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SteamDeack is a much more open equivalent of Android/ChomeOS. Yes you can use it as a Linux "Desktop" but form the perspective of most people it's just there to

SteamDeack is a much more open equivalent of Android/ChomeOS. Yes you can use it as a Linux "Desktop" but form the perspective of most people it's just there to run a single proprietary app while Linux is just an implementation detail. Of course some people will use it for other things than Steam but I doubt it's a very significant proportion.

timschmidt 2y ago
> SteamDeack is a much more open equivalent of Android/ChomeOS SteamDeck runs a minimally modified Arch Linux, with a full KDE desktop installed from the factory and prominent switch in the main UI to close Steam and reboot into a full desktop. > it's just there to run a single proprietary app Tens of thousands of Windows games, more like. The Steam app is just a launcher and store. Even Windows doesn't successfully run all legacy windows applications, so I think it's incredible that a successful mainstream product focused on gamers not only provides simpler user interaction than Windows gaming portables, but does so while running unmodified Windows games on Linux. I cannot overstate the importance of Valve creating a funding stream for Wine / Proton development by doing this, hiring a boatload of Wine devs, and fostering a massive user base for testing and validation. Wine was already impressive, but it has improved leaps and bounds with Valve's efforts. This opens up the door for future cannibalization of Microsoft's share of other market segments. There was a time when hardware support under Linux was holding it back, that time is long gone. Linux desktops and applications have developed to the point that anyone familiar with a Mac or Windows will feel reasonably at home under Gnome or KDE. Which left games and specialty Windows / Mac applications, and Valve seems to have found a way to fund knocking down that barrier. It's a much bigger deal than another Android or ChomeOS device.
- Wytwwww 2y ago
  > SteamDeck runs a minimally modified Arch Linux, with a full KDE desktop > Tens of thousands of Windows games, more like I'm certainly aware of that and not arguing about it, just saying that it's not really relevant for most people that the device is targeted at. > will feel reasonably at home under Gnome or KDE. I don't agree with that at all, maybe on a very superficial level. But even if that were the case what value would Linux be offering to most of these people? Whether we like it or not Windows and macOS still have plenty of other benefits/advantages for most non-technical people besides letting them run specialty software. > Valve seems to have found a way to fund knocking down that barrier. What they are aiming to achieve is still no different from what Google did with Android and ChromeOS. They just want a platform they can fully control and make money from while minimizing their costs. Sure, they are doing it in a way that's much more "open" and benefits Linux much more than Android but they still have no other incentives besides maximizing the number of people who are using Steam and reducing competition from other storefronts like Xbox store on Windows etc.
  - timschmidt 2y ago
    > just saying that it's not really relevant for most people that the device is targeted at. That's the amazing part. The sign it's truly arrived for non-technical folks. > Windows and macOS still have plenty of other benefits/advantages for most non-technical people besides letting them run specialty software. As an admin for hundreds of computer users, for most folks they're just a launcher for the browser. See: ChromeOS > What they are aiming to achieve is still no different from what Google did with Android and ChromeOS. Except for the Windows compatibility part. Which is a very important part.
    - nolist_policy 2y ago
      > Except for the Windows compatibility part. Which is a very important part. There is a Steam for Chromebook Beta which is basically Steam OS in a VM with Virgl and Venus passtrough.
      - timschmidt 2y ago
        Cool. Similarly, I can install MacOS on Windows in a VM or the other way around. Until an OEM ships it pre-installed, most people won't know that's possible or how to do it. Microsoft's stranglehold starts at the OEM.

timschmidt 2y ago

> SteamDeack is a much more open equivalent of Android/ChomeOS SteamDeck runs a minimally modified Arch Linux, with a full KDE desktop installed from the factory and prominent switch in the main UI to close Steam and reboot into a full desktop. > it's just there to run a single proprietary app Tens of thousands of Windows games, more like. The Steam app is just a launcher and store. Even Windows doesn't successfully run all legacy windows applications, so I think it's incredible that a successful mainstream product focused on gamers not only provides simpler user interaction than Windows gaming portables, but does so while running unmodified Windows games on Linux. I cannot overstate the importance of Valve creating a funding stream for Wine / Proton development by doing this, hiring a boatload of Wine devs, and fostering a massive user base for testing and validation. Wine was already impressive, but it has improved leaps and bounds with Valve's efforts. This opens up the door for future cannibalization of Microsoft's share of other market segments. There was a time when hardware support under Linux was holding it back, that time is long gone. Linux desktops and applications have developed to the point that anyone familiar with a Mac or Windows will feel reasonably at home under Gnome or KDE. Which left games and specialty Windows / Mac applications, and Valve seems to have found a way to fund knocking down that barrier. It's a much bigger deal than another Android or ChomeOS device.

Wytwwww 2y ago
> SteamDeck runs a minimally modified Arch Linux, with a full KDE desktop > Tens of thousands of Windows games, more like I'm certainly aware of that and not arguing about it, just saying that it's not really relevant for most people that the device is targeted at. > will feel reasonably at home under Gnome or KDE. I don't agree with that at all, maybe on a very superficial level. But even if that were the case what value would Linux be offering to most of these people? Whether we like it or not Windows and macOS still have plenty of other benefits/advantages for most non-technical people besides letting them run specialty software. > Valve seems to have found a way to fund knocking down that barrier. What they are aiming to achieve is still no different from what Google did with Android and ChromeOS. They just want a platform they can fully control and make money from while minimizing their costs. Sure, they are doing it in a way that's much more "open" and benefits Linux much more than Android but they still have no other incentives besides maximizing the number of people who are using Steam and reducing competition from other storefronts like Xbox store on Windows etc.
- timschmidt 2y ago
  > just saying that it's not really relevant for most people that the device is targeted at. That's the amazing part. The sign it's truly arrived for non-technical folks. > Windows and macOS still have plenty of other benefits/advantages for most non-technical people besides letting them run specialty software. As an admin for hundreds of computer users, for most folks they're just a launcher for the browser. See: ChromeOS > What they are aiming to achieve is still no different from what Google did with Android and ChromeOS. Except for the Windows compatibility part. Which is a very important part.
  - nolist_policy 2y ago
    > Except for the Windows compatibility part. Which is a very important part. There is a Steam for Chromebook Beta which is basically Steam OS in a VM with Virgl and Venus passtrough.
    - timschmidt 2y ago
      Cool. Similarly, I can install MacOS on Windows in a VM or the other way around. Until an OEM ships it pre-installed, most people won't know that's possible or how to do it. Microsoft's stranglehold starts at the OEM.