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Valve Steam Deck

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Re: Valve Steam Deck

#731

Post by hugosbaseball »

qznc wrote: post #714
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

There are different kinds of stability. For Debian it means version numbers stay the same as much as possible. For Arch it means software does not crash because bugs get fixed in newer versions.

> For Arch it means software does not crash because bugs get fixed in newer versions.

....what. That is not how OS stability works.

Also, Arch is nearly impossible to use in production environments.

Let's say there is a vulnerability discovered in the version of lighttpd you're running in your production environment. On Debian, you pull that package, do some testing, and you're done.

On Arch? It's a rolling release distro. They're continuously updating everything, including system libraries. You can easily end up in a situation where getting a security bugfix means you have to update nearly the entire OS thanks to it being built against updated core system libraries.

Like Gentoo it's one of those OSs that is cool for linux nerds and a headache for people who actually need to practice proper systems engineering.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#732

Post by dylan604 »

qznc wrote: post #714
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

There are different kinds of stability. For Debian it means version numbers stay the same as much as possible. For Arch it means software does not crash because bugs get fixed in newer versions.

>For Debian it means version numbers stay the same as much as possible.

I would call that stagnant rather than stable. If a version of software remains the same with the same bugs/issues not getting resolved, that seems unstable to me. Yes, not crashing could also be considered stable as well.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#733

Post by pkulak »

vially wrote: post #386

I'm going to buy this just to support Valve for their continued support in making Linux desktop a viable gaming platform. Their reasons may not be entirely altruistic, but there's no doubt that they had a tremendous impact on the Linux gaming ecosystem. And it's not just the Linux gamers that are benefiting from their work. They also seem to be doing good work on lower-level parts of the stack (e.g.: graphic drivers,…

Apparently they are working with anti-cheat makers to get those games working on Linux before release? This honestly seems like the best news for Linux gaming... ever.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#734

Post by swalsh »

voxl wrote: post #663
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

I highly recommend staying away from Arch and NixOS if you're not ready to commit upwards of 30% of your work and free time fixing and tweaking your box. I've tried both, Arch Linux will routinely hose your entire install if you don't carefully read the update notes every time (even if most of the time there is no call to action for you). Unless it has changed, this is still the expectation of users. NixOS promises s…

Also an Arch user, I've saved countless hours running it. I tried Ubuntu, Fedora, and Suse. Arch has given me the least amount of problems.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#735

Post by dygd »

ds wrote: post #198
tyingq wrote: post #80

Pretty nice specs for a handheld battery powered device... Processor AMD APU CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32) GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32) APU power: 4-15W RAM 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s) Storage 64 GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1) 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) 512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) All models include high-speed microSD card slot Though it does weigh 669 gra…

Im not sure how apples to oranges it is, but a GTX 980 (Released in 2014) has 5 TFlops. Genuinely curious how powerful this might be for GPU intensive games. (Call of Duty, Rust, etc..) Maybe this is equivalent to something like a MX-150 or GTX1050? Should be totally fine for Valves games though (CSGO, TF2, Etc..)

It also allows developers to target and optimize performance for this specific device (or family of devices). Won't be surprised to see games having a Steam Deck "mode" in the future.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#736

Post by mlindner »

rasz wrote: post #700
mrzimmerman wrote: post #665

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same. I already have $1,100 saved for a gaming PC, but since that might only buy a GPU right now I’ll just jump into this and hopefully wait out the GPU crunch.

This thing has GPU 2x weaker than 8 year old GTX 760. You might as well buy one used for $100.

That's not really true because of the advancements in compute technology and energy efficiency since then. It'll definitely use a lot less energy than a GTX 760 at the very least.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#737

Post by Normal_gaussian »

X6S1x6Okd1st wrote: post #596
jalgos_eminator wrote: post #247

Everyone is talking about gaming, but do you guys think this could be a laptop replacement? I've been intrigued by docking tablets for years now, but haven't found one I like yet (that can run linux well, so no Surface). I like the tablet form factor for web browsing and watching videos, but nearly all the tablets are too phone-like to get real work done. I don't actually play games much anymore, but do people actual…

Honestly full linux desktop in a handheld form factor is pretty attractive. One of the biggest pain points of linux laptops is getting the drivers right. That being said The screen is quite small if you are dealing with text & while you can do some typing with the steam controller you won't want to do too much. If your general set up is doing a tiny bit of work while away from a dock (with mouse + keyboard + monitor)…

I'm thinking this looks fantastic. I can dock it at home and in the office, its powerful enough to do a lot of dev work locally, and I can just VNC to my home/office server when I need more beef like I do with my laptop. So - first pass, the same as a laptop.

Second pass, anti-glare ok-nits screen means I can use it outside. Format means I can use it on the fortnightly train. Whilst I don't want to code with it without being docked I can review, plan, read, have meetings, and make minor edits + run tests while sitting in the garden.

Having meetings outside will probably be the best use of time and justify the spend.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#738

Post by hu3 »

jalgos_eminator wrote: post #247

Everyone is talking about gaming, but do you guys think this could be a laptop replacement? I've been intrigued by docking tablets for years now, but haven't found one I like yet (that can run linux well, so no Surface). I like the tablet form factor for web browsing and watching videos, but nearly all the tablets are too phone-like to get real work done. I don't actually play games much anymore, but do people actual…

This video gets my hopes up. You can see it's a desktop with taskbar, browser etc.

https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steamdeck/images/vide...

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#739

Post by COGlory »

voxl wrote: post #663
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

I highly recommend staying away from Arch and NixOS if you're not ready to commit upwards of 30% of your work and free time fixing and tweaking your box. I've tried both, Arch Linux will routinely hose your entire install if you don't carefully read the update notes every time (even if most of the time there is no call to action for you). Unless it has changed, this is still the expectation of users. NixOS promises s…

You spend upwards of 33 hours per week maintaining your Arch/NixOS system?

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#740

Post by PeterHolzwarth »

alpaca128 wrote: post #311
dantondwa wrote: post #184

And so, this is what Proton was for. Hope this is a success, as the success of Linux as a gaming platform is strictly linked to the success of this. It does look very appealing: it could become a Switch with the whole PC library available. Damn cool.

I hope so too, and I think this time Valve has a much higher chance of success. When they launched the Steam machines it was almost guaranteed to fail. The Linux ecosystem wasn't there yet and the prices weren't competitive. But now with Proton most problems I have are caused by hardware/driver incompatibilities. Which is exactly what Valve can get rid of by launching their own hardware which is actually built and te…

> When they launched the Steam machines it was almost guaranteed to fail.

Too true. Steam Machines solved a problem for Valve (existential fear of a Windows store built into Windows), but didn't really solve any problem for the bulk of their customers (existing windows users).

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