Valve's Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3.0 to be Available to Public as a Standalone Distribution

AleksandarK · Nov 15, 2021

As Valve is preparing to launch its handheld gaming console called Steam Deck, the company is investing a lot of resources into the software side of things. Powering the console is the company's custom SteamOS distribution, a modification of Arch Linux in today's form. In previous releases, Valve has been pushing its SteamOS as a modification of Debian Linux. However, that version didn't get updated in over two years, and the last release happened with version 2.195. When the Steam Deck console lands in the consumer's hands, we are supposed to see a new version of SteamOS, called SteamOS 3.0, become available for the public to download as any standalone Linux distribution.

With the release of 3.0, the company is switching to a rolling release OS embedded with bells and whistles to make gaming on Linux a viable option. All that is needed to fire up Steam and start gaming is already pre-installed, and you can get the same Steam Deck experience on your PC or any device that can run Linux. The moment this becomes available to the public, we will update you with more information.

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Mussels · Nov 15, 2021

I'll happily throw this on my laptop if i can do steam streaming from my desktop to it

Space Lynx · Nov 15, 2021

This is great news, I hope it has native freesync / gsync support built in. Linux Mint does now...

Mussels · Nov 15, 2021

lynx29 said:
This is great news, I hope it has native freesync / gsync support built in. Linux Mint does now...

Seriously? Mint is going up in the world

employee24601 · Nov 15, 2021

Mussels said:
Seriously? Mint is going up in the world

+1!

zlobby · Nov 15, 2021

Good luck with the drivers on the PC side.

Ferrum Master · Nov 15, 2021

This is so wrong and useless on many fronts.

KDE + Wayland isn't ready yet. It is quite useless atm you have to use raw betas, that are unstable also. The combinations of what works and doesn't. The video driver binary blobs.. ugh... it looks ugly tbh.

While AMD has released UEFI CPPC2 CPU driver code in September, it ain't really shipping into mainstream kernel yet... Linux doesn't know which cores to boost it you have Ryzen 5000+ CPU.

5 o'clock Charlie · Nov 15, 2021

I have not followed SteamOS since it's inception. I recalled the OS was based on the Debian kernel from the start. When did they switch to Arch Linux?

Ferrum Master · Nov 15, 2021

5 o'clock Charlie said:
I have not followed SteamOS since it's inception. I recalled the OS was based on the Debian kernel from the start. When did they switch to Arch Linux?

Dude kernel is a kernel, distro is a distro.

Ravenas · Nov 15, 2021

I'm ready. There are some proprietary drivers included with their distro. I have been using Manjaro for a while now, will switch once 3.0 clockwerk is made available. Arch based will give them more control of their distro, versus debian based rolling releasing and lack of control.

AMD open-source drivers are amazing, and I'm getting better average FPS than on Windows 11 / 10. I'm glad they switch to Arch, pacman AUR is the way of the future, and giving users the option to choose kernel is great. I prefer KDE over gnome as well, although any user could download gnome DE if they choose.

For Linux beginners, there are some advantages to apt based because of the vast documentation out there. Pop_OS! is a great Linux distro to start with, the strict systemd approach they take will drive some crazy for not using grub.

Thribits · Nov 15, 2021

5 o'clock Charlie said:
I have not followed SteamOS since it's inception. I recalled the OS was based on the Debian kernel from the start. When did they switch to Arch Linux?

The Kernel is mostly the same for all distros.

It was based on Debian in the past but i partially died off because valve gave up on developing it. For the Steam Deck they changed it to being arch based.

Ravenas · Nov 15, 2021

Thribits said:
The Kernel is mostly the same for all distros.

It was based on Debian in the past but i partially died off because valve gave up on developing it. For the Steam Deck they changed it to being arch based.

Valve stopped at version 2.195 as far as releases (the last debian based update). There was a version bump recorded in April 2019 & July 2019 after I posted an issue https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues/674 from 2.194 to 2.195. Months later GamerOS was forked.

Valve has not given up on development, 3.0 has been in development since mid 2019 at least. The repositories were being updated with Clockwerk since that time.

Nordic · Nov 15, 2021

The really exciting piece about the steam deck is not the hardware, but the software. Valve is making gaming on Linux enjoyable, not the semi functional mess it used to be. There is still a lot of room to grow Linux gaming.

Ferrum Master · Nov 15, 2021

Nordic said:
There is still a lot of room to grow Linux gaming.

For sure...

Lucas_ · Nov 15, 2021

Ferrum Master said:
For sure...

View attachment 225262

hahaha. nice one.

R-T-B · Nov 15, 2021

Thribits said:
The Kernel is mostly the same for all distros.

No, not really. Some lag way behind. Arch is more cutting edge.

Ravenas · Nov 15, 2021

R-T-B said:
No, not really. Some lag way behind. Arch is more cutting edge.

You can regress. Some custom kernels contain different things such a power management changes.

R-T-B · Nov 15, 2021

Ravenas said:
You can regress. Some custom kernels contain different things such a power management changes.

Yes, there are custom patches as well. That really just drives my point home that all kernels are not the same though.

Ferrum Master · Nov 15, 2021

R-T-B said:
Yes, there are custom patches as well. That really just drives my point home that all kernels are not the same though.

Those are the best... making nvidia binaries more broken than they are already

I don't even want to start whining about it... it is what it is.

At current point, I cannot even boot a stable LIVE image release of my distro, I've used Fedora for years and currently KDE+Wayland+nvidia even on nouveau cause me system freeze. I had to fall back to Gnome. So the Steam OS release kinda surprises me. Well I don't know... maybe it doesn't use Wayland and it is safe... for a while at least. But as the Ryzen 5000 aware scheduler is still MIA, putting it on the real deck HW would be a disaster at current moment. I haven't poked my eyes for upstream changes in upcoming kernel thou, maybe it is included.

I wouldn't touch Ubuntu, it had made me sad so many times in the past... IMHO Father Torvalds even never had installed it, he was joking that almost once had to do it... almost.

R-T-B · Nov 15, 2021

Ferrum Master said:
Those are the best... making nvidia binaries more broken than they are already I don't even want to start whining about it... it is what it is.

At current point, I cannot even boot a stable LIVE image release of my distro, I've used Fedora for years and currently KDE+Wayland+nvidia even on nouveau cause me system freeze. I had to fall back to Gnome. So the Steam OS release kinda surprises me. Well I don't know... maybe it doesn't use Wayland and it is safe... for a while at least. But as the Ryzen 5000 aware scheduler is still MIA, putting it on the real deck HW would be a disaster at current moment. I haven't poked my eyes for upstream changes in upcoming kernel thou, maybe it is included.

I wouldn't touch Ubuntu, it had made me sad so many times in the past... IMHO Father Torvalds even never had installed it, he was joking that almost once had to do it... almost.

nvidia and wayland are horrid bed partners. AMD works fine, or at least better.

Ferrum Master · Nov 16, 2021

Mhm...

zlobby · Nov 16, 2021

R-T-B said:
No, not really. Some lag way behind. Arch is more cutting edge.

In software 'cutting edge' often is a synonym with 'insufficiently tested' and 'don't deploy on mission critical systems'.

R-T-B · Nov 16, 2021

zlobby said:
In software 'cutting edge' often is a synonym with 'insufficiently tested' and 'don't deploy on mission critical systems'.

Didn't say otherwise.

zlobby · Nov 16, 2021

Ferrum Master said:
Those are the best... making nvidia binaries more broken than they are already I don't even want to start whining about it... it is what it is.

At current point, I cannot even boot a stable LIVE image release of my distro, I've used Fedora for years and currently KDE+Wayland+nvidia even on nouveau cause me system freeze. I had to fall back to Gnome. So the Steam OS release kinda surprises me. Well I don't know... maybe it doesn't use Wayland and it is safe... for a while at least. But as the Ryzen 5000 aware scheduler is still MIA, putting it on the real deck HW would be a disaster at current moment. I haven't poked my eyes for upstream changes in upcoming kernel thou, maybe it is included.

I wouldn't touch Ubuntu, it had made me sad so many times in the past... IMHO Father Torvalds even never had installed it, he was joking that almost once had to do it... almost.

And this is in short why Linux is far from the OS for the general PC user. More so, it even makes it vulnerable to predatory practices like M$' EEE.

Ferrum Master · Nov 16, 2021

zlobby said:
In software 'cutting edge' often is a synonym with 'insufficiently tested' and 'don't deploy on mission critical systems'.

The attenuation to word Cutting... fingers

zlobby said:
And this is in short why Linux is far from the OS for the general PC user. More so, it even makes it vulnerable to predatory practices like M$' EEE.

For sure... and nothing signals it will be different.

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	7800X3D -25 all core
Motherboard	B650 Steel Legend
Cooling	Frost Commander 140
Memory	32gb ddr5 (2x16) cl 30 6000
Video Card(s)	Merc 310 7900 XT @3100 core
Display(s)	Agon 27" QD-OLED Glossy 240hz 1440p
Case	NZXT H710 (Red/Black)

System Name	Rainbow Sparkles (Power efficient, <350W gaming load)
Processor	Ryzen R7 5800x3D (Undervolted, 4.45GHz all core)
Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
Cooling	Alphacool Apex UV - Alphacool Eisblock XPX Aurora + EK Quantum ARGB 3090 w/ active backplate
Memory	2x32GB DDR4 3600 Corsair Vengeance RGB @3866 C18-22-22-22-42 TRFC704 (1.4V Hynix MJR - SoC 1.15V)
Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
Display(s)	Phillips 32 32M1N5800A (4k144), LG 32" (4K60) \| Gigabyte G32QC (2k165) \| Phillips 328m6fjrmb (2K144)
Case	Fractal Design R6
Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

System Name	5800X3D-RTX3090
Processor	Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master
Cooling	Phanteks Glacier One 360MP D-RGB AIO
Memory	64GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz CL16 DDR4
Video Card(s)	nVidia RTX 3090 Founders Edition
Storage	4 x 4TB WD SN850X M.2 NVMe
Display(s)	27" IPS @ 144hz, G-Sync
Case	Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X - Anthracite Grey
Audio Device(s)	Speakers: Razer Leviathan v1 \| Audio ICs and codecs: ALC1220-VB, ESS SABRE9118 DAC, & DTS:X Ultra
Power Supply	1300W Seasonic Prime PX 80+
Mouse	Razer Basilisk Ultimate
Keyboard	Razer Blackwidow Elite
VR HMD	Valve Index, Oculus Rift S
Software	Win10 Pro

System Name	HELLSTAR
Processor	AMD RYZEN 9 5950X
Motherboard	ASUS Strix X570-E
Cooling	2x 360 + 280 rads. 3x Gentle Typhoons, 3x Phanteks T30, 2x TT T140 . EK-Quantum Momentum Monoblock.
Memory	4x8GB G.SKILL Trident Z RGB F4-4133C19D-16GTZR 14-16-12-30-44
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse RX 7900XTX. Water block. Crossflashed.
Storage	Optane 900P[Fedora] + WD BLACK SN850X 4TB + 750 EVO 500GB + 1TB 980PRO+SN560 1TB(W11)
Display(s)	Philips PHL BDM3270 + Acer XV242Y
Case	Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO
Audio Device(s)	SMSL RAW-MDA1 DAC
Power Supply	Fractal Design Newton R3 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk
Keyboard	Razer BlackWidow V3 - Yellow Switch
Software	FEDORA 41

Valve's Arch Linux-based SteamOS 3.0 to be Available to Public as a Standalone Distribution

AleksandarK

News Editor

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

Space Lynx

Astronaut

Mussels

Freshwater Moderator

employee24601

zlobby

Ferrum Master

5 o'clock Charlie

Ferrum Master

Ravenas

Thribits

New Member

Ravenas

Nordic

Ferrum Master

Lucas_

R-T-B

Ravenas

R-T-B

Ferrum Master

R-T-B

Ferrum Master

zlobby

R-T-B

zlobby

Ferrum Master

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5900X
Motherboard	MSI MAG B550 Mortar
Cooling	ARCTIC COOLING Liquid Freezer II 240
Memory	G.SKILL Flare X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200
Video Card(s)	EVGA GeForce GTX 2080 FTW3 Ultra, 08G-P4-2287-KR, 8GB GDDR6
Storage	1 x Samsung 980 PRO 500G \| 1 x Mushkin Enhanced Pilot-E M.2 2280 2TB \| 2 x 1TB WD10EADS
Display(s)	1 x ASUS ROG PG259QNR, 1 x Dell ST2421L
Case	Lian Li O11D MINI-X
Audio Device(s)	SteelSeries Arctis 5
Power Supply	Seasonic FOCUS SGX-650, 650W
Mouse	Mionix NAOS QG
Keyboard	SteelSeries Apex Pro
Software	Windows 10 Pro 21H1

System Name	AM5
Processor	AMD Ryzen R9 7950X
Motherboard	Asrock X670E Taichi
Cooling	EK AIO Basic 360
Memory	Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600 64 Gb - XMP1 Profile
Video Card(s)	AMD Reference 7900 XTX 24 Gb
Storage	Crucial Gen 5 1 TB, Samsung Gen 4 980 1 TB / Samsung 8TB SSD
Display(s)	Samsung 34" 240hz 4K
Case	Fractal Define R7
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME PX-1300, 1300W 80+ Platinum, Full Modular

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

System Name	Alucard
Processor	M2 Pro 14"
Motherboard	Apple thingy all together
Cooling	no Need
Memory	32 Shared Memory
Video Card(s)	30 units
Storage	1 TB
Display(s)	Acer 2k 170Hz, Benq 4k HDR
Mouse	Logictech M3
Keyboard	Logictech M3
Software	MacOs / Ubuntu

System Name	Pioneer
Processor	Ryzen R9 9950X
Motherboard	GIGABYTE Aorus Elite X670 AX
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 + A whole lotta Sunon and Corsair Maglev blower fans...
Memory	64GB (4x 16GB) G.Skill Flare X5 @ DDR5-6000 CL30
Video Card(s)	XFX RX 7900 XTX Speedster Merc 310
Storage	Intel 905p Optane 960GB boot, +2x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs
Display(s)	55" LG 55" B9 OLED 4K Display
Case	Thermaltake Core X31
Audio Device(s)	TOSLINK->Schiit Modi MB->Asgard 2 DAC Amp->AKG Pro K712 Headphones or HDMI->B9 OLED
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti Pro 850W
Mouse	Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless
Keyboard	WASD Code v3 with Cherry Green keyswitches + PBT DS keycaps
Software	Gentoo Linux x64 / Windows 11 Enterprise IoT 2024