I originally posted this comment here, but my comment turned out to be quite long and strayed from the topic, so I decided to delete it and copy/paste it into my own post so as not to derail someone else's conversation.

I wrote this comment mostly because I'm passionate about Linux. I know a few people in my personal life, from friends to colleagues, who are getting pretty fed up with Windows, especially with the coming EOL of Win10 forcing them to upgrade to Win11 which contains new "features" that they consider to be irritating, invasive, and potentially insecure. Recall specifically, but also the forced integration of Microsoft's Copilot AI into the operating system, among other concerns and irritations. I think that Linux is an excellent alternative - I personally use Linux full-time and hardly ever touch Windows anymore - but I also recognize and understand the hesitance to make the switch. Linux in general, even distros like Bazzite, Nobara, and Garuda, are not very welcoming. Users are even hesitant to install things like Ubuntu and Linux Mint, the de facto My First Linux distros, and often have negative experiences that send them back to Windows. I think that this is largely because there's a disconnect between the perception of switching to Linux and the reality of doing so.

TL;DR I think that bringing SteamOS to the desktop could improve the experience of gamers seeking refuge from Windows and the Microsoft ecosystem. That's what my comment, and now this post, is about.

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Honestly, I really hope more members of the Steam community ask for a proper, official SteamOS desktop release, and that Valve listens. I understand that developing and maintaining a desktop operating system would add to the workload for Valve, and that having an official SteamOS is technically unnecessary because you can just install the Linux-native Steam desktop application on any Linux distro. I'm a full-time Linux user, and this is what I personally do (as well as the Steam Deck), but I still think there's a strong case to be made for a SteamOS desktop distro. Hear me out (and bear with me, this might be lengthy... Sorry in advance).

The vast majority of Steam gamers are exactly what they sound like - gamers. They're not really all that interested in the operating system itself. Most of them just use Windows because it's what we all grew up with. Even with all the crappy things Microsoft has done in recent versions, we've put up with it for so long and found so many workarounds for what we don’t like that we've just gotten used to it.

Although fixing the ample problems that we've had with Windows has almost always been a pain in the butt often requiring hours of googling, reading, tinkering, failing, googling some more, rinse, wash, and repeat, it's still Windows. It's still familiar. It might be a pain the in butt, but it just feels less daunting than installing a whole new operating system because at the end of the day, if the fix doesn't work, at least you still have Windows - an operating system that you're familiar with and know how to use.

Now try to convince them to switch to Linux, whether it's Bazzite, Garuda, Nobara, or even a proper desktop installation of SteamOS if and when that comes out (extra heavy on the IF). You'd be doing them a disservice to not inform them that Linux is NOT Windows[linux.oneandoneis2.org], that there is absolutely going to be a learning curve, and they WILL run into problems that they don't know how to fix. At best this means not being able to install software (even software that is natively available on Linux) because they just don't know how. At worst this means losing basic functionality such as not being able to get certain programs to even launch.

Thankfully, a lot of the more serious dangers are mitigated due to atomic builds (SteamOS is an atomic build of Arch Linux and Bazzite is based on Fedora Silverblue), but that doesn't mean new users won't have problems. This sounds just like running into problems with Windows and spending hours scouring the internet for answers and support...with one crucial caveat - they're not familiar with Linux. They're in foreign territory. The issues, and the solutions to them, aren't that much different from Windows - again, spending hours doing research and asking for help - but this time they're in an environment that they're completely unfamiliar with. It's less about the reality of the situation and more about the perception of it.

They're going to FEEL like the problems are worse. They left Window and came to Linux looking for a better experience, but now they're in this strange foreign land that they don't know how to navigate, and STILL encountering problems. As a Windows refugee, I still remember well the struggles of learning Linux (heck, I'm STILL learning...). Windows has its problems, but at least it "just works". At least they can still play their games. And remember, that's really what the goal is. Not tinkering for hours and hours.

I fear that these users will come to Linux, have a bad experience, and go back to Windows resigned to simply submit and deal with the problems that they have with it the best that they can. At least it's Windows. At least it's home. At least I CAN PLAY MY GAMES! I think that this is an unfortunate fate for them, and as an advocate for Linux and FOSS I think it's an unfortunate outcome for Linux as well. That’s not the image I want associated with an operating system family that, in my opinion, gives real freedom to end-users while still delivering a great gaming experience.

I think that a full SteamOS desktop operating system could be a fine solution. A friend of mine who is getting quite tired of Microsoft's b.s. with Windows expressed an interest in installing SteamOS. I cautioned him against it because, as I told him, I would be a bad friend if I didn't. SteamOS is objectively NOT ready for desktop use (not even designed for it!), and Valve has, to my knowledge, made no official statements regarding bringing SteamOS to the desktop space. I have my reservations about suggesting Bazzite. First of all, what happens to Bazzite users if the maintainers stop maintaining it? I'm sure it would be easy enough for a Linux user to just roll it over to a Fedora Silverblue installation and keep using it as normal, but I don't see gamers seeing that option as very welcoming.

Secondly, and arguably more importantly, merely suggesting Bazzite isn't likely to land quite as smoothly because although my friend is comfortable with Steam and Valve products, he's been extremely apprehensive about trying Linux in general. He'll have an easy time trusting something that Valve makes, but he's not familiar with Bazzite, Fedora, or the RPM-based ecosystem at all. This is where you get people doing things like, say for instance, reaching out to the Steam community about problems that turn out to not be Steam problems at all. They'll get redirected to a Linux community. And then the next time they have a problem, they reach out to the Linux community just to find out that what they're experiencing isn't a Linux problem, it's a Steam problem.

Having a SteamOS desktop would allow the two ecosystems to merge into one community more seamlessly where Steam and SteamOS problems can both be answered in the same place by other people using the same system, and users could even possibly get help for both directly from Valve employees roaming the forum. Again, I realize that this isn't "strictly" necessary as I'm sure the support communities for distros like Bazzite and Garuda do a good job, but I'm thinking in terms of perception and experience for end-users. This setup would likely be more welcoming to users like my friend, who is by no means a dummy, but simply doesn't care about Linux. They're just tired of Windows b.s. If the support they receive comes from a community that they know and trust, I suspect they'll be far less intimidated and far more open to the support they receive.

Lastly, to answer the problem of Valve having to spend more time and money maintaining a desktop operating system, I wonder if Valve could open-source parts of the project to allow the community to directly contribute. Obviously Valve will want to keep the Steam desktop application and portions of SteamOS closed-source, but being based on Linux should (I would think) mean that at least some of the source code could be open-sourced. Having some of the project be open-source would not only help Valve to offload some of the development work. They would be offloading that work to members of the community who are passionate about the project and want to see it thrive. It would also improve support from the community because contributors who have contributed to development will have better answers for some of the problems that users might run into.

All-in-all, while not directly necessary, I think that having a proper SteamOS desktop operating system would potentially be a huge benefit to the Steam community, especially the users who are trying to get away from Windows but don't know where to turn and are apprehensive about trying a raw Linux experience. In fact, the idea of SteamOS installed on a desktop is so inviting that some people are, albeit naively, already trying it. Thanks for that, Linus...

Anyway, those are my thoughts on SteamOS. I know a lot of people are going to disagree, but I still think this is a discussion worth having. If you disagree, let me know. If I've gotten some things wrong, let me know. If you hate excessively long forum posts, let me know. If you think I'm a complete moron and should throw my computer in the trash, let me know. Let's talk about it.