Steam Deck

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Bazzite as an alternative to SteamOS? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey folks. I have been playing with my steam deck oled 1 TB version for a few weeks now and I absolutely love it. Very nice device on the go. The thing is I would like to use the device as a backup workstation for some quick important work on the go when I don't have my laptop handy.

I would like to ask if Bazzite is a viable option for this. I know the deck is primarily a game console, but I want to use this beautiful thing to the best of my ability.

But what do you guys think if I replace the Steam OS with Bazzite? Should I just use Tails OS on a flash drive and then use Tails OS for work? Or is the Steam deck not yet ready to be used as a laptop backup?

Thanks in advance and I'd love to hear what you all think.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

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 rollback fixes 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.

ETA: As a replacement "laptop," desktop mode feels like any other Linux Distro and identical to if you installed Bazzite on a laptop.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Also, I followed the official installation video, including creating the deck user 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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 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 😁