Arch Linux as SteamOS?

AdamT · 2014-10-03 02:17:29

Howdy all,

I have been quite busy the last year or so and took a break from Arch Linux, but with Borderlands 2 gaining GNU/Linux support (and SteamOS) a day or two ago I immediately installed SteamOS to give it a try.

While it is certainly a bit buggy, I do enjoy how tightly integrated Steam and relevant compatibilities are currently setup. At the same time I would love to get the same setup with Arch Linux (while also further customizing my system and using Btrfs) if at all possible. As, for a general purpose OS, Debian stable definitely has some drawbacks from my perspective and for my usage.

Part of the reason for my post here is I am having trouble sourcing information on exactly what SteamOS has changed compared to vanilla Debian Wheezy. I noted the SteamOS AUR packages, but I want to make sure I can get the full set of changes before I spend the time trying to get a perfect Arch Linux "SteamOS" setup going.

Anyway, that is the gist of it. If anyone has any insight or can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it. I got spoiled on Arch's documentation and I am having a hard time finding anything as coherent for SteamOS.

Here is where I have looked so far:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Steam
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/?O=0&K=steamos
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamu … ussions/1/
(Edit)
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamu … 462768036/ <-- Feedback from an Archer regarding potential speed boost compared to SteamOS and insights about general compatibility.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamu … 741989999/ <-- FAQ with major changes, maybe these are the only ones to be concerned with?

Thanks,

Last edited by AdamT (2014-10-03 02:21:10)

DarkCerberus · 2014-10-14 10:03:11

As far as I'm aware if I've read this correctly if you're wanting Arch Linux to be like SteamOS then try and copy what SteamOS does - from what I've seen on SteamOS for the desktop it uses GNOME 3 fallback however you could try to set-up an account on your system like the one on SteamOS called "steam" and have it automatically enter Steam Big Picture Mode doing this maybe possible - other users may know how to do it. As with the SteamOS packages in AUR you could technically take ownership of the packages if it's orphaned or at least create a separate package - the ones which I've tried like the steamos-compositor didn't compile as well as it should if you have knowledge on how to fix it then go ahead and create another package on AUR with your version.

As with what graphics card to use I would technically recommend using the proprietary drivers though that's my opinion....

jasonwryan · 2014-10-14 16:14:29

Moving to Multimedia & Games...

WorMzy · 2014-10-14 16:33:39

AdamT wrote:

As, for a general purpose OS, Debian stable definitely has some drawbacks from my perspective and for my usage.

Just as an aside, SteamOS isn't designed to be a general purpose OS. It is designed with gaming in mind, in particular, gaming from a distance (see 10ft interface). A lot of the changes they have made to their xserver, xcompmgr (steamos-compositor), and possibly other packages have been done with this in mind, making them, as I understand it, less suitable for regular desktops.

There is no reason you can't install steam on Arch and have it start in steamos mode (which I believe is slightly different to bigpicture mode, and can be launched by passing the '-steamos' flag to steam). You could even set Arch up to auto-login, startx with your preferred DE/WM, and run steam if you really want to. You may not get the same optimized experience that you would get with steamOS, but you would still be able to use it as a desktop as well as a living room gaming PC, if that is what you want to achieve.

Last edited by WorMzy (2014-10-14 16:34:22)

Arch Linux

#1 2014-10-03 02:17:29

Arch Linux as SteamOS?

#2 2014-10-14 10:03:11

Re: Arch Linux as SteamOS?

#3 2014-10-14 16:14:29

Re: Arch Linux as SteamOS?

#4 2014-10-14 16:33:39

Re: Arch Linux as SteamOS?

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