> While Valve's specific reasons for picking Arch Linux for Steam Deck remain unknown, it's pretty easy to guess why it was picked. Mainly, it's a particularly lightweight distribution maintained since March 2002, which lends itself well to gaming with minimal performance overhead. A more intensive Linux distribution may not have been the ideal base for SteamOS 3, which is targeted at handhelds like Steam Deck first.
I am not sure Arch is going to be faster for gaming than any other distro, but I can see why Valve picked it for a minimalist base. Another reason I am sure they picked it is that it is smaller and less commercial than others (such as Debain or Ubuntu) and they would have more ability to influence the project.
> In the long-term, the funding touted should, at minimum, allow Arch Linux to improve the security of its distribution and provide more structured releases compared to its current near-continuous update cycle.
This was literally the stated reason they moved from Debian in 2021, because they preferred rolling releases. [1]
[1] https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/heres-why-steamos-switched-...
I am not sure Arch is going to be faster for gaming than any other distro, but I can see why Valve picked it for a minimalist base. Another reason I am sure they picked it is that it is smaller and less commercial than others (such as Debain or Ubuntu) and they would have more ability to influence the project.
> In the long-term, the funding touted should, at minimum, allow Arch Linux to improve the security of its distribution and provide more structured releases compared to its current near-continuous update cycle.
This was literally the stated reason they moved from Debian in 2021, because they preferred rolling releases. [1]
[1] https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/heres-why-steamos-switched-...