The SteamFork project is developing a Linux distribution that attempts to recreate the SteamOS environment for use on regular computers, as well as on gaming consoles other than the Steam Deck. The project is a fork of the similar HoloISO distribution, and differs from it in that it attempts to achieve as full compatibility with SteamOS as possible, without adding third-party packages and without removing or changing the functionality of SteamOS. Changes and additions made to SteamFork are focused solely on providing support for additional hardware.
The distribution has been tested on various models of Anbernic, ANTEC, Atari, AYANEO, Ayn and GPD devices, as well as on PCs and laptops with AMD GPUs. The distribution is updated by replacing the base image and can be installed on external media such as USB Flash and SD cards. Build updates are published weekly (size about 5 GB). Builds are formed using SteamOS repositories, an unofficial repository with Valve code and third-party AUR repositories.
The user interface is completely identical to SteamOS and also includes a desktop mode based on KDE. Additional optimizations include porting power management optimizations from JELOS, as well as improved fan rotation control on supported devices, and disabling RGB lighting by default. Additional programs can be installed in Flatpak format.
Among the additional programs offered for installation, available in the verified repository accompanied by the project, are mentioned the media players Cider, Spotify and VLC, the Discord messenger, the Firefox and Chrome browsers, the Heroic interface for accessing the GoG, Epic and Amazon catalogs, the program for organizing the launch of games in emulators Steam Rom Manager, the P2P file synchronization system Syncthing, the streaming service configurator SetupStreamingServices, the emulators Cemu (Wii U), Dolphin (Gamecube and Wii), Duckstation (Playstation), PCSX2 (Playstation 2), PPSSPP (Playstation Portable), RetroArch, Vita3K (Playstation Vita), Waydroid (Android) and Xemu (Xbox), as well as various decky plugins.
SteamOS is based on Arch Linux, uses the Wayland-based Gamescope composite server to speed up game launches, comes with a read-only root FS, uses an atomic update mechanism, supports Flatpak packages, uses the PipeWire media server, and provides two interface modes (Steam shell and KDE Plasma desktop). SteamOS releases are created only for Steam Deck devices, but Valve has long promised to provide official SteamOS builds for PC.
Source: opennet.ru
