SteamOS is Debian Wheezy based! Using Gnome 3 and X Server.

From what I can understand you can't dual boot with SteamOS because the only way to install it is by having the installer FORMAT YOUR HARD DRIVE.

Basically it's a system restore image, not a ISO with system files.

So unless someone has a spare PC (or at least a spare hard disk) which meets the system requirements the only other option would be a Virtual Machine with a PCI passthrough but this possibility is really beyond my limited abilities.
 
Cool, I remember Daniel trying to run Debian. He had a hard time getting PlayOnLinux to run.
I wonder why they didn't go Ubuntu when it was the Distro they recommended for Steam?
 
My biggest question (of course) is... can you install PlayOnLinux and play your Windows games?
 
Personally I don't think SteamOS is suited for much else than running Steam. Now I have not tried it so I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling they made this distro for that purpose alone. And since we already have Linux Steam, I don't see the need to switch so SteamOS. The way I understand it, is they wanted to make a distro specifically suited for a gaming console to run Steam.

Personally I am quite happy that they chose to base it on Debian. Now my opinion here is very biased, but I think Ubuntu is doing the wrong thing to develop their own window server, mir instead of going along with wayland. I have read many that regard certain decisions made by Canonical to stray too far from the rest of the Linux ecosystem. I am happy that Valve decided to not tag along with that.
 
When you put it that way... its the perfect solution for Steam.
Why have all of those other services and dependencies to run an operating system?
They setup it up just right. A dedicated Operating System just for running Steam games.
Kinda like ChromeOS
If everything works out so the video drivers and audio drivers are installed and updated painlessly, then it's going to be a successful system.

The nice option for us is that we can build a small gaming computer dedicated to Steam.
If my friend only plays games on Steam and wants a simple box just for that... this is a perfect option.

Obviously I am going to stick with my Mint Box because it can play Steam games and a lot more...
 
You have access to the full Debian repos, so you can install anything you want. So yeah you could install PoL from the repos. It is in its early stages, I'll watch it and maybe give it a try at a little later date.
 
It makes perfect sense for SteamOS to be a striped-down linux with just the stuff needed to run Steam games (rather like Windows on the XBox, actually).

I also rather suspect that people who modify their SteamOS install with stuff from the Debian repos will find themselves 'unsupported' by Valve if they have issues. I mean, the main raison d'etre for having a dedicated operating system for Steam games is so that you know what the environment looks like.
 
It makes perfect sense for SteamOS to be a striped-down linux with just the stuff needed to run Steam games
Click to expand...

IMHO it makes sense only as the OS of the Steam Machine; with such a configuration on a separate partition you would be forced to dual-boot with another Linux OS for most other non gaming activities.

Personally I would install Steam OS on my main PC only if there is a significance performance booster over today's Steam for Linux, but I am interested in a Steam controller, provided it proves to be better than the standard console gamepads.
 
graywolf.theheathen said:
You have access to the full Debian repos, so you can install anything you want. So yeah you could install PoL from the repos. It is in its early stages, I'll watch it and maybe give it a try at a little later date.
Click to expand...
Really?
I'll remember that...
Hopefully someone will give Wine or PlayOnLinux a run and see what it can do.
Since the OS is "stripped-down" for gaming purposes, then I have a feeling games in PlayOnLinux may run even better.
 
On my second (and much older) desktop I use, among others, Crunchbang which is based on Debian 7 and despite operating only with a Window Manager (Openbox) and without a full Desktop Environment, I think the performance of games in POL is only marginally (if at all) better than XFCE, LXDE or even Gnome Shell on the same hardware.

Of course I understand that Crunchbang is not stripped-down, but it is considered everywhere on the tech sites I visit to be blazingly fast.
 
Yeah it is nice and fast. I used Crunchbang for a while and in some ways it is faster. But as far as game performance I really didn't notice any real boost. So I'm back to using Cinnamon as my DE, which I really like.
 
Ditto!
I only use Openbox if a game is struggling for frame rates.
Otherwise, most of my games are running at 1860x1050 in Cinnamon
 
Yes smarty pants! :p
My Mint machine has a 20 in monitor and doesn't support HD... kinda sucks, but I have two of em, so that makes up for it.
 
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