Valve Posts Updated Steam Deck FAQs To Address More Community Questions

[pal666]

Which only proves my point, that despite layers "not requiring app support" (they kinda do, you need to opt in [1])

steam runtime will opt in for all apps

, still pretty much everything is implemented as extensions

because pretty much everything requires app cooperation. if valve wants to implement something for all apps, it could be simpler to use layer than extension(with emphasis on could)

[Tuxee]

To Elaborate further, Im referring to an issue where CSGO is broken out of the box on most distros and a guy has suggested that everyone should use Ubuntu LTS if they want proper support for issues https://github.com/ValveSoftware/csg...ment-981194150

Understood, thanks.

[CochainComplex]

TIL.. Sort of suggests that they would still have to maintain the current deb package given the current number of existing users on debian based distros (looking at Pop_OS)

I was asking my self the same question. Everything till now is build around a debian (ubuntu) ecosystem. Sure there are a lot of Arch gamers out there but how much of them are using the the valve toolchains?

[cl333r]

extensions require application support, layers don't

Which only proves my point, that despite layers "not requiring app support" (they kinda do, you need to opt in [1]), still pretty much everything is implemented as extensions, like it or not facts are stubborn things.

[1] Quote from the Vulkan tutorial:

Just like extensions, validation layers need to be enabled by specifying their name. All of the useful standard validation is bundled into a layer included in the SDK that is known as VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation.

[gfunk]

Care to elaborate? Because both I and my son are frequently gaming. On a 20.04. The kernel is pretty much irrelevant (you get 5.11) with NVidia you should get the most recent driver via an "official" repository. Mesa comes at 21.0.3 (which isn't exactly a showstopper) and if you really need more recent drivers - kisak's Mesa repo with 21.3 is not exactly rocket science to integrate.

I guess Ubuntu is flexible enough that you can install the latest mainline kernel, Mesa, wine staging etc and then you are mostly up to speed with new features seen in rolling distros, any issues though which require Valve to fix, you'd probably have to move back to default config for official support. To Elaborate further, Im referring to an issue where CSGO is broken out of the box on most distros and a guy has suggested that everyone should use Ubuntu LTS if they want proper support for issues https://github.com/ValveSoftware/csg...ment-981194150

AFAIK current SteamOS is Debian based. Steam Client is well supported on a lot of distros. Most likely deb pkg ist the "Native" distribution format. SteamOS 3.0 will be arch based. So rpm becomes more likely their "native" pkg? On the otherhand the toolchain for building Proton - Steam Runtime Soldier whatever is based on a very old Ubuntu Version.

TIL.. Sort of suggests that they would still have to maintain the current deb package given the current number of existing users on debian based distros (looking at Pop_OS)

[SteamPunker]

- Currently the Steam Deck is on a Linux 5.13 based kernel but working to move to a Linux 5.15 LTS kernel build.

At first I was a bit concerned, since this seemed to imply that SteamOS 3.0 (and subsequent versions) would be relying solely on LTS kernel releases going forward. Would they at least be backporting the FUTEX2 patches from Linux 5.16, for instance?

Thankfully, the FAQ itself provided some more clarity and reassurance about this:

What kernel version will be used on SteamOS 3.0?

We'll always try to update to the latest kernel version. Right now we're using 5.13, and we're working on an update to 5.15, and we'll continue to roll out those changes to whatever's latest, moving forward.

So they're working on 5.15, but will regularly be updating to newer kernel releases. That's good, since new gaming-related features and optimizations are coming down the pipeline fast lately.

[pal666]

Has KDE, X.Org Server or Wayland seen any contributions from Valve?

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Valve-Hires-Keith-Packard

[pal666]

How much functionality was implemented in Vulkan in the last several years thru layers vs extensions?

extensions require application support, layers don't

[CochainComplex]

Wonder if valve will only support SteamOS moving forward, saw the other day this guy saying they only officially support ubuntu 20.04 LTS.. which no actual gamers use probably, and I wouldn't want to install SteamOS as my main distro as its too use case specific

AFAIK current SteamOS is Debian based. Steam Client is well supported on a lot of distros. Most likely deb pkg ist the "Native" distribution format. SteamOS 3.0 will be arch based. So rpm becomes more likely their "native" pkg? On the otherhand the toolchain for building Proton - Steam Runtime Soldier whatever is based on a very old Ubuntu Version.

[CochainComplex]

I wonder how good SteamOS 3 will perform against other distros on a rather "generic" AMD System Zen2 or Zen3 with AMD Navi1 or Navi2 gpu or even some current APU System.