Which aspect of that confuses you? That it uses a Desktop environment to do things, or that they are using KDE Plasma instead of something else (say, gnome)?
Which aspect of that confuses you? That it uses a Desktop environment to do things, or that they are using KDE Plasma instead of something else (say, gnome)?
echodot@feddit.uk 19 hours ago
So steamOS is in fact not an operating system it’s just a program that runs on plasma. Or is steamOS actually an operating system, but just quite a limited one, and you dual boot into plasma.
ChairmanMeow@programming.dev 19 hours ago
KDE Plasma is just the desktop environment. It’s not an OS. SteamOS is a full OS, built off of Arch Linux. It has both a Gaming mode, which looks a lot like Steam Big Picture does these days, and a desktop mode that uses Plasma as the graphical shell/interface. It doesn’t matter OS-wise which one you “boot” into, as both are SteamOS.
Localhorst86@feddit.org 19 hours ago
SteamOS is a linux distro, similar to any other. It’s a amalgamation of different pieces of software, including a desktop environment (plasma). But it does not boot into the desktop mode by default, instead it boots into their own graphical environment (gamemode) by default, running their steam client.
That’s because their main focus is gaming machines, and that’s why they want gamers to be greeted with a consolized, 10-feet UI.
I think your confused because you think of steamOS being the UI that welcomes you when you boot into it, instead steamOS is the entire package, including the desktop environment (which is KDE Plasma), gamemode, etc.
EldritchFeminity@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 hours ago
A desktop environment is just a GUI program that your computer boots into by default. SteamOS just boots into Steam Big Screen Mode by default instead, and you can launch into the desktop afterwards. Plasma is the program that Valve chose to use for their desktop environment.
If you wanted to, you could skip all this entirely and launch your games or programs directly from the terminal without ever loading into your desktop.