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chris_wing on 06 January 2014
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disolitude said:
chris_wing said:

The Steam Machine (Steambox isn't a thing) is PC hardware running a custom release of Linux that is currently barebones & in alpha release.  The PC hardware is fully capable of dual booting a second free OS like Ubuntu which gives you tons of functunality, but hopefully Steam OS itself gets a software manager to install things like Chrome, Libra Office, Transmit, VLC, Gimp etc, since those apps alone do 95% of my common PC tasks.  The current lack of a software manager is the only thing keeping me from making a Steam Machine rather then making a new Ubuntu machine + Steam, like I currently have.  The open source nature of Linux however means that driver and software advances made on Steam OS will migrate to other Linux distros, so even if I stay with Ubuntu I will still benifit from Steam OS existing & the advances made there.

Yes Linux, or any other platform for that matter has no chance of competing with the PC games library.  That's a fact I can't talk my way around, but it's not a deal breaker, just like it's not a deal breaker on any of the other consoles either.

With the ever increasing power of the AMD APU's it won't be more then a couple years, if that, before high power Steam Machines are hitting the market at $299, you could even build a low end Steam machine for less.  Yah, that controller is awesome isn't it, and yes Valve is making it available to all Steam platforms.

If you don't personally have an interest that's fine, Valve has said that this isn't meant to replace your desktop PC.  Steam Machines are meant to bring Steam to the Living room.  We havn't even talked about the PC game streaming.  I have no interest in the Xbox, but I'm not going to assume everyone has the same interests as me.


Everything you are saying has a valid perspective, but is clashing with the overall message Valve is looking to portray with the SteamBox. 

Sure you can install Ubuntu and Linux... many people do this on regular PCs. However this clashes with the intended market for this device. Is there a person out there that is unable to put together a PC like this and has to buy it from iBuyPower for $499, yet is able to set up a dual boot with Ubuntu and use it efficiently? I don't think a person like this exists... I am 100% sure that you will build your own Steambox and will not buy it from one of these 12 vendors. 

In terms of software...VLC, Chrome...I'm sure these are on the way or will be on the way shortly. The problem again is the intended market that SteamBox is going after which is the Living Room. Will NHL Gamecentrer make an app for this for? How about Plex? How about Hulu? What about ABC or CBS cable apps? Most likely not...  Steambox needs to be an entertainment hub with a boatload of media apps if it wants to take up 2 feet of room under the TV. It has to be more like iPad and less like Linux and Ubuntu which is downright impossible with open source. 

BTW I am not looking at this as someone that dislikes Valve or Steam. I am a huge PC gamer and love gadgets. I am looking at this strictly critically from a business perspective. Those 12 vendors will have a very hard time convincing people to take the $499 plunge for this product. I am willing to bet that Valve will have more Steambox computers running on DIY PCs rather than dedicated gaming machines sold by these vendors.

Well yes & no.  The Steam Machine is a product that the average person can just buy & use, & not have a tough time, even if they have never used Linux before.

However, making a dual boot system from my experience is not difficult at all, it's the first thing I ever did in Linux and had no problems, I actually made a tripple boot system just for fun.

1. insert disk Plug in USB stick, reboot.

2.Wait 5 minutes for it to load into the ram.

3.Once the new tempoary instance of Linux launches click "install".

4.The auto partition manager launches and asks you if you want to install along side another OS & how much space you want for the new partion, choose an amount.

5.Wait a few minutes for it to install. done.

It's even easier if you wipe the original OS & use the full hard drive.

But if you just want to use it as a living room game console you don't need to do any of that.  So yes and no.

disolitude said: "They best they can hope is to be on par with Windows a few years from now for all new releases."

I don't get why that is such a checkmate against Steam Machines when the same applies to all other consoles.

Let's just choose to disagree, it's nothing to get worked up over.