In an IGN interview, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais said that “[they] want [SteamOS] to be at the point where at some point you can install it on any PC”. Below is a transcript of the interview. I tried to clean it up to my best ability.
Just like Steam Deck paved the way for Steam OS on a variety of third-party handhelds, we expect that Steam Machine will pave the way for Steam OS on a bunch of different machines in either similar form factors, different perf envelopes, different segments of the market, and get to a good outcome there. We definitely want to encourage people to try it out on their own hardware. We’ll be working on expanding hardware support for the drivers and the base operating system. Just last week, we fixed something that was preventing us from booting on the very latest AMD CPU platforms. Last month, we added support for the Intel Lunar Lake platforms. We’re constantly adding support and improving performance. We want it to be at the point where at some point you can install it on any PC, but there’s still a ton of work to do there.
If the embedded video doesn’t take you to the correct part of the video, the correct timestamp is 5:37.
EDIT: Here’s the written article of the video:
https://www.ign.com/articles/valves-next-gen-steam-machine-and-steam-controller-the-big-interview
I put SteamOS on my handheld and turned it into my main PC. I haven’t missed Windows even slightly.
They have a unique opportunity here to capitalise on Microsoft’s mistakes.
if they sell easy install one/low click installs they’d make a killing.
If all the games I had worked on steam os I’d switch to Linux in a heartbeat.
Which ones don’t?
The ones with kernel level rootkits. I think they call it “anti cheat detection”
Battlefield 6
Helldivers 2
CoD
Helldivers 2 works just fine on Linux…?
it does
Linux is getting too mainstream I gotta switch to freebsd /j
Haiku or bust!
Year of the BSD when?
Year of the BSD when?
When Mac OS X launched?
When iPhone launched?
When PlayStation 4 launched?
It’s just not the same if you don’t have to fiddle for hours to get a game to run, is it?
I thought that was the game of Linux, the fiddling.
There’s certainly a satisfaction in getting something to work in an environment it was never intended for.
But I can’t deny that it’s also nice that most games just work nowadays.
Guy who owns the online, PC version of Gamestop: “What if we took on Microsoft and kicked those mfers in the balls?”
When it comes to this i personally tend to agree with what Brodie Robertson always says in his videos about SteamOS. It’s kinda silly to keep waiting for an official release when things like Bazzite exist, but if the SteamOS release helps with more people making the switch, then that’s still a good thing in the end.
I am not waiting for it because I personally want to use it. I’m excited for the industry shaping power a Linux OS released by Valve will have.
I mostly agree with that, but the problem with Bazzite and CachyOS is that they are made by small teams. Distributions made by small teams might die because of some small problem, like a key member of the team being unable to continue with the project. Bazzite team, for example, earlier this year said that they would stop maintaining the OS if a proposed change to Fedora would go through, because their team wouldn’t be able cope with the change.
SteamOS on the other hand, being developed by a company with a lot of money to throw into things, is much more resilient OS, and I think that makes it better for larger masses of users.
This is a big reason why I would prefer a SteamOS Desktop over Cachy and friends. Also, documentation that is designed for people who don’t have an interest in becoming masters of the terminal. My general impression of Linux as an intermediate user, is a Tower of Babel situation, everyone having different procedures for how to resolve the same issue.
True, but anything running Bazzite could just as easily run Fedora atomic instead and basically no one could tell the difference. Fedora is sponsored by one of the largest tech companies on the planet.
Bazzite is downstream from fedora, which i’ll remind you is partially handled by red hat, aka a large ass company with “a lot of money to throw into things”. The bazzite developers only handle a smaller portion of the maintenance that distributions require, and really only as much as they want and are confident in handling.
I really hope they sell the GabeCube in retail outlets. It’ll be a Linux machine you can just plug in and use. A lot of people will buy it as a console and then realise it works fine as a PC. That’s the kind of promotion Linux needs right now.
I fear for this too but because I live where steam hardware is never sold, I have to rely on scalpers or stores who sell it for triple it’s value. I want the controller (tbh I want the vr controllers, but not the steam frame) but I don’t want to pay around $2,000 MXN for it.
I have to rely on scalpers or stores who sell it for triple it’s value. I want the controller
The 8bitdo Ultimate 2 series of controllers are fine pieces of hardware. Yes, they don’t have the trackpads but they have TMR sticks (probably the very same model as Steam Controller 2) and they are even compatible game consoles.
The biggest problem is that there are four very similarly named controllers (“Bluetooth” is the highest end and compatible with all BT devices even phones) but that’s it. No need to throw money at scalpers if good alternatives exist.
PS: If it behaves like Steam Deck’s controller, it’ll be useless without Steam running and merely acting as mouse.
Why not use a reshipping service?
Whether you like the idea of SteamOS or not, this will be the easiest way to get Linux into the mainstream for gamers. And at a time when Windows is forcing everyone to buy a new PC it really couldn’t come sooner. If Steam timed this right they could really fuck over Microsoft. I honestly can’t think of a more hilarious scenario in which Windows potentially gets dethroned.
Steam gets a lot of deserved flak for their anti-consumer practices and gambling, but it’s honestly amazing how much they can do as a company. It’s amazing the things you can accomplish when you don’t have shareholders to deal with.
While I generally agree with your overall assessment. The thing you have to understand is that Microsoft has largely written off home users. At least written them off as a concern. They are much more focused now on corporate, government, and AI. Whether or not home users remain trapped on their products, matters less to them. Compared to the other groups.
The recent revelations about meddling by Microsoft corporate into their gaming division, closing so many successful studios. Canceling massive projects. Without regard to how much time, energy and resources were poured into them. All to meet some arbitrary 30% margin of profitability. They’re betting in the short term on the other groups to keep home users trapped and helpless. And short term it will work to an extent.
But the time is right for valve to push right now regardless.
At corporate scale, migrating to Linux is a non-starter right now. Our IT had to explain to people where the “windows button” had gone and how people could find all their apps. Support had to argue with a user who had a hardware issue, but didn’t want to get a new device because it would come with Win11. Last I heard, a board member still refuses to upgrade.
So yeah, MS has the corporate world by the balls. Smaller companies might have a better shot, but might have a harder time hiring someone willing to give Calc even just a chance when all their training and experience is with Excel.
I hope Linux can gain a larger foothold on the home user market, particularly among those who only really need the browser anyway. If Valve can convince gamers that it really isn’t that big of a leap, perhaps that’s the best place to pry open MS’ grip.
It’ll be a long way to go still, but at least it looks like there’s some movement.
I’ve seen a lot of folks waiting for this to make the switch, it’s silly but having a familiar name attached to it gives them a sense of comfort, and SteamOS is solid for what it is.
I’m not a fan of its whole “read only filesystem” shenanigans and wiping things on upgrade, so I switched my Deck to CachyOS Handheld, but I acknowledge it does those for a reason, adding a safety net to the “console-like” experience for most users. Admittedly that feature may be just the thing some inexperienced users would need in order to not break the thing.
I know people (and was, once upon a time, one of them) that are really scared of accidentally breaking something. To them, being told “Don’t worry, the important bits are locked down anyway, so you couldn’t even break them” is a promise of safety. They might not strictly need it, but how would they know in advance?
(I did break things, eventually, and learned that I can fix them too, but I took a leap of faith that most users wouldn’t and probably shouldn’t dare)
I’ve seen a lot of folks waiting for this to make the switch, it’s silly but having a familiar name attached to it gives them a sense of comfort, and SteamOS is solid for what it is.
And should they be not native English speakers, they’ll wonder why the desktop is only in English, why they can’t even check the spelling of their native language. Or why playback of WebM videos glitches.
I really like my Steam Deck and actually use it as desktop PC from time to time but you can tell desktop mode is an afterthought. Traditional Linux distributions are actually a better choice for regular users. Valve luckily open sources and upstreams everything of SteamOS other than the actual Steam client, so it’s not like SteamOS has some special sauce nobody else gets.
It may limit stuff for a more technical user But for common folks? It makes it reliable, a lot reliable
It’s more reliable, but more tedious. Kind of like a walled garden, like Apple and Android phones. You can’t just go download random software and install it willy nilly like Windows. I mean you can, but that process is more involved. Flatpaks and Appimages are what most users will be limited to.
Absolutely, it is a huge drawback, but the good part of it is that the user is less prone to accidentally fuck it up.
It’s quite a trade-off, the more raw control you give to the end user, the more prone they are to breaking things. Of course, exceptions always apply, but in a “generic Joe” kind of user, it tends to follow that
Yep, exactly
It’s the bell curve meme
So much for the “I’m still running Windows because I game a lot” crowd. No more excuses, ditch Microsoft and switch to Linux!
It’s not an excuse when your favorite game only supports kernel-level anti-cheat on Windows.
If enough people stop buying those games because the developer refuses to infect your computer for you, they’ll change their tune. Money talks bullshit walks.
Many of these games are free-to-play. At least, mine is. I’m open to alternative games, but none of them scratch that itch.
Yeah at this point the anticheat of the multiplayer military fps genre really is the opiate of the masses keeping windows at the top of gaming market share. Because no OS besides windows would ever allow for something so wildly insecure.
I play the genre, in fact PUBG is one of my favorite games (Judge me as you will), but I made the decision a few years back that my control over my own computer, my privacy and security in my own home, my ideological rejection of the stranglehold microsoft has over the home PC, were all more important than my ability to play a handful of violent, samesie, DoD-funded military apologia.
I have zero regrets. I do miss PUBG from time to time. But no, in the end it wasn’t really an excuse to not switch.
There are still excuses.
I love gaming on my Steam Deck, but I’m not ready to make that PC switch yet because I don’t have the time anymore to sit and fuck around trying to get a game to run.
Protondb has a lot of old information on its thats not relevant anymore thanks to updated proton releases.
So there are a lot of games that suggest tweaks/tinkering that dont need it anymore… but people like me(random idiots that don’t have IT/Sysadmin experience to know everything about linux) still might do, because the reviews from 18 months ago say its necessary, because there arent many reviews and the one from 18 months ago is still only like 5 places down from the top.
So polls like that should be taken with a heavy grain.
That’s interesting, is there a way to filter only on “new reviews”? Actually, I’d expect proton to already be doing that, given that you have to specify which proton you’re using when rating the game
On a game’s page, it orders them by most-recent first. There’s also a filter query field at the top, but I’m not sure what the syntax for it is and I can’t seem to find information on that, but at least you’ll automatically see the newest ones first.
And if you play popular MOBAs then Windows is it.
Nah, Dota runs natively on Linux. And no other MOBAs exist, amiright.
Im okay with keeping moba players, fortnite and roblox people, and kernel level anticheat gamers off of linux if it means compromising on Linux’s part :)
deleted by creator
What MOBAs other than League of Legends are incompatible with Linux?
Still waiting for Wayland to allow global hotkeys since I use those a lot
I didn’t realize that was an issue. I used to use f13-f24 on my qmk keyboard for that but that was before wayland and I’ve been using a generic cheap trash kb after somehow losing the other one.
A friend’s response to me yet again trying to push Linux on them, all unprovoked:
“Windows is getting increasingly shit. I’ve had a login problem for most of the year on my work machine where the cloud stuff won’t sync. I can’t even use Notepad now because it’s cloud-connected. I have to use Excel in the browser for similar reasons. I’d love to be able to move to Linux for everything, but I also cannot be fucked to maintain a Windows machine let alone a Linux one haha.”
This is exactly the kind of person SteamOS is going to capture, I think. The same way, Mint helped kill that whole “my operating system is my hobby” vibe.
I’ve not used SteamOS as a desktop. I own a Steam Deck, but I do think SteamOS is nearly there as an everyday user platform. It’s just a bit more aggressive with settings resets and data overwrites compared to something like Bazzite, which makes it not great for full desktop use yet. I’ve deep dove into nix this month and been making my own tools to bounce off the way NixOS works, like tests before switches and auto uploading to GitHub made a little webui control center etc. I could see Valve doing something similar with their OS to overcome current SteamOS’s issues and improve things for an end user
Why do you think Bazzite isn’t great for full desktop use?
You mis-read or I wrote it badly, I think Bazzite is awesome for everyday desktop (see my post history) Steamos isn’t as it stood when it was an unofficial release as it was purely designed for the deck so it would do things like overwrite settings when it updated. Bazzite was the steamOS for normal everyday desktop and non-deck builds for me.
it’s fine for average users but if you really want to use it for something other than browsing or gaming you really have to use it with Distrobox. And that’s fine, bit of extra work to set up but honestly if you’re going to use something that is beyond web browsing, streaming, and gaming you’re probably going to go with a different distro anyways.
Distrobox isn’t really an option I went with for day to day, I’d use it to keep my projects and dependencies under control. Flatpak was fine, app image was fine, I actually spun up my own template after a bit https://github.com/Sirico/bazzite-dev. Beyond adding a couple of programs and theming, I couldn’t see why I’d need to be in the files silverblue/ublue lock off.
I’m now on nix because I have a lot of stuff to do at work that I was playing about with bluefin for, but nix has more support etc. Knowing that hitting the power button will get me to the desktop every morning bar a hardware issue is for me the biggest win. Making something I can just update throughout a whole fleet and doing it all within GitHub or code is a game changer. So for me immutable are no different to convent distros great for basic stuff like you said browsing etc and good for the high-end stuff it’s this middle ground where people have to learn a new way of doing something it feels like it falls apart I think.
I feel like I see this comment every time immutable distros are mentioned (of course Bazzite most of all).
Sorry but you’re wrong.
please, tell me why I’m wrong. I’m not a fan of immutable distros as I feel they’re limiting but I’d love to be convinced otherwise.
I am very excited for steamos, give me my VR capabilities on Linux and I’ll say goodbye to Windows forever.
Valve has news for you
Valve also used Windows 11 on their own demos for VR streaming to the Steam Frame
I do believe they called out that the steam machine is designed to work with the frame, right? I’d have expected to see Linux SteamVR updates leasing up to this, to get it fully fixed up and tested ahead of time, though I might also have missed something…
The ad for the Steam Frame specifically says it’s compatible with the whole Steam family, Deck, Controller, and Machine. I expect Steam Deck will only be a virtual screen, as well as it’s standalone capabilities. If that’s all it can do with the deck, that’s enough for me. If it can do VR as well, even better. Either way, the frame also runs on SteamOS, so that will be Linux, and if they can’t support streaming VR from the Machine they will be crucified.
Well I hope the new one isn’t limited to ARM chips…
I installed cachyOS and love it so far, KDE plasma is nice. Used Linux mint before. Didn’t try vr yet because my GPU died and 1060 3GB won’t run or well but I hope it will run fine thanks to steam.
Been waiting years at this point. Hope it happens soon.
This probably means we’re soon going to see third party gaming laptops with SteamOS preinstalled in electronics stores.
Soon™
If this a video about an interview why not also link the interview?
Thanks for the link. Tried to find the article before posting, but couldn’t.
