Steam OS page gets a redesign, finally retiring the old design from the Steam OS 2.0 era

Valve employees are given time to work on self selected projects. I'm guessing that leads to more new projects than people taking over maintenance of existing projects.

I remember Steam Friends existed for a long ass time before TF2, but then they removed the service (like the tab was still there but it no longer connected to anything) for *years* and then when the orange box dropped, it also came with a massive update to Steam's social stuff and gave us back Friends but also added Groups.

It always seems like they are working on these massive updates/changes/new things but not even rolling them out until it's 100% finished instead of just adding things like 1 feature at a time. Which is weird, to me, because one of the defining things about Valve is their level of iteration. You'd think Steam would just constantly be evolving every other week as they try and test things on the general public and yet... They don't. They're like the only ones that don't.

The valve time distortion bubble is real unfortunately. Thankfully it finally caught up.

You are not forgiven, your behavior was disgusting beyond all measure.

In no uncertain terms would I ever recommend Arch to a beginner, nor would I help a user behaving in the way that you did.

Do not reach out to me again on any platform.

Hi. Can I apologize for getting so upset on your Discord and ask something? Next time you won't do something, please at least recommend another Distro that might.

I discovered my best option is Arch Linux, though setup was not easy. Projects like Steam Handheld Integration Project are probably the best option for someone if they ask for a feature and you are unable or unwilling to provide it, I understand you're not obligated to code anything and just want to say that if a feature is outside of scope, recommendations for other distros is the best approach to deal with Linux newbies like me.

Also, to anyone asking, yes Arch was a pain. It's a small miracle I got it working. It is, however, a good option for Windows 11 handhelds like the OneXFly if you understand command lines (CLIs) like my brother.

Thank you.

Sure, but the original context was a new user wanting to try Linux on their gaming laptop.

And I was giving a heads up regarding Nvidia graphics and only Nvidia graphics. I know what I wrote.

Sure, but the original context was a new user wanting to try Linux on their gaming laptop.

Both Bazzite and SteamOS will result in headaches from their limitations.

Bazzite founder here. I started Bazzite after spending a few months helping with support on the steam deck Discord because I had already been using atomic fedora and knew the proper workarounds for people who wanted to install applications on a read-only distro like SteamOS.

Bazzite was initially an experiment to see what it would take to get SteamOS packages working in Fedora Atomic, because I knew Fedora Atomic provided a better experience for installing applications that had to be a part of the root system than SteamOS could.

Unlike SteamOS you can layer applications over the root system and they will be kept across updates instead of being removed entirely. You're also able to spin off custom images with any changes you want through a GitHub action. You have full access to the roof file system during the build process.

If you’re assuming the user will have trouble with SteamOS’ write protection, which I totally agree with, Bazzite is also surely going to cause headaches.

For the specific context I was replying to – Nvidia drivers – Bazzite's write protection is completely irrelevant because there are editions with Nvidia drivers preinstalled.

The idea of a locked down system that gets most apps as Flatpaks sounds appealing, until the cracks start to show up.

Depends on the use case. SteamOS comes with Distrobox. All non-Flatpak needs of mine can be achieved through this.

Most linux OS with locked down file systems allow you to install apps permanently if you need something that doesn't work with flatpak/distrobox/etc. It's usually called something like atomic updates, and it installs the software in a layered image, and will require a reboot to load.

It's not the ideal way to install software, but it's a lot easier than your options for installing packages on SteamOS.

I haven't personally used Bazzite, so I'm not 100% sure that it supports it, but I'm assuming it does. If anyone else wants to confirm it I would appreciate it. **Edit:** you can, here's the documentation page on it

If you're assuming the user will have trouble with SteamOS' write protection, which I totally agree with, Bazzite is also surely going to cause headaches. The idea of a locked down system that gets most apps as Flatpaks sounds appealing, until the cracks start to show up.

I strongly suggest going with your other proposal, something like plain Fedora with KDE.

Is Bazzite an OS that I would use, or is it a set of drivers that lets SteamOS play nice with Nvidia?

You cannot install Nvidia drivers on SteamOS without jumping through more hoops than it's worth because the system partition is write protected. You can unprotect it but the next SteamOS update everything will be reset.

All improvements from SteamOS eventually trickle down to all mainstream desktop Linux distributions anyway, just as all Red Hat improvements trickle down to SteamOS.

Bazzite happens to be a gaming-focused distribution but you can also just get Fedora KDE and have a good time as well. I happen to like the download assistant at https://bazzite.gg/#image-picker which more distribution should adopt.

There’s always something that doesn’t work unfortunately.

Usually NVidia drivers which is why I gave the heads up regarding them. SteamOS on compatible hardware is ready to use as much as it gets, definitively better than using Windows on any device that's not using keyboard and mouse as primary input. Again: That’s why sales of these are so low.

I use Linux for my server, VMs and networking hardware but get burned every time I try to use it for my hobbies/gaming. There's always something that doesn't work unfortunately.

Not really on handhelds and console-style set top boxes. That's why sales of these are so low.

Windows works 🤷‍♂️

Bazzite still has experimental support for NVidia GPUs, you should use Nobara HTPC Nvidia ISO

None of the Nvidia issues are because of Bazzite. They are all because of NVidia's drivers and those are the same everywhere. Nothing Nobara or anyone else but Nvidia can do. See https://docs.bazzite.gg/Handheld_and_HTPC_edition/quirks/#nvidia-exclusive-issues

Appreciate the heads up. I'm pretty sure it's an AMD processor, but I don't know about the video card.

Is Bazzite an OS that I would use, or is it a set of drivers that lets SteamOS play nice with Nvidia?

Bazzite still has experimental support for NVidia GPUs, you should use Nobara HTPC Nvidia ISO

Be mindful of Nvidia drivers, should that notebook come with a GeForce GPU. SteamOS does not support Nvidia. Use Bazzite in such a case.

It's the webpage showing off steamos: https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown

Used to show steamOS 2.0 until recently

Ah, the cross post didn't cross post everything. Fixing it now.

This is what it used to be

I've got a gaming laptop from a few years back. Republic of gamers, or some such nonsense.

Been thinking of switching to some brand of Linux. Seems like this might be a good way to try it out.

Valve Time. Finally.

Just a few weeks ago it linked to wiki pages that hadn't been updated since 2015. Amazing

https://store.steampowered.com/steamos

What's different? I have adeck and it all looks the same