I used Ubuntu briefly years ago but never really dove into the world of Linux. Are there any useful or fun programs for Linux that work well in desktop mode on the deck? Thanks
KDEconnect, it’s amazing
KDEconnect is a must have on every operating system.
On Windows?
Yes. And I didn’t have any issues till now.
So I’m actually trying to download it now. I couldn’t find it in the discover app and when I go to download it from the website it opens the discover app and gives me an error that it cannot find the repositories
Edit: apparently kdeconnect is just on steamos now and you don’t need to download anything
A happy surprise!
For games, there’s Heroic Games Launcher or Lutris which allow you to run non-steam games easily.
ProtonUp is pretty neat. It’s a bit of an easier way to keep Proton-GE up to date
- Komikku if you like reading manga this app is amazing.
- Parabolic used to be called tubeconverter and it’s (imo) the best gui app to download youtube videos.
- Mousai is basically Shazam for linux. Can listen to mic or desktop audio.
- Newelle give chatGPT access to a linux terminal, what could go wrong?
- Live Captions listens to words and makes captions in real time.
Annnd that’s all I can think of rn
Warpinator is really simple for moving files between devices over the local network. I have been using it without any problems between Linux desktop PC, Steam Deck, Windows desktop PC and an Android phone.
There are lots of useful programs that can be installed through the Discover Software Center as flatpacks. Some of my favourites are Gimp, Kdenlive, Kodi, Blender, LibreOffice, CoreKeyboard, Discord, Flatseal, KDiskMark, MComix, Calibre, and Pidgin.
Some fun ones are Space Cadet Pinball, Prism Launcher (for Minecraft) and Heroic Games Launcher (for GOG, Epic Games and now also Amazon Games).
If I had a Deck I’d probably use it more for Calibre than anything else honestly. The thought of having my entire book and game libraries on one portable device sounds amazing.
One feature in SteamOS 3.5 to be aware of is support for Nix packages. Much much more selection there. I’m looking forward to having Sway or Hyprland launchable in game mode with custom Steam Inputs :)
Onedriver (notice the R at the end) for using OneDrive on Linux (there’s no official client for Linux)
