this post was submitted on 05 Jul 2024
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Steam Deck

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Bazzite is an alternative OS to SteamOS for the deck and other handheld PCs. Unfortunately due to a mistake, anyone who installed Bazzite before July 3rd 2024 won't get automatic updates.

If this affects you, I'd suggest checking out the article to get instructions on fixing it.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 4 months ago (5 children)

Is there a benefit in using it over the default OS?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago (1 children)

It has all the advantages of steamOS, can boot straight into game mode, supports Decky plugins, etc.

However it also supports installing traditional Linux programs permanently (which steam OS generally won't let you do), and has other benefits too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Does it also have the power-limiting features?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Yes and they apply while the device is off too.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Because it's based on fedora atomic it uses rpm-ostree, which lets you layer packages to persist between updates. Good for stuff that isn't available as a flatpak or doesn't work as well when installed as a flatpak. Beyond that not much, maybe if someone doesn't trust Valve with their OS?

On SteamOS you can still kind of have non-flatpak packages persist by using distrobox. ~~It's still a sandbox, just one that has~~ a bit more latitude in what you can install than a flatpak.

edit: distrobox seems more integrated with the host OS than I thought

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Yep, distrobox is a wrapper for Podman, which is also installed by default.

But I agree, there's actually not a ton of functional difference between SteamOS and Bazzite, unless you want/need to use your Deck like a laptop. If you are only doing gaming, SteamOS is actually the better choice, because Valve has patches and modifications that aren't yet included in upstream that maximize the hardware's capabilities and stability.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Their GitHub has everything you'd want to know.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Build Bazzite | failing I guess so.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

That really doesn't mean much.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Unless you're planning on building from latest source, that info isn't for you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Including the xone kernel driver for proprietary Xbox dongles is quite nice
(you can connect Xbox gamepads via bluetooth but that will often times give you a higher input lag for Xbox pads anyway)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

main one for me is installing software from distro repos that aren't in flatpak and having it persist through updates.