Gamers Nexus might start including Linux gaming tests in their hardware reviews
Pretty exciting times ahead as Valve might finally release SteamOS to more hardware. This amount of Linux desktop coverage would be unimaginable few years ago.
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It will be great to see more PC hardware reviews with Linux in mind.
Does SteamOS offer something significant over other GNU+Linux distributions? Waiting for it to release as a catalyst to start including Linux seems a bit odd. I hope it won't be like waiting for Half Life 3.
GN could pick any Linux distro and get metrics but they'll want to be consistent and pick what will be most relevant.
For most people SteamOS will be the pick when moving away from windows pretty much entirely because it's "Valve's" OS, who are a known entity compared to "whoever makes this Bazzite thing" (or whatever other distro). This will give them more confidence to switch as they are familiar with/trust Valve to some extent and know that they're going to make sure their os works and can play games as well as can be expected on Linux. Obviously we know you can do it on other distros but switching your OS is a big change and people will want more assurance.
GN could cover performance on other distros but I think that would probably just be noise to people who are on the fence/not that interested compared to "here's how things work on Valve's SteamOS". (Also probably just provides a clear starting point and direction for GN)
Exactly this. When my brother has a problem with Windows, I just tell him this.
He doesn't let me install linux on his PC, but when I told him that Valve is coming with their own Linux distro, he said that he will try that one when it comes out.
*Of course I try to fix his windows problem when I can.
I could see him doing a deep dive video testing across several distros at some point.
That would definitely make sense for it's own video but I could see them wanting to focus on just SteamOS if they plan on having it be a regular stat when they do benchmarks
Bazzite basically is steam OS for the most part. You get generally the same experience. The only reason there is a Bazzite at all is because steam OS itself has t come to any other handhelds besides the steam deck.
They're likely to get the same kind of benchmarks from games using steam OS or Bazzite on the same hardware.
Honestly, the only outstanding thing about it is that it boots directly into Steam Big Picture with tight integration into the Stem Deck controls. Everything else is more or less standard Linux. (apart from some Deck-specific drivers that haven't been upstreamed yet)
But the standard Linux parts are great because it means that it can (and is) easily copied into other distros and that you can also use a standard Linux distro on the Deck.
So I'd say it's only suited for consoles where you don't need a full fledged desktop.
It's immutable too, no?
Yeah, but there are tons of those.
Level1techs already does on a separate channel, they're friends with Gamer's Nexus, and met up in person recently. I'd bet that's the inspiration haha.
Does SteamOS offer something significant over other GNU+Linux distributions?
It's pre-installed on the device and pre-configured. If you can configure and troubleshoot a GNU+Linux system I don't think it has anything unique to offer to you. The thing where it boots directly into Steam big picture mode should be implementable on other distros as well. But most people can't or don't want to learn how to set up a Linux distro so it's actually a big deal for the average gamer. It's also made by a big corporation that people already trust, which might be something Gamers Nexus feels more comfortable implicitly endorsing by including it as a platform for their benchmarks.
SteamOS is fantastic for someone like me who wants a pc gaming rig that just plays games. I want it to be functionally a jacked up console. I don’t have time to sit around tinkering and dealing with drivers and all that. I want to set it to auto update, leave it in gaming mode (big picture mode on desktop I guess?), and just enjoy it.
Consistent support by a quality, professional, largely well-behaved company. Less bullshit, less tweaking, more of a “it just works” experience. The moment an updated steamOS properly drops for desktops I’m building a PC for it.