Proton/Runtime Download Description Should Include at Least Version Information

[zelburg]

Your system information

• Steam client version (build number or date): 1726604483
• Distribution (e.g. Ubuntu): Fedora 40
• Opted into Steam client beta?: [Yes/No] No
• Have you checked for system updates?: [Yes/No] Yes
• Steam Logs:
• GPU: Nvidia/Intel

Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:

Library->Downloads shows updates available for Proton and Steam Linux Runtime, but doesn't give any indication what version will be downloaded or what changes are in the updated version. This is very basic information that should be available and presented to the user.

Steps for reproducing this issue:

1. Go to Library->Downloads
2. View Pending/Scheduled Downloads
3. No way to see what version will be downloaded or the changes for this version

There's no way (that I can find) to see exactly what version of Proton/Steam Linux Runtime will be downloaded BEFORE it's downloaded. To be clear, I'm referring to the FULL version, eg for Proton 9.0, in this specific case it would be 9.0-203. It would also be helpful to know if this is beta version (if opted into beta for this tool), and at least a link to the changes for this version.

If I right-click on any of the tools in the image below I have the option to Update or Remove from Queue, but nothing that refers to way to see the version of the update or what's in the update. I can see the Properties..., but far as I can tell, that's the properties of the currently installed version, not the version to be downloaded.

In fact, the ONLY way I've found to determine the exact version of Proton, is AFTER it's installed, find the Steam ID for the tool in question (Proton 9.0 => 2805730), then (assuming Proton 9.0 is installed in ~/.steam/steam/steamapps):

$ cat ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/2805730/version
9.0-203

And, I'm not even sure how accurate that is. I just now (on 2024/09/23) updated Proton Experimental and according to the Changelog, it should include all the changes from 9.0-203, plus more. Yet the version is still 9.0-202?

cat ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1493710/version
9.0-202

PS. I think this kind of information really should be available for ALL things.. games, software, tools, but I recognize that may be a bit more of a challenge since various game publishers may not provide all the information. BUT, at least for the things like Proton and Steam Linux Runtime which Valve controls it seems reasonable to show at least the version information.