[an_opabinia]

The Steam Deck is as much Linux as Android is. The reason it will be a better gaming platform is because the users that will buy it will be rich, whereas that is not true generally of Android. This is just my perspective, but it should also inform you why it has no impact on software vendors to make professional software for Android, which makes hundreds of millions of Linux gamers, because an iPad too is a much more expensive device despite lower market share and hence worthwhile to target.

[29083011397778]

Android may be a poor analogy, as it runs the Linux kernel, but uses a very different userland. The Steamdeck, on the other hand, runs mainline Arch with (I believe) a KDE-based DE that comes pre-configured to boot directly to Steam.

[salamandersauce]

No? The Steam Deck runs an Arch derivative with a KDE plasma desktop. It basically just defaults to Steam Big Picture mode. You can alt-tab out of a game and open the Linux version of Chrome in your KDE desktop environment and you can see just that in the IGN hands on video.

[cameronbrown]

I would challenge the assertion that Android hasn't had an impact on software support for Linux.

For example, most game engines and hundreds of pieces of middleware are generally supporting Linux now (site note: middleware was IME the worst part about porting games to Linux, only second to the graphics stack), even if just for Android games. Vulcan rendering is widely supported for a similar reason.

You are right about userland though, and what excites me is this might be the first mainstream device with a traditional Linux desktop setup. Even if people aren't going to be running Photoshop, they will run Discord, and they will likely be hungry for other software after that.