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SteamDeck should be excluded from “Linux use” imho. Especially when it comes to click bait headlines. Like yes it is Linux. But SteamDeck is a completely diffe

SteamDeck should be excluded from “Linux use” imho. Especially when it comes to click bait headlines. Like yes it is Linux. But SteamDeck is a completely different beast from desktop Linux. They might as well be entirely different OS’s. Especially if the SteamDeck is being used to play Win32 binaries!

tapoxi 7mo ago
SteamOS is just an immutable Arch, and all Steam Linux games use the Steam Linux container runtime or Proton. Bazzite and a few others provide a similar console-style experience.
yjftsjthsd-h 7mo ago
> Like yes it is Linux. But SteamDeck is a completely different beast from desktop Linux. They might as well be entirely different OS’s. It's really not; SteamOS is just another GNU/Linux, and pretty close to vanilla Arch Linux for that matter. > Especially if the SteamDeck is being used to play Win32 binaries! Proton works fine on other distros.
- forrestthewoods 7mo ago
  > SteamOS is just another GNU/Linux if you are a gamedev considering support for SteamOS and considering support for generic Linux desktop they really really really REALLY are not the same. At all.
  - leononame 7mo ago
    Why not? Could you elaborate? I'd love to know more. I always had the feeling that supporting SteamOS basically meant that generic Linux Desktop support was almost implied because in the end it's almost always on Proton rather than native.
  - akimbostrawman 7mo ago
    That is not true. Proton and steam linux runtime which are the components actually responsible to run games are literally the exact same code provided by the steam client. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime https://github.com/valvesoftware/proton https://github.com/valvesoftware/proton
  - canelonesdeverd 7mo ago
    If you are a gamedev considering native support for linux then you are using the steam runtime (i.e. a debian container) anyways.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 7mo ago
      Or you just write a Windows program but explicitly target Proton. (Granted, either of those remain portable to at least any Linux with Steam installed.)
tribaal 7mo ago
SteamOS is really a desktop linux. You can switch to "desktop mode" to see the "normal desktop" and you get a KDE where you can run whatever you want. It's "just" immutable Arch that defaults to Steam's console mode interface.
vkazanov 7mo ago
Try it. Switch to desktop mode. Behold! A desktop linux! SteamOS is so very much linux that even WebOS and Androids pale in comparisom.
conceptme 7mo ago
you can just navigate to the full linux desktop on the steamdeck?
- Zardoz84 7mo ago
  yes
akimbostrawman 7mo ago
>completely different beast from desktop Linux Absolutely not. If you ever actually used it you would know that the only difference is a custom big picture mode like interface. Anything else is literally the same code.
- forrestthewoods 7mo ago
  Have a SteamDeck. Have shipped games for Linux.
  - scheeseman486 7mo ago
    SteamOS is Arch with atomic updates and some custom patches here and there. The system stack is pretty standard; Mesa drivers, Steam Linux Runtime, Proton, it's all what ships on every other distro. The only significant difference is that games run in gamescope-session by default, but that isn't exclusive to SteamOS either and doesn't meaningfully affect the execution of software, it's just a different window manager. In all your posts I haven't seen you actually explain what it is that's so different about it.
    - forrestthewoods 7mo ago
      Let me take the game developer lens. You love Linux and want to support Linux. What is the cost to you? SteamDeck is a very specific set of hardware running a very specific OS with a specific runtime. This is very easy. The fact that it is Linux is almost immaterial. If it were not Linux at all it would require a similar amount of effort. Might as well be a Nintendo Switch. Now let’s imagine you want to support generic Linux desktop with a native Linux exe. May God have mercy on your soul. Deploying pre-compiled binaries that run on an infinite number of hardware variations running an infinite number of local variables env permutations is an unfathomable nightmare. Once upon a time I shipped a native Linux binary (Planetary Annihilation). Somewhat infamously our Linux users were less than 1% of users but ~50% of bug reports. And no it wasn’t because Linux users simply report more general gameplay bugs. These days you can support Linux by just giving them a Win32 binary. Which is objectively hilarious. In any case. It would be profoundly fascinating to know the number of gameplay hours played across OSs. And I would imagine that SteamDeck accounts for over 90% of Linux gaming hours. The Year of the Linux Desktop is still not here. Not yet. IMHO. YMMV.
poulpy123 7mo ago
SteamOS is just steam big picture mode by default on an arch linux. You can switch to a regular KDE in one click
2pEXgD0fZ5cF 7mo ago
What you say is not even remotely true. SteamOS is basically just Arch with steam preinstalled.

tapoxi 7mo ago

SteamOS is just an immutable Arch, and all Steam Linux games use the Steam Linux container runtime or Proton. Bazzite and a few others provide a similar console-style experience.

yjftsjthsd-h 7mo ago

> Like yes it is Linux. But SteamDeck is a completely different beast from desktop Linux. They might as well be entirely different OS’s. It's really not; SteamOS is just another GNU/Linux, and pretty close to vanilla Arch Linux for that matter. > Especially if the SteamDeck is being used to play Win32 binaries! Proton works fine on other distros.

forrestthewoods 7mo ago
> SteamOS is just another GNU/Linux if you are a gamedev considering support for SteamOS and considering support for generic Linux desktop they really really really REALLY are not the same. At all.
- leononame 7mo ago
  Why not? Could you elaborate? I'd love to know more. I always had the feeling that supporting SteamOS basically meant that generic Linux Desktop support was almost implied because in the end it's almost always on Proton rather than native.
- akimbostrawman 7mo ago
  That is not true. Proton and steam linux runtime which are the components actually responsible to run games are literally the exact same code provided by the steam client. https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime https://github.com/valvesoftware/proton https://github.com/valvesoftware/proton
- canelonesdeverd 7mo ago
  If you are a gamedev considering native support for linux then you are using the steam runtime (i.e. a debian container) anyways.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 7mo ago
    Or you just write a Windows program but explicitly target Proton. (Granted, either of those remain portable to at least any Linux with Steam installed.)

tribaal 7mo ago

SteamOS is really a desktop linux. You can switch to "desktop mode" to see the "normal desktop" and you get a KDE where you can run whatever you want. It's "just" immutable Arch that defaults to Steam's console mode interface.

vkazanov 7mo ago

Try it. Switch to desktop mode. Behold! A desktop linux! SteamOS is so very much linux that even WebOS and Androids pale in comparisom.

conceptme 7mo ago

you can just navigate to the full linux desktop on the steamdeck?

Zardoz84 7mo ago
yes

akimbostrawman 7mo ago

>completely different beast from desktop Linux Absolutely not. If you ever actually used it you would know that the only difference is a custom big picture mode like interface. Anything else is literally the same code.

forrestthewoods 7mo ago
Have a SteamDeck. Have shipped games for Linux.
- scheeseman486 7mo ago
  SteamOS is Arch with atomic updates and some custom patches here and there. The system stack is pretty standard; Mesa drivers, Steam Linux Runtime, Proton, it's all what ships on every other distro. The only significant difference is that games run in gamescope-session by default, but that isn't exclusive to SteamOS either and doesn't meaningfully affect the execution of software, it's just a different window manager. In all your posts I haven't seen you actually explain what it is that's so different about it.
  - forrestthewoods 7mo ago
    Let me take the game developer lens. You love Linux and want to support Linux. What is the cost to you? SteamDeck is a very specific set of hardware running a very specific OS with a specific runtime. This is very easy. The fact that it is Linux is almost immaterial. If it were not Linux at all it would require a similar amount of effort. Might as well be a Nintendo Switch. Now let’s imagine you want to support generic Linux desktop with a native Linux exe. May God have mercy on your soul. Deploying pre-compiled binaries that run on an infinite number of hardware variations running an infinite number of local variables env permutations is an unfathomable nightmare. Once upon a time I shipped a native Linux binary (Planetary Annihilation). Somewhat infamously our Linux users were less than 1% of users but ~50% of bug reports. And no it wasn’t because Linux users simply report more general gameplay bugs. These days you can support Linux by just giving them a Win32 binary. Which is objectively hilarious. In any case. It would be profoundly fascinating to know the number of gameplay hours played across OSs. And I would imagine that SteamDeck accounts for over 90% of Linux gaming hours. The Year of the Linux Desktop is still not here. Not yet. IMHO. YMMV.

poulpy123 7mo ago

SteamOS is just steam big picture mode by default on an arch linux. You can switch to a regular KDE in one click

2pEXgD0fZ5cF 7mo ago

What you say is not even remotely true. SteamOS is basically just Arch with steam preinstalled.