Comment on Bazzite as an alternative to SteamOS?
Qual@lemmy.world 8 months agoNot abad option. I’m thinking on just replacing Steam OS with Bazzite and use the deck as my primary gaming device en backup workstation. But I would need to see if it is viable. If not maybe just using tails and booting every time I want to do something work related would be better.
Telorand@reddthat.com 8 months ago
FWIW, I use Bazzite on a laptop and my Deck. On the Deck, it feels basically like the original SteamOS for gaming. I had to choose the “basic graphics install” version, but it was incredibly easy to set up (I recommend a dock with M+Kb). Plus, I don’t have to worry about a bad update; if something breaks,
rpm-ostree rollbackfixes it. You’re never without a functional device because of the OS.Bazzite isn’t without some compatibility issues, though. Some of the Decky plugins don’t work correctly or at all: Free Loader doesn’t send toast alerts automatically, for example, and Terminal Emulator doesn’t work at all. My guess is they’re looking for a different file structure or can’t access/modify certain things they normally would, since the OS is immutable. But some work perfectly, like the SteamGridDB plugin, and the core gaming capability feels identical.
Additionally, since it’s a community project, there’s sometimes bugs not found in SteamOS, but since the core of the OS is based on the official Fedora Kinoite (or Silverblue for Gnome), the main functions are pretty solid. Also, the devs are often very quick about fixing things and are very active.
Where it’s at in development, it feels mature but it will probably feel like a perfect 1:1 replacement in a couple more years.
Qual@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Oh. This is good to hear. To be honest SteamOS is not bad as a distro, but I would really like that added PC experience that I have with fedora gnome on my laptop. I think I’m going to do this. It seems the most good option right now and I get also a distro that is pretty similar for what I already use as my daily driver. Keeping Tails OS for other things then. Thanks bro.
Telorand@reddthat.com 8 months ago
Also, I followed the official installation video, including creating the
deckuser without a password. I’m not concerned about extra users and requiring password access, but if that’s something you are concerned about, do some extra research to make sure it will work the way you’d want.jjlinux@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I moved to Bazzite (mostly because I distro hop like a maniac) about 2 weeks ago. As you mentioned, some Dechy plugins just won’t work, but that’s not a deal breaker for me. What is getting in my nerves is having to re-pair my Stadia controllers every time they disconnect (time out, restart, wake up from sleep), so I think I’m going back to SteamOS until this bug is squashed. I haven’t decided yet.
Telorand@reddthat.com 8 months ago
Yeah, there’s a few annoying bugs for sure. The one that currently bugs me the most is when switching from Desktop back to Game Mode, the sound service often crashes, and you have to restart to fix it (I believe it’s specific to OLED devices).
Another is installing certain VPN clients doesn’t work at all, so you have to rely on being able to generate config files from the provider. In my case, that means I can’t use WireGuard, since my VPN only offers that via their client, and that’s an issue inherent to the design of the immutable OS.
Most of everything else feels like it’s working correctly, but it’s those few little snags that keep me waffling on whether I want to go back to Steam OS.
jjlinux@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
I feel you. I’m currently reinstalling SteamOS for those exact reasons. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bazzite (because I’m a huge Fedora fan), but I’ll always prioritize “it works” before anything else 😁