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Linux on more devices and associated with gaming is great. If it gets to the point where they work together with AlienWare to make gaming rigs powered by SteamOS, or even produce something together with Lenovo, HP, or Dell, and make it available in retailers, maybe then we'll finally see it enter more people's homes.
Android is Linux, but it's so heavily modified that it's a case of Theseus's ship.
I already game on Linux because of Steam. It's easy and works.
The Steam Deck and it's desktop mode are why I decided to try jumping head first into a single boot of Bazzite on my main computer, it's basically like using a Steam deck, just across four monitors, it even has HDR support built in. A year in and I haven't looked back.
This is the exact kind of user interaction I'm looking for. I've wanted to switch to Linux but need something stable I can use for my Steam library, and web browsing.
I've been single boot on Fedora for a little over a year. The biggest issue for gaming that I've seen are because of anti-cheats that don't support Linux.
You always need to mention that even that's very uncommon. Most AC doesn't have an issue. Kernel-level ones usually do (and I'd stay away from them anyway), as well as some Chinese ones. Maybe a few others. 99.9% of the time it's fine though.
It's gotten to the point I don't even check Protondb anymore before buying a game.
Garuda Dragonized I really like. It's set up for gaming out of the box, with a utility to help you add anything else you may need for gaming. It comes with a "gamer" aesthetic that I'm really not a fan of but it's easy to modify. It's Arch based, which may sound scary from what you've heard, but it's really not bad. It comes with everything you need (which is where the trouble with Arch is), and Arch is one of the best supported distros, with the Arch wiki and AUR.
I use Garuda Dragonized as well and one of the best parts is using KDE Plasma 6 which can make your desktop environment look and feel however you like. I made mine more Windows-like because it's more familiar to me, but you can easily make it look like Gnome or Mac or something else entirely using menu-driven settings.
Now if only we could get more Wayland native applications...
Something stable to do that I've found in fedora, pop_os, and even arch.
I use fedora everyday now since version 31 or 32 and it's honestly great. I have my few issues but it's not like I didn't have issues on windows.
I think Linux is ready for the desktop and has been. Every year it just gets better
Does SteamOS support non game programs, such as text, audio, modeling, and whatever other esiting software people use?
Yep. SteamOS has Flathub, which is a software repository (like software store) that has so many alternative of Windows software.
Yup, but to add on to what the other guy said you will have to find alternatives to some programs like adobe products, microsoft products, and some others.
Or run them in a Windows VM or potentially through WINE.
yes, it's just arch linux under the hood, and there's even a desktop mode which im pretty sure is kde
I want that so much.
Help dissuade (or confirm) a fear here. Could this be the first step to a sort of Androidization of steamos?
Probably not. Unlike Android, it doesn't take away the Linux desktop features. It's just Arch with a bunch of stuff pre-installed.
SteamOS will most likely be deployed on other handheld PCs, not desktop PCs. The handheld PCs that came out in response to the deck's release (or before) usually run Windows.
Android is not bad because Android itself is bad (well... it kinda is but let's just assume it isn't), but because the phone manufacturers lock down their phones' hardware. They do this to force you into their ecosystem. With SteamOS, you already have an ecosystem, which is Steam. There is (at least for now) a clear distinction between Hardware manufacturer and software provider.
For now at least Androidization is nothing you should worry about. Maybe in 10, 20 years. edit: and even then it's never going to be as bad as with the smartphones
I agree that we shouldn't worry (at least for the moment), but I think the main reason is the lack of locks, both when it comes to hardware (no locked bootloader) and software (getting root access is trivial, so you can uninstall whatever components you might not like and with updates not being mandatory you can keep it under your control).
With SteamOS, you already have an ecosystem, which is Steam. There is (at least for now) a clear distinction between Hardware manufacturer and software provider.
Currently, the only officially sanctioned version of SteamOS is the one that is shipped with Steam Deck (even though that might change soon), which is hardware sold by Valve (ie, the same company making the software). Meanwhile, most people using Android don't use Pixel / Nexus devices and thus their hardware is not being sold by Google.
So I'd say this depends entirely on how do the new manufacturers wanna go about it when it comes to offering their own custom versions of SteamOS. At the moment this is ok because Valve has been acting as a "benevolent dictator" and they have essentially had a monopoly on SteamOS 3 devices until now. Once that monopoly breaks (and if Valve actually allows third parties to ship their own customizations) we'll have to see what kind of control will their partners want to assert over it.
The thing we should be more concerned about are the parts that Steam haven't opened up, for example Steam input. However they've done everything as openly as possible for the move to Linux and I applaud that. If steam goes away or stops being so open, we still have proton and wine and other projects that mean we're not locked in to a Steam-specific OS, so we avoid the android problem there too.
Good to know! Thank you for explaining it.
Not desktop PCs
I would very much so run it on my laptop, tbh, if it used GNOME. Lol
You don't need SteamOS to game on Linux. I've heard good things about Bazzite, and there other Linux distros that focus on gaming.
I've been considering switching my deck to bazzite, tbh, because I prefer gnome so much, and I like being to use desktop mode when I'm out. I got a tiny Bluetooth mouse keyboard combo that looks like a remote or flat controller. I'm the only one who drives in my family, so I spend a lot of time just sitting in the car, waiting at doctors and stuff. It's nice being able to take just one device and work on school work or something.
You can do that with SteamOS too. It launches into Steam Big Picture, but you can exit it and just use it like a computer. It can do everything a computer can do. I don't own one but have used one, and I think it was running KDE, not Gnome, but I don't really recall. You can install whatever DE you want though. There's no need to switch distros unless you want to.
What do you mean by "Androidization"?
That MB I just put in a box might be viable again? Wouldn't upgrade to Win11 but worked great in every other way.
Just install Linux? SteamOS is just a Linux distribution based on Arch. My current distro is Garuda, which is also Arch based and has a gaming focused version with everything you need for gaming pre-installed.
I've tried Linux. I'm old now, and it's not what I know. I need plug and play.
Linux is as plug and play as it gets now, if you choose the right distro. It's easier than Windows at the very least. Again, SteamOS is just a Linux distro.
If you want something, Garuda Dragonized comes with everything you need already installed and a GUI tool to quickly add anything extra you may want. It's as easy as it can be.
Also, I want to try to word this as politely as possible, but there are a lot of older people who continue learning new things. It's actually good for your brain health to do so. Refusing to learn something new isn't because of your age. It's a choice. You're free to make whatever choices you want though.
How is CS2 working on it? I know I could just try to get it running myself on a spare pc, but I find that as I get older I dislike fiddling with things like this more and more. And while I'm fine with just playing games made to work properly on Linux, CS2 and it's predecessors is something me and my real life friends have been playing for nearly two decades. It's a way to keep in touch as everyone has kids and can't come to the pub during the weekend.
Haven't tried that distro specifically, but I have been gaming on Linux for at least 4 years now and Counter Strike is not a problem at all. It is my most played game and it works great for me on Linux mint.
I imagine running it on a distro that has a focus on gaming will only make it run even better and easier.
Give it a try!
@hanke @DV8 Valve is highly unlikely to put a kernel-level anticheat that bans Linux users but as a piece of advice, don't run competitive multiplayer games on Linux, I mean do not get accustomed to, that also should apply to me since I play Palworld which is MP only, even on SP, you can have someone join at any time
No. It's perfectly fine to play competitive multiplayer games on Linux. I haven't had any issues for the probably about two years I've been fully Linux now. Battleye and Easy Anti-cheat are both fully supported, and they're the most common ones. There's no need to worry about it. Every one I've tried works perfectly well, as long as it allows you to play at all.
I would recommend anyone to play competitive multiplayer games on Linux.
Competitive games, and specifically CS, has been my go-to for about 10 years (I am still shit tho). As you say, Valve will most likely not put anti-cheat that won't work on Linux in it. But if they would do that, I would just not be playing CS anymore.
I play what I like, and if they would make the stupid choice to break it for my machine I guess they just don't want me playing it any more. In that event, I guess I'll just have to find something else to play.
I haven't played in a while, but great! I assume this means Counter-Strike 2, not Cities Skylines 2, but both work well.
Basically everything works perfectly now. You can check ProtonDB to check specific games.