Add a keyboard, mouse and monitor, which are already required for every other pc, and you can do everything on the steam deck that you can on any other pc. The steamdeck just has the additional functionality of working without those if you so choose.
Wait, its installed by default?
I assumed I had to install it, which would not be possible, because its immutable and there is no rsync flatpak (I think).
You can install system wide apps by turning off immutabe mode and configurating something. I might be talking out my ass though cause I have done this but I don’t remember if it persisted across updates.
You can for sure! It’s just I wouldn’t go around recommending that to just any person because they then might get a little crazy with the freedom, brick their Steam deck install, and then try to say that the Deck is a POS.
Bad word of mouth is always a lot more damaging than spreading the good word that it’s a solid system.
Good point. Though the deck actually keeps a backup. Updates are done to a second partition and if it fails to boot for some reason, it automatically rolls back to booting from the previous good installation. That’s why it’s really hard to completely brick the system.
But also why with every update all the modifications you did are reverted. Not that big of a deal once you know about it though, I just have a script that installs and configures everything after each update.
Are you not aware of “Desktop mode”? Hold down the power button for a few seconds, click “switch to desktop mode,” and you’re literally using a fully functioning Linux PC.
Add a keyboard, mouse and monitor, which are already required for every other pc, and you can do everything on the steam deck that you can on any other pc. The steamdeck just has the additional functionality of working without those if you so choose.
Ok, how do I use rsync on the deck then? (/s, but I’d still love to know)
rsync <source> <destination>Wait, its installed by default? I assumed I had to install it, which would not be possible, because its immutable and there is no rsync flatpak (I think).
You can just install a distro of your choice on it that might or might not be immutable if you want. In the end, yes, it is a PC
What do you mean immutable?
SteamOS is immutable, so you can’t install system-wide apps on there, only flatpaks, appimages etc.
You can install system wide apps by turning off immutabe mode and configurating something. I might be talking out my ass though cause I have done this but I don’t remember if it persisted across updates.
You can for sure! It’s just I wouldn’t go around recommending that to just any person because they then might get a little crazy with the freedom, brick their Steam deck install, and then try to say that the Deck is a POS.
Bad word of mouth is always a lot more damaging than spreading the good word that it’s a solid system.
Good point. Though the deck actually keeps a backup. Updates are done to a second partition and if it fails to boot for some reason, it automatically rolls back to booting from the previous good installation. That’s why it’s really hard to completely brick the system.
But also why with every update all the modifications you did are reverted. Not that big of a deal once you know about it though, I just have a script that installs and configures everything after each update.
People should know its an option they can. Explore. Especially since this person was using it as a reason to call the steamdeck not a PC.
You don’t need to turn off anything, you can install whatever package you want, but they’ll be overwritten by some updates
(IIRC) the changes are reverted after each update so you’d have to re-install every app.
Just… do it? It’s just a normal Linux underneath.
Are you not aware of “Desktop mode”? Hold down the power button for a few seconds, click “switch to desktop mode,” and you’re literally using a fully functioning Linux PC.