| 1 | --- |
| 2 | title: "DeckPC - Christmas 2022 Update" |
| 3 | date: 2022-12-18T17:20:00+02:00 |
| 4 | 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?'" |
| 5 | tags: ['steam', 'steamdeck', 'handheld', 'linux', 'deckpc'] |
| 6 | type: blog |
| 7 | --- |
| 8 | |
| 9 | It has been *a while* since the last word on my DeckPC experiment, I originally set myself the goal to see |
| 10 | if using Valve's Steam Deck as a regular Linux desktop with its preinstalled SteamOS environment is enough |
| 11 | to replace the need to use my otherwise power-hungry PC. I even left an "unresolved" case in the last blog |
| 12 | that never got a proper answer. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | ## The resolved "unresolved" |
| 15 | Last time I noted that you are unable to use the offline password manager KeePassXC with any browsers in |
| 16 | SteamOS out of the gate without it staying persistent throughout updates. I am glad to say that just today, |
| 17 | before writing this article, I managed to get it working thanks to a suggestion by BieHDC to try out a project |
| 18 | called [distrobox](https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox). I simply created a new Arch Linux container with |
| 19 | `distrobox create -i archlinux -n sneed` and installed Firefox and KeePassXC in them with pacman. After installation |
| 20 | I created new desktop entries as such: `distrobox-export --app firefox` and `distrobox-export --app keepassxc`. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | ## On topic of distrobox |
| 23 | I only have high praise for this solution - this has opened a huge window of customizability on otherwise |
| 24 | immutable filesystem. You are able to create rootless mutable environments where you can setup full build |
| 25 | toolchains or applications that otherwise would be wiped by a system update. It is genius in the approach |
| 26 | it takes and integrates with desktop itself. There are limitations to doing this rootless, but it is far |
| 27 | more elegant than struggling to resetup everything each update. For one, I was unable to get postmarketOS |
| 28 | pmbootstrap to work in a container due to it being unable to remount /proc and /dev. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | ## The practicality |
| 31 | I wouldn't suggest going down this route for a non-technical person, but if you have the technical aptitude |
| 32 | on Linux and willingness, you can easily extend your capabilities on the Steam Deck without resorting to |
| 33 | the only available virtualization software Gnome Boxes (read: rebranded QEMU frontend). |
| 34 | I understand average Joe's unwillingness to step into this territory, but these kind of issues are more likely |
| 35 | to affect a poweruser than Joe. |
| 36 | |
| 37 | ## Have you seriously used the Steam Deck for all this time? |
| 38 | Yes. A lot of the issues I would have brought up here have already been fixed by Valve. To give an example |
| 39 | of an issue that is fixed - you may recall me talking about flatpaks being unable to open any browser links |
| 40 | at all in the last post - that has been resolved about a month ago. |
| 41 | |
| 42 | ## So, what's your take? |
| 43 | I absolutely love it, there are obvious hurdles for a beginner to look out for, but once you get the hang of |
| 44 | it, the Steam Deck can absolutely be a replacement for your PC if you can find a match for everything you use |
| 45 | on a regular basis. My experience so far has shown that if you are creative enough, you will find a solution. |
| 46 | There is inevitable tinkering ahead to get the best experience possible, but you absolutely can make it your own. |
| 47 | I conclude this experiment a huge success - I would recommend this to my technical friends and maybe less |
| 48 | demanding non-technical friends. I would be cautious about recommending it to absolutely everyone, though. |
| 49 | Every recommendation would have to be circumstancial - you most definitely can give your grandparents a laptop |
| 50 | with Linux Mint if all they do is browse the web, similar logic can be used with the Steam Deck. You can't however |
| 51 | claim this to be a PC replacement for someone who is stuck with Windows or Mac without any FOSS equilevant or |
| 52 | option to run their programs (e.g. broken in wine) and has no interest in ever tinkering with their system. |
| 53 | I will dare to say, however, Valve and KDE have done a spectacular job in bringing Linux closer to the layman |
| 54 | while also not completely offending the more experienced user. Flatpak solution, while not the best, is the most |
| 55 | elegant bridge we have for the time being. |
| 56 | |
| 57 | ## tech tips pls |
| 58 | Sure, we have a few people already daily driving the Steam Deck as a PC replacement at based.quest Matrix chat. Be |
| 59 | sure to drop by and we will give you the training wheels to get started and help you even ride the bike over time. |
| 60 | |
| 61 | ## TL;DR |
| 62 | Amazing for me, definitely a PC replacement for me, bunch of things fixed, recommend for technical folk, |
| 63 | cautious for less-technical. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | Hope you enjoyed a quick status update on the DeckPC project, I accidentally burnt my dinner making this post :( |
| 66 | |
| 67 | Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas, |
| 68 | - Cernodile |