bioemerl

Person saying it is probably a teenager

They might not be, but they certainly can't stop him or any future incarnations.

SteamOS on Deck is only so stable because everyone has the exact same hardware,

For the most part windows does it fine too.

And even then there have been problems with SteamOS on Deck big enough that it made some have to re-image the OS entirely

You're going to see some issues when something ships hundreds of thousands of products, but the difference is when someone has a problem with the steam deck it's going to generally be an exception.

When someone has a problem with your custom Linux build? That's generally the rule.

I use Lenox all the time, so I can say this pretty confidently. A few weeks ago I tried to disable ipv6 on Ubuntu. After doing that the Wi-Fi program crashed every time I tried to make a connection and I had to go into the files and delete all of the configs.

You're not into just basic stuff like that all the time with any Linux build or stuff just breaks. Something like the steam deck that is so tightly controlled and managed by a third party company that is going to be way more rare in the system is going to be way more reliable.

The OS being bug-free on valves hardware absolutely does not mean it will be on whatever you’re chucking beneath your TV.

Not necessarily, but it's going to be a lot more likely to with the reduced scope and the fact that you have valve, able to do real testing and validation and give you supported hardware.

And, you’re still wrong, what you said, is that SteamOS is “more powerful”. It’s not, it’s objectively less capable than most linux distros

At that point you're just nitpicking and confusing what exactly I meant by power.

When I said more powerful, I refer to the fact that the steamos is built from the ground up to be nothing but a controller based interface with absolutely no dependency on mouse or keyboard.

More powerful in the context of being an under the TV set box, and in the fact that it's a digital built from the ground up, supported by an actual company, it's far more useful and capable as an under the TV set box than any other Linux alternative.

If you're defining power as the ability to open up a shell and do whatever the heck you want, you're describing a trait that is entirely and fully negative when it comes to having a computer under your TV. You can't say a big buff guy is a powerful swimmer because he can lift weights.

Hot take.

Memes are common things that have existed as long as humans have.

Historians of the future will not only understand our memes easily, but because they're (hopefully) more advanced future humans with better technology and culture they'll be sharing memes that put ours to shame.

They're not going to be confused.

They're going to cringe.

Except SteamOS is also just “a linux box running steam”

You can basically count on this as a rule, whenever you're saying something reductive like this, You are probably missing something really critical.

In this case that critical thing you're missing is ease of use and support.

I'm not putting a Linux distro under my couch because I know that almost as a fact that computer will break in some strange way, and I will have to dig that stupid thing out from under my TV, plug it into some stupid monitor keyboard and mouse, and fix it by following a guide on Google, reinstall the operating system to whatever the hot flavor of the month that actually has developer support is, that sort of thing.

But I would happily install steam OS, because I know I would drop steam OS on that box and it would just work for however long valve has a successful hardware line, which at this point I think is going to be a decade given the success of the steam deck.

The lack of flexibility is power when it comes to use as a console. "You can do the same" isn't true when the desire is to have a no bullshit "just works" experience with minimal setup.

In fact doing some things on the deck is more tricky because it’s limited to installing flatpaks.

That's the advantage. A PC with a layer on top is a PC with a layer on top. It still wants you to have a mouse and keyboard. You still have to update it like a normal desktop PC.

Steam OS is controller and controller only. It's a no bullshit durable system designed to be put on a box and just leave it that way.

You can do the same things, but I'm not putting a norma lLinux box running steam under my TV.

"I'm sorry TSA officer, it's clearly frozen so I can bring it on the plane"

According to the TSA frozen water is allowed past so long as it is totally frozen and not slushy and has no water at the bottom of the container. Basically make sure it's really damn cold before you leave and hope it doesn't melt on you.

Yes