Comment on SteamOS expands beyond Steam Deck
deegeese@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Here’s hoping it matures enough for desktop use by the time my Win10 desktop is EOL.
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.
That is exactly why many of us want it. We know what we’re asking for. And yes we know bazzite exists.
The comment above says they want to replace their W10 desktop, so it isn’t what they want. If it’s what you want then fine, but I was writing the comment for someone who wants a desktop, not a console. If you want a console, go ahead and wait or use Bazzite. If you want a desktop then the best options are already available and SteamOS isn’t going to be it.
ok 👍
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.
I’ve been running pop_OS! on my Razer Blade for a few years with no issues. They install Nvidia drivers by default and also have power profiles that support hybrid graphics out of the box.
On my desktop gaming PC (with an API and NVIDIA 10-series GPU), I’ve tried EndeavorOS and Garuda but I haven’t been able to get waking up from sleep to work on either, it crashes my graphical session everytime
I’ve got a laptop running Garuda, it has and Intel APU(so integrated graphics) and a dedicated Nvidia 1660. Working better than with Win 11 on it. I did have to configure Heroic launcher to default to the dedicated gfx card, but that was about 7 mouse clicks tops. Steam games tend to just assume that you’ll be wanting the dedicated gfx to do the work, but some games ask. That said, out of the box, I had to fight win 11 for about 25mins to get it to agree that yes I did in fact want the Nvidia card to be used to run games.
I think that’s mostly fixed at this point. I have AMD, but I’ve heard Nvidia is handled better now. Nvidia keeps everything closed source, so everyone is fucked, but support is improving. Make a Bootable USB of Garuda (or whatever distro you choose, but Garuda Dragonized I’d expect to have the drivers) and try it out. It’s very low effort to try.
AMD open-sources everything, so their stuff works everywhere. That’s why FSR is always available, because it works on any device and is open source, so it’s easy to support. DLSS only works on Nvidia devices and requires a lot more effort for developers to support, so they often only do it if Nvidia pays them because it costs them money to implement an extra solution and not everyone will even be able to use it.
The main thing stopping me is that I only use my PC for gaming, and I know the support for drivers etc isn’t as good on Linux (though I know this is debated).
However if Linux became more centralised, with a “gaming first” distro like this, the graphics drivers would have a “main test case” to work with.
This is my theory anyway.
If you have the exact hardware supported by the SteamOS then you’ll be fine. However, I don’t even know of they support nvidia video cards yet, I believe most of their stack is optimized for AMD cards.
In that sense, installing a more generalist linux distribution will net you a better driver compatibility.
Linux gaming is at a fantastic state right now, you install steam and games work. 20 years ago I would have never believed it to be possible.
I’ve recently gotten sick of windows and changed my gaming rigs to Nobara and Mint, both with AMD processors and 3090s. Zero issues gaming, or modding games, on either one.
Yeah, the driver thing is pretty much solved at this point. If you have AMD there’s literally nothing to worry about. If you have Nvidia, you’re probably also good to go, but slightly less guaranteed.
Something you might not know is the drivers come packaged with the kernel, so you literally never have to worry about updating your drivers. They’re just there in the background up to date. It awesome.
The experience with Linux is so much smoother than Windows because the system manages most things for you. All your applications will be updated by the package manager, so you don’t need to go to websites to download updates. Graphics drivers are just there. Everything is just handled for you.
Not necessary, you can use dozens of distros where playing Steam games is pretty much plug and play
What about my alternatively acquired games? I’ve tried using Mint and Steam with whatever that is that runs compatibility. Sometimes doesn’t work for them.
Heroic Launcher, Lutris, Bottles, or just launching them through the command line if you really want to for some reason, are your options. Heroic I just started using and it’s great. It’s especially good for games from other stores, but you can add anything to it. Lutris is pretty good, but you have to add everything manually (which you’ll have to do no matter what for what you’re asking about). Bottles is functional, but it is much harder to use than the others, but probably lighter weight if that matters to you at all (and I’ll tell you now, it doesn’t).
Thank you
You can just add the .exe to steam and then they are as plug and play as most other steam games.
I tried that but then there was a launcher and the launcher loaded okay but then when you tried to run the game from the launcher it didn’t run but just crashed…
What about non steam games? Maybe I’m in the extreme minority, but my most played games are things like Microsoft Flight Sim, DCS, Star Citizen, Elite Dangerous, which not only have their own launchers etc (one of which is tied directly to MS), they also require peripherals… sometimes lots of em, that have config and/or telemetry software that is all built in windows.
Unfortunately this is one of the cases where you’re going to have to do some research.
Check ProtonDB to see how a game plays on Linux. I’m assuming the flight simulator would be problematic.
Usually the periferal drivers are built into the Linux kernel. Your keyboard and mice will just work, gamepads as well. Niche stuff like wheels and flight controllers will likely not work out of the box and you’ll have to find a community based software to support it. Sucks.
If I were you I’d boot a virtual machine or a live USB drive and try it out. If you’re not comfortable with the amount of compatibility just don’t install it. Nothing lost
Currently, my favorite ways of running non-Steam games are the Heroic Games Launcher and Bottles. Heroic is especially nice if you have games from GOG or EGS. However, looking at ProtonDB, it seems that both DCS and Flight Sim 2024 don’t work too well on Linux. Overall it sounds like it might be challenging for you to switch to Linux, but you can always give it a try and see how much works.
There are plenty of ways to run non-steam games and most games work out of box. Wine/Proton, the software that steam uses to translate windows calls to linux calls, can also be run outside of steam. Wine can also just run generic windows programs so config software will probably run fine.
The peripherals is where you may run into some issues as I’m not sure how well supported they would be on linux. I wouldn’t know as I don’t use any special peripherals.
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…
There are plenty of distros that have been doing that for years now
Except not really and about half the time there are breaking bugs that the average person cannot simply fix. Shit gets serious when a company like valve spends a load of programmers on this and gets it up to standard.
If you are tech savvy enough to install Windows, you can easily install Linux as well. If you install any of the big distros you will have a good time.
You’re either doing too much or using the wrong distros. Haven’t had breaking bugs for a long while using Fedora KDE.
It’s been nothing but as reliable as windows. Windows can have severe bugs too BTW
I think that the big thing for the general public is not that Linux will now be easy to use/accessible, it currently is pretty much there with many different distros, it’s that there’s a known face behind it. In the general public Linux is just this weird thing that isn’t really attached to anything besides the super tech savvy, so they think they can’t use it because they aren’t super tech savvy. By making it steam’s Linux, they can go “oh I know steam, they do stuff really well for people like me! This is probably easy enough that I can use!”
Another thing that will help is a centralization of support. With enough people using it questions and bugs will be more common and more accessible as well as answered. Currently for you to find help for your issue you need to look for your specific distro and try to also parse if the answers for other distros would help you with your issue.
It’s not going to happen in this iteration of SteamOS. It remains mostly a gaming “only” distribution.
It’s just arch isn’t it?
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.
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.
You can quite safely jump onto any distro recommended for gaming. From me I would recommend PopOS, especially when 24.04 releases - easy install and Nvidia drivers work out of the box, and the super rare issue Linus encountered is long fixed
Anecdote alert: I mean, I went to Mint thinking this to be true. The first release I tried didn’t even support my (years old) WiFi drivers, and then the second couldn’t run levels in Hitman. (Bazzite did, however, so distro apparently matters)
Interesting, what year was that? Before Ubuntu shipped with pipewire by default I do remember it having the worst Bluetooth experience, so maybe something similar was the case with WiFi?
Anecdote as well: the non-working Bluetooth lead me to perform my very first (successful) dive into system files to replace Alsa with Pipewire
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?
Teams can run as a chrome app, I use it daily.
Using it from chrome is how I use it.
Two limitations:
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.
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.
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 steam OS as a desktop OS. How odd!
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
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.
Isn’t Bazzite an immutable OS with very limited package availability outside of gaming?
Nope. It’s basically Fedora Atomic with a lot of special sauce to make onboarding as pleasant as possible. Especially if you want to use it for gaming; be it as a HTPC/console or on desktop. Thus, like Fedora Atomic, you’ve got access to many different package managers to get your needs covered. Heck, Bazzite and its uBlue siblings actually improve upon Fedora Atomic in this regard (at least by default). Refer to this entry in its documentation for the finer details.
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
We’ve all been faulty of this (read: searching on the internet), but we should instead consolidate Bazzite’s documentation first. Only after it isn’t found there, should one consider going to their discussion platforms; be it their own forums or their Discord server. Searching on the internet is IMO a no-go, especially if one isn’t well-versed yet.
will direct him to edit config files which would get overwritten on update.
This doesn’t apply to Fedora Atomic. Perhaps you’re conflating this with SteamOS.
I see what you mean. But I’m a Linux beginner myself and found that their package manager has everything I need. I’m guessing it’s the one from Fedora as it was the same when I installed Nobara last year.
It originated as a desktop os…
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.
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.
Here you go.
4am@lemm.ee 2 days ago
My man, have you heard of Bazzite?
kadup@lemmy.world 2 days ago
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.
Fizz@lemmy.nz 2 days ago
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.
mudmaniac@lemmy.world 2 days ago
For a desktop PC I’m trying Endeavour OS. Feels quite good.
Anivia@feddit.org 2 days ago
But SteamOS is also immutable 🤔
A_Porcupine@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Honestly, even for a living room PC it’s a pain. My living room machine uses Corsair fan controllers, so I had to battle to get OpenLinkHub installed, and a realtek 2.5gbe card, which I attempted to get working and gave up (kernel src package does not match the kernel for some reason). Not overly fun.
kadup@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Well, if you look at my downvotes and read the upvoted reply below, you’ll see you do not exist! Yes, apparently regular users do not have hardware that requires any out of tree drivers. Your very reasonable 2.5gbe card probably does not exist, it’s all a product of your imagination! Bazzite is perfect!
JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 2 days ago
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 simply completely nonfunctional.
Outside of those cases though, it works fine. Themes work, font installation works as expected, 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, but I would have update problems and have to search for forum solutions to make a full update work every month or two)
Infernal_pizza@lemmy.world 1 day ago
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?
hobbsc@lemmy.sdf.org 2 days ago
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.
tehmics@lemmy.world 2 days ago
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
whostosay@lemmy.world 2 days ago
If they went through this, they wouldn’t.
I’ve also been able to find 99% of what I need through discover.
docs.fedoraproject.org/…/installing-from-source/
kadup@lemmy.world 2 days ago
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
fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 days ago
I with you. Love Bazzite in the living room, but no way would it be my daily driver.
Wildly_Utilize@infosec.pub 2 days ago
I don’t really like immutable but isn’t that what rpm-ostree is for?
LandedGentry@lemmy.zip 2 days ago
Yes we’ve all heard of bazzite and what we want is SteamOS.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 2 days ago
Or literally any other distro.
Pop is probably much easier to be up and running vs. Bazzite.
the_artic_one@programming.dev 19 hours ago
What makes Bazzite difficult to get up and running for you? I just installed it for the first time and didn’t need to do anything else to get up and running.
circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 19 hours ago
The fact that it’s immutable isn’t necessarily good for people new to Linux. If something does go wrong, or the user wants to change something significant, most of what they read online about how to do that will not work like many other distros.
For experienced users, sure, there probably isn’t much difference.