+# Motivation
+
+Over the years users have asked us to provide a Steam version of OBS for a few reasons:
+
+* Convenience (automatic updates, one-click install)
+* Non-Admin Users can install it with the Steam Service taking care of elevated operations
+* Other commonly used utilities (e.g. ShareX, Precision, Video editors) already exist on Steam,
+  making it a "One Stop Shop" for many people's gaming content creation needs
+
+Additionally, certain Steamworks feature can allow us to offer a few optional features,
+including some that currently are on the mid- to long-term roadmap for OBS, right away:
+
+* Steam Cloud for syncing/backing up OBS settings and scene collections
+* Opt-in branches for release candidates (or older builds)
+
+It should be noted that we want to avoid vendor lock-in and thus refrain from adding Steam-specific code to OBS.
+All of the features listed above are usable without having to add any code to OBS whatsoever.
+
+The deployment process to Steam appears to be nearly entirely automatable with our current CI/CD solution (GitHub Actions),
+only requiring human input to approve non-beta updates.
+
+This makes providing a Steam distribution of *just* the latest Windows Release a potentially very low overhead affair.
+
+Additionally, the lessons learned may prove useful for other distribution platforms that have been proposed (e.g. Microsoft Store).
+
+# Detailed changes
+
+## Changes to OBS
+
+### Accommodating cloud saves
+
+For the most basic implementation of Steam save backups ([Steam Auto-Cloud]) **no changes to OBS are required**. After configuration through
+the Steamworks web interface the Steam client will automatically back up selected files and folders in `%APPDATA%\obs-studio` once OBS exits.
+
+However, since "cloud saves" or "cloud backups" offered by platforms may not be specially encrypted we may also consider changes
+to OBS to prevent credentials such as stream keys or OAuth tokens from being backed up to a third party service.
+
+While those credentials are intentionally using restricted scopes, we may still opt to exclude OBS profiles (not scene collections) from being
+backed up entirely in the short-term, if we do not believe that we can sufficiently educate users or make inclusion of profiles an opt-in feature.
+
+In the mid- to long-term we might want to investigate other methods of storing those credentials, be it as separate files that can be
+excluded from the backup (e.g. `oauth.json`) or by saving them in the operating system's key store instead of OBS configuration files.
+Though those are things we may not work out until the platform-independent cloud backup feature's development and are not required for
+the implementation of a Steam distribution of OBS Studio.
+
+[Steam Auto-Cloud]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/cloud#steam_auto-cloud
+
+## Steam specific work
+
+In order to publish to Steam we need a Steamworks Partner account, this account should be owned by the OBS Project rather than an individual.
+
+Once the OBS publisher account is set up other Steam user accounts (e.g. maintainers, people responsible for CI/Steam distribution, and build bots)
+can be given (limited) access to the Steamworks Partner portal and API to manage OBS' distribution, Steam Store and Community presence.
+
+We cannot use "Steam Direct" for publishing software and will have to apply directly to Valve (see "Accepted types of content" in the [Steam Direct FAQ]).
+The fees are not public, but given the presence of other FOSS projects on Steam, and Steam Direct fees being USD 100 it is likely not cost-prohibitive.
+
+[Steam Direct FAQ]: https://partner.steamgames.com/steamdirect
+
+### Install scripts, configuration, and redistributables
+
+Features such as Steam Cloud and the build process itself will require writing configuration files. These do not contain any sensitive information
+and should be published together with other configuration files and scripts in a public repo on the obsproject GitHub organization (e.g. `obs-steam`).
+Additionally, some configuration has to be done via the Steamworks web interface which may also be documented in said repository..
+
+Documentation for build configuration and uploading: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/uploading
+
+Steam allows us to handle parts that the OBS installer is doing via their install scripts,
+this includes creating registry entries such as the Vulkan Layer ones in HKLM and cleaning up on uninstall.
+
+Windows 10 or later should not require installing redistributables on OBS install, should we decide to support Windows 7 and 8.1
+then Steam allows us to only install those older OS versions. Since Windows 7 is EOL and 8.1 has a dwindling market share we might
+consider to simply exclude those operating systems from the Steam distribution.
+
+Finally, creating the Vulkan Layer files in `%PROGRAMDATA%` should probably be left to OBS, this process also does not
+require elevation but specific permissions need to be set on the directory to allow for UWP capture to work.
+Cleaning up those files on removal can be handles by the uninstall script.
+
+Documentation for install scripts: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/installscripts
+
+### GitHub Actions and Steam branches
+
+Uploading a build on Steam is fairly straightforward and can be done with a one-line `steamcmd` command.
+For uploading we would use a dedicated "build bot" account with very limited access and with its credentials
+being protected using GitHub Action's secure variables feature (see [Building Depots] and [Steam Build Account]).
+
+The GitHub Action for uploading OBS releases should be separate from the current CI and run on a new GitHub release
+being published rather than pushes. That Action would download the portable zip, add files relevant to Steam
+(e.g. the disable-updater sentinel), and finally prepare and upload that build to the Steam Master Content Server.
+
+This Action may also be run when releases marked as "Pre-Release" are published (e.g. Release Candidates), those would
+then be uploaded to a "release-candidate" branch on Steam that users can opt-in to use. Older major releases may also
+be kept as separate branches (similar to some games) to allow for downgrading in case there are issues with a new release.
+
+[Building Depots]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/uploading#Building_Depots
+[Steam Build Account]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/uploading#Build_Account
+
+# Drawbacks
+
+If the effort required to maintain the Steam distribution after the initial setup are as low as assumed,
+there would be practically no drawbacks to having it as an option for OBS developers or users.
+Steam does generally not restrict applications' access to the system so issues related to sandboxing or other
+restrictive measures are not to be expected.
+
+# Additional Information
+
+## Links
+
+- Steamworks documentation: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/home
+- Form for distributing Non-Game Software: https://help.steampowered.com/en/wizard/HelpWithPublishing?issueid=925