Would installing SteamOS be a bad idea?

[Punished Perk]

Hey, I've been wanting to install Linux recently. I've been using my Steam Deck for a while and I have found it pretty neat. If SteamOS is similar to how it is on the Deck in Desktop mode, I would consider it as one of my picks. I am not interested in trying these out in a VM currently. I do have just a few questions though.

Would installing SteamOS be not a good choice compared to like.. Ubuntu or Fedora? I've heard some hearsay of some slight controversy with Ubuntu lately. I will research more into Fedora myself when I have the time later. Just wanted a general opinion for this one.

Secondly, I figured I'd try in my laptop before my desktop. But my laptop is ASUS, and is built with Armoury Crate in mind. Without it, it just doesn't function properly. Would installing SteamOS be a bad idea? For Fedora I could possibly use this website.

https://asus-linux.org/

But I am curious about specifically SteamOS. If anyone has any knowledge, I would appreciate it greatly.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

SteamOS 3 is still not ready for desktop use.

[potato]

yes bad

[Haruspex]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

SteamOS 3 is still not ready for desktop use.

This. And even when it is ready, it's not really a distro well suited for day-to-day use. A set-top box for home theater use? Absolutely. For general computing there are much, much more suitable distros out there.

[Punished Perk]

Originally posted by Harusp3x:

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

SteamOS 3 is still not ready for desktop use.

This. And even when it is ready, it's not really a distro well suited for day-to-day use. A set-top box for home theater use? Absolutely. For general computing there are much, much more suitable distros out there.

What about for gaming? Using it for gaming more than general computing or working? Also could someone expand on why it is not ready for desktop use? I'd appreciate an in depth answer if possible. I am looking on YouTube and it seems to be generally positively looked on. The explanations on the videos are also a lot more... in depth than any of the answers I got here.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

Originally posted by Harusp3x:

This. And even when it is ready, it's not really a distro well suited for day-to-day use. A set-top box for home theater use? Absolutely. For general computing there are much, much more suitable distros out there.

What about for gaming? Using it for gaming more than general computing or working? Also could someone expand on why it is not ready for desktop use? I'd appreciate an in depth answer if possible. I am looking on YouTube and it seems to be generally positively looked on. The explanations on the videos are also a lot more... in depth than any of the answers I got here.

SteamOS 2.0 should be working for desktops. It is based on Debian. It should work fine for general gaming usage.

SteamOS 3.0 is what the Steam Deck uses and is based on ArchLinux. It likely lacks the libraries for general use at this time. You can always download ArchLinux[archlinux.org] and install Steam, then run it in big picture mode and have the same performance.

I currently run Ubuntu[ubuntu.com] on a laptop with the Steam Linux Client installed and works fine. I can run it in big picture mode as well.

[Punished Perk]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

What about for gaming? Using it for gaming more than general computing or working? Also could someone expand on why it is not ready for desktop use? I'd appreciate an in depth answer if possible. I am looking on YouTube and it seems to be generally positively looked on. The explanations on the videos are also a lot more... in depth than any of the answers I got here.

SteamOS 2.0 should be working for desktops. It is based on Debian. It should work fine for general gaming usage.

SteamOS 3.0 is what the Steam Deck uses and is based on ArchLinux. It likely lacks the libraries for general use at this time. You can always download ArchLinux[archlinux.org] and install Steam, then run it in big picture mode and have the same performance.

I currently run Ubuntu[ubuntu.com] on a laptop with the Steam Linux Client installed and works fine. I can run it in big picture mode as well.

Thank you for your answer, I understand now what it meant that it was not ready for Desktop use. Ubuntu was my first choice, but I've heard some controversies about user data being sold. So maybe Fedora is my choice. During the time since I've posted this, I have looked into Manjaro, but looking at the forums I'm thinking maybe it's not good for a first time Linux user.

Thank you for your answers.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

SteamOS 2.0 should be working for desktops. It is based on Debian. It should work fine for general gaming usage.

SteamOS 3.0 is what the Steam Deck uses and is based on ArchLinux. It likely lacks the libraries for general use at this time. You can always download ArchLinux[archlinux.org] and install Steam, then run it in big picture mode and have the same performance.

I currently run Ubuntu[ubuntu.com] on a laptop with the Steam Linux Client installed and works fine. I can run it in big picture mode as well.

Thank you for your answer, I understand now what it meant that it was not ready for Desktop use. Ubuntu was my first choice, but I've heard some controversies about user data being sold. So maybe Fedora is my choice. During the time since I've posted this, I have looked into Manjaro, but looking at the forums I'm thinking maybe it's not good for a first time Linux user.

Thank you for your answers.

Ubuntu is based on Debian[www.debian.org], so you can always try that, though it is a more complex setup. Linux Mint[linuxmint.com] is another Debian based OS and is supposed to be user friendly like Ubuntu is.

[Wolfgang421]

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

What about for gaming? Using it for gaming more than general computing or working? Also could someone expand on why it is not ready for desktop use? I'd appreciate an in depth answer if possible. I am looking on YouTube and it seems to be generally positively looked on. The explanations on the videos are also a lot more... in depth than any of the answers I got here.

SteamOS 2.0 should be working for desktops. It is based on Debian. It should work fine for general gaming usage.

SteamOS 3.0 is what the Steam Deck uses and is based on ArchLinux. It likely lacks the libraries for general use at this time. You can always download ArchLinux[archlinux.org] and install Steam, then run it in big picture mode and have the same performance.

I currently run Ubuntu[ubuntu.com] on a laptop with the Steam Linux Client installed and works fine. I can run it in big picture mode as well.

You may be surprised. I thought the same, but desktop mode of SteamOS is pretty much a full featured Arch distro. There is a single command - listed in the SteamOS help page - that enables sudo commands. Once you run that you can update via pacman or your package manager of choice as well as install any aur packages of choice. From someone who has used Manjaro for a few years there is little difference.

[Punished Perk]

Originally posted by Wolfgang421:

Originally posted by Spawn of Totoro:

SteamOS 2.0 should be working for desktops. It is based on Debian. It should work fine for general gaming usage.

SteamOS 3.0 is what the Steam Deck uses and is based on ArchLinux. It likely lacks the libraries for general use at this time. You can always download ArchLinux[archlinux.org] and install Steam, then run it in big picture mode and have the same performance.

I currently run Ubuntu[ubuntu.com] on a laptop with the Steam Linux Client installed and works fine. I can run it in big picture mode as well.

You may be surprised. I thought the same, but desktop mode of SteamOS is pretty much a full featured Arch distro. There is a single command - listed in the SteamOS help page - that enables sudo commands. Once you run that you can update via pacman or your package manager of choice as well as install any aur packages of choice. From someone who has used Manjaro for a few years there is little difference.

Hello! I am curious about your experiences with SteamOS. Could you expand more on what you were saying please?

[( ( < < <🤖> > > ) )]

steam deck on a big screen using steam OS desktop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxLB5khCmGo

[ReBoot]

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

Hello! I am curious about your experiences with SteamOS. Could you expand more on what you were saying please?

I tried it (SteamOS desktop) and found it to serve my computing needs just fine, including non-gaming hobbies & gettin' work done.

[Thermal Lance]

Endeavour OS hands down for me. I play on a potato and this operating system gives me great performance. Virtually equal to Windows.

Pop!_OS would be my second pick and is easier to use.

Nobara Project as third pick BUT it has the bonus to come game-ready with the most common software already primed to go.

SteamOS I wouldnt recommend as daily driver. Its not a good one for that. Besides, you wont get much over any other distro when correctly configured.

[Wolfgang421]

Originally posted by Punished Perk:

Originally posted by Wolfgang421:

You may be surprised. I thought the same, but desktop mode of SteamOS is pretty much a full featured Arch distro. There is a single command - listed in the SteamOS help page - that enables sudo commands. Once you run that you can update via pacman or your package manager of choice as well as install any aur packages of choice. From someone who has used Manjaro for a few years there is little difference.

Hello! I am curious about your experiences with SteamOS. Could you expand more on what you were saying please?

Not much more to say, really. It is functionally the same as a Manjaro install only pre-linked to Valve's repos and optimized for Steamplay.

[RSebire]

My advice...

Avoid anything "American"

Thus no SteamOS, no Microsoft Windows, or anything else from "America"

Try Tizen or some other form of non "Americanised" of Linux.
But avoid "American hardware and software like the plague.
American values, or the lack of, are a blight upon every industry.

Don't go wasting your time, nor you money.

[Wolfgang421]

Originally posted by RSebire:

My advice...

Avoid anything "American"

Thus no SteamOS, no Microsoft Windows, or anything else from "America"

Try Tizen or some other form of non "Americanised" of Linux.
But avoid "American hardware and software like the plague.
American values, or the lack of, are a blight upon every industry.

Don't go wasting your time, nor you money.

I hear Poland has a neat OS that ran off of VHS cassettes. Seriously, as an American I would agree, moreso for privacy reasons. Any of the 13 eye nations, as well as China, Korea and Taiwan are probably best avoided. Problem is how difficult it is to find anything performant not tied in some way to those loci.