this post was submitted on 01 Aug 2026
790 points (98.4% liked)
Linux
66807 readers
738 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


Gonna need to know what they mean by "Linux" in this context. If it is Ubuntu/Fedora/etc that's impressive, if it is SteamOS then while cool it is not nearly as impressive.
Nah, SteamOS is a normal Linux. It counts.
Edit2: you actually can get hardware surveys on steam os! Do you even get hardware surveys on steam os though?
Edit: question mark, curious here
It says "desktop use". SteamOS is not desktop use.
How not? Is the full KDE desktop mode not enough?
It's a gnu+Linux OS with a default desktop environment. It's intended to be installed on bare metal where it's accessed directly by the user.
It's not for server use. (At least not primarily or by default.)
So I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that it's not desktop Linux.
It counts if you use it to visit a website participating in stats collection. Maybe excluded if the device has a touchscreen and requests the mobile site (I haven't used a Steam Deck and don't know its default browser's config)
Technicaly steamos is a desktop build on arch basis would love to know what the default User-Agent is for steamos as this is probably that basis of that data.