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Latest Comments by Purple Library Guy
More teasers appear for upcoming Valve hardware
8 September 2023 at 11:20 pm UTC Likes: 7

Quoting: ElectricPrismI'm the guy who predicted Deckard when Steam Deck launched simply using logical observance, deduction, and considering the hardware achievements of Valve. Steam Link -> Steam Controller -> Steam VR Controllers -> Index VR Headset -> Steam Deck ... Deckard.

I agree with @mad_mesa ^^^ my best guess is that it's a Steam Deck Episode I ;P Steam Deck Episode II or maybe Steam Deck 1.5.

Valve was very cautious making Steam Deck and wasn't even sure how popular or much of a market it would draw. I think they are pleasantly surprised, hardware contracts are probably expiring and the available chips on the market may be changing -- and they may be keen to do some minor hardware upgrades.

Prediction:
A. They will do away with the glossy screen entirely -- and go to Etched Glass.
B. They will upgrade the joysticks to be more wear resistant
C. Bigger Battery / Better battery life.
D. They might bump the resolution to 1920x1200 (Although I have no personal problem with the 1280x800.
E. OLED screen to conserve more power and for brighter use in daytime spaces (bus stop, etc...)
F. Thinner screen bezel. (that black boxy border around the screen)
G. Slightly smaller size (Similar to how the original Xbox had those big controllers at first and then the next iteration was more refined and slightly smaller)
H. Next Bump up of the CPU/GPU -- it would most likely be very similar.
I. More RAM.
J. More accurate touch screen.
K. And obviously -- better Wifi Module (Steam Deck v1 Wifi Module doesnt play nice with all routers and was a PITA requiring reflashing from recovery4.img and on all my 5 decks)
L. Oh, and of course all the NVME would get bumped up to the faster speed, 64bg would be replaced by 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB options (as 1TB 2230 NVME is a thing now, technically 2TB is aswell, however they usually skip a generation of top tech to keep costs affordable.)

I would really be curious to see them shrink it by 10% or 15%.

It would be a total banger too if as part of their new WIFI they made it possible to do 4-8 player LAN over WIFI without a router with 1 of the decks acting as the "hot-spot".

I could EASILY see Steam Deck parties where PC gamers get together and LAN in person on the couch, this is a space that is untapped and dripping with maple syrup.

Oh and lastly, improved CPU/GPU cooling.
And a pony! Can't forget the pony.

Star Trek: Infinite from Paradox releases October 12
8 September 2023 at 11:15 pm UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: saellavenI've always held the position that wine/proton are great for using older software/games, but harmful to luring people to native ports in the future. Why write native ports when you get the entire Linux base for free? We're already seeing companies that always made Linux a priority dropping native support for future games.
It's true, we are. But we are also seeing Linux native releases from outfits that never did that before. The net impact seems to be close to a wash at this point. I think if Linux share keeps growing it will probably shift to a net positive.

One thing to keep in mind is that things are different now in a number of ways. Back in the OS/2 days, everything was fresh and new, meaning Windows could do slimy little things to break compatibility and it wouldn't affect much else. Now everything is big and old, with complexity going layer after layer deep. Microsoft can try to fuck around, but it wouldn't be just Linux they'd be breaking--and Wine/Proton would probably fix stuff for us faster than they could fix the unintended consequences on Windows.

Linux continues rising above 3% desktop user share on Statcounter
7 September 2023 at 10:05 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: mad_mesa
Quoting: Purple Library GuyReally, have you ever interacted with a Chromebook?
Yes, I have. I own a Pixelbook as a matter of fact. I got it because I wanted a machine for casual living room web browsing and D&D beyond. Tasks it handles flawlessly. Just like Chromebooks solved the problem of constant Windows problems for a number of non-technically inclined family members.

QuoteThis distribution runs no software. It's the browser or nuthin', baby!
Except that hasn't ever really been true, even if it is the perception. At the minimum ChromeOS includes a number of other basic Linux utilities that enable its intended use like a ConnMan fork with a front end to handle networking, a front end for CUPS, and a front end for handling containers.

ChromeOS is also hardly the only Linux distribution with a minimal install focused on being easy to use in a particular role out of the box. If making a better "Windows" for power users to install was going to get us to mainstream use, it would have happened years ago. More limited environments that come pre-installed on hardware are the only proven pathway towards more mainstream acceptance.

If the only Linux distributions that count as Linux are distributions are full-featured environments targeted at enthusiasts and developers, then how is Linux ever supposed to grow?

We shouldn't be turning up our noses at a minimal Linux systems made to do one thing well.
OK, I have a problem with the way you are arguing. You are putting words in my mouth, arguing against positions I never took. You are moving goalposts. And when I make a point which refutes something you say, you sidestep and act like you never said it instead of either countering in any real sense or conceding the point. This is what ancient rhetoricians would call "False rhetoric" and somewhat less ancient ones would call "arguing in bad faith". You're perfectly polite while you're doing it, but one can't get anywhere that way.

So I don't feel like continuing this; it's pointless. Have a nice day.

Star Trek: Infinite from Paradox releases October 12
7 September 2023 at 8:24 pm UTC Likes: 8

Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: WorMzyGenuinely disappointed with this one. Do they go into any detail anywhere about why they're not doing a Linux release?
3rd party studios under Paradox as the publisher almost never do Native Linux. Quite different to Paradox Development Studios, so this is actually pretty normal. They also publish games from Iceflake Studios, Triumph Studios, Romero Games, Squeaky Wheel Studio Inc and so on all that don't do Native Linux.
Yeah, but still--they start from a base that supports native Linux; seems like it must have almost taken deliberate effort to make it stop working.

Tactical turn-based stealth game Spirited Thief releases September 19
7 September 2023 at 8:16 pm UTC Likes: 3

That looks kind of nice.
At one point there's a bit of dialogue like "Damn it! We're completely surrounded!" and I'm imagining the spirit saying "What do you mean 'we', meat man?"

Linux continues rising above 3% desktop user share on Statcounter
7 September 2023 at 3:25 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: mad_mesa
Quoting: sarmadwhich is why Linux apps in ChromeOS run via a VM and cannot run natively.
Not entirely true, but for end users how is this really that different from other modern end-user focused distributions with immutable file systems, and that only run typical desktop software distributed in self-contained formats like Flatpak?
For end users, you say. Um, entirely different? The immutable file system thing says "This distribution has a somewhat limited software repository, but it runs most of the usual software that you've probably ever used and you probably will never notice the difference in installation method."

The Chromebook says "This distribution runs no software. It's the browser or nuthin', baby! Oh and by the way, we really hate when you go around saving your files to your computer, don't do that." Sure, you can talk about running stuff in VMs, just like you could talk about running software in Wine back in the day when it was a PITA, but an end-user ain't gonna do that because it would require a bunch of fucking around. Really, have you ever interacted with a Chromebook?

Linux continues rising above 3% desktop user share on Statcounter
7 September 2023 at 4:31 am UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: mad_mesaChromeOS is already a Linux distribution
I don't disagree with that, technically. But despite that it's oddly un-useful, at least so far. I mean, Linux has a sort of software ecosystem, from LibreOffice and the GIMP and stuff to on the gaming side things like Proton and Steam and a bunch of Linux native games. And, ChromeOS won't run any of that stuff. Sure, there's sortakindamaybe ways to make it, and they keep talking about maybe coming soon, but for practical purposes a bunch of ChromeOS users aren't going to add to the Steam Linux marketshare, or contribute to reaching a critical mass that might force people to pay attention to .odt files or whatever.

Linux updates tease Valve 'Galileo' and 'Sephiroth' - Steam Deck refresh? Or new VR?
6 September 2023 at 11:06 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: Guest
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: GuestIt's unlikely the small form factor of a steam machine will include better hardware.
That strikes me as likely to be inaccurate. All hypothetical, but look--the Deck is intended for playing games on its small screen, and it has the hardware capable of doing that.

Nobody's going to launch a machine intended for playing games on large screens which is not capable of playing games on large screens.

Compare the size of the old steam machines.
Which ones?

Linux continues rising above 3% desktop user share on Statcounter
6 September 2023 at 6:40 pm UTC Likes: 12

Quoting: Eike
Quoting: Purple Library GuyJolly good!
I do wonder if the gaming side has fed into this--if people aren't finding themselves more able to switch because the answer to "But can I play my games?" is now basically "Yes."
In my case that's actually one of the primary reasons I started following GoL--I concluded that the gaming side was a really key strategic issue for desktop growth more generally.

So you're only here for strategic reasons? ;)
I think Stellaris counts as a strategic reason

DOOM Eternal removed Denuvo and it plays great on Steam Deck
6 September 2023 at 6:36 pm UTC Likes: 4

Quoting: PenglingGood news! I've been waiting for this to happen.

Still, I've got Doom II, Doom 64, and Doom 2016 to get through first
You're Doomed.