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Here’s hoping it matures enough for desktop use by the time my Win10 desktop is EOL.
Man, Steam has a real opportunity here to make Linux desktops more palatable. Imagine a SteamOS computer that’s as easy to use as Windows for people who don’t know Linux…
Dude, you don’t need SteamOS for a desktop. Just download a more widely used desktop distro. I use Garuda, and it’s great for starting up gaming.
SteamOS will be great for a console-like experience out of the box, which is not what you want for desktop.
Bump for Garuda. It’s decent, as simple as any installation I’ve ever had to do, comes well configured out of the box, and has a very active forum that the Devs keep an eye on and answer questions quite quickly.
I’ve heard linux has problems with laptops with Nvidia cards, like I have. Is this still an issue? I’m getting pretty fucked off with windows but frankly don’t have time to embark on an ongoing technical challenge.
That is exactly why many of us want it. We know what we’re asking for. And yes we know bazzite exists.
My man, have you heard of Bazzite?
Yes we’ve all heard of bazzite and what we want is SteamOS.
I hate to go against the flow here, but I absolutely do not recommend Bazzite as a desktop OS. Surely as a living room or handheld PC thing, but not your main OS.
Immutable distros create a lot of pain when you need a package outside of the also problematic Flatpak world, and whilst there are ways to install them on Bazzite, regular users with no Linux knowledge would scream.
I can attest to this. I daily drive bazzite exclusively now.
Rocket league specifically only uses 40% of the GPU and 25% CPU and refuses to use any more at all. It is only a bazzite problem. Other distros are completely fine and other bazzite users have reported the same thing, regardless of settings, launch options, etc…
It is hell when trying to do embedded firmware development. Pretty much everything has to be done through distrobox related to it because JLink needs to be accessible by NRF connect which has to be accessible by VSCode, etc… vscode and oss versions simply don’t work if you have to install more than the very basic UI extensions.
Plus then you have udev rules that you have to manually place in the read only file system (recommended by a Bazzite maintainer on their discord) which they explicitly tell you never to do in the docs. There is absolutely nothing regarding JLink (the most widely used industry flashing tool for ARM) in any universalblue docs, even the bluefin and aurora versions “for developers”.
Also, there is absolutely no known way to handle eID credentials, crypto keys, etc in order to digitally sign documents. Also key management and access simply does not work at all in flatpak.
Network scanning simply doesn’t work at all (yes, saned is set up). It is completely nonfunctional, it can’t discover anything.
Outside of those cases though, it works fine. Themes work, font installation works as expected: the firewall, KiCAD, freeCAD work, browsers, media players, etc… All work fine. Distrobox, while start menu applications via distrobox sometimes simply don’t start, they often work fine. However, I haven’t had to worry about updating my system in 4 months because updates are in the background and completely seamless and not a single thing breaks during updates which by itself is the reason I switched from arch.
(Arch never became unbootable or seriously broken in 8 years, but I would have update problems and have to search for forum solutions to make a full update work every month or two)
Why are you still using it if you’re having this many issues? Is it just because you don’t want to go through the hassle of a reinstall at the moment or are there features that you don’t want to go without?
I’ll be honest. It was a hell of a time getting things working correctly due to the lack of documentation, but now I have everything except scanning and document signing working which I rarely use anyway. (Rocket league runs fine, just with half the fps I should be getting) I literally don’t have to touch anything anymore, it will just keep itself updated and working completely hands-off. That is what I want out of a system now that tweaking and debugging is a distraction from my other hobbies rather than a hobby itself.
The biggest feature that I like is Linux without having any manual update intervention at all. It all just runs and updates itself and works.
If something goes wrong in my software, I can uninstall and reinstall the flatpak delete remaining files, and reinstall with 3 clicks instead of having to search for where the hell this specific program decided to stash its files and configs and cache on my system like I had to with a traditional system. It takes the recurring annoyances out and trades them with 1-time annoyances.
I’m a daily driver of Bazzite and Bluefin. I felt this way initially but it’s been generally painless. I typically check flatpak -> app image -> homebrew -> distrobox when I need something. If that fails, I use rpm-ostree and reboot.
I work in development/devops/infosec by trade and to date there hasn’t been a single package or program that I needed that I couldn’t get running with minimal fuss. I’ve even run a couple of MDM packages that my work requires.
I’m not shy about Linux but my eyes glazed over reading that flow chart. Don’t pretend this is okay for typical users switching from Windows
k.
Yes but people seem to really want a SteamOS like experience on their desktop. Thats what Bazzite provides.
I dont think steamOS is a good desktop experience but if that makes people feel safe enough to try linux then I think Bazzite does a 100x better job than SteamOS.
If they want an actual desktop that can game and do everyything then they should try Fedora with KDE.
For a desktop PC I’m trying Endeavour OS. Feels quite good.
Endeavour is great as well. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it.
Linux Mint hides and automates a little too much for my liking. Arch should be within my skill lvl but most days I don’t want to be tuning the suspension while the vehicle is moving. Endeavour seem the right cup of tea for someone who has grown up using DOS and terminals and still retains the ability to touch type at 50wpm.
But SteamOS is also immutable 🤔
If they went through this, they wouldn’t.
I’ve also been able to find 99% of what I need through discover.
https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/installing-from-source/
I’ve also been able to find 99% of what I need through discover.
If what you need is Discord and Chrome, sure.
When you need specific drivers things change dramatically. And some packages technically exist as Flatpaks, but with permission issues that no regular user is ever fixing
if you need specific drivers that arent in a generic kernel you’re already out of everyday user territory even on a normal distro.
if you need specific drivers that arent in a generic kernel you’re already out of everyday user territory even on a normal distro.
People will say some absurd statement like this one and then pretend to be confused when Linux adoption fails to grow faster.
That’s why we got dem tar and dnf
And also that’s just not true. There’s also Space Cadet Pinball
That’s why we got dem tar and dnf
On Fedora, sure. Not Bazzite, on Bazzite you’d need distrobox to use it - users barely understand what Linux is, good luck with distrobox instructions.
No, on bazzite because it’s a fedora distro
Edit: wasn’t trying to to come off as a dick, reread it and I could see it taken that way
Also I’m relatively new to Linux, so I’m sure with some things that may not be true, but 100% of what I’ve had to do has been either within discover, or I’ve followed pages on fedora to find out and it’s worked Everytime. Whatever bazzite installation you have whether it’s 38/39 etc, those line up with fedora versions as far as I’m aware.
It’s been solid for me. It’s the same or less amount of troubleshooting I’d have to do on windows, and I’m familiar with windows. Making windows work is my job. That coupled with the absolute mess that is windows support pages, bazzite has been good for me. Arch was pretty cool too, not nearly as bad as people said it was going to be, I just had an issue with audio I couldn’t figure out. I just wanted a works right now solution, and that’s what it’s been.
I’m with you. Love Bazzite in the living room, but no way would it be my daily driver.
I don’t really like immutable but isn’t that what rpm-ostree is for?
Or literally any other distro.
Pop is probably much easier to be up and running vs. Bazzite.
What’s keeping you from using a distro that’s already designed for desktop use?
Have you tried getting help on a basic question from a Linux forum?
Successfully, many times, it’s extremely rare that I have to actually talk with someone directly because so much has already been accurately documented.
I work with windows and those forums don’t do shit
I work with windows and those forums don’t do shit
I’ve gotten to the point that every time I’m directed to Microsoft Help I automatically downvote whatever the MS rep posts, because it will never not be garbage
I downloaded an extension that blocks sites I want just to block that garbage of a site
They just keep saying shit like “what version are you on?” Motherfucker, the latest, and honestly, we know there isn’t a version where you fixed this problem thousands have been trying to solve for months and in a lot of cases years.
Idk how accurate this is, my boss had mentioned it, but apparently they’ve outsourced that shit to a third party, and they just keep opening tickets and solving them and keep asking you simple shit so they can bill per ticket solved. It’s a godamn mess. I’m just hoping Linux catches on enough to enter the corporate world at the user level.
We’re at a point where when something breaks, usually a Linux update fixes it, and it’s windows equivalent just keeps further breaking itself.
From what I’ve heard at work and from others, MS uses version queries to stall tickets because they constantly release updates that they can point to and say “you need to update before we can help”.
It’s probably a good mix of both. Either way, I hope it tanks. It’s getting ridiculous
The ones on Lemmy are pretty good!
It used to be bad. In the last few years, it isn’t. We want other people to use Linux now.
A few times, why?
I really want to switch my main desktop to Linux, but use it for remote work too, so I have MS Teams… is there a way to reliably virtualize it?
Using it from chrome is how I use it.
Two limitations:
- You cannot let someone else control your screen. This is fine by me, I never want someone controlling my screen anyway. If I want to collaborate with them, I use any number of better ways to get them shared access.
- You cannot control other folks screen. This is often a challenge as too many people offer this up as the only way to remotely help them. I hate doing this because even in Windows the experience is utter garbage, but sometimes the other party just forces my hand.
Teams can run as a chrome app, I use it daily.
It’s just arch isn’t it?
It’s built on top of Arch. The distro I’m using is Garuda, which is also built on Arch, and there’s a gaming version that includes everything you need to play games immediately. No one should use SteamOS probably for a desktop. They should use something like Garuda. SteamOS is for a console-like experience.
No, it’s based on arch. There’s a bunch of polish on top of it that makes it more stable and such
I don’t speak polish though so that makes it difficult and scary.
You don’t have to talk to them, they just hold the thing together. Very strong men
Juyzt sprynkle some 'y’s and 'z’s whyle talking wyth them.
Dyslexia strikes again
I didn’t think it’s just Arch , though. IIRC it’s also immutable.
Yeah I don’t see any need for desktop use, except for making a Steam console under your TV.
You can use Steam with Proton on whatever distro you want.
Don’t use SteamOS as a desktop OS, that’s not what it’s meant to. You might be used to Windows and think that a different distribution of Linux is just a different customization of the OS, but it’s almost an entirely different OS that happens to run the same binaries.
If you’re interested in getting an alternative to Windows, try some beginner friendly Linux distros on a Virtual Machine or an old laptop. I recommend Linux Mint to newcomers, but if you’re used to the desktop mode on SteamOS maybe Kubuntu. The closest you can get is Bazzite but that’s also not a desktop OS so I wouldn’t use that unless it was for a Steam Machine. The second closest (that’s also somewhat beginner friendly) is Manjaro K DE version, but being Arch based I don’t tend to recommend it to new Linux users, but of you’re dead set on getting something as close as possible to SteamOS that’s it.
Bazzite is full fledged desktop OS. Perfect for beginners
Isn’t Bazzite an immutable OS with very limited package availability outside of gaming? At least that’s what I remember from a while back. If so it’s an excellent distro for getting a Steam Machine just like ChimeraOS, but I’m not sure it would be a good experience for someone just getting into Linux, since most of the help he will get online will direct him to edit config files which would get overwritten on update.
For example, say the person wants to install Skype, or something that is not in the graphical UI store on Bazzite. Most guides they would find for Linux would tell him to add a PPA, or download a .Deb, or if he manages to find something that works it would be to download an RPM and they would need to redo it every update, or they could find a guide on how to install it via flatpak (but for that they would need to know what flatpak is) or snap (and go into a lot of troubleshoot figuring out why he doesn’t have snap). We take a lot of Linux knowledge for granted, but people using it for the first time won’t know all of this.
it’s almost an entirely different OS that happens to run the same binaries
What?
As far as I know, it’s literally just an immutable build of Arch Linux.
Yes, for you and me who understand what that means it’s just the same, but for someone with no Linux experience is going to be very different. Googling any issue he has will direct him to alter config files or install packages, neither of which would be permanent on SteamOS, while the OS is the same the usage of it is completely different, so for a person with no Linux experience to try to use it as their daily desktop system it would be frustrating because none of the help online would apply to him.
I use my steam deck with steamOS as a desktop OS several days a week.
Cool, so did I a while back, what’s your point? It’s still not a great replacement for Windows as it’s not the intended use of the OS, and will be frustrating for someone without Linux experience.
I don’t want a replacement for windows and steam OS is about as intuitive as Linux gets. If it’s too complicated for someone they probably shouldn’t be using Linux.
Some of us legitimately want to build a gaming PC around steamOS. Stop telling us what we do or don’t want. Stop treating people like they’re tech illiterate because they’re not doing what you would do. I have 3 different distros on 3 different machines running right now - I know what I want and i know what steamOS can/can’t do. You do you.
SteamOS even now is a decently capable desktop OS. If you want more than gaming as the central focus then sure look elsewhere. But you’re just being obnoxious and condescending about it.
If you want more than gaming as the central focus then sure look elsewhere.
That’s exactly my point, OP talked about replacing Win 10 desktop, not about a gaming machine (for which I agree SteamOS is an excellent choice).
They just said desktop use. Not a wholesale windows replacement. You can’t use current steamOS as a desktop outside of a steamdeck.
Exactly, they said desktop use to replace Windows that is more than gaming, by your own phrase:
If you want more than gaming as the central focus then sure look elsewhere.
They should look elsewhere.
I’m on W11 with my daily driver.
I don’t like it. I didn’t like it from the start.
So why?
Because W10 will hit EOL sooner than later; and I have to support that shit professionally.
Doesn’t matter that no one is testing or building applications for W11, no security patches mean any employer worth their salt will switch over to W11, despite not having the infrastructure to do it.
Admin VS IT. I’m nearly 40, and that story is older than I am.
I already jumped to linux and I abandoned adobe as a graphic designer. I feel so free now. The tool don’t make the profesional.
It originated as a desktop os and you can download it right now
No this is a super out of date version that was not designed for general desktop use. It is specifically designed for the steam machine which was a failure. Value really needs to take this page down so people arent downloading a 9 year old version of linux.
Well good news: They’ve also recently announced that they’re going to be updating it to be the same as what’s on the Deck. THough we probably won’t see an actual release until either just before or just after the new version of the deck is officially announced/released.
Also: The failure of the Steam Machine had little to do with the operating system and more to do with the fact there was not one singular “Steam Machine.” It was any number of prebuilt PCs with extra stupid steps. TO say it wasn’t meant for general desktop use is bullshit; a Steam Machine was nothing more than a desktop PC running this OS.
At the time of the steam machine wine was not in a good state (from what i’ve heard, I wasnt a linux user at the time) and gaming relied on Valve getting devs to port things to SteamOS 2.
Wine was in a great state, it just wasn’t integrated on Steam so it was clunky to get it working. Long story short Steam Machines only had a handful of games available (those with native binaries) unless you jumped through hoops to install steam on wine and launch steam from steam or something of the sort.
At the time we thought that the steam machines would make devs port their games, but that didn’t happen, so Valve invested heavily on Wine to make the games come to Linux regardless of the game devs. If Valve hadn’t invested most games that run today would still run, wine has always been an amazing piece of technology, their investment was mostly on a library called dxvk which translates directX calls to Vulkan instead of OpenGL, for technical reasons this was needed for any game that only supports DX12, but also gave some performance boost to other titles. I’m not trying to downplay Valve’s hand, dxvk was a much needed piece of the puzzle that Valve singlehandedly financed, not to mention all of the other stuff they’ve done that benefitted Linux gamers over the years, but if they had integrated wine on Steam without dxvk 99% of cases would be mostly the same (but that 1% are heavy hitters).
I’m still holding onto the dream that we’ll get SteamOS onto something small enough to fit in my pocket and run all my favorite 2D indie games. First manufacturer to do it gets all my money.
I bought a Miyoo Mini Plus a while back, purely an impulse buy for how cheap it was on sale, and ended up putting far more time into it than I ever did with my deck. This is the cozy form factor I need.
I’ma be real: It fucking kills me that Steam on Android has been mostly used for 2FA and the idea of it being an alternate game store for Android somehow just… doesn’t exist?
Especially, out of all companies to take the fight about that kind of stuff to Apple and Google, Valve has the punching power, and they’ve literally already had Epic forge a path for them in this regard.
Why is my Android copy of Balatro unable to use the same cloud save system as Steam? Why am I stuck in Google’s fucking lame gaming ecosystem? It just makes me heave and sigh because I’d way rather be purchasing games for Android via Steam on the Steam Android app. It just feels like such a missed opportunity.
A decade or more ago, I thought surely that was what the app was going to do, considering Humble would package Steam + Android keys in the same purchase back then.
A Steam phone with Steam Mobile OS. If there’s anyone that can pull a Linux phone is them.
I wish, but it feels like Valve is still mostly trying to support x86/x64 type devices and ARM/RISC-V doesn’t seem on the roadmap as much.
They have in fact been working on a ARM compatibility layer and Android app support through Waydroid.
Maybe in 10 years after SteamOS has conquered this space, that could be the next target to expand into…
I remember them investing into x86 emulation. I think the rumors suggested that it’s for Deckard, their next VR headset. If that is true it should be a short jump from there to phones.
Aren’t newer android versions welcoming more Linux’s features?
I see they could fit something like this there.
I wonder if Valve plans to release an Arm version of SteamOS. They’d have to for it to ever show up on a device like the Miyoo Mini Plus, which uses an Arm based CPU, instead of the x86 based CPU in the Steam Deck, and other Windows handhelds.
Right now I think the OS of choice for Arm based devices is Android, which works well enough, but I don’t think very many PC games are ported to Android.
Awesome. I’m glad to hear it because I think that’s the way things are going. Arm, or maybe even one day an implementation of RISC-V, just make more sense for handheld devices, where power management is very important.
Running x64 Windows games on x64 Linux with Proton is way easier than running x64 binaries on arm. That said, Apple have managed it so maybe one day!
Dude off the top of my head Balatro (won many Game of the Year awards), Vampire Survivors, Terraria, and Minecraft all have Android ports.
I wonder if Valve plans to release an Arm version of SteamOS
The problem here is you’d be relying on a translation layer similar to Proton, but would probably have to be built off of something like Box64 for it to work. There just may not be enough horsepower on these small devices for that to do well.
Dude off the top of my head Balatro (won many Game of the Year awards), Vampire Survivors, Terraria, and Minecraft all have Android ports.
Well, then you should be able to play those games on smaller handhelds running Android, of which there are several.
I would kill for something like the Miyoo Mini in a GBA form factor.
I get that there’s a lot of nostalgia for the Gameboy / Gameboy color layout but the GBA/SD layout is definitely more ergonomically friendly.I have an rg35xx h (just a generic square thing) and I’m pretty happy with it. I play mostly GBA and some PSP games on it
this is the one I have and it’s amazing.
The miyoo flip is a GBA SP form factor and it’s more powerful. It can run n64 and Dreamcast games
Anbernic recently released the RG 34XX. It doesn’t have SteamOS, but it’s still Linux.
There are dozens of similar products in just about any form factor you’d like, including ones explicitly themed after classic handhelds.
None of them run SteamOS yet though, they’re all either Android or a customized lightweight ARM Linux running Retroarch.
The GPD WIN 2 fits perfectly in a pocket, I hope the new one keeps those dimensions since it’s already confirmed that it will be Steam OS compatible.
I had the Win 2. You needed fairly large pockets, and I wouldn’t really trust its build quality there anyway.
Yeah, not exactly for skinny jeans, but you don’t need cargo pants sized pockets either. The Win 2 quality was a complete disaster.
You could look at this: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-win-4-2025-amd-apu-handheld-console
I have one of their older products and I’m happy with it. I’m considering this one.
Comes with Windows 11 but says it supports SteamOS. Should certainly run at least older games well. They say it’s 220x92x28 mm (7.87x3.62x1.1 in) which is a bit chonky for something I’d put it my pocket but not unmanageable.
Hadn’t come across the Miyoo before so went to have a look… looks like a really good little product but wow what an annoying website constantly popping up the chat box over the whole mobile screen whilst browsing!
Anyway, how have you found it ?
Get bigger pockets?
The flip has some great ports apparently. Balatro being one of them. I’m hoping for the same as you. I want a steam Gameboy like.
I love my Steam Deck but it’d be an i stant purchase if they released a Steam Deck lite with half the size and the same capability
That’s great if you don’t care about playing online games and are okay with games you buy becoming incompatible.
Said the person who did no research has no idea what they’re talking about. Steam OS has been pushing game devs and publishers to be more compatible with Linux, not less. Additionally, the only online games that really have problems with steam OS are ones that require kernel level anti-cheat, and we all should be pushing for the downfall of that. It isn’t necessary.
And so Cod works now? Yeah, that’s not a thing. Does Paladins work? Oh, yeah crap. Was GTA V online compatibility killed? It was? Oh, damn. Does Destiny 2 work? Oh, you mean the developers threatened people with bans if they tried to play the game on Linux? Oh, oh crap. How is VR going on Linux? Not well.Oh, damn. 🤔
I do VR on linux, I don’t see the problem? And of the about 500 games I own, there is only a handful that doesn’t work on Linux. And most of those are specificly designed by the creator to not work.
Valve has been doing an absolutely awesome job with the compatibility layer and making it easier for devs to port natively to Linux.
What is your daily driver headset for linux on vr?
Been trying to setup wivrn/alvr on quest 3 and I am losing my mind lol. Thinking aboutt just going back to my rift and using openhmd.
Valve Index, basically worked out of the box for me (Nobara)
VR on Linux is a pain in the ass to set up and while Valve has done a great job you still can’t rust that all your games will work. Linux is amazing for web browsing, document editing, and retro gaming. Especially if you don’t wanna deal with Microsoft but it’s average for modern gaming. It’s still not there yet.
Bro do some research before you come in making outrageous statements.
There are absolutely a wide variety of plug-n-play headsets that just work. Take the valve index for example. I have heard that headset works just fine out of the box. Same with any steamvr relient headset if I am not mistaken.
When you use a headset that depends on third party software that’s when a little more setup is required. However we still have options that won’t be a massive headache.
Like the cv1 for example, you can use something like openhmd and use your cv1 just fine on steamvr.
And that’s also not to say that something like a quest 2/3 isn’t hard either. Alvr is easy to install it’s just about tweaking proper settings for your network. Which you may alrwady need to do if you’ve used virtual desktop.
Then there is wivrn. But you get my point.
Linux is more than gaming ready. Ever heard of protondb? Maybe give it a look. If an online game doesn’t work that is of fault of the dev/publisher not making the anticheat compatible. Valve has consistently worked with anti-cheat devs like battle eye and easy anti-cheat to make it easy on the dev side to make their anti-cheat version support proton. Yet somehow we have large companies like rockstar not putting in that simple effort.
https://www.engadget.com/arma-3-dayz-proton-battleye-support-224625719.html?guccounter=1
https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248585/gta-v-steam-deck-battleye
Please stop spreading misinformation. It harms the absolute mountainload of work put in by people who have gotten linux to be where it is now. Get mad and point blame at your game devs/publishers for being so uncooperative.
COD , GTA and Destiny 2 compatability was killed by the developers, not by Linux. VR (ignoring that it’s a gimmick which is going to die soon enough) works fine.
They don’t work on Linux. No matter who or what you want to blame. Also, yes VR works if you go crazy trying to get it to work.
