New SteamOS 3.0 apparently Arch-based

[Zeikos13]

The new Steamdeck technical information website (https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech) lists SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based) as Operating System with KDE Plasma, so it looks like Valve ditches the Debian-based SteamOS 3.0 Version and changes to Arch. (Which looks a bit like copying GamerOS)

[vladislavuz]

It seems that the BP mode there has been updated beyond recognition. I must admit that it looks promising.

[King Dude]

I think that the rolling releases would benefit Steam OS.

[PoorPocketsMcNewHold]

I almost as hyped for the software, than the hardware itself.

[gibblets]

Originally posted by King Dude:

I think that the rolling releases would benefit Steam OS.

Just because it's Arch based doesn't mean it's rolling release. For a game console you need stability, they are using Arch tooling and such but are likely going to use their own repositories, similar to how SteamOS 1 & 2 did not pull directly from Debian updates.

[Zeikos13]

Originally posted by gibblets:

Just because it's Arch based doesn't mean it's rolling release. For a game console you need stability, they are using Arch tooling and such but are likely going to use their own repositories, similar to how SteamOS 1 & 2 did not pull directly from Debian updates.

You must think differently, this will never be like a game console, since there are always new games where the graphics drivers must always be relatively recent, therefore rolling releases are better that fixed versions like debian has. This is still more like a PC than a console. Still, of course it can be that i'm wrong and you are right, but i think that's the case why they switched to arch, to get better driver support, which in the end counts for games.

[Majin_Erick]

Copying? No what's important is....being able to run Jedi Fallen Order, a Windows based game over SteamOS, something Valve has been working on for years. Ending the gap between Windows and Linux with Vulkan is a big deal, which also means those who purchased the Dell Alienware Alpha will really be happy with this updated SteamOS.

[gibblets]

Originally posted by Zeikos13:

Originally posted by gibblets:

Just because it's Arch based doesn't mean it's rolling release. For a game console you need stability, they are using Arch tooling and such but are likely going to use their own repositories, similar to how SteamOS 1 & 2 did not pull directly from Debian updates.

You must think differently, this will never be like a game console, since there are always new games where the graphics drivers must always be relatively recent, therefore rolling releases are better that fixed versions like debian has. This is still more like a PC than a console. Still, of course it can be that i'm wrong and you are right, but i think that's the case why they switched to arch, to get better driver support, which in the end counts for games.

Game consoles also get frequent updates. Just because it's going to be like a console doesn't mean it's like a PS2 or something before updates were a thing. Valve heavily supports and funds the mesa/RADV graphics stack so you can be assured it will always have the latest (stable) drivers, probably with new features and hardware specific tweaks ported early.

[ReBoot]

A rolling release got a huge advantage: hardware support. Especially with a newly developed APU and some upstream patches Valve got in, those museum-grade kernels Debian use may not be the best.

... or at least a current snapshot of the kernel. It doesn't have to be rolling indeed.

Anyway, with Valve behind the Deck, behind SteamOS, you can rest assured they'll take care of things, make sure SteamOS will work fine on the Deck.

[Zeikos13]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

A rolling release got a huge advantage: hardware support. Especially with a newly developed APU and some upstream patches Valve got in, those museum-grade kernels Debian use may not be the best.

Sure, that's also what they have representatives have said in recent hands-ons / talks why they shifted to Arch-based.