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SteamDecks aren’t desktop PCs. If you were including gaming consoles/handhelds, then BSD would be way ahead of Linux with all the PlayStations that have been so

SteamDecks aren’t desktop PCs. If you were including gaming consoles/handhelds, then BSD would be way ahead of Linux with all the PlayStations that have been sold (and maybe with Nintendo switches too, depending on how you chose to count those).

qwytw 3y ago
There is more to an 'OS' than the kernel. SteamDecks are indistinguishable from PCs, since they run more or less exactly the same software as a Linux desktop/laptop would.
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  It’s still not a desktop PC. You’ll notice that iOS, Android and iPadOS aren’t included in the list either, even though the devices that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience (and much more comprehensively than the steam deck can). At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? I would guess something very close to 0.
  - 76SlashDolphin 3y ago
    Anecdotal but I bring my steam deck with a dock and M&K with me when I visit family since I don't have a desktop computer there. Also, the Steam Deck's OS is by far the closest you can get to a traditional Linux distro since it's GNU+Linux under the hood. The built-in desktop mode is extremely close to a basic KDE Arch install, especially after you disable read-only mode. Android doesn't have as full-featured of a desktop experience unless we count Samsung DeX and even then display out is available on a vast minority of devices. iOS has no native display out and iPadOS doesn't even support normal 16:9 screens without black borders. The issue with all of the above devices is that their "desktop" modes are janky afterthoughts while on the Steam Deck it's a core feature.
    - AmericanChopper 3y ago
      Is a windows server a desktop PC. If not, why?
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        If you daily drive it with a GUI, then it's close enough.
        AmericanChopper 3y ago
        Can you think of any reasons why it may have been omitted from these statistics then?
        Macha 3y ago
        Because it's derived from web browsing statistics, which is something people using it as a server and not a desktop don't do very much of
  - mtizim 3y ago
    Your guess is very wrong. I've been using my deck as a laptop occasionally, and I've seen a lot of posts on a sub on the recently deceased site of people using it as such. And why not? It's basically a touchscreen laptop without a keyboard and with a small screen. Also, the deck does not replicate a subset of the desktop experience, it just contains a desktop experience. Unless the KDE desktop is not a desktop now. If that's the case - it runs windows.
  - qwytw 3y ago
    > that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience But Steam Deck is just running a fork of Arch not some other operating system. From analytics perspective it's indistinguishable to any Linux PC. Also IIRC you can just connect it a display which would turn into a desktop PC.
  - creatonez 3y ago
    > At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? Is it contrived? They've shown, in their official marketing videos, demonstrations of the steam deck being hooked up to an external monitor and being used to run KDE and Windows 10.
pjmlp 3y ago
Switch uses its own proprietary microkernel.
sumuyuda 3y ago
You can actually switch to desktop mode, which is a full KDE environment, so it is a Linux desktop PC.
- AmericanChopper 3y ago
  A desktop PC is not a type of operating system. It’s a type of computer designed for a specific use case, distinct from servers, mobile devices, handheld gaming devices or gaming consoles. A windows server or Linux server with KDE/gnome is not a desktop. A mobile phone isn’t a desktop, and it wouldn’t become a desktop even if you installed a plain Linux distro with KDE on it. A PlayStation, switch or Xbox isn’t a desktop PC, and neither is a steamdeck. It’s an arbitrarily defined category of computer, and this statistics site doesn’t mention how they’ve specified that definition, but it seems they haven’t included any server, mobile/handheld, or gaming console devices at all, not just the steamdeck.
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    It really sounds like you don't understand how the OS is set up on the steam deck. It's a normal desktop environment with a customized version of steam installed. If laptops get to be included (which they usually are), then steamdeck gets to be included. It doesn't replicate "some subset" of the desktop experience. It does everything a small tower can, plus things it can't do.
    - zirgs 3y ago
      Steam Deck's desktop environment is barely usable without connecting it to a dock and using an external keyboard and mouse. You won't use it as a daily driver in handheld mode. The virtual keyboard covers half of the screen, the touchscreen is unusable as a mouse and touchpads are inconvenient. Ordinary laptops don't have these problems.
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        I deliberately didn't compare it to a laptop, because the topic at hand is whether it qualifies as a "desktop". If it can function without an external keyboard and mouse that's a bonus feature.
skeaker 3y ago
Steam deck is a PC by Valve's own admission and my own anecdotal experience with mine.

qwytw 3y ago

There is more to an 'OS' than the kernel. SteamDecks are indistinguishable from PCs, since they run more or less exactly the same software as a Linux desktop/laptop would.

AmericanChopper 3y ago
It’s still not a desktop PC. You’ll notice that iOS, Android and iPadOS aren’t included in the list either, even though the devices that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience (and much more comprehensively than the steam deck can). At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? I would guess something very close to 0.
- 76SlashDolphin 3y ago
  Anecdotal but I bring my steam deck with a dock and M&K with me when I visit family since I don't have a desktop computer there. Also, the Steam Deck's OS is by far the closest you can get to a traditional Linux distro since it's GNU+Linux under the hood. The built-in desktop mode is extremely close to a basic KDE Arch install, especially after you disable read-only mode. Android doesn't have as full-featured of a desktop experience unless we count Samsung DeX and even then display out is available on a vast minority of devices. iOS has no native display out and iPadOS doesn't even support normal 16:9 screens without black borders. The issue with all of the above devices is that their "desktop" modes are janky afterthoughts while on the Steam Deck it's a core feature.
  - AmericanChopper 3y ago
    Is a windows server a desktop PC. If not, why?
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      If you daily drive it with a GUI, then it's close enough.
      - AmericanChopper 3y ago
        Can you think of any reasons why it may have been omitted from these statistics then?
        Macha 3y ago
        Because it's derived from web browsing statistics, which is something people using it as a server and not a desktop don't do very much of
- mtizim 3y ago
  Your guess is very wrong. I've been using my deck as a laptop occasionally, and I've seen a lot of posts on a sub on the recently deceased site of people using it as such. And why not? It's basically a touchscreen laptop without a keyboard and with a small screen. Also, the deck does not replicate a subset of the desktop experience, it just contains a desktop experience. Unless the KDE desktop is not a desktop now. If that's the case - it runs windows.
- qwytw 3y ago
  > that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience But Steam Deck is just running a fork of Arch not some other operating system. From analytics perspective it's indistinguishable to any Linux PC. Also IIRC you can just connect it a display which would turn into a desktop PC.
- creatonez 3y ago
  > At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? Is it contrived? They've shown, in their official marketing videos, demonstrations of the steam deck being hooked up to an external monitor and being used to run KDE and Windows 10.

pjmlp 3y ago

Switch uses its own proprietary microkernel.

sumuyuda 3y ago

You can actually switch to desktop mode, which is a full KDE environment, so it is a Linux desktop PC.

AmericanChopper 3y ago
A desktop PC is not a type of operating system. It’s a type of computer designed for a specific use case, distinct from servers, mobile devices, handheld gaming devices or gaming consoles. A windows server or Linux server with KDE/gnome is not a desktop. A mobile phone isn’t a desktop, and it wouldn’t become a desktop even if you installed a plain Linux distro with KDE on it. A PlayStation, switch or Xbox isn’t a desktop PC, and neither is a steamdeck. It’s an arbitrarily defined category of computer, and this statistics site doesn’t mention how they’ve specified that definition, but it seems they haven’t included any server, mobile/handheld, or gaming console devices at all, not just the steamdeck.
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  It really sounds like you don't understand how the OS is set up on the steam deck. It's a normal desktop environment with a customized version of steam installed. If laptops get to be included (which they usually are), then steamdeck gets to be included. It doesn't replicate "some subset" of the desktop experience. It does everything a small tower can, plus things it can't do.
  - zirgs 3y ago
    Steam Deck's desktop environment is barely usable without connecting it to a dock and using an external keyboard and mouse. You won't use it as a daily driver in handheld mode. The virtual keyboard covers half of the screen, the touchscreen is unusable as a mouse and touchpads are inconvenient. Ordinary laptops don't have these problems.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      I deliberately didn't compare it to a laptop, because the topic at hand is whether it qualifies as a "desktop". If it can function without an external keyboard and mouse that's a bonus feature.

skeaker 3y ago

Steam deck is a PC by Valve's own admission and my own anecdotal experience with mine.