DeckPC - Christmas 2022 Update

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+---
+title: "DeckPC - Christmas 2022 Update"
+date: 2022-12-18T17:20:00+02:00
+description: "The long awaited sequel to my DeckPC experiment. I will attempt to give a conclusive rating to 'is it a de-facto PC replacement?'"
+tags: ['steam', 'steamdeck', 'handheld', 'linux', 'deckpc']
+type: blog
+---
+
+It has been *a while* since the last word on my DeckPC experiment, I originally set myself the goal to see
+if using Valve's Steam Deck as a regular Linux desktop with its preinstalled SteamOS environment is enough
+to replace the need to use my otherwise power-hungry PC. I even left an "unresolved" case in the last blog
+that never got a proper answer.
+
+## The resolved "unresolved"
+Last time I noted that you are unable to use the offline password manager KeePassXC with any browsers in
+SteamOS out of the gate without it staying persistent throughout updates. I am glad to say that just today,
+before writing this article, I managed to get it working thanks to a suggestion by BieHDC to try out a project
+called [distroboxes](https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox). I simply created a new Arch Linux container with
+`distrobox create -i archlinux -n sneed` and installed Firefox and KeePassXC in them with pacman. After installation
+I created new desktop entries as such: `distrobox-export --app firefox` and `distrobox-export --app keepassxc`.
+
+## On topic of distroboxes
+I only have high praise for this solution - this has opened a huge window of customizability on otherwise
+immutable filesystem. You are able to create rootless mutable environments where you can setup full build
+toolchains or applications that otherwise would be wiped by a system update. It is genius in the approach
+it takes and integrates with desktop itself. There are limitations to doing this rootless, but it is far
+more elegant than struggling to resetup everything each update. For one, I was unable to get postmarketOS
+pmbootstrap to work in a container due to it being unable to remount /proc and /dev.
+
+## The practicality
+I wouldn't suggest going down this route for a non-technical person, but if you have the technical aptitude
+on Linux and willingness, you can easily extend your capabilities on the Steam Deck without resorting to
+the only available virtualization software Gnome Boxes (read: rebranded QEMU frontend).
+I understand average Joe's unwillingness to step into this territory, but these kind of issues are more likely
+to affect a poweruser than Joe.
+
+## Have you seriously used the Steam Deck for all this time?
+Yes. A lot of the issues I would have brought up here have already been fixed by Valve. To give an example
+of an issue that is fixed - you may recall me talking about flatpaks being unable to open any browser links
+at all in the last post - that has been resolved about a month ago.
+
+## So, what's your take?
+I absolutely love it, there are obvious hurdles for a beginner to look out for, but once you get the hang of
+it, Steam Deck can absolutely be a replacement for your PC if you can find a match for everything you use
+on the regular. My experience so far has shown that if you are creative enough, you will find a solution.
+There is inevitable tinkering ahead to get the best experience possible, but you absolutely can make it your own.
+I conclude this experiment a huge success - I would recommend this to my technical friends and maybe less
+demanding non-technical friends. I would be cautious about recommending it to absolutely everyone, though.
+Every recommendation would have to be circumstancial - you most definitely can give your grandparents a laptop
+with Linux mint if all they do is browse the web, similar logic can be used with Steam Deck. You can't however
+claim this to be a PC replacement for someone who is stuck with Windows or Mac without any FOSS equilevant or
+option to run their programs (e.g. broken in wine) and has no interest in ever tinkering with their system.
+I will dare to say, however, Valve and KDE have done a spectacular job in bringing Linux closer to the layman
+while also not completely offending the more experienced user. Flatpak solution while not the best, is the most
+elegant bridge we have for time being.
+
+## tech tips pls
+Sure, we have a few people already daily driving Steam Deck as a PC replacement at based.quest Matrix chat. Be
+sure to drop by and we will give you the training wheels to get started and help you even ride the bike over time.
+
+## TL;DR
+Amazing for me, definitely a PC replacement for me, bunch of things fixed, recommend for technical folk,
+cautious for less-technical.
+
+Hope you enjoyed a quick status update on the DeckPC project, I accidentally burnt my dinner making this post :(
+
+Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas,
+- Cernodile