Quoting: WorMzyHopefully the user-facing packaging system remains as simple as it is currently. The PKGBUILD+makepkg way of creating packages is one of the main strengths of Arch.

Strongly Agree. PKGBUILD is amazing, I hope Arch doesn't do anything to complicate -- this is just like Prime Numbers and Exponents -- there is a optimal amount of complexity and a optimal amount of simplicity -- otherwise we would all program exclusively in assembly.

What I could get behind:

1. Optionally compile every package from source, and steal all the good ideas from Gentoo (Flags, Patches in etc)

2. LAN Mirrors. It would be nice if it were possible for Arch to ask LAN computers to also act as Mirrors -- then instead of downloading the same package 3-16 times it could be transferred locally similar to how Steam allows LAN to reduce bandwidth load and increase update speed on games.

3. Roll-back -- undoing the last software update in-case it has a problem or you just don't like it.

4. Set a target installation date where installed packages don't exceed X date and pull from the Arch Archive. (AFAIK this is presently possible to an extent)

5. More target architectures to compile against, ARM, RISCV

6. Warnings of new Arch News __prior__ to important updates which introduce breakage, eg: Pacman 6 => 7

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Annual version increment feels like it provides a continuity to the development process. So much has changed and WINE has come such a long way in such a short time.

Their strategies and partnerships work. What a wonderful thing.

I have looked forward to version WINE 10 and once we clear the RC's we'll be there. Many thanks to the communities, the big, and the small.

Now if only they could get their HQ website refreshed ;P There are a few Linux sites I wouldn't mind stepping their game up.

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You have to condition people to give you money.

If I was them I would have a separate service called FlatHub plus -- it could cost whatever the user choose starting at $1.00 for the first year.

This would get people to create an account and get credit card information on file -- which takes effort on their part.

They could rip off Humble Bundle and let people people decide if their $1 goes as a donation to a specific app developer, or to administration.

Registered accounts would get faster download speeds and access to VIP features similar to how Steam provides a lot of value.

(Remember the 90% off Steam Sales of 2010ish? That's how you get customers)

After the first year, and as value is created in the platform, and as customers trust has been won over in a financial exchange after a few $1 - $5 purchases start including more expensive things.

Shamelessly rip off the Steam model -- start to sell things like Affinity Photo 2 on Linux, and have a Summer and Winter sale where discounts are really good bringing more people into the platform.

Have the interior of the organization modeled after Valve with the "Bee Hive" model where potential staff self-organize into groups to accomplish tasks and then "show and tell" their progress -- entirely driven by willpower of developers and employees.

Maybe even sell something -- like optimized compiles -- like Gentoo has flags, upload your hardware specs and have your downloads personally compiled to your machines specs for maximum speed -- something like that.

This is the kind of brainstorm space I would start in. Though, their ethos may not be like this but it is a working model giving out free and premium content.

--

Edit: To add to that, have a yearly Linux App Awards where the hard work of app developers is voted on by the community and then the top performing developers get some loot, a digital award and a modest cash prize funded by the community (similar to the DOTA 2 International Prize Pool which eventually exploded to 8 million and 20 million dollars over the years given to the top 16 performing teams in various splits as the pool grew).

Call the premium service "Red Mode" or something else to distinguish it from the communal regular mode which maintains all of the community values freely to all.

Steal the rating system of ProtonDB, and have all Linux apps be ranked into compatibility categories by the users -- Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum -- this will save Linux users time when searching through the mountains of Linux Apps we have and distinguish fresh current stuff from old tech wares.

Food for though.

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Quoting: liamdThings have changed dramatically since the original failure of the Steam Machine launch [...]

Quoting: elmapul[...] since the steam machines floped [...]

I'm not complaining, 10 years ago Valve laid the foundation for technologies which have had millions of sales and increased the Linux gaming catalog by ten thousand plus. An itteration of the SteamOS software platfom is also part of the current success of Steam Deck and future devices.

For for sensationalism, and engagement purposes the sky is always falling ;D And maybe for a cool comeback story?

Quoting: elmapul[...] jokes aside im not sure there is demand for it without exclusives [...]

I postulate that exclusives are not necessary as long as the Mainline Device outperforms other options. Case & Point -- Half-Life Alyx + Valve Index.

If the experience on other devices is sub-optimal -- then optimal experience will drive sales even without exclusivity. This was the case when iPad & iTunes experience on Windows was slow, crashie, and bad in the early 2000s which led to the sale of iMacs for people who wanted a better iTunes and therefore iPod experience.

The Valve Index experience is just better -- Valve Steam Deck is just better.

Historically too it was part Alienware's fault -- apparantly they had a decent amount of hardware problems which Valve got the bad flack for when really it was just Dell not having their devices completely baked yet.

Quoting: CatKillerThe market would be "people that want an HTPC but don't want to set up an HTPC." That's pretty small

I wouldn't underestimate the market -- for example PlayStation 2 and Xbox were both purchased in hundreds of millions of units primarily because it was also a DVD player -- later PlayStation 3 was similarly purchased to double as a BluRay player.

Additionally, a lot of people when they use a Living Room game console ask for things like "Web Browser", "Netflix", etc... as seen in the advent of Smart TV drawing sales.

Quoting: CatKillerIt could make the primary interface Steam rather than Kodi for some folks, though, especially if they can integrate some Kodi-style functions into Steam.

My experience with Kodi has been abysmal. I still can't really find a optimal remote that does all the functions without a hundred extra buttons. (Are you listening Valve? Maybe make a Valve Remote please?)

The amount of time required to research addons and configure Kodi is too much of a entry barrier. I would rather save my time and throw money at something to save me my time. I would even buy Kodi Plus or something if it meant a system that went toe to toe with SmartTV functions without the nonsense in a FOSSy way. It's totally okay to sell FOSS @Kodi. (Eg: Redhat, Ubuntu, Linux Autos, etc..)

Quoting: CatKillerThey've learned some useful lessons from the Steam Machines, of course. They've got their own hardware expertise and pipeline now, so they aren't reliant on OEMs [...] They've got Proton now, so they've got 80-90% of the Steam catalogue working without relying on game devs, rather than the ~40% that game devs managed last time.

Excellent points. Having those manufacturing industry channels and professional resources really has paved the way for Steam Deck, and for future achivements. Which is why this is a really exciting prospect even if it is just speculation at this point.

Quoting: CatKillerI don't expect it to be a big seller. Even with Valve managing to keep the price low with Steam revenue and modest economies of scale.

From the Valve interviews I recall that they were very modest and Steam Deck sales exceeded their expectations quite a lot.

I think they will approach the market with this same modesty and probing it will reveal at least millions of sales if the price is able to be competitive.

Quoting: kaktuspalmeValve proved they can create a console like experience on handhelds.
They can do it for sure now on stationary consoles too.

[...] there's the rumor about the new Steam Controller. That fits perfectly into the picture. [...]

Edit:
What makes it a success compared to creating your own HTPC:

Yes.

Quoting: kaktuspalme11. Standardized hardware, meaning, game creators can create custom profiles like they do for the steam deck.

Exactly. Having hardware helps developers zero and provide a consistent experience. Computers are thousands of times more powerful than 20 years ago, standardization really helps developers and customers.

Quoting: kaktuspalme2. You don't have to build it yourself

Enthusiasts may underestimate the value of this. Building a few servers or desktops can be fun as an enthusiast, but as a job after a few dozen it gets tiring and the hours required to prepare, oranize, build, troubleshoot all these machines is multiplied the more devices you own -- there is a serious advantage of just being able to offload that work, and making sure everything is compatible -- for a lot of people it is well worth a small cost difference, plus a standard warranty. Again, excellent points.

Quoting: kaktuspalme3. Probably competitive pricing

I know Gabe Newell called Steam Deck competitive pricing "painful" but if they could make a Steam Machine v3 (I'm skipping 2 as SteamOS is v3) -- have competitive pricing, it could really multiply uptake as it has in the case of Steam Deck. I am hopeful the base model costs about 499.

Quoting: kaktuspalme4. Perfect support for things like CEC and bluetooth wake up. Turning on the steam controller turns on the console and the TV.

It's possible to achieve those things with building a HTPC yourself, but it's way harder to get it to the comfort level of like a Playstation. Things like CEC usually don't even work on normal AMD and Nvidia GPUs.

To go along with that point -- I would like to see new Valve Consoles double as a Wireless Access Point -- this will alow Steam Deck players to link up to the Console for multiplayer games in situations where a person doesn't have a wireless router, the technology could be extended to Steam Decks interlinking without a wifi router as well when mobile.

Quoting: Viesta2015If this supports VR... this will be the ultimate budget PC VR. :)

Very true. That could increase the value of the device significantly for a "Plug & Play" VR experience without wires.

Quoting: Viesta2015Don't forget - you could always remote play on the Deck to whatever this new box is, too. Would probably even save a ton of battery life! 😉

I do this regularly with CyberPunk 2077 -- 7900 in the Workstation does a great job at crunching the graphics and serving to the Steam Deck.

Also, Steam Deck isn't going anyware, it's an amazing controller to play games well worth using just sitting in front of a Gaming PC or a Gaming TV. (Maybe the Steam Deck touch screen should be the Kodi Remote I have been seeking)

Quoting: elmapul

Quoting: CatKillerThe market would be "people that want an HTPC but don't want to set up an HTPC." That's pretty small - HTPCs are pretty easy to set up.

the issue is that you are seeing this as "the market of htpc" not, the market of gaming devices for the living room.
how do you explain that playstation 4 sold hundreds of millions?

Exactly. Marketing is like that -- "The Cloud", "AI" pulls billions of dollars of investment money. "HTPC" as a buzz-marketing-word is no longer being worked in the same way you don't hear "Palm Pilot" or those mini windows handeld things.

Quoting: elmapulnot to mention, steamdeck have much more games than nintendo switch, and AAA games while switch barely have any AAA beside nintendo own games, but switch sell in a month what the deck sell in a year

Another good point -- I personally want to bring my purchases and content with me. This is a valuable feature, and Nintendo games although attuned to the hardware well have visibly inferior graphic that are slightly annoying.

Somewhere in their Japan HQ they lost the spark and might as well be IBM now, cold, soulless, not gamers, just businessmen tonedeaf and astranged from their customers and products in some bureaucratic five-eyes hell. (Eg: the Pokemon Go Scandal)

It's no wonder Xbox has had no trouble for a while eating their lunch -- not that I follow the console wars closely anymore -- PC is just better.

If it is a new Steam Console, With careful planning, and skilled work, I have no doubt Valve will hit another homerun seeing what they've done with Steam Deck.

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Quoting: Purple Library GuyI don't have a cell phone [...]

Living the dream :P

Quoting: Purple Library Guy(Canada--some of the most expensive cell phone plans in the world)

I am excited at the prospect that StarLink will breakup communication monopolies with "Direct to Cell" and force telco companies to finally raise the bar and have fair pricing for customers.

I've had internet friends in Canada and the prices are super not cool,

Similarly, 42.5 billion was spent in the states "allegedly" to improve internet but the red tape, telcom territories and bureaucracy balkanize and monopolize the market.

We need low cost global internet on portable devices so we can welcome all of the other people in the world and begin working together towards common goals like technological innovation and software freedoms.

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Yes Blizzard is now Microsoft.

Stargus git activity has had some decent gaps

https://github.com/Wargus/stargus/commits/master/ [External Link]

If any gamedevs are passing by, literally make a love letter to StarCraft 1 an I will buy so many copies. It's a PITA to try to install on WINE now thanks to the Blizzard launcher ruining everything regularly, and plus getting the scaling to work correctly on Wayland is a PITA.

In any case there is a goldmine the size of Stardew Valley tapping Harvest Moon SNES just waiting for the right person to make a love letter of a game.

The PITA with windows games can be making sure they don't break in a evolving world with always on launchers and crapware.

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Quoting: nwildnerI think Terraria 4-pack key back in 2011-2012 was the money most well spend on Steam. We had a lot of fun and I eventually go back to Terraria from time to time. It's funny to remember that some of my friends thought that "Terraria was just a crappy 2D copy of Minecraft", while me and my wife had fun with both.

Damn, Re-Logic still delivers quality content through fixes and collabs without asking for additional money(and that I would gladly pay).

In 2011 Terraria was such an escape room save for me at the time. If memory serves right that 4-pack and even the 1-pack sales were like $2.49 or 4.99 -- I gifted at least 10 copies to friends to play, best money I ever spent.

Re-Logic got a lot of flack "It's just a 2D minecraft", and then there was the whole agro-narc-spriter who split off to make Starbound -- which the funny thing about them parting ways was the Re-Logic's sprite and art improved tremendously after that too.

Re-Logic, ConcernedApe, Legends. And something developers just can't understand is that middle school age kids have potatoe computers, so of course Terraria, MineCraft, StardewValley, AmongUs, and other optimized games will become massively popular with that group of people and payoff big.

The Legend's deserve the fame they have earned.

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Wow I am super excited at the prospect of Terraria & Palworld collaboration. The steam rating is extremely impressive too @ 94% and 98% approval ratings.

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I'm looking forward to throwing out my PS4 DS4 controllers and XBONE controllers.

Call me lazy, but I would just prefer to not have to compile a kernel module and make sure the DKMS aligns with the latest kernel.

I will happily buy one of these when they come out, and then if it passes the test 3-5 more.

I am also considering buying a HORI or set too -- aka: https://amazon.com/Wireless-HORIPAD-Steam-Midnight-Black-Deck/dp/B0DLLKRFG8/ [External Link]

The DS4 Bluetooth always had bad range (Maybe my fault?) and a noticeable delay and the XBONE RF was optimal but still a PITA.

I have 3 steam controllers sitting next to the 8 others, but their problem is that the singular joystick yeets FPS games for me. The 2 joystick will resolve this problem I have complained about for years.

If Valve is listening, I guess I would kindly ask for some visual customization options -- it's nice when each person can distinguish their controllers from the others when beer or food is involved and controllers are scattered across the living room.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this evolves. Looks kindof chonky like Xbox Y2K BFC (Big Fucking Controller ;P) but to be honest having the trackpads there could be amazingly charming like the Xbox 360 controller + the keyboard pad -- kindof reminds me of that.

I'm really looking foreward to this.

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Quoting: benstor214Undercover corporate operative account… …sabotaging community efforts and sowing discord.
Nearly as old a profession as prostitution.

Very good point. There will always be snakes among us as long as corporate benefits from hiring AI or human shill factories to plant disingenuous comments to convince the public that unpopular opinions are the default mode.

They are their own worst enemy, their tactics are known, and the more people experience these disingenuous propaganda, them ore people become wise to it and wise to internet scams in general.

Don't allow them to sociologically program you. I'm thankful for each of you that spot these actors and ring the bell saying "Hey! Wait a minuet!"

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