this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I would consider the steamdeck to be a linux desktop if someone is browsing the internet on it.
I agree, but it's definitely marketed as a gaming console of a sort, and not really marketed as a full-fledged PC.
So, imho, that technically skewers the numbers a bit, as it's not a "desktop" in the traditional sense.
I mean, I'm still not calling 2023 the "Year of the Linux Desktop." I'm calling it the "Year of the Portable Linux Gaming Console."
The growth in percentage in Linux in Steam metrics is almost entirely because the Steam Deck.
As stated from official Valve's page https://www.steamdeck.com/en/oled
"Use your Deck as a PC, because it is one." So Valve did market it as a PC and it's one of the reasons I bought one more than a year ago. And it's really my desktop (that I bring with me to places occasionally)c
When you are using the steamdeck in handheld mode there is no web browser unless configured from desktop mode. The desktop on the steamdeck is no different to my computer therefore I don't think it's fair to wave it off as a console. It's far closer to a pc than a console.
Ehhh, you have to spend money on a decent dock to be able to use it with any consistency as a desktop. Sure, software-wise, it's not a console, it plays PC games.
However, it's physical form factor is a console. It looks and functions out of the box far more like a Nintendo Switch than a IBM ThinkPad.
It's literally a gamepad with a screen and no keyboard or mouse. So despite being a PC platform, I would still consider this a "console," based on outward-facing form factor alone, personally.
That's a fair point. Since we are talking about linux os share, the software that's running on the device is more important to me than the form factor. What's running on my steamdeck is so close to what's running on my desktop pc that when I'm browsing the web on my steamdeck I'd consider myself browsing on linux rather than browsing on specifcally steam os.
You cant be sure, Valve pushing Steam Deck and Proton is what made me switch to Linux as lot of games now works but I haven't bought a Steam deck