this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
788 points (98.4% liked)
Linux
66809 readers
315 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 7 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments


is this due to the steam machine? i heard it's linux based.
I have no idea what impact Valve has had, but SteamOS is indeed Arch Linux with Valve's kernel, KDE Plasma desktop and a separate Gamescope session running a big picture mode like environment.
Probably not significantly? The Steam machine wasn't very popular afaik, it's a really bad time to be a company selling prebuilt PCs because pc part prices are insane right now.
But yes everything Valve does these days is Linux based. Their work on wine/Proton (which they did largely for steam deck support) is probably the biggest factor in people swapping over.
steam machine actually sold well. it's on a waitlist now because of volume of sales despite the high price. i know on reddit there was a big storm about the price, but in the general population people i talked to were really excited about buying a steam machine. a lot of it is more about buying a luxury item, like how people want the latest iphone always when they're expensive and androids are better. valve has that brand name and loyalty.