Investigate the Linux engine beneath the Steam Deck's glossy chassis
Explore!
The Steam Deck game console runs on SteamOS, a variant of Arch Linux. While you typically use the Steam Deck like any other dedicated game machine, you can freely drop into a Linux Desktop mode of surprising and powerful potential.
The Steam Deck, the versatile game console that Valve began selling in 2022, is hardly the first consumer-oriented technology that runs Linux under the hood. Readers of this magazine might have fond memories of the original TiVo boxes, for example, or have noticed a full copy of the GPL lurking in the deepest recesses of their cars' dashboard UI.
However, the Steam Deck stands apart in the level of transparency it offers regarding its Linux underpinnings. While its primary user interface is optimized for non-windowed displays and game-controller navigation, the Steam Deck explicitly invites users to alternatively use the device as a self-contained Linux machine running a KDE Plasma desktop. Bolder Steam Deck owners can use the power of its underlying operating system to extend and enhance their gaming experience.
This article presents an introductory guide through the user-explorable parts of SteamOS. I aim to empower you to playfully investigate this less obvious Steam Deck mode while still maintaining the core intent of the device: playing video games on a healthy and up-to-date SteamOS. More radical hacks of the Steam Deck hardware are certainly possible – as with any PC, you can wipe it and install your own Linux on it, if you want – but that is beyond the scope of this article.
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