Yeah but that lock down is just there to protect most users. Afaik it doesn’t require any heavy workarounds?
Comment on Steam Machine
tunetardis@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
Yes, Steam Machine is optimized for gaming, but it’s still your PC. Install your own apps, or even another operating system. Who are we to tell you how to use your computer?
I wonder if this means it’s less locked down the Deck? Like is it kind of an iPad vs Mac situation? When I got the Deck and it was my only CPU travelling around at one point, I tried installing some general tools so I could get some actual work done on the road. Things were fairly heavily sandboxed, though nothing was a total deal-breaker I guess?
rollerbang@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
darkreader2636@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
yeah you can just dualboot another non-atomic distro and call it a day
MystValkyrie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Curious about this too. Desktop Mode is horrible on Deck. You can’t install apps from the command line because they just get deleted on every update, including CUPS which made printing a huge hassle. You have to jump through hoops to get it to mount an external hard drive automatically. I could never get Discord voice or video chats to actually work. But if you install a separate distro, you lose out on the performance settings that are locked to Game Mode.
I’d love to use this as a dedicated desktop PC too, so I’m hoping Valve will finally fine-tune Desktop mode so people can actually use it. Maybe they could even let us boot directly into Desktop Mode this time?
SparroHawc@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
FYI the way to get around updates deleting everything is to build a flatpak with the things you want, and then install that.
Harbinger01173430@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That would all work when using a regular Linux distro like mint or ubuntu
cron@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
It will run on Steam OS like the steam deck is.
If you have troubles with its protections (like the non-writeable system partition), you can just disable them.
lepinkainen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You do know you can boot up to a full-ass Linux on the deck?
Afaik that side has zero sandboxes