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If you have a system you wish to try out Linux on for gaming be it an Apple Mac, a PC with Windows or anything else - perhaps give winesapOS a little try as you might find this SteamOS-like distribution to your liking. It offers up a portable solution with persistent storage, so you can load it up on a USB drive and take it anywhere

The main developer, Luke Short, emailed in about some major changes and improvements that have arrived with winesapOS version 3.4.0.

Pictured - The KDE Plasma Desktop Mode in winesapOS, just like SteamOS

Highlights of some improvements in v3.4.0 include:

  • Game Mode (Gamescope session - Steam Big Picture) support for Steam and Open Gamepad UI.
  • Improved hardware support:
    • Lots of new hardware support: Intel Arc dGPUs, Lenovo Legion Go, GPD Win 4, iPhone tethering, racing wheels, Razer accessories, and improved support for older AMD dGPUs.
  • Downloading the operating system has been simplified:
    • Instead of extracting 3 to 7 parts of a split-up zip file (due to GitHub Release hosting constraints), we now provide a single zip file for each image type. This has been the biggest complaint that they finally addressed.
  • A Recovery console to help you fix boot problems.
  • + much more in the release notes.

Check it out on the GitHub page.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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7 comments

Pengling Jan 16
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QuoteIt offers up a portable solution with persistent storage, so you can load it up on a USB drive and take it anywhere
Oh man, this just reminded me of when I used to wear a USB bracelet that I always had a copy of SliTaz on. I miss those things!
boltronics Jan 17
It reminds me of my time at RMIT in the early 2000s. I couldn't afford a laptop so I had Gentoo with all of my applications and work files loaded on a USB HDD, which I just plugged into one of the computers in the lab to do my work.

One day, a staff member noticed me working this way via a security camera and marched into the room to tell me that it was not allowed and demand that I immediately shut it down and boot the machine back into Windows. The person in question and some other more senior staff members called me into a meeting a few days later, and explained that it was against their ToS (which I believe they had only just made specifically for me as it wasn't even on the website yet) and said that I had compromised their computer.

I explained that all of the computers were set to boot from USB already, and I did no such thing, and that I was only doing my university work, but they didn't care.

I even protested this with a blog post explaining how absurd this was on my student account's blog (a service provided to all students simply by dropping files into ~/public_html), which the university deleted a few days later without explanation. Gosh studying there sucked! I always think about it when I think about bootable USB drives.
LoudTechie Jan 17
Quoting: boltronicsIt reminds me of my time at RMIT in the early 2000s. I couldn't afford a laptop so I had Gentoo with all of my applications and work files loaded on a USB HDD, which I just plugged into one of the computers in the lab to do my work.

One day, a staff member noticed me working this way via a security camera and marched into the room to tell me that it was not allowed and demand that I immediately shut it down and boot the machine back into Windows. The person in question and some other more senior staff members called me into a meeting a few days later, and explained that it was against their ToS (which I believe they had only just made specifically for me as it wasn't even on the website yet) and said that I had compromised their computer.

I explained that all of the computers were set to boot from USB already, and I did no such thing, and that I was only doing my university work, but they didn't care.

I even protested this with a blog post explaining how absurd this was on my student account's blog (a service provided to all students simply by dropping files into ~/public_html), which the university deleted a few days later without explanation. Gosh studying there sucked! I always think about it when I think about bootable USB drives.

MUHAHA.
They must've pooped their pants.
Typical case of "security through obscurity".
Updating the TOS only keeps out only legit users like yourself.
Most students don't even read the TOS.
They could've updated their BIOS settings, but no they attack the one who was using it legit.
"How many icons do you want on the default install's desktop"
"Yes"
😂
damarrin Jan 18
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Does Valve know they're using the Steam Deck icon in their system?
ekultails Jan 18
Hey, Luke here, creator of winesapOS!

Quoting: Pengling
QuoteIt offers up a portable solution with persistent storage, so you can load it up on a USB drive and take it anywhere
Oh man, this just reminded me of when I used to wear a USB bracelet that I always had a copy of SliTaz on. I miss those things!

Ah, the good old days! That was definitely one of the inspirations behind us creating winesapOS.

Quoting: BrandonGiesing"How many icons do you want on the default install's desktop"
"Yes"
😂

The screenshot you see is what you can expect from our Performance and Secure image types. We provide everything and the kitchen sink! For folks who want to customize their experience, we provide the Minimal image type.

Quoting: damarrinDoes Valve know they're using the Steam Deck icon in their system?

winesapOS 3 was the first Linux distribution to be based on SteamOS 3. It was a fun experiment but we have been working on moving away from SteamOS back to pure Arch Linux. Our next release will be winesapOS 4.0.0 which removes our three remaining packages from SteamOS (including the Vapor theme). We are open to feedback on what new KDE Plasma theme we should switch to!
damarrin Jan 18
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Oh, if Valve are allowing the icon to be used by others then that's cool, I'm sure.
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