so, about the new version... what exactly is gonna be new about it, other than being new and incompatible with the old one?

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Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47

Display I imagine is the only one that would actually be relaxed, since we're talking about all sorts of resolutions since the Steam Machine is just a mini PC with SteamOS Linux on it. Input, Seamlessness and System Support cannot be relaxed in any way or the whole system would be a bit pointless.

Why?

The Steam Machine is a desktop computer. Why does it need full controller support? Why does it require an on-screen keyboard? Why do launchers need to be navigable with a controller?

Those make sense for Steam Deck because it's a handheld console with a built-in controller, and is not expected to be used with a mouse or keyboard. But for an ordinary desktop computer, which the Steam Machine is, all those conditions can be dropped.

Putting it plainly, you can plug a PC to a TV since forever, and all PC games are playable on a typical PC setup (monitor+kbd+mouse on a desk)... but a TV usually means a couch or bed instead of a desk and kbd+mouse doesn't really work on a couch or bed.

If the Steam Machine is meant to compete with consoles, then it's essential that Valve pressures for controller support in its games catalog to improve.

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1. this is looking a lot like an exponential growth not a linear growth trend that was slow before the Deck then faster after the Deck

2. the percentage of linux machines with Deck-exclusive GPUs is now smaller (iirc it reached ~50% for a while) so linux growth is now driven by actual linux distros installed on PCs, laptops, etc, not a niche console that happens to have linux in it but you might never realize it, if seen as just a console

3. the Desktop/Laptop market is pretty saturated, definitely slowed growth and maaaaybe shrunk a little but is not as likely to shrink to oblivion as to contract and stagnate... also mobile games aren't as convergent to Steam games as console games are, so the risk of people giving up on Steam in favour of Google Play Games is pretty slim and wouldn't happen quietly and overnight... heck, even if Android for Desktops appears and Google Play starts selling games that work both on Android mobiles, Android TV and Android PCs, it would need *a lot* of muscle to move every conceivable game and PC gamers into its ecossystem

4. meanwhile Valve gave gamers plenty of reasons to move from consoles to Steam (and keeps giving more)

5. eyes peeled for signs of Valve's total userbase growth, which traditionally is very high (and might have slowed a bit but still be growing)

6. Windows users with old hardware being locked out of Win11 while Win10 goes EOL would maybe push people into upgrading hardware, but those same prohibitive RAM prices might make them more prone to try linux for free on their current hardware

7. there is just way more talk about linux now, that even aloof gamers have a fair chance of hearing about linux from their non-linux-niche gaming streamers

8. there is now comparable (or better overall) polish in the linux side (including for games) so first contact might bring people in more than scare them away

9. Valve is banging the drums of shiny new VR + Console that's actually PC + Controller and at its heart the new team is all based on SteamOS

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Quoting: AdutchmanAlways good to see Linux Mint chugging along. I was just thinking though, does anybody know how far along the folks at Linux Mint are with the Wayland migration?

It's still in alpha status afaik, but looking nice already

Progress is frequently mentioned in the distro release notes and monthly news
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=wayland+https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linuxmint.com%2F+site%3Ablog.linuxmint.com&ia=web [External Link]

There is a nifty summary from a moderator in dec/2024 (a bit old but insightful) and plenty more interaction about this in the forum:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=411761 [External Link]

There is also this board for Cinnamon's Wayland support status, though it isn't representative of all Mint needs done and is doing across other parts of the distro
https://trello.com/b/HHs01Pab/cinnamon-wayland [External Link]

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Now im not saying these are the exact specs time will tell. However i still think even lowering settings running a 4k canvas with such a small bus will make some graphics engines cry, lowering the Physical resolution would be the only fix imho

AFAIK Steam Deck's Gaming Mode (aka Gamescope - https://github.com/ValveSoftware/gamescope) [External Link] allowed the tiny handheld console to escape precisely that conundrum

It tells the game that it should target a small rendering resolution (faking this as the native resolution as far as the game engine knows) then upscales this to the actual physical resolution. Because Gamescope's upscaling is of the FSR type, it was still too computationally expensive while plugging the Deck to a 4k TV, but not to a 1080p hardware... so folks asked for a way to force the output resolution lower via SteamOS settings too, and after some Valve Time™ they did it, so now you get full control over this balancing act.

eg: game renders in 480p, Gamescope FSRs it to 1080p then TV set upscales to 4k the easy way

Plus the Gabecube is much stronger, so it's not a stretch to hope for games rendering in 1080p and being FSRed to 4k thus skipping the TV's upscaling.

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i'm not sure what AMD is aiming for here...

not going bankrupt?

going bankrupt faster?

protecting the Steam Deck from being used on Windows?

forcing other handheld gamers to replace windows with GamerOS?

making win10 users hate win12 even more when they are forced to jump?

🤔

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they are used to be the ones people come for help, now they find themselves to be the ones that need help

i was the one doing Win95, 98, XP and 7 maintenance for the whole family until Microsoft started nagging for Win 7 >> Win 10 upgrades (before EOL)

boy was I happy when i figured just how much less maintenance Linux Mint requires!

auto-updates that apply fast, silently and cleanly?! what is this arcane miracle?!!! 🤨

app configs that i can copy-paste into a user folder on fresh install instead of reconfiguring?! wtf! 😮

what do you mean with "it doesn't run slower after 2 years"?!! 🥹

and my personal favourite: there is no spoon... and no regedit.exe 🤯

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I really don't get why people use wordpress for static webpage content...

It's a huge attack surface to keep secure with all its features.

What's also a bit embarassing is this happening to a server managed by Canonical, as far as I understand. Linux Mint went through a similar issue years ago, but their team is really tiny.

I hope they're as swift and transparent as the Mint team on how it happened, who may have been affected, what they did to prevent new issues, etc

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a friendly reminder that those totally legit kernel-level anticheats will now be in the hands of totally legit Saudi and MAGA totalitarian regime colabos

also i can't wait for EA to explore blockchain, bitcoins, LLMs and betting app business synergies in their next games...

...no, wait, they sacked their few remaining devs too fast

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did they fix the chinese translation already?

i expected them to take a while to finish that, but at least keep mentioning the progress on that front until done

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